Contributed by Michael
Priests who served St. Mary's from Mohawk Hill were:
Reverends:
Peter Maly
1861
Kircher Feledis 1883-1888
Odinus Vogt
1862
Joseph Weiand 1888 1907
Ladislaus Ferelingberg
1864-1867 F.
M. Kinney 1907-1913
Clemlins Lintz
1870-1873
W. Creedon 1913-1914
M Orth
1873-1877
James Rinsing 1914-1920
Mondy Camillus
1877-1880 Adolphus
Vollmar 1920-1924
Peter Pius 1880-1882 F. P Divinity 1924-1926 (church closed)
Hugo Kumer 1882-1883The stones were taken from the nearby fields. The cost of building this church was comparatively small as all the materials and labor were donated as they promised that night aboard the storm tossed ship.The pews were made of black ash lumber donated by John Wilbert. Their building fund consisted of between $13.00 and $16.00, the most they ever had at one time. Remembering their church in the native Fatherland,they built it as nearly like it was possible.
The pews where the women sat during services were on the left and all the men sat on the right side. In the choir loft were seats for 40 men as no women were allowed upstairs.The organ was in the center of the choir loft with a pew directly in back of it where the choir members sat. The church had a seating capacity for 150 people. Ludwig ( Louis?) Urtz was the leader of this building committee .Across the road from the church were large horse sheds where the horses were tied during services. The first baptism was that of Elizabeth Uerz(Urtz) daughter of John and Elizabeth Deutsch Uerz .She was baptized by Father Leopold Moarygember O.M.C .V of the Black Order of the Franciscans. There was no resident priest ,but the church was served by pastors from Mohawk Hill where the Germans built St. Michael's Church and convent several years earlier.
PRUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS "STONE CHURCH" BECOMES ST. MARY'S Boonville Herald c. 1970
In 1859 a little sailing vessel was trying
to desperately cross the Atlantic to bring it's cargo of human beings to the
land of opportunity.
Storm after storm struck the little ship until one night ,all aboard were certain they would never see another sunrise. Aboard were some Prussian Catholics who at the height of the storm dropped to their knees and promised God that if He brought them safe to the shores of America,they would build a church with their own hands and dedicate it to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
By morning the storm had subsided and in time the storm battered vessel arrived in the New York Harbor. The little group of Germans finally made their way to the little Hamlet of West Leyden,where some had friends or relatives who had settled there a year or two before. At this time West Leyden was still surrounded by dense forest .Finally most of the newcomers settled at Prussian Settlement which is about 3 miles west of West Leyden.The settlers worked long and hard clearing the land and building shelters and buildings to protect themselves from the animals and the weather. By 1981 the settlers were ready to build their promised church.The Urtz brothers donated the lot where the church was built.
Storm after storm struck the little ship until one night ,all aboard were certain they would never see another sunrise. Aboard were some Prussian Catholics who at the height of the storm dropped to their knees and promised God that if He brought them safe to the shores of America,they would build a church with their own hands and dedicate it to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
By morning the storm had subsided and in time the storm battered vessel arrived in the New York Harbor. The little group of Germans finally made their way to the little Hamlet of West Leyden,where some had friends or relatives who had settled there a year or two before. At this time West Leyden was still surrounded by dense forest .Finally most of the newcomers settled at Prussian Settlement which is about 3 miles west of West Leyden.The settlers worked long and hard clearing the land and building shelters and buildings to protect themselves from the animals and the weather. By 1981 the settlers were ready to build their promised church.The Urtz brothers donated the lot where the church was built.