The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-05-31

to the charge of the mission. Among the
earliest of the Catholic settlers in this region i
was Cornelius Hollehan, wealthy gentle a
man who was born in Cork, Ireland. He t
purchased of the daughter Of William Penn S
a considerable tract of land at Cuba Rock {
(now known as Mount Cuba) and sent home
to the old country the most glowing /
accounts of the beauty and fertility of the
newly-colonized region. As result num-
Der of Irish immigrants arrived and spread
themselves along the whole region Of the
Red Clay Creek up to Hockessin. The
large increase of worshippers necessitated the
pulling down of the primitive log shanty
and the erection of more commodious and
substantial, though still very humble edifice.
Father Kenney's ministrations became pro-
portionately increased in responsibility, and
he at this time simultaneously minstered to
the spiritual wants of the faithful in West
Chester, Conoord, Wilmington and Hockes-
sin, in addition to the constant supervision
OF the little flock at Coffee Run. He was
seventy-nine years of age when he sought |
his first and last resting place on the spot to
which his life-labor had been devoted and
beneath the shadow of the Cross he had
served SO well.
| Poor Father Kenney made his own will,
with the usual result, viz, of committing
legal eccentrlcities which rendered itinyalid.
Tue church property at Coffee Run thus
reverted to the State of Delaware, but by
the exertions of Bishop Becker the will was
allowed 10 take effect and notwithstanding
the progressive adaptations of the structure,
services have been conducted in the church
ever since, the present priest being Father
Donaghy, of st. Patrick's, at Ashland. The
erection of the latter church, and of second
more recently at Hockessin, have caused the
Coffee Run ed6ce to be almost entirely
deserted.
The grave yard on the south side is well
dotted with stones, and the turf chewing in
many a moldering heap" proclaims that the
silent majority have pcopled it thickly
Nearly all the names on the t mLs are Irish
thus:-Lafferty, Lynch, Moynehan,
Mcmahon, Hickey, Kennedy, Dougherty,
O'Connell, etc. Sometimes nameless
wooden cross with the letters 81. II. S." is
: the only record; in other cases simple
boulder of rock answers for a headstone.
. The grass grows knee deep; here and there
, the ground has fallen in two or three feet,
~ showing where dust has completed its return
y to dust, while the broken brickwork of the
chimney pot of the church, with its cowl
=" hanging over the sitle and held only by the
=" rusty lightning conductor completes the
" picturesque and desolate aspect of the place
70 Turning to the surroundings of the place
> they are emphatically worthy of the associa
= ton. AS the visitor returns to the high
j. road he catches sight, from the highest spo
~ on the hill, of the Delaware River winding
= along like silver thread below the blue lin,
.. of the New Jersey hills, and on a fine day
o. the view takes in the whole extent Of til,
III noble stream from Chester to Delawar
y City, and even to Port Penn. The smar
=" trim hedges are an agreeable relief from tn
'0 stone walls and rail fences in other section
d of the State and the beautiful dome shaped
Is verdure-clad hills and graceful undulation
oo into which denudation has in by-gone age
ie modelled the hard granite rock, gives th
u. scenery peculiarly agreeable aspect i
~ these early summer days.
es The return to Wooddale may be made b
io a round-about-route past quaint old cot
tages, and blooming orchards. 1t increase
ay the walk by two miles but good pedestria
ast aaas - y ~
VI thermometer at S8 degrees, as the write
~ experienced it, How grateful the occasions
" variation of a sunken road, enlivened wit
III the merry notes of the blackbird, the red
:, bird and the thrush, all piping away in wor
=" drous fashion amid the leafy recesses on til
- banks. Now and again a saucy lit lie wrer
~ then a turkey buzzard wheeling wide owe
" the tramp, and turning disappointedly away
~ then beautiful oriole, gorgeous in hi
ne plumage of red and black, and accompanie
a. by his dingy and far less graceful mate
Strange that in this department of ereatio
, the lot of beauty should DC so reversed
&c And the ferns-they are nowhere so abunG
>" AIT as in the Red Clay Valley. In addition
:" to the common varieties, the Blechnums an
- Poly-podies, there are others of create
80 rarity easily found by the experience
IN seeker. The Adders-tongue and the glor
90 GUS Osmunda RECALLS, for example, are bot
ia abundant in the low, marshy spots and o
n the margin Of the brooks. Truly the Wi
nd mington artist and naturalist has field q
bo labor at his very doors which in other State
il, he might travel many score of miles t
,,o find.