200 Ware Avenue  Towson, MD  21204   Phone:  410-427-4700    Fax:  410-427-4795   

                      
Home  |  Immaculate Conception Elementary School  |  Towson Catholic High School  |   IC by E-mail

Parish History
Photo Album
The Apse Windows
The Bell Tower
The Organ

 

 


 


History of the Church of The Immaculate Conception
The Age of Churches

Page 2 of 6

cooper.jpg (2750 bytes)

Rev. Dooper, C.S.S.R.

An August article reported that the framework of the church was up; the carpentry work, under the direction of Mr. Scully, was moving forward "on Barron [sic] Avenue, in Towson."8 (The papers had dropped the "town" from "Towsontown.") By October 20, the building was sufficiently complete to hold a benefit under the direction of Mrs. M. A. Welby, with "fancy tables" managed by Mesdames L. H. Urban and Julia Rudiger and the Missess Molly Ady, Emma Hunt, and Phenia Bokel.9  The December 13th issue of the Maryland Journal reported St. Paul's on Ware Avenue was 30 by 70 feet with pews for 240 people. Though the altar had not been installed, the first Mass was held on Sunday, December 20, 1884, and Father Manley celebrated a High Mass at nine o'clock on Christmas morning. The papers reported the new chapel and sanctuary walls had been most tastefully adorned in evergreens by the ladies of the congregation and the choir had been augmented by additional voices. 10 11 

An early report by Father Manley reported that the October fair had raised almost the full $ 1,000 needed to pay for the lot. Father Manley's "Notae" also indicated that Monsignor Lyman supervised the construction of the church, assisted by George H. Wheeler of Towson.12

On January 11, 1885, Father Manley said his last Mass in Towson, and subsequently joined the Mill Hill Fathers, now known as the Josephites, and later served as rector of Epiphany Apostolic College, in the Walbrook section of northwest Baltimore.13

The Reverend Ebenezer E. Maynadier, the next chaplain at Notre Dame, assumed responsibility of the Towson mission. In April, the Maryland Journal reported that the Most Reverend Archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore and the Very Reverend Dwight Lyman had decided the Catholic chapel in Towson would henceforth be known as St. Cyprian's Church. 14 "Two beautiful candlesticks and a number of fine vases to ornament the altar of the chapel" 15 were purchased in New York by Monsignor Lyman.

On November 28, 1885, the Reverend Hofschneider, the third priest to be assigned to Towson, was busily training the St. Cyprian's Choir, whose members included Mrs. C. Bohn Slingluff, Mrs. N. Charles Burke, Misses Mollie Ady, Mollie Welby, Lulu Hartman, Nellie Burke, Florence Emory, Lizzle Murphy, and Messrs. George F. Wheeler, Jr., Frank Wheeler, and William L. Gailagher.16 The culmination of these efforts was a beautifully decorated and furnished church for the First Communion Mass and the Christmas services in 1885, attended by members of other religious denominations, who "enjoyed the excellent manner in which the choir rendered the musical part of the Mass." 17

mead.jpg (3065 bytes)

Rev. Mead

Early in 1886, Father Dooper, C.S.S.R, a professor from Mount St. Clements Redemptorist College at lichester, substituted for the recently transferred Father Hofschneider until Archbishop Gibbons appointed Towson's first full-time pastor, the Reverend Theodore D. Mead, a nephew of Monsignor Lyman, who had served at both Govans and Williamsport, Washington County, before his appointment to Towson. He resided with his uncle until a new rectory at 110 Ware Avenue was completed in late 1886.18

The new pastor filed papers of incorporation for St. Cyprian's Church, Towsontown, at the courthouse on April 28, 1886.19 And, on May 23, Archbishop Gibbons officiated at the dedication, changing the name of the church to St. Francis Assisi. Monsignor Lyman was the celebrant, and the choir rendered Peter's Mass, assisted by organist, Molly Ady. Following the Mass, the Archbishop received a throng of visitors in the sacristy. Among these were a great many Protestants. The Towson Bar was well represented,20 according to a report of the event in the Catholic Mirror.

Back

Next Page