The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-09-30


last are comfortably housed in their |
new home to their great satisfaction
and that OF all our people.
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE PAR.
lSH.
The parish Of st. Lawrence O'Toole |
was organized on the twenty-second |
day Of March, 1897, and the Rev. f. |
x. Batens was appointed rector. Pre-
vious to his time, Mass was celebrated
every Sunday by one of the priests OF
ST. Patrick's, in a hall situated on
West DAILY street, Walkerville, the dis
lance to st. Patrick's church being too
great for many who dwelt in the hill
city. In 1895, temporary school was
established in what is known as the
old McCune building, and was in
charge OF three Sisters of ST. Patrick's
school. When the Rev. F.. X. Batens
received his appointment to the new
ly erected parish, he secured quarters
in the Mullins boarding house, situat-
ed in Centerville, this being the only
place available at that time. Two
Masses were celebrated each Sunday,
one in the temporary school at Walk
erville, the other in the Hibernia hail.
Centerville. One of the first duties of
the newly appointed rector was to Sc
cure ground for the building of church,
school and residences for both priests
and Sisters. The ground was donated
by the Butte e Boston Mining Co.,
through the efforts and good will of
Mr.. John Gillie, the present acting
manager of the Amalgamated Co. In
the meantime, funds were being So
licited for the erection of the church.
| Actual work was begun in October,
1897, and had progressed so success
fully that, while incomplete, the edi-
| flee was in condition to admit of the
| celebration of Mass on Christmas Day.
| On January 16, 1898, the new church
was formally dedicated by Bishop
| Brondel, and was free from debt. AT
this time, the pastor was living in a
| small cottage situated on O'Neil street,
| q short distance from the church, but
was not destined to put up with this
| inconvenience for great length Of
time, as the people realized the many
Inconvenience under which he labor
ed, and determined to build a resi-
dence that would be as great a credit
to their parish as was their church.
After some discussion, it was decided
to hold fair, project in which the
promoters were ably assisted by a
number of ladies of St. Patrick's par
ish The fair was opened on Monday,
the 9th of April, 1899, and when all
matters in connection with the enter
prise were closed up, it was found
that it had netted $S,054. Work on
the new residence was Immediately
begun, and the building was ready for
occupancy in August of the same year
In 1900, a school consisting of four
rooms and basement was erected;
the Sisters occupied the basement as
their dwelling, but on account of the
increased number of pupils, the follow.
ing school term it became necessary
to convert the basement into a class
room. The Sisters then secured cot
tage on O'Neil street, where they re
manned until their present residence
was built. In 1904, the Sisters home
was erected. To raise the necessary
funds for this project, the rector and
two Sisters attended a public meeting
} of the Miners Union for the purpose
of securing permission to take up a
collection in the various mines. This
!; request was granted without dissent
ing vote, and the result of the collec
; tion was that the Sisters residence
!, was built exclusively by the hard
earned money of the generous miners
of Butte. In 1905, it became neces
sary to build an addition to the school
i, this addition consisting of two rooms
on the first floor and three class
rooms and a stage on the second
These three rooms on the second floor
can be turned into hall in which the
} pupils of the school and the members
of st. Lawrence Dramatic club give
. occasional entertainments. Here ii
may be said that st. Lawrence school
boasts of having the largest and most
commodious play grounds of any
school in Butte, either public or paro.
chial. In March, 1908, the Right Rev
Bishop Carroll secured the services OF
an Italian priest in the person of Rev
Father James Franchi, to look after
the spiritual wants of the Italians OF
Browns Gulch and Walkerville, who
number nearly $50. This had been a
long-felt want, for many of these peo-
pie, particularly the women, possess
very small knowledge of the English
language, and having no priest who
could speak their mother tongue, they
naturally grow careless and indiffer-
ent in regard to their religious duties.
The task Of this young priest is nei-
Their easy nor very encouraging, but
with time and patience and the assist
ance of the Divine Grace, it is hoped
that his work will prove successful
and much good accomplished. Father
Franchi is an earnest and jealous
worker in the field assigned to him,
and credit to the fourishing and rap
idly growing diocese of Helena.
ST. JoSEPH'S PARISH.