The Erection of the Oliver Street Church.—Doubling Its Size.—Sketches Of the Lives of Its Pastors, Fathers Duffy, O'Reilly, James Quin, Thomas Quin, Senez, Beaudevin and Callan.—A Priest's Heroic Death.

The arrangements for the building of a new church in Oliver street were made in 1828, the year in which the trustees of St. John's Church obtained the grant of the land from Mr. Colt. Rt. Rev. Bishop Du Bois, who had so generously interested himself in the welfare of the congregation, solicited subscriptions and among others obtained one of $2,000 from a Southern gentleman. Father Duffy and the trustees of the church were indefatigable in their efforts and in 1829 the foundation of the new church was laid, the work being done by Thomas Parker. It was intended to erect a church fifty-five feet front and one hundred feet deep and the work progressed favorably until the foundation wall had been erected and the lower window frames fixed in their places. Unfortunate dissensions among the members of the congregation then arose and to this was added the debate of the question whether church property in the State should be held by trustees, as had hitherto been the case, or whether the title to the church property should be vested in the name of the Bishop of the diocese. The result was that the work on the new church was stopped for the time being and the congregation continued worshipping in the old church, on Market and Mill streets, which had been somewhat improved. In 1832 the trustees of the church were Charles O'Neill, John P. Brown, Joseph Warren, Andrew Lynch, James D. Kiley and Andrew Griffith. There was no question that the church on Market and Mill streets was too small and that something had to be done to accommodate the constantly and rapidly increasing congregation. So in the early part of 1833 the trustees above mentioned, together with a number of other gentlemen prominent in the church, held a meeting in the yard of the old church on Market and Mill streets and deliberated what to do. It was soon apparent that there were two factions. The one faction favored doubling the size of the church on Market and Mill streets and abandoning the Oliver street enterprise. The other faction, of which Mr. O'Neill was the leader, insisted that a new church be erected on Oliver street and Mr. O'Neill argued strongly in favor of this project. The meeting finally adjourned without having come to any conclusion. The friends of the Oliver street church then visited their opponents at their residences and by dint of argument and persuasion finally induced them to give their consent to the new project so that at a meeting held two weeks after the first meeting it was resolved to go on with the work on Oliver street. It was then discovered that some of the trustees and a portion of the congregation favored constructing the church on the foundations as originally built in 1829; the larger and more conservative element considered the limited resources of the church and finally prevailed. Changes were made in the plans, a portion of the foundation was taken down, so as to bring the windows nearer to the ground, and the second Catholic Church in Paterson was erected. The church on Mill and Market streets had been sold for $1,625. There were two bidders for the work to be done in Oliver street, but James Galbraith being $700 lower than his competitor, the contract was awarded to him and he erected the church. Subscriptions came in better than had been anticipated and the church was compelled to borrow but little; that little was raised on the individual notes of prominent Catholics, but when the church was completed there was very little debt.

The work on the church was done under the superintendence of the trustees and Father Patrick Duffy, the pastor of the church. Father Duffy had no clergyman to assist him but his energy and untiring zeal were equal to all occasions; and when he left Paterson in 1836 it was with the sincerest regrets of all the members of the congregation, and the most hearty wishes for his future welfare followed him to the new scene of his labors, Newburg, Cold Springs and Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Catholicism had not as yet taken deep root in that vicinity and Father Duffy had a large field but a small flock. With the increase in the number of the Catholics more priests were needed and Father Duffy confined his labors to the City of Newburg, where he died on June 20, 1853.

Father Duffy was succeeded by Father Philip O'Reilly, who still lives in the pleasant recollections of hundreds of citizens of Paterson. He continued until 1845 as the sole shepherd of St. John's congregation. He was a large and powerfully-built man, of commanding presence and very social qualities. He mixed a great deal with persons of other faiths, and by his sociability, brilliancy and powerful arguments succeeded in destroying a great deal of prejudice which had previously existed against the Catholic religion. Father O'Reilly belonged to one of the oldest and most respectable families in Ireland. He was born in the town of Seraba, county Cavan, a county which was once called O'Reilly's county. Father O'Reilly traced his ancestry back to beyond the time of James I., and at the time of Father O'Reilly's labors in Paterson some of his kinsmen were still in possession of the estates which had belonged to the family for centuries. Father O'Reilly was educated in Spain, being a member of the order of St. Dominic, and travelled through Italy, France and England. For some years he was chaplain to the Duke of Norfolk, a position of ease and honor. The duties there were, however, not enough for the restless and untiring spirit of Father O'Reilly, and so when less than thirty years of age he left Europe to seek for sterner duties in this country. He was first stationed at Poughkeepsie and then came to Paterson. From this city he went to Cold Springs, N. Y., where he built the first Catholic church. He was then removed to West Troy, and afterwards placed in charge of St. Bridget's Church in New York. As pastor of this church he died in the 62nd year of his life on the 7th of December, 1854. His remains were interred on the 9th of the same month in St. Patrick's Cathedral, the funeral being attended by a large concourse of admiring and sorrowing friends, both of the clergy and laity.

In the latter part of the pastorate of Father O'Reilly the congregation of St. John's had so increased in numbers that it was found necessary to enlarge the church. Steps were accordingly taken in this direction, but the project was not carried into execution until some time after the advent of Father James Quin, who came to Paterson in 1845. There was considerable discussion concerning the plans of the addition and the work was not begun until 1846. Instead of erecting the church to the size of the old foundation walls—which had been entirely torn down and used in the construction of the first part of the church in 1833—the building was made thirteen feet longer, so that the present size of the church is one hundred and thirteen feet deep and fifty-five front. The original plot of land obtained from Mr. Colt would not have permitted of the erection of a building of that size, and so an arrangement was entered into with the county—which at that time was contemplating the erection of the present county jail—by which the congregation deeded to the county a gore of land in return for another gore of similar size. The addition to the church was built by Colonel Andrew Derrom, and resulted in a vexatious law suit which was decided in favor of the congregation. Shortly after the completion of the addition the seating capacity of the church was considerably enlarged by the erection of a gallery on the sides of the church. The seating capacity of the church was about 1,300. As was the case with the first half of the church building the moneys needed for the construction came in in a very satisfactory manner so that the church had very little debt when the structure was accepted from the contractors.

When Father James Quin came to Paterson to take charge of St. John's congregation his brother, Thomas, was preparing for ordination, and after Father James Quin had been here about a year he was joined by his brother, who came to Paterson as soon as he had been ordained. Father James Quin was of delicate health, and in addition to the assistance of his brother had the occasional services of Rev. Dr. Cummings, who frequently came to Paterson from St. Stephen's Church. Father James Quin died on the 13th of June, 1851, being at the time pastor of the church. He was the only priest who died in Paterson, and his remains are interred in the cemetery on Sandy Hill. Father Thomas Quin succeeded his brother as pastor of the church and remained about a year. He was educated at St. Joseph's Seminary, at Fordham, and was ordained by Right Rev. Bishop Hughes on June 14, 1849. His remains are interred at Rahway in this State, of which place he was pastor. His sister, Mrs. Bridget Smith, widow of Michael Smith, still resides in this city on Mill street, near Slater.

Father Thomas Quin was succeeded by Father D. Senez, who came in 1852 and remained until 1858. In the latter part of his pastorate he was assisted frequently on Sundays by Father G. McMahon. Father Senez came here from Newark and when he left he went to Jersey City, where he built St. Mary's Church, of which he is still the pastor. He made a number of improvements to the Oliver street church in this city and it was with the greatest regrets that the Catholics of Paterson saw him depart for other fields.

Father Victor Beaudevin succeeded Father Senez in 1858 and remained until October, 1861. He was a scholastic of the Society of Jesus and was ordained a priest by Rt. Rev. Bishop Hughes on May 25, 1850. When he left Paterson he rejoined the Order of Jesuits and is at present in Canada. He was assisted by Father J. Schandel, who was subsequently the first pastor of St. Boniface's Church of this city, in the erection of which church he received material assistance from Father Beaudevin.

Father Callan came to St. John's congregation in 1861 and remained about two years, leaving here in October, 1863. He was one of the most energetic priests that ever came to Paterson. He was quiet and unassuming but continually busy with projects for the benefit of the Catholic Church. His death constituted one of the most romantic episodes in the history of the Catholic Church in this country. Some time after he left Paterson he went on a mission to California traveling thither by boat from New York. While going from San Francisco to his mission in Santa Barbara the steamer on which he was was discovered to be on fire. The wildest confusion ensued and an attempt to run the vessel ashore failed. While most of those on board were busy devising plans for their personal safety and resorting to all kinds of expedients to save their lives Father Callan buried himself giving spiritual consolation and administering the last sacraments and rites of the Church. He had ample opportunity to save his life but the poor distressed on shipboard, who had been injured by the explosion which had taken place, and some of whom were dying, called for the consolations of religion and Father Callan remained to dispense them. He died while in the discharge of his duty—the death of a hero and a martyr.