The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1922-04-22

enlarged, and in short time sub
stantial, comfortable and well-r.~.
nished structure housed the new con
gregation, while the dwelling was fur
nished and fitted for a Rectory
| for the pastor. Along with the pastor
much credit is due DR.. B. HI. Conlin,
the first secretary, and to Mr.. Thos
F. Delaney, the first treasurer of the
congregation, for their Jealous work
in the organization of st. James, and
the conducting of its business in the
first years of its history. The new
parish reached out to many Catholics.
who had become negligent of their
duties, and had lost their Identified.
ton with any parish church. and
brought them back into active mem,
bership in the fold. Thus the parish,
starting with membership of about
1876 families, increased in a few years
/, to such an extent that the church edi.
flee became crowded, and 1t became
to provide better facilities for caring
| for the large congregation that now
Iattended st. James. In 1910 plans
,Ewere drawn for a larger and more
! beautiful church. In 1911 construc-s
ton was begun on the present building
on the site of the old Delaney home
bon the corner of Second and McClel.
Tan. A distressing and discoHraging
accident befelr the congregation dur
ing the construction of the building,
when, with the church nearly complet.
ed, the great dome crashed to the
| ground, causing the death of one man
and the Injury of several others, and
utterly running the beautiful dome and
much of the structure which had been
completed. This disaster, which hap
pened in September, 1911, was a.
severe blow to the morale of the con-.
sregation and great encouragement
financially. Father Brennan, however,
and the people gathered new courage
and went on with the. work 1t was
pushed energetically the next year,
and on December H. 1912, the new
church was solemnly dedicated by Rt
Rev. Bishop Schwebach, assisted by
Archbishop Messmer of Milwaukee
and thirty-three priests from the sur
rounding communities.
AS the accompanying illustration
shows, the new church is a beautiful
and imposing building of majestic pro-
portions, one of the finest in the do
cese, with ample accommodations for
many years to come. After the acct
dent the dome was rebuilt under the
best engineering advice with every
provision for safety.
The Rev. Father Brennan remained
at st. James until July, 1917, com,
pletingf a pastorate of twelve years.
He was succeeded by the present pas
tor, Rev. Edw P. O'Toole, who had
served for sixteen years as pastor of
the church at Ellsworth, Wis. During
recent years the congregation has had
a healthy growth, and has been busiIy
and successfully engaged in paying
| off the debt contracted in the build
| ing of the new church. This debt is
disappearing rapidly, and there is
| every prospect that in the course of
another year it will be entirely 1iqui-
| dated. This would have been accom-
plished before the present but for the
war with it's many calls for patriotic
purposes. However, st. James church,
like so many of it's sister, churches,
is proud of it's war record. It's young
! men, who in such large numbers en-
| tered the service, and it's people, who
remained at home, responded nobly to
every call. 1t is interesting though
sad to note that the first from this
great county of Marathon to die in the
service was a young man from st.
James parish, Arthur Colombo, who
passed away at Great Lakes, and the
first soldier from Marathon County to
give his life on the battlefelds was
another young man from ST.. James,
James Burns, killed in France. Others
| from this parish who were killed in
| battle in France were John Burns, a
| brother of James, Laddie Hlava, Roy
| Gossage and Joseph Koppa. May
| these gallant boys rest in peace.
In connection with the church there
is a large and fourishing Sunday
school with an efficient staff of teach
ers under the supervision of the pas
| tor. The late Mrs. P. German is held
| III loving memory in connection with
the Sunday school, which she had or
ganized into classes and begun to
teach even before the new congrega.
ton bought it's first building. st.
Monica's Aid and St. Anne's Altar
Society were organized in the early
days OF the parish, and have always
greatly assisted in the parish work.
Both OF these societies are now doing
splendid work. The Young Ladies
Sodality is a flourishing society of
young people and is valuable factor
IN the social work of the parish. st.
Rose Sodality, whose members COM
prise the junior choir is of great as.
sistance. The Mems Club, organized
in 1920. is a large society, very active
and efficient in the business and social
life OF st. James. The boys have their
Scout Troop, and heartily enjoy its /
activities. The church also contrib
utes a large part of the membership
OF the Women's Catholic Foresters.
the Catholic knights of Wisconsin.
the Catholic Order of Foresters and |
the knights of Columbus. Each of |!
these societies has large and grow |
ing membership and all are actively |
engaged in good work for the church |
and for the community. The original /