THE
BENEDICTINE FATHERS
IN CAMBRIA COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
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.
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.
Bishop of Altoona
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