The Republican journal., 1916-12-14
The Catholic Church in Belfast
From the Catholic Magazine. I

| val forests ana rear their humble homes
on the beautiful shore of Penobscot Bay
10 that moment when the generosity OF
the late William S. Brannagan made il
| possible Tor them 20 assemble for religi-
Gus worship in house dedicated to the
service of the Lord, was not unlike that
OF the many pioneer settlements then
| coming into existence here and there
along our States rock bound coast
Just when the first Catholic family, or
the first children of the church. came to
Belfast We are unable to determine, but
1t seems clear that this favored spot
knew the footsteps of the Catholic priest
perchance long before the coming of the
European colonsts to Maine. We have
OF course to remember that the Catholic
Church had taken root in our soil years
before the Pilgrims landed on the rock at
Plymouth. AS early perhaps as 1856. to
say nothing of the possible visits of the
| Mortimer, the Franciscan father, Andre
Thevet, had already Toasted his eyes on
the beauties of the Penobscot and had
perchance trodden the very spot which
Belfast today calls her own. Knowing
the habits OF the great race which once
| claimed domain over these surrounding
lands and waters, one has only to wander
up and down the banks of the winding
Passagassawaukeag, "the great clam,
clear or shallow water place. and recall
the Gays when the numerous children of
the historic Algonquin tribe must have
come here, as they did to other favored
hooks, to feast and recreate during the
passing of summer seasons, to realize
! that In due time also came the black
roDed priest to teach them something
real about the mysteries of that happy
hunting ground which they fondiy be-
/ leved was to be theirs, once the trials
and prlvatlons of their precariouS eX
lstence has passed, and they had changed
the present Tor the eternal. Here the
gushing springs, the unpolluted waters,
the fruitful clam beds, the excellent fish
ing and hunting grounds must have al
lured the Indian brave fresh from the
| pleasures and trlumphs of the inland
chase; here perhaps in 1904, Champlain,
the Catholic explorer, moored his pat
| tacne, to rarry for time ere he con-
| tlnued his cruise of exploration along the
SHORES OF Maine; to this spot perchance
came the Jesuit Biard In November,
1911, ere he landed at Pentagoet; to this
spot We may be sure the humble Capu-
chln missionaries, Leo of Paris, Cos mas
de Mantle, and many others whose names
are lliustrlous in our early history, often
came TO mingle with the natives. to
teach them something of their duties
towards their creator. In fact we may
therefore assume that the site which
Belfast now occupies, together with It's
vicinity, was in no sense unknown to the
church during her stay at Pentagoet,
rom that November day, 1911, when the
first mass was offered, to that hour in
the early years of 100 when she was for
a time obliged to take her departure
from scenes already halloWed by the
sacrificing iabors of her heroic Chi rem.
Coming to the years when the threads
OF Catholic missionary ensieavors were
again taken up along our coast and river
courses, we find evidences that Belfast
was not forgotten, and that the children
of the church, though living in exile, were
now and then favored with a visit from
their beloved father in Christ.
Permanently settled, as we are told by
Williamson, in ITO by band of settlers
from Londonderry, N. H., but originally
from the North of Ireland, even though
many could justly claim Scotch an
cestry, one need not be surprised at
names from an early date which would
bespeak purely Celtic origin, and pos
sibly membership in the Catholic Church.
Speaking of Belfast as it appeared in
1902, Judge Crosby in giving his remin-
iscences some forty years later says:
''There were within its present limits
only five old framed houses, some log
houses, one old store, and two old meet
ing-houses; and few rods north of it on
my present farm, five Indian wigwams
But there were ten new stores and
houses going up. and in part finished
There was not rod of sLone wall nor a
rod OF highway made on this side of the
bay. The appearance of the whole was
that Of dllapidated forest, covered with
stumps and PROSTATE hemlocks, and
other logs. The forest was then stand
ing entire on the west side of Wilson S
| hill, and the people were then cutting off
the cord wood. The land on this side of
the hill, and between it and the village
had been burned over the year before.
The site of my dwelling place was hard
ly visible from the beach; and my office,
opposite PheniX Row, Was erected in the
midst of large hemlock logs and stumps
The country west was one continuous,
beautiful even sheet of forest, with a
| few, here and there, scattering openings.
The roads into the country were only
pushed out and partly causewayed, and
travelling intercourse with the shore
settlers was principally in open boats,
with Castine and the islands entirely so. "
Such was the Belfast which Father
Cheverus visited in the early days of
July, 1898, while on his journey from
Old Town to Bristol and New Castle
His letters at hand do not Indicate that
he then found any Catholics in the town,
for the reason that they were written
from Old Town and Penobscot and simp-
ly state that it was his intention to go in
a canoe to Belfast, and then go on
horseback by the post road" route
which would have taken him through the
towns of Lincolnville and Waldoboro on
his way to New Castle. That the same
ilustrious churchman often passed over
this road that was then "only pushed
out and partly causewayed," during his
long stay both as a priest and Bishop
on the Maine Catholic missions, is GER
tain, and if we accept the possible visits
of the early missionaries to the Indian
tribes of our State, Father Cheverus
was the first priest to walk the streets
of this old seaside city, as it was his
privilege as first Bishop of Boston to
visit time and again the Catholic aborig-
ines as well as the few European Catho-
lies, principally Irish, then settling in
our busy maritime towns. He does not,
however, give US to understand that he
found any in Belfast, fact which while
Al -