St Philip Neri, Dungannon

I've been trying to do too much, though you'd not know it from either my progress or my output. The pictures in today's post - and tomorrow's - were reclaimed nearly 2 weeks ago. I had intended to post them then, but got sidetracked by one thing and another. I did finish the book I was reading, and got caught up on the TV series "Suits". And I made contact with the Idaho State Archives, which I hope will bear genealogical fruit in the near term. But let's now take care of business closer to home.

In my post, The Brinkeys of Dungannon, I stated that Lewis Brinkey and Walburga Pfeffer were married in St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, the oldest Catholic church in Ohio. Now I have to correct that. The marriage was in St. Philip Neri, but what I should have said was "the oldest Catholic parish in northeastern Ohio". The mistake was entirely mine; I wasn't trying to mislead anyone, I just misremembered the facts and neglected to check them. This post presents a few pictures of St. Philip's and a little of the parish's history, derived from a 1992 brochure of its 175th anniversary.

Notice the height of the fir tree at the left front of the church in both these first two pictures. In my last few passes past the church, the trees effectively obscured any really good views. I'll check again on my next visit and perhaps find a good one still.

The parish was established in 1817, consisting of approximately 15 families. The first Mass was said in a log cabin, about a mile southeast of the present church, belonging to Daniel McAllister. It was used for the next three years as the parish grew, then outgrew the accommodations. In 1820, a small brick church was built next to the cabin and dedicated to St. Paul, and the adjacent cemetery still bears that name. With the population and the parish continuing to grow, an acre of land for a new church was donated by Philip Erhardt and, in 1849, the new church was named St. Philip Neri in Mr. Ehrhardt's honor.

In 1966, the church bought the land adjoining St. Paul's Cemetery on which stood Daniel McAlester's cabin, in which the first Mass was said. The pastor and other men of the parish dismantled the cabin and rebuilt it on the grounds of St. Philip Neri. The original Hipplewhite bureau, which had served as an altar in the cabin was donated by one of Daniel McAllister's cousins and returned to the cabin in 1947, where it is on display.

I'll check the maps and see if on my next visit I can duplicate the view above, which is excellent. I suspect, however, that the trees will have taken care of that view too. . . but you can never tell. . .