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The Catholic Church at St. Thomas, MinnesotA

 

Since the Catholic Church at St. Thomas was so much a part of the "hatching, matching and dispatching" of our ancestors, a few items on its history might be of interest.

A piece of reading material well worth the effort is the book The Log Church in Derrynane by John D. O'Connell. Itis a difficult book to find as it is out of print and therewere very few copies printed originally. It was printed in 1946by the Suel Publishing Company, Inc. of Shakoppe, Minnesota but they no longer are listed in the telephone directory. One sourceis the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul. (1)

A present day O'Connell, Francis, of LeCenter, Minnesota, has also been helpful to the writer on more than one occassion.

O'Connell's book has such a good description of what our forefathers found I'm taking the liberty of quoting as follows:

Pioneers Arrive --- In 1855 President Millard Fillmore issued a proclamation acr.Apting, ratifying and confirming treaties with the Indians of Minnesota by which more than 19 million acres in the heart of the states were relinquished to the government and opened for settlement.Penal laws, famine, eviction and coercian drove poor people of Ireland and Continental Europe into exile and they carried with them the faith of their fathers. They came to a strange land with hope in their hearts and very little of anything else.

A great wave of migration set in from all the Eastern states and an era of speculation started which probably has never been equalled in any part of the West.

What they found here far exceeded their wildest flight of imagination, they were free! They grew up with the country and though they had many evils to overcome they faced them with a smile. They no doubt had their faults but as we look back from the luxuries of 1945 through the mist of the years nothing stands out more plainly than their goodness and courage. Racial and religious intolerance had no place in Derrynane Township. The Irish and German Catholics and the Yankees around Lexington Township had a common cause. They were building a home for themselves where no band suppressed their religious and political beliefs. They worked and played together and shared each others sorrows. Those who came from over the sea had plenty of suppression and intolerance to forget and their hope was that never in this new home would they face such trials as they left behind them. They were good neighbors all and treated each other decently as good neighbors do. There is nothing on earth so good as kind hearts.

The biggest and best cabin in the woods could not accomodate the crowds that flocked to Mass, so a church was built.

Here O'Connell continues with the details of site selection, land deeds etc. up to erection of the first church in 1857 or 1858. He then continues:

In a few years the congregation outgrew the little church and in about 1865 the parish was divided between St. Thomas and Union Hill. The German families went to Union Hill as that was more nearly in the center of the German settlement where they built a bigger and better church and called it st. John's. The Irish gravitated towards others of their race (sic) and joined the st. Thomas Parish.

This parish is the one used over the years by our ancestors and it is in this parish cemetery where so many of them as well as other close relatives are buried. It was in the old church, on the present site, just a few days before Christmas 1875, that a Requiem Mass was celebrated for Mary Dugan Carney, wife of Cornelius. She was only 36
years old and left a husband with six children ages 1 thru 15 to mourn her loss. She is buried in the cemetery next to the present church.

On Sunday, 15 Sep 1878, the marriage of Michael Doyle and Honora Carney (Kearney) took place in this church. Father Thomas c. Kennedy was the celebrant and Doyles, Carneys, Sullivans and other assorted Irish names were much in evidence at the ceremony.This union provided considerable "business" for the church through 1902 just baptizing the 12 children of this marriage. Several items concerning the church were run, over a period of years, in the Le Sueur County Sentinel. They include:

20 May 1880 - "Father Kennedy is agitating the building of a new Catholic church in st. Thomas, Derrynane Twp. to cost at least $6,000.00(11)

6 Jan 1881 - "The members of the St. Thomas Catholic church parish are agitating the building of a $15,000.00 brick church this coming season but we believe the matter has not been definitely agreed upon."

20 Jan 1881 - "We learned that Father Kennedy with the sanction of Bishop Grace has concluded to build a large brick church at St. Thomas in Derrynane Twp . which is to be about the size of the Belle Plaine church. It will cost, when completed, from $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 and will be the best church building in this county. A part of the stone for the foundation has already been hauled on the ground".

23 Jun 1881 - "Father T.C. Kennedy of Belle Plaine, on account of failure in health, delivered his final and farewell sermon to his congregation on Sunday, which brought tears to the eyes of both men and women. Father Kennedy has been the pastor for the last 13 years and it is with sincere regret that we part with him now". This was in the 11st. Thomas" section of the paper and was signed by the pseudonym "Rough and Ready". (as were several other st. Thomas columns during this period)

On the same page in the 23 Jun 1881 issue another item Read, "Father Kennedy of Belle Plaine, who has had charge of the st. Thomas congregation for the past 13 years preached his farewell sermon on Sunday which touched the hearts of all present. Father McCauley of Sibley County will take Father Kennedy's place as resident parish priest"

Some 1882 Sentinel Notes include items under headings of "Collections for Ireland's Starving." 11

St. Thomas Parish in one hour collected $300.00".

"Father KEnnedy has Already collected S900.00 from the three parishes of st. Thomas (Le Sueur County), Belle Plaine (Scott County) and st. John's (Carver County). This was done in farming communities. Many farmers gave $15.00 while some gave as high as $50.00 which proves anew the open heartedness of the Irish nature."

3 Jan 1884 - "On Sunday after the close of services, at St. Thomas Church in Derrynane Twp., 28 of the members of the church subscribed $5,000 towards building the new church the foundations of which, was laid last season. Few parishes can show more liberality than that, especially in the country.

It was most likely the "new church" from which Daniel Doyle was buried after his death on 13 May 1894. 

By 29 Jan 1902, when Margaret Scully Doyle was buried, it likely was no longer spoken of as the "new" church. She and husband, Daniel are buried together in the church cemetery.

Possibly the last actual funeral Mass from this churchfor one of "our" Doyles was in June 1909 when 18 year old Bridget died and was buried here.

Since then the cemetery has been the burial place for:

Honora Carney Doyle	1914
Michael Doyle	1923
Mary (Mayme) Doyle Mosher	~1932
Anastasia Doyle	1972

Father John Siebenaler, the current pastor at St. Thomas, was kind enough to send the writer a copy of a history of St.Thomas Catholic Church researched and published in late 1975 or early 1976. Following is a copy of Father Siebenaler's note plus the church history he furnished.