- Religion - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- [Photograph; caption reads: St. Patrick's Church was built
in 1864.]
-
- St. Pat's roots go back to 1844
- Although the structure of St. Patrick's Catholic Church was
completed in 1864, its roots go back
- further.
- According to the church's history, the congregation's first
member was Daniel RYAN. Born Aug.
- 12, 1844, he lived in a brick house on North Franklin Street
where the cotton factory was later erected.
- In 1844 there was no priest in Janesville, and the nearest
Catholic church was in Milwaukee, so
- that is where the infant, Daniel RYAN, was baptized.
Church records indicate that his father told of the needs of
the Catholic people of Janesville for a priest.
- Encouraged by the promise of the Milwaukee archbishop, the
six Catholic families in the city began
- to erect a building in 1845, from logs cut upon the land
where the church now stands (315 Cherry).
- All of the ground from Milwaukee Street to the river on the
south was covered by a heavy forest
- of timber at that time.
- A 30-by-52-foot brick church was erected where the present
edifice stands. Mass was said here
- until 1852, during which time an addition was built of stone
to accommodate the increase in the number of parishioners.
- Originally called St. Cuthberts, services were held in the
Hyatt block for a year while the brick
- church was being erected.
- After the completion of the church in 1864, for six years,
St. Patrick's Parochial school was con-
- ducted by the Sister of Mercy.
- In 1870, St. Joseph's Convent of the Sisters of Mercy was
built, and for 40 years parochial school
- classes were conducted in the convent.
- St. Patrick's undoubtedly was built where it was as that
is where Janesville was growing industrially,
- and where houses were being built. However, the church served
a vast territory.
- Until 1854 there was no Catholic church in Beloit, and in
the east none nearer than Lake Geneva;
- in the west none nearer than Mineral Point. There were no
Catholic churches at Brodhead, Albany, Evansville, Footville,
Edgerton or Milton Junction.
- It was not unusual, a church history says, for people to
walk 20 miles to attend Mass. Men and
- women could be seen in lumber wagons drawn by oxen.
- Mount Olivet Cemetery, which at one time was north of the
city limits, belonged to St. Patrick's
- parish.
- Located in one of Janesville's oldest neighborhoods, St.
Patrick's remains proud of its Irish
- heritage.
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