Catholic Church 1903

Catholic Church 1903

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on Court Street in 1903 ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND SOCIETY TIMELINE In 1778 the first recorded visit by a cleric to Belfast was Father Cheverus, an Indian missionary. In 1827 Bishop Fenwick visited Belfast via the ship "Patent". He was the first to find Catholics present in town. Father Denis Ryan of Whitefield assumed charge of Belfast Catholics. In 1835 William S. Brannigan arrived in Belfast. He was the leading Catholic in Belfast at the time and became the parish's earliest and most important benefactor. In 1851 a building on Primrose Street owned by Mr. Brannigan becomes the first known Catholic Church in town. Herbert Blodgett, born in Belfast, became the town's first ordained priest in 1877 1860 Belfast is attached to Ellsworth as a mission. In 1877 Winterport is made a parish with Belfast as one of its missions. Johnson's Hall serves as the chapel until erection of a church. The first Confirmation conferred in Belfast occurred on October 7, 1877 In 1878 Mr. Brannigan donates the lot on Court Street upon which to build a church. 1891 Construction begins on the church. Mr. Brannigan bears the cost of the building; the parishioners pay for the furnishings. It is dedicated by Bishop Healy, Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1891. In 1894 Belfast becomes a parish by itself and Rev. Maurice J. O'Brien is appointed first pastor on June 3rd. A beginning is made on the building of a rectory which is occupied the following year. In 1895 the Catholic population in Belfast reaches 100. In 1901 funeral services for Mr. Brannigan are held on January 19. A church is built on Islesboro; and the first Mass is said on August 4th. In 1926 a bell is installed in the church tower of St. Francis In 1963 stained glass windows are installed in the church by Fr. Coyne. In1986 the Parish Center is dedicated on January 12 by Bishop Edward O'Leary of Portland. HISTORY (from Williamson's Vol. II) REV. JAMES PETERSON, of Rockland, had charge of the Roman Catholic parish in Belfast from 1875 to 1877. The place of worship was Johnson's Hall, on High Street. On the first Sabbath of October, in the last-named year, public services at the Opera House were largely attended. Mass was celebrated, with a discourse from the Rt. Rev. James A. Healey, Bishop of Portland, followed by the confirmation of about forty persons. Rev. Richard N. Phelan, then of Winterport, officiated in 1882. In 1885, the old Masonic Hall, in the High School Building, was occupied for worship. Ill-health compelled Father Peterson to seek a new field of labor, and he left Maine in 1888. A scholarly man, of pleasant social traits and varied information, he made many friends here, irrespective of religious denomination. From 1888 to 1894, Rev. Patrick J. Garrity, of Winterport, held meetings on one Sunday in each month. In 1891, Mr. William S. Brannagan, a native of Ireland, and a resident of Belfast since 18, built and presented to the Catholics the church at the southern end of Court Street. It measures seventy by forty feet and the steeple is eighty-five feet high. In the rear is a vestry twenty-seven by fifteen feet, with entrances on each side of the altar. The cost of the whole structure was about $5000. The church was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, with the title of St. Francis, and under the protection of Our Lady of Holy Hope, in honor of a church which stood nearly two and a half centuries ago where now is the town of Castine. Bishop Healey conducted the exercises, assisted by the Very Rev. Michael O'Brien, of Bangor; Rev. Jeremiah McCarthy, of Gardiner; Rev. Richard N. Phelan, of Rockland; Rev. John P. Nelligan, of Hallowell; and Rev. Patrick J. Garrity, the rector. A choir from Bangor rendered music. The dedicatory address was by the Bishop. Among the large audience no one seemed happier than Mr. Brannagan, who had lived to witness the fondest hope of his long and blameless life realized by the erection of a church of his faith in his adopted home. A memorial window, above the altar, given by the parish, and inscribed with his name, bears testimony to his memory. In 1894, a priest's residence was built, on the next lot south of the church, principally through the efforts and pecuniary aid of Mr. Brannagan. It is twenty-seven by twenty-nine feet, with an ell, and contains ten large rooms. The first regularly installed rector of the new church was Rev. Fr. Maurice J. O'Brien, whose appointment dated from May, 1894. Early in the following February he started for the South, to restore his failing health, but was taken sick at his father's house in Lewiston, where he died on the 11th day of the month, aged twenty-eight years. Father O'Brien was a native of Lewiston. After graduating at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, he pursued theological studies in Montreal, and in Paris, and was ordained as a priest in 1890. During his short service in Belfast, he proved faithful and conscientious in his calling. The successor of Father O'Brien was Rev. John E. Kealey, the present resident priest, under whom a steady increase in membership has taken place. One of the prominent events of his ministration was on October 14, 1895, when fifty candidates were confirmed by the Bishop. On the 16th of January, 1901, William S. Brannagan was gathered to his fathers at the Parochial Residence of the Roman Catholic Church at Belfast, Maine, having attained the great age of ninety-one years. Born in County Meath, Ireland, 10 December, 1810, he immigrated to America when a young man, first landing in Philadelphia. In 1843, he came to Belfast and went into the dry-goods and boot-and-shoe business for himself on Phoenix Row. After a few years he sold out his stock there, and became a salesman for Horatio Huntington Johnson, with whom he remained for many years; leaving his employ in 1877 to enter the store of George W. Burkett where he spent two years. He next was with Thomas W. Pitcher for a few months, whose store was of the same general nature as those in which Mr. Brannagan had been employed during his whole business life. These were the days before our railroad. Then no traveling salesmen or gaudy catalogues from mail-order houses found their way to every cross-road, general store, or remote farm, as now. Belfast was the trading centre for Waldo County. Farmers arrived before daylight anxious to exchange their country produce, make their purchases, and get started on the homeward journey before the heat of the day in summer, or before the noonday sun should have softened up the road-beds and made bad traveling in winter. The Belfast of those days had many of the characteristics of a frontier town. The inhabitants were hardy, enterprising spirits, much in the nature of pioneers. Several large stores carried on a thriving and important business, and through ships built and owned in Belfast, and commanded by Belfast men, had connections in all parts of the world. In keenness, sagacity, and business acumen, and in their judgment of men and events, it is not improbable that some of the leading men of the town then, would to-day, could they be marshaled back to earth; take a place not far behind many of our modern captains of industry and finance. Soon after leaving Mr. Pitcher, Mr. Brannagan decided to retire and for years lived happily and contented and at his ease on an ample property acquired by industry and frugality. He was a hard, conscientious worker, and an obliging, sagacious salesman. From his early arrival in Belfast, he was, until his death, a devout Catholic, and took great interest in the local Roman Catholic Church, and it was mainly through his efforts and generosity that its first organization in Belfast was effected, and later the church edifice and the priest's house were both gifts from him. He was ever ready to spend his time and money freely for the cause, and when he felt old age coming upon him, with the foresight which had characterized his whole life, he made an arrangement with the church authorities, by means of which he was to enjoy a home with the priests in the parochial residence as long as he lived; and it was here, in the house that his generosity had erected, that he passed calmly on. He was an honest, upright man, of pleasant and friendly disposition and had a host of friends, who honored him as a good citizen. In his acquaintances and friendships, he knew no distinction either of religion or politics, although he held decided views on both subjects. He is remembered by the present generation as a bright, active, dapper little figure, full of energy, though over eighty, always elaborately courteous, and habitually attired in a quaint black coat and a tall beaver hat: - by his inherent nature a true "gentleman of the old school." He had the quick wit and the sense of humor of his race, and was prepared to meet every corner with a ready answer. Always well supplied with the latest local news, he dearly loved a neighborly chat over a cheering "cup," and his none too frequent and ceremoniously short calls are still missed in more than one household of the older residents. He never married, and at the time of his death was survived only by a sister, Mrs. Theresa Gunning, of County Meath, and by several nephews and nieces. We may appropriately terminate this brief sketch in the language of his church," Requiescat in pace." His burial place is in Belfast, where he lies, closely surrounded by the graves of his friends. At Mr. Brannagan's funeral the Rev. Patrick J. Garrity read the Requiem Mass, and the Very Rev. Michael C. O'Brien, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Maine, long an intimate friend of the deceased, delivered a most touching eulogy on his charity and Christian life. His grave is marked by a handsome granite cross, which he himself selected with the aid of his lifelong friend, the late Edward Johnson, whose tomb is close at hand. As stated above, from 1875 to 1877, the Rev. James Peterson, of Rockland, held services at Belfast. In 1877, Winterport was taken from the parish of Ellsworth and made a parish, with Belfast as one of its missions. Rev. Jeremiah McCarthy was the first pastor of Winterport. In 1879, Rev. John Duddy succeeded Father McCarthy. (Father Peterson returned to Ireland and died there.) Father Phelan came after Father Duddy. Prior to 1891, several attempts had been made to build a church by subscription, but failed. It was while the Rev. Patrick J. Garrity was in charge that Mr. Brannagan's plans were consummated. Father Garrity undertook to see that the church should be appropriately furnished; drew the plans for the edifice, and supervised its construction, thus saving a considerable sum for his people. In furnishing the church the Catholics were assisted most kindly by the Protestants of Belfast, whose generosity they have never forgotten. The Rev. John E. Kealey, who took up his pastorate in 1895, continued until 1905. He was succeeded by the Rev. Herman H. Haymakers, who was in turn followed, in 1911, by the Rev. Dennis A. McCabe. Pastors/Administrators: Rev. Fr. Maurice J. O'Brien 1894-1895 Rev. Fr. John E. Kealy 1895-1905 Rev. Fr. Herman H. Hamakers 1905-1911 Rev. Fr. Denis J. McCabe 1911-1913 Mission Church 1913-1917 Rev. Fr. Timothy J. O'Mahoney 1917-1926 Rev. Fr. James F. Savage 1926-1940 Rev. Fr. Charles I. Brown 1940-1956 Rev. Fr. James J. Tomlinson 1956-1959 Rev. Fr. Thomas F. Coyne 1959-1983 Rev. Fr. Paul M. Pare 1983-1991 Rev. Fr. Christian F. Roy 1991-1993 Rev. Fr. Marcel Robitaille 1993 Rev. Fr. Raymond Richards 1993-1997 Rev. Fr. Costanzo J. Piselli 1997-2005 Rev. Fr. Joseph J. Koury 2005-2008 Rev. Fr. Mark Reinhardt 2009-2012 Rev. Fr. Richard Malo 2012-PRESENT* * AS OF DEC 2015