Father Thomas Walsh

parents had not been able to take them to a priest. Jack Manning made the trip to Columbus to meet Father Ryan and brought him back on horseback.

In February, 1873, Father Bedard unexpectedly came from a little settlement near Ewing (then known as Frenchtown) and said Mass on two consecutive days in the homes of Philip A. Hughes and Frank P. Hughes. Following this he made occasional visits from his little French settlement down to the Irish settlement and said Mass in the homes of various settlers. In the summer of 1874, under the leadership of Father Bedard, plans were made to build a church. It was to be located on a ten acre tract of land where the Catholic cemetery now is. James Orr, son-in-law of P. A. Hughes, had donated this land for church and cemetery use. (Mr. Orr's wife and two of his younger children, as well as his son, Joseph J. Orr, his wife and daughters are buried there. James Orr, a Civil War Veteran, spent the later years of his life in California near his son John and his family. At his death he was buried in a Military Cemetery there).

Mr. John McKerrigan and Mr. Phillip Beck, both experienced carpenters, were in charge of construction of the church and members of the parish furnished labor. Some had small amounts of usable lumber which they donated. The remainder of the material was hauled from Columbus and Wisner, the nearest railroad points, by parishioners who had teams and wagons. The finished structure had siding placed upright instead of horizontally, and pews and other interior furniture were made of rough boards, but the place seemed a palace to the fervent parishioners. Small furnishings for the interior were donated for use by members of the congregation who had religious articles in their homes.

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