The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1900-12-01
DIED At NINETY -FOUR.
Patrick Rooney Settled Here
Before There Was Any
Jersey City.

Patrick j. Rooney ninety-four years old,
died at his home, No. 10 Gregory street,
yesterday morning. Death was caused by
old age. He will be buried in st. Peters
Cemetery. Monday morning, at 10 o'clock
A requiem mass will be celebrated in st.
Peters Church, at nine o'clock.
Mr.. Rooney leaves a son and a daughter,
ten grandchildren, seven great great
grandchildren. These were all at his
home when the end came.
Mr.. Rooney was born in County Sligo,
Ireland. He came here 66 years ago and
settled about where Henderson and Mont
gomery streets join now. There was no
JERSEY City and no Hudson County. But
there were number of strong minded
young men who were most actively en-
gagged in an attempt to bring their sur
roundings up to standard suitable for
the purpose intended.
NJ Rooney was a Roman Catholic and
what caused him more regret then than
almost anything else was the absence of a
place to worship. There was no Catholic
Church and no priest within the limits of
what is now Hudson County. Mr. Rooney
set about to erect a proper building for
worship in the Catholic faith and he was
among the founders of st. Peters Church.
FIe was builder and he erected the build-
ing which has many years since given way
to the structure now at Van Worst and
Grand streets. The original church stood
on the side of St. Aloysius Academy.
Through Mr.. Rooney's agency chiefly the
Rev. Father Burns, who was a well
known priest of New York City, at the
time accepted the church and came here
| occasionally to read mass. The church
was quickly followed by Sunday school.
Mr.. Rooney organized the Sunday school
in a dingy hall in what is now Grove
street.
Mr.. Rooney continued his good work by
organizing ST. Peters Temperance Society
and built for its accommodation st. Johns
Hall. Money was scarce in those days
! with the handful of Catholics and the
strain on their resources was great but
nothing daunted Mr.. Rooney erected the
building. There was in the treasury at
the time ground was broken just seven
cents. The debt was lifted in a compara-
tivssy short time. OF the congregation
that knew the early days of ST. Peter S
Church noNe survive Mr. Rooney.
The Volunteer Fire Department was at
the time of Mr.. Rooney's arrival here in
a poor condition so far as discipline was
concerned. Mr.. Rooney was elected chief
and ne instituted such reforms as were
needed and became famous throughout
the State as an authority on fire organiza-
ton. He was the Oldest fireman in the
State and was a most popular man be-
cause of all his efforts for their comfort.
Two years ago he succeeded after a long
and hard campaign. with the assistance
of William Moran, who was then in the
Board of Aldermen, in having the city
found the Exempt Firemens S Home, now
located at No. 81 Bright street. When
that was completed Mr.. Rooney said
Il cssn now die happy"
Mr. Rooney was one of the eleven men
who with Archbishop Hughes selected and
bought the site of st. Peters Cemetery.
The best known member of Mr.. hooney' s
family surviving him is Joseph Rooney of
the Fire Department.