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·· •.
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PRAYER
to
t he
BLESSED VIRGIN
o f
MT
CARMEL
Most
b l e s s e d and
immacu la te
V i r g i n ornament
and
s p l e n d o r
o f
Mount Carmel you who r e g a r d w i th p a r t i c u l a r goodness
those
who
wear t he s c a p u l a r b e n ig n ly l o o k upon me a l s o
and
cover me w i th
t he
m a n t l e
o f your m a te r n a l
p r o t e c t i o n .
F o r t i f y
my weakness
with
your
s t r e n g t h i l l u m i n a t e t he d a r k n e s s
o f
my mind wi th your wisdom
i n c r e a s e F a i t h Hope and C h a r i t y w i t h i n me adorn my s o u l w i th
such
g r a c e s
and v i r t u e s t h a t it
may
be
a lways p r e c i o u s
to you and
your d i v i n e Son; a s s i s t
me in life
c o n s o l e
me a t the
hour
of
d e a t h
wi th your most l o v i n g p r e s e n c e and p r e s e n t
me
to
the
most a u g u s t
T r i n i t y as your son and d e v o u t s e r v a n t to
e t e r n a l l y
p r a i s e and
b l e s s
you
in
heaven .
Amen.
)
)_11ee11 mho
rt
th
fwuuty o urmef,
pr11y for
us
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THE
LEGEND
OF
THE
SHAMROCK
The
word
shamrock i s
derived rrom
the IrL:oh
seamrog or
sea.mar whi·:h
meam;
trefoil or clover .
The fir:3t wearing of the shamrock
on St.
Pa.trick's Day
was
recorded
in
1681.
The
f i r s t
known
reference to
the
use
of
the
shamrock
to
explain the Trini ty occurred
in
1727
when a
great
Bishop
named Patrick
came
to
Ireland to teach the
word
of
God. Although he was great ly revered, some of the
followers admitted they could
not
understand the doctr ine of
the
Holy Trinity.
There upon, St.
Patr ick
plucked a
leaf
from
the
shamrock and
held t
up before
them
as a
l iving
example of
the
three- in-one. This
simple
explanation
convinced
the skept ics . To th is day, on the 17th. of March, where-ever
true
sons
of
Erin gather , the
shamrock i s proudly
worn as a
symbol
of the fai th that
is .......
Ireland.
The shamrock was accepted as an I r ish
emblem
during
the
18th. century.
I t was used
in the heraldic
badge of
the
United Kingdom and
on flags and
banners of I r ish t roops serving
with
the
United
Na1:ion5.
I t
has been writ ten: When
1
:he I1-i·::;h wet ·.b.c:i:-
: : e . a . m a r - o ~ e ,
t l :t y
o:'i:en
·:ommit ex.:ess in
J.ir::;uor- h Di•:h i o not
r ight keeping
c:f
a •iay of
the
:-.:::·.:: .:;r:-or
g e n e r . . l ~ l y i.eading
1:0 debauchery.
There
had
been
much
unrest in
Ireland
having
to do
with
outside
rule in
the
country; times were
hard
during the
Great
Famin caused by
the
failure of
the potatoe
crop
in
Black '47 . The people
were
poor
and
opressed
and wanted
a new way of l i fe ,
so
they
boarded boats
to
America
................. ..
...... Oh ,
Paddy
dear
and
did you hear the
news
that s gain'
' round?
The shamrock i s
forbid
by
law to grow on
I r ish ground ............
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Fr
Kilroy
lanted
Well
In Emmett s Kenockee Swamp
BY PETEU E. NEATON'
E:\L'llETT. - A
venerable
dis·
trict ·school
house here
-
the
Swamp
school out
Kenockee way
-shares with Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel parish school a remark·
able record for contributing
priests and sisters to the work o
the
Church.
The parish
school hasn't
caught
up
yet,
but
only because
it
is
much younger than the
district
school.
Fr.
John F. Farrell has
been pastor here nearly three
decades.
One
o his
earliest
achievements
was
to
establish the
parish
school.
,SWAMP SCHOOL is situated
about
three miles
east and
north
:o
Emmett in Kenockee
township
'on the
road running north
rom
Kenockee cemetery, site o the
original
parish church.
On the ~ c h o o l s register, in the
handwriting of many teachers,
appear long lists
o Brennans,
Mackeys, Cogleys.
Jacksons, Ha·
leys,
Stapletons,
Sharpes, Codys,
O'Loughlins,
Stackpooles,
Mur·
phys, O'Mearas, Canaans, Sars
fields, Pierces, Hefferons, Mona·
ghans and many
other descend·
nts of pioneers rom
Ireland.
Naturally
a
parish
o
such
solid Catholic
Celts
has given
numerous
priests to the
Church.
The beloved chaplain of World
War
I, Msgr.
Patrick
R.
Dunigan.
was
one
of them.
Another. was
Fr. Richard
Sadler, the first
priest ordained rom the
parish.
He carried his
books
and
h ~ ~
lunch
across the field.
. lQ .·
the
Swam-p.
s c h o o ~ . ·
Fr:
Den\3
O'Loughlin, who died
shortly
alter his
ordination, was
another.
STILL ANOTHER was Msgr.
James
F. Stapleton, founder and
un orgettable
pastor of Annunci
ation parish, Detroit. Fr. William
E. Cogley,
SJ, of Manresa tame,
was a "Swamper." Msgr.
A.
X M
Sharpe of
Dearborn
learned
the
alphabet and threw his first
papeI'
wads there.
Fr.
George
W.
Brennan
of
St.
Brigid's, Detroit,
trudged
to the
Swamp. Fr. Edward
Mackey, re
tired, also Went
there. Fr. WI ·
liam
A. Cogley
of
a Flint
parish
also
was
a
Swamp
boy.
The mother
of Fr. J.
Leo
Hea·
ley, the
chaplain
of
Providence
hospital, went
to
school ·at the
Swamp. 4nd so did the father of
Fr. Joseph A. Canaan of St.
Charles'.
Detroit.
The
father
o Fr. Richard G.
Cody, CPPS,
recently
ordained,
carried
his lunch
across
the fields
to the old school
and
so dld the
ather
of
Fr. Francis Sharpe
of
the Lansing diocese.
Founder of
Mt.
Carmel
parish
and
also
of St. Stephen's,
Port
Huron;
and St. Philip's,
Colum
bus-was
the
pioneer missionary
priest,
Fr. Lawrence
Kilroy. He
Iles now In
the
old Kenockee
cemetery among
the pioneers he
served.
He was
the
first
priest
ordained
in
the
Detroit
diJ>cese.
t he could speak
today
to
their
descendants, no doubt he'd
.say,
"Well done, S w a m ~ r s "
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THE CATHOLIC
CHURCH
IN
THE
COUNTRY
The ear ly his tory of the
Catholic
Church in St, Clair County
is
mare or less
obscure,
for while
there
i s
some evidence of
the v i s i t s of Catholic
missionaries
to
th is
sec t ion
as
ear ly
as the seventeenth century,
we
have few records of the
work
done previous to the f i r s t
par t
of
the
nineteenth.
The ea r l i e s t accounts of
Catholicism in th i s county date from 1670, when two Sulpi t ian
fa thers
- Dall ie r
and
Gallinee - vis i ted the Indian vi l lages along the St. Cla i r
River
and ins t ruc ted the
nat ives in the t ru ths
of
Chris t ian Doctrine.
After the
close of the War
of
1812,
the v i s i t s
of missionary fa thers became
more
regular and
posi t ive
measures
were
taken
ta
provide for the re l ig ious
needs
of
the
people.
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1853
proved to
be a
very busy year. Father Kilroy
bui l t a church
t
St.
Clair
on a
lo t a t
the corner of
Fifth
and
Pine
Streets
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Note:
The
Harr ingtons
s igned
t h i s
l ega l document
with t h e i r mark
as
it
was ca l l ed ,
or an X .
e ls o ••••
Cornel ius
Spain ,
the
J .P . t a lked to
Mrs.
Harr ington s epa r a t e ly
from her
husband
to
be
sure t h a t she
ag reed
~ - l & L - . (§_
4 - 1 ~ ~
c A . ~ ' 1 . ~
~ ~
J f
Y/. '/' rA. . / .
r d ' ,.,z
t 2·re«_1:d
C : J ~ r d _ ~ ~ ~ ~ - -
•
/ I X ~ f i / d : n • ~ • ~ t f 4 : - , . . e f t h - . L ~ e f ( ~ L t X ~ ~
d u ~ . . - ~ o t - ~ . , e f a ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -
c e f : . . , . ~ , ~ ~ ~ ~ 4
- < 7 a > a , , ~ . - . . e - d _ . / ~ P ' t ~ / , : I " - " • ~
t:r 1 . ~ ' t ~ ~ , ~ ~ L ~ . , . - ~ ~
~ ~ ~ · ~ , . , . / { ~ d - ~ / . .
.dh.
~ a ' , ( J ~ _ L z , , p { .
~ _ _ , / o r - - . . c
. 1 ~ # ~ ~ ~ . < Z - t . ~ c ~ ~ : / u ~ n · , . . / r - - ~ U " i 7 n _
~
/
fJ.r.7
•
V.r
l,,,.1 c < r J / - r '
;
.
.. /'. ~
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At the same time that Father Kilroy was building his log cabin church in
Kenockee, Patrick Kennedy was
organizing
Emmett Township
as Supervisor.
Patrick
had knocked
around
a bit on his journey from Ireland and had lived in Nova Scotia
and in London Ontario
before
finally set t l ing in Michigan. I t was
said of
him that
Pat
Kennedy was a
thief;
he had
stolen
an
education
in Ireland. This was no small
feat
in
the days
of
the Protestant Ascendancy there. Part of the farm acreage owned
by
the
Kennedys
is
now
the
property
of
Bob
and
Dorma
Brennan.
Patrick
was
also
the
f i rs t
postmaster. He
used to
take
the mail to Church with him and
pass i t
out af ter
Mass. Kennedy was
to
become something of a patriarch and was
to be
the driving
force behind the settlements
in
Kenockeetown.
Pa Kennedy,
as they
al l
called Patrick
Kennedy, became lonesome
for his Irish
countrymen and he envisioned a Lit t le
Ireland set
off by
i t sel f
in Michigan.
Being a
correspondent
for the I r ish 'World , a
newspaper
in New York, he wrote
glowing
ar t ic les about his home
in Michigan.
The Erie
Canal
provided
a
quick
and
cheap
way
to
travel
and the footloose I r ish came
in
droves. Pa then became the
Land Agent
for
the area and took over the management
of
the newcomers. He divided
the sections
of
the
four
townships set t led by the
Irish
into
subdivisions.
Those
from
County
Clare l ived with
County
Clare neighbors.
I t was
the
same
with those
from Limerick,
Tipperary,
Kerry and Waterford -
al l
had
the i r own sections.
These
conclaves became quite clannish.
Fred Brogan remembers: Yes, and the feeling was
so strong that the older
women
moaned
bi t te r ly about 'marrying
an
outsider' when
a County
Clare
boy
picked
a
gir l from the Kerry settlement.
Elmer Brogan tel ls: Many
of
the old-timers remembered Brockway.
There
was
lumbering at Brockway and the
lumberjacks
were mostly Irishmen. They'd
gather
in
the bar and wait
hopefully
for
a
fight. If
none
turned
up
within
a
reasonable
time,
al l would write
the i r
names and
toss
them
in
a
hat.
Two names would
then
be drawn
and these two lucky
men
were to
put
on the
fight
for
the evening.
Some
other
pioneer se t t l e rs
were
the
Donegans
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After much missionary
work,
Father
Kilroy was
f inal ly made
pastor
of
the
church at Kenockee and in 1865 a frame church was erected for about 2, 000. The
parish
then off ic ia l ly became known as Our Lady
of
Mt Carmel and not just the
Church in Kenockee.
Father
Kilroy
resigned
from active duty
in
1876 and lived in
retirement
in
Columbus unti l
his
death July 16, 1891.
He
was 88 years old; the
oldest priest in
Michigan at that time. Father Kilroy s death
closed
the earthly
career
of one of
the noblest characters in the history of St. Clair County. A man o{ unbounded
zeal,
unlimited
chari ty
and
untiring
energy,
he
proved
him.self
in
every
way
f i t ted
for
the
heroic work which Divine Providence marked
out
for him. His
name
i s as
important
to
our Michigan and
Church
history as Father
Piere
:Marquette or Father Gabriel Richard.
Father Kilroy was
succeeded in
the parish at Kenockee by Rev.
Patrick
Tierney
who remained
~ years and at
his death, in 1878, came Rev.
John
Lynch. Between 1879
and 1893, Our Lady of
Mt
Carmel
experienced
a great increase in membership under
the
s t r ic t and
beloved Father Lynch. During the
pastorate of
Father Lynch a mission
church was built
at
Brockway. This
mission
consolidated with
the
Speaker
mission in
Sanilac county and forms what is now known
as
Sacred
Heart
Parish in Yale. A church
was buil t there in 1904. In 1899 Rev.
Frank
McQueen was
sent
to take charge of the
mission
at Columbus and also
to establ ish
a new mission at Smiths Creek. On
Christmas Day in 1893, Father Lynch died and was buried in Kenockee Cemetery.
At
th is
time Rev. Peter Loughran was given charge of the parish and remained
here for 27 years. Shortly af ter his
arr ival,
the need
for
a new and larger church
came under question.
At
f i rs t there was a
difference
of opinion
as
to where the
church
was to be
built .
Some of the people thought the
church
would
be
more
convenient in the
vi l lage
of Emmett, nearer
to the
railroad. For sentimental
reasons many
wanted
the church lef t at the same location. This difference of
opinion
gradually disappeared after
the following
le t ter was
received
from
the
bishop:
Dear Rev.
Fr.
Loughran:
In
regard
to the new church of Our Lady
of
Mt Carmel, I would
s ta te that there are two points
to
be observed. First as to
the
necessity of a new
church.
This no one can deny, in a parish of the
standing
of Our Lady of Mt Carmel
there
should be a substantial
ediface worthy of Him in whose honor
i t
is to be dedicated and
manifesting the fai th of the congregation.
t
is decided,
therefore,
that a new church is
to
be
erected.
Second,
as to
the location of the
new church. The location of a
church should be
such
that i t may be convenient to the greater
m:i.jority
of
the congregation. I t
is
true, there
are
many
tender
memories
connected with
the present
location,
but
we
must
not
permit
sentiment
alone to guide
our
judgment. After due consideration
and
consultation, I have
come to the conclusion
that
the
more available
s i te for the new church would be the
village
of Emmett.
6
Yours in Christ,
John S.
Foley
Bishop of
Detroit
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In 1896 the ground was broken for a new church (in the village of Emmett). The
land was purchased from
Patrick
Keough.
On
the
second
of May,
our
Ir ish
pioneers
suffered
the loss of
the old
frame church in Kenockee
cemetery when
i t
burned
to
the
ground.
With Rt. Rev. John
Foley in
attendance on the eighth of
June the
cornerstone
was
laid
for
the
new
church
in
Emmett and
efforts
were
redoubled
to
complete i t .
Over 100 skil led and unskilled laborers came from Detroit
to
work on the
building of the new
0
church
in Emmett. James Kavanagh who owned
the hotel
said he
had only 8 rooms available but that he and Mrs. Kavanagh would try to work out a
solution. They turned
the
spacious ball room into sleeping quarters by placing
mattresses wall to wall for the
men.
The bricklayers
received
.44 per hour and .32
was
paid to
daily laborers. They worked
10
hours a day, s ix
days
a week. The
bricks for the
church
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The St. Patrick 's Benevolent Society
After
Father
Kilroy
ret i red
in 1876, he was succeeded by Father Lawrence A.
Tierney
who was instrumental
in
founding the St.
Patrick 's
o c i e ~ y in the parish.
Father
Tierney died
after
being
pastor only two and one half years., : and we
have no
records
to
te l l
us
how
long
the Society
continued
after
his
death.
What
we
do have is a copy of the constitution and by-laws contained
in
a notebook
written by Patrick Murtagh, uncle of Krs. Anna Brennan and now in possession of
her
daughter, Mrs. Donna Francek.
According to the constitution written in 1877, The object of the
association
is
for the
rel ief
of the distressed and their families,
the
visi tat ion of
the
sick,
the
burial of
the dead and to
aid
and assist
widows
and
orphans
of deceased members.
I t also says that i t is being
formed
to continue
30 years
unless
legally disolved.
Besides
being a benevolent organization, one
of
the
by-laws claims that
i t
is for
the due
celebration of
St. Patrick 's Day in
conjunction with
other societies.
Father Tierney was named spir i tual director
and 13
men signed the
constitution. These were
probably
the
founders,
however
at
the
end
of
the
lengthy
document
is
a
l i s t of
about twenty more men
who
must have
joined later .
The by-laws require
that
each member be a
practicing
Catholic
and
be
assessed 25¢ dues per month, payable
at
a bi-monthly meeting. This seems l ike a
lot
of
money considering this was
over
one
hundred
and ten years ago
but,
of
course,
they were building up a
fund
to aid needy
families.
There is a
long
l i s t of qualifications for membership and an
even longer
set of rules for
admission
of members and their duties.
e
don't
know haw
well
they followed
these
rules, but there are many sanctions l is ted for those who step
out
of
line. Some of
the highlights:
He
must be
an
Irishman by birth or descent
and
a resident of Emmett
or vicinity.
He
could
be expelled for
feigning
sickness
to
collect
benefits.
11
He
could
lose
benefits for
dueling
or fighting or for
public drunkeness.
He would be fined $2.00 for
missing
the
parade
on St. Patrick's Day.
He would be
fined
25¢ for bringing up poli t ics during a
meeting.
All these fines went into the general fund. The
benefits
included $2.00
per week up to three months for sick members unable to work and upon
the
death of
a member,
the family
collected
$15.00 for
funeral expenses.
Some
of these
rules
and regulations may seem a bit quaint now, but the St.
Patrick's Society must have been on the right track as i t
predates
two
international
organizations
active
in
our parish today. Neither
the
Knights of
Columbus nor the Daughters of Isabella were in
existance
when the
St.
Patrick 's
Society
flourished in
our
parish
last
century.
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The total
cost of
the
church and pries t s
house
was 33,767.00. Fr. Loughran
loaned
the
parish 5,000.00 and an 8,000.00
mortgage
was taken out. The
parishioners were assessed 1.00 an acre for the Building Fund.
Carpenter Work
Cut Stone Work
Mason
Work
Architect
Seating
Lathing
& Plastering
Altar
Hardware
Cost
of
Church and Rectory:
7,265
Plumbing
&
Gas machine
1,889
Iron
7,867
Furnaces
1,364
Windows
2,775
Painting
2, 100
Pews
350
Gas
Fixtures
264
1,261
125
1,074
915
1,193
1,643
394
Extras,
including
house,
hitching
cisterns, etc. =
the
lot,
organ,
carpets and furniture for church and
posts,
t i l ing,
hauling,
stone,
sand, sidewalks,
3,288
Total
33,767
Kost of
the
parishioners requested a
pew
of their own
and
a charge of 20 per
year
was
levied
- 10
for pew The church held about
850
people.
In
order to keep
up with daily expenses
at
Our Lady of Kt. Carmel,
rules were made:
1. All heads of families who are not pew-holders shall
pay at
least
10
annually
for
the
support of
the church.
2. All young men
and
women not represented by
their father
or mother
shall contribute 5 annually.
3. Pew
rent
of 20 must be paid in
advance.
Pews are
not
t ransferable.
Pewholders
who are behind
with
their
pew rent
for
six
months must notify
their pastor; otherwise their
pews
will
be
rented
without further notice.
4
The poor who
are unable
to pay
will
have
pews supplied
them and
the
services of
the pastor
will
always
be
at their disposal.
-
Fr.
Loughran
POSTED ND STRICTLY ENFORCED
·
these
Father
Loughran
planned to build
a
school soon
after
the church was completed
but the plans were shelved until Father Farrell finally buil t
i t
in 1924.
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Around the turn of the century, a
picture
of
the
village of Emmett would show
the grand new Catholic
church
and, as for the rest
of
the town: 5
grocery
stores, a
three-story
men's
clothing store and
boot shop,
a telephone office, an
ice
cream
parlor (sundaes were a dime), a barber shop and pool room, a drug
store,
a
blacksmiths shop,
the
dis t r ic t school,
the
railroad and telegraph
office,
several
l ivery stables,
charcoal
manufacturing, a hardware
and agricultural
implement
company, cigar shop, meat
market,
H.P. :McCabe's Bank, Butler 's- Ele.vator and
Saw
Ki
11,
Buckleys
Brick
Yard, 4 dress
shops
<
50 -
$1.
00 was the
usual fee
for
an
ankle-length
party dress), 2 milliners, a post office, David Donohue &
Co Furniture
and
Undertaker,
and
the Emmett House Hotel.
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Succession
of
Pastors
1867
Father L. Kilroy
1876
Father
P.A.
Tierney
1878 Father
J,
Lynch
1893
Father
P.
Loughran
1920
Father
J,
Cotter
1921
Father
J,
Hackett
1923
Father
J. F.
Farrell
1966
Father
J,
0' Neill
1971
Father
c.
Desantis
1973
Father T.G. Schmitt
1981 Father
J,
Sirianni
Rev. John F. Farrell
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F I N A NC I A L
REPORT
OF
Our Lady of
Sfit
Carmel
Chu zch
EMMETT, ·.MICHIGAN
JANUARY l,
1938
~ JANUARY l,
1939
The
financial
report
of Our Lady of Mt. Carqiel
Parish
is herein presented.
It is true
that
the most important work of a parish is of a spiritual nature, but in a way,
at
least,
this depends upon the necessary material equipment. Each one, therefore, has the obligation
in
con
science of contributing according to' ability,
that the
work of God may go forward.
I
thank
you for
your
assistance, and
pray that
God
may
bless you in the coming year.
FINANCIAL REPORT, JAN. I, 1933 TO JAN. 1, 1939
REVENUE
Balance on hand January
1, 1938.
_______ .
..........
- 972.9f·
Pew Rent ....................... - ........ -··· ····· ···-·-·····- ····· ··-··· ······ · 1,772.00
Sunday Collections ····-·······-···-·-·-·····-·····-···················
3,054.9-t
Fuel Collections ............................................... -.................. 377.00
Altar
Society, Decorating Altar...................................... 225.00
Home
Coming and Keno ...........- ..................... - ............... 2,300.00
Archdiocesan Collection
....
·-····-··-
..
·····-··-·····-···-··-···
88.00
Votive
Stand
..................................................... -···-····-········
64.00
Total
ReYenue
...............................................................
1,8 3.11
OFFICERS OF THE ALTAR SOCIETY
FOR
1938
President ...................... - ....................... _ ...Miss Mary Dunnigan
Vice-President ........................................._ _ .Mrs. Mollie Reid
Secretary .......................................................... Mrs. Mary McCabe
Treasurer
............................ - ......................... Miss Mary
Jo.
Rynn
OFFICERS OF THE ALTAR SOCIETY FOR
1939
President.. ............... ·-·-···········-··-········ ....Miss
Mary
Dunnigan·
Vice-President
......
_ ........................................... Mrs. Mollie Reid
Secretary ........................................................... Mrs. Mary McCabe
Treasurcr
................................................. Mrs. Mayme De Conick
By contributing $225.00, the Altar Society decorated the
Sanctuary
in
the
month
of
December,
1938.
JOHN F.
FARRELL,
Pastor.
EXPENSES
Archdiocesan Taxes ............................................................ 418.92
Archdiocesan Collection ....................................................
131.00
Repairs, Improvements, Etc.............................................
296.90
Decorating
Altar, Statues..................................................
225.00
Pastor's
Salary
......................................................................
1,200.00
Assistant's
Salary
···········-..·······-··········-·····....................
70.00
Organist's Salary
.................................................................. 200.00
Sexton's Salary ................... -................................................ 960.00
Altar
Bread and Wine .- ...-.............................................. 89.41
Candles, Oil and Incense ................................ ................
110.40
Telephone
............................ --······-
..
---········-··-············· 44.34
Fuel ............................................................................. ...............
893.63
Light .............................................................. ___ ................... 167.38
Insurance ..................................................................................
443.10
Salary of Sisters .................................................. -·· ·· -· ·· ·· -
2,000.00
Repairs on School .............................................................. _
138.04
Miscellaneous .......................................................................... 98.46
Postage and Printing............................................................
116.00
Car· Maintenance .....................................................
............ 103.52
Total
Expen1e1
.............................................................. 7,70t.lt
Balance on band
January
I,
1939
.............................
1,1•'7.71
------ · ----- · · - · · · ----
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From 1941
to
1966
the parish was
assigned
regular assistants.
They were:
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Father
Zak - 1941
Kaznowski - 1946
Szelc - 1951
Wahowiak - 1954
Pazik
- 1955
Barzych - 1958
Sonnenfeld
- 1959
Mansfield - 1965
Melton - 1966
In October,
1954
the blessing
of Our Lady
of Fatima" Shrine took place. This
was a project of the Daughters of Isabella and very
much encouraged
by Father
Farrell .
Fram 1955
to
1960 Father Farrell was
called
upon ta minister ta All Saints
Church in Memphis
as
a mission
and
in 1961 he took part
in
ground-breaking
ceremonies far St.
Nicholas
in Capac, another mission church.
In August of 1961, the Holy
Name
Society
was
established
at
Our Lady of Kt.
Carmel. The members purchased Our Sunday Visitor and The Michigan
Catholic far the
parish. Over the years, many donations were llllide ta poor families
far
food as well
as fuel
ail . In
later
years the
Gaadells
Food Bank was
established
by
Harry
u
Goulette in
connection with
the St. Vincent
DePaul Society.
At
that time Holy
Name
ociety funds
were combined with St.
Vincent
DePaul
and al l
bookkeeping
was done /
under
the
Food Bank which
s t i l l
assis ts poor
families
today.
In
July
of
1966, af ter 55
years
of
serving
Gad' s people,
Father Farrell
/
ret ired.
On August 17th
of
that
year Father
Jahn
O'Neill
arrived in EIDlllett
as
our new
pastor. His f i rs t
task was
ta build
a
new
school but before
i t
could be
completed,
an October 16th, just two months af ter his arrival, the beautiful and s ta te ly Our
Lady of
Mt
Carmel Church
burned
ta
the
ground. The school was rushed ta completion
and
Mass was held there until the
new
church could be
built. Jahn
Farrell Schaal
cast $317,695.93 and
was
dedicated an
April 15, 1967 by
Archbishop Jahn
Dearden.
Father
0'
Neill
farmed a
church
cammi
ttee.
He
said,
The
church
is
the
people"
and they should
have a say in what
their new church
should look like.
On
St.
Patr ick 's
Day, March 17, 1967
at
8:00 p.m., the f i rs t
meeting
was held in
the new
school.
Monsignor Sherzer came ta Emmett and
talked about
church architecture.
Thus
began
a
series
of
meetings with
different architects and a
l i turgical designer
who gave their views. There also was a
tour of churches
in
the Detroit
Metropolitan, Canadian
and
Thumb
areas.
One of the
f i rs t decisions
in the planning was ta locate the church across the
road from the
s i te
of
the old
church
far
the fallowing reasons: There was mare roam
so
i t could
be
centered an the property ta enable i t ta
be
seen well
from
all
directions. If
i t
were placed an the sight of the
old
church,
i t
would be tao
close
ta the
road, ta
the rectory
and
ta the convent. I ts placement
enabled
us
to use
the
property we
have ta i t s
best advantage thus giving t
a campus
effect".
The contract
was
finally
awarded ta
Richard Cagley
and
after
many
blueprints
were drawn, approval was
received from the
Chancery.
Ground-breaking ceremonies
were held March 16th, 1969. On June 12th, 1970 Jahn Cardinal Dearden dedicated the
new
church. The cast was $570, 000.
In
1962,
the entire parish plant
was
insured
for $89,000. A n ~ ~ policy was taken
out
just years
before
the Church burned. We
received $326,386.63 from
the
insurance
carr ier
an the lass
of
the old Church.
Father O'Neill
called
i t "a
sign
of God's
providence "
During the fallowing
year
the parish received financial help from various sources. Father O'Neill was invited
ta Guardian Angels Parish in
Detrai
t where the parishioners put on a pancake and
sausage
breakfast far the
benefit of our building fund.
Father
returned
with
$1, 802. 50 proceeds.
The
Friendly Sans of St. Patrick put on a benefit also. Fifty
parishioners
j aurnied
from Emmett ta
the party
with
Father
and brought home gate
receipts of
$803.
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Features of the New Our Lady of Mt Carmel
To
permit
lower
costs for heating, l ighting, maintenance
and
~ p e r a t i o n i t was
decided
to
incorporate
a
Chapel
for
daily
Mass
into
the plans.
The Nave
or general
seating area holds 560 but
can
be
expanded
to 660 by
opening the Chapel
or
expanded even
further to
750 by
s l iding
aside the
glass
parti t ions between the Nave
and
the Narthex .
The
Narthex ,
or main entrance area can be
used as
a Cry Room
i f
need
arises .
The
south curved
wall of this room
is
100
feet
long and 13
feet
high. t
i s
made of
spli t- face stone, incorporating stones from
the
old church and native stones
from
the farms of
parishioners. Selected stones
from the old church were used ta
symbolize
the continuity of the
l i fe of
the
parish
at
Our Lady of
Mt
Carmel
from
ear l ier generations ta the present.
When
sending
in
her
ancestry
questianaire,
one
parishioner
asked
why
the
bricks an one side of the church wall are smooth and
the
other side has bricks
sticking out. The answer is that an Accaustical
Engineer
was engaged ta make a
study of the bui lding's accoustical characteris t ics
and, as a
result ,
the
Architect
and Engineer incorporated a
decorative
masonry
screen along
one wal 1 of the
Nave ,
behind which
is
located an accoustical blanket to absorb excessive
sounds.
The Altar is :made from
granite
from the
quarries
of Minnesota.
In the courtyard
stands
the beautiful
statue of
Our Lady
of Mt
Carmel created
in fiberglass by ar t i s t Gina Testaguzza of Lake Orion.
The
s tat ions of
the cross are
carved
linden
wood
from
I ta ly
The Baptistry,
designed ta
be str iking and functional was
buil t
by one of
our
carpenters from the parish, Paul Houle.
The
confessionals are
sound
proof,
equipped
for the
hard-of-hearing and the
s l ide may
e
opened
by the penitent i f
he
wishes a more personal confession.
Realizing that the
church
buil t
in 1853,
the
one built in 1865 and
the
one
built in 1897 were al l
destroyed
by f ire, extra precautions were
taken that
th is
would not happen again.
The new
church was constructed basically of concrete,
masonry and
s teel .
The
s tyle
of
the
church
is
bold,
texture,
lighting,
and
color
-
class ic
in
appropriate and in good taste in 50 years.
- 13 -
simple,
massive
but
made
warm
through
a way that will make i t appear s t i l l
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C::- July
6,
1971, Father
John
F. Farrel l died. Perhaps
the
f ines t t r ibu te to
F r. Far re l l was the
fac t tha t
during his pas tora te
there
were more vocations from
Emmett
than any other town
of i t s s ize
in the
s tate .
Father Desant is came to Emmett in
February of 1971. e
often
vis i ted
the
homes
of
his pari:3hioners while t ravel ing around
the parish
with his dog. When a
person
would
inv i t e
Father
Desantis in to his
home, the dog also came
in. e
thought
he was a par ish ioner too. Father l e f t EIDlilett
in
August
of
1973.
Father Thomas Schmitt came in
October
of
1973 and l e f t in
June 1981.
Several
changes took place in the parish during
Father Schmit t ' s
s tay
here.
There
were
several
specia l col l ec t ions taken up to t ry to
support
John Farrel l school but costs
rema.ined high
and
income
was not enough to continue. In
1967 the
school
operated
with
approximately $3,000 income and
$20,000
in expenses (a def ic i t
of $17,000)
The
John Farre l l School
was
sold to the
Yale
Public Schools for $348,000.00 on November
25, 1974.
The
people then needed
a center
for parish funct ions which prompted the
building
of
our new
hal l a t
a
cost
of
$285,617.91.
Opening
on
April
15,
1977,
i t
has served us well
as
a
meeting
place
for par ish and colDlilunity ac t iv i t ies .
Father Jasper
Sir ianni a r r ived here
on
June 15,
1981
and
i s s t i l l with
us
today,
helping
to
ce lebra te the
125th. Anniversary of
Our
Lady of Kt.
Carmel Parish
in Emmett. e has not taken a salary for
the
past several years which helps the
par ish s tay
solvent . Father
was a recipient of
the
John Far re l l award which was
begun
by Cardinal Dearden in the Fal l of 1972.
I t
i s given
to a pr ies t
whose
pastora l
serv ice deserves recognit ion and whose
l i f e
has
been open to continued
growth and renewal. The award consis ts of a three month s tay in Rome to par t i c ipa te
in the Ins t i tu te for
Continuing
Theological
Education
conducted a t the
Graduate
House of the North
American
College and a
grant
toward expenses.
The
Knights of
Columbus was
s t a r t ed
in the parish
shor t ly
a f te r Father
Sir ianni came
here.
The char ter date
i s
December 27, 1981. Walt Szymanski was the
f i r s t Grand
Knight
and,
l a te r
Jack Hazelman
was
the f i r s t elected Grand
Knight.
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e
o ow ng
a
a
oy
~ n e
e u ~ ~ e n ~
y e ~ ~ .
We al o 6ound a l i t 6hom 6 yeah
ago.
Vo you know any 06 the e gu
A L T A R B 0 Y S
(
2989)
Pat \Jebb,
Rober t Beat ty 384-1314 384-6590
Sean Quain ,
Andrew Daoust 384-1877 395-2219
Brad
Br ian
Francek
384-6584
Jim St ap l e t o n J e r ry
Sche ib le
384-1786 384-1711
·Greg Pa t Kinney
384-6966
Brad
Keegan, David
Van Hensel
395-4489 392-2923
Roger McClel land, Kevin Kinney 384-1819 384-6643
Sco t t
Jason
Schmidt
384-1731
Michael Hagger ty Ricky Mar t inda le
384-1743 325-1369
Ron H ei l i g Lawrence Cowper
395-7209 324-2205
Chr is Hazelman, Tim Schne ide r 384-6582 384-1758
A L ~ A R BOY PARTNERS
( 197 3)
Donald
Brennan
Patrick
Brennan
384-·H346
(10)
Thoma:s
:Butler
384-1320
Bill Hyde
384-1708
~ i o ~ a r d Cowhy
}24;..:2411
Thomas
Cowhy
· ~ 2 4 2 2 9 8
11) John
Mackey Joe Mackey
384-1840
Michael Connelly David McClelland
384-1356 ~ 8 4 1 8 1 9
,4) James Donnellon
384-1369
James Ryan
384-1831
Edward Cowhy Gerald Cowhy
Mike Grace
Mark
Harter
}64-1306
324-2298
Joe
Grace
384-1767
Tom
E.
Cowhy
~ 8 4 1 3 6 6
James Kovach
325-1379
Patrick Johnson
184-1771
9)
Ro.ber::t Kea..n
384-1363
Tony
Chmielewski
395-4382
(12) Paul
McClelland, Patrick McClelland
384-1819
(13)
James O'Connor Mike O Connor
384-1735
(14) Michael Quain Bil l Quain
384-1719
(15)
David
Stahl Robert Stahl
384-6630
(16)
Scott
Schneider, Sal
Palazz.olo
384-6658
(17) Chris
Szymanski
384-6698
(18) John
Nowakowski
384-1757
John Cowhy
387-2.254
Ga.;ry
Zwiernik
384-1712
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Thank you to the sources used for this presentation:
Joe Donahue History of the Irish in Emmett
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The Church
Is
The People
While making
plans
for
our 1990 celebration, a suggestion was given that we
should
include in
our
booklet
some
information
about
the ancestry
of the
people
who
make up Our Lady of
Mt.
Carmel Church. So, we
sent
out letters some time ago
asking
questions and these are the replies
we
received:
Margaret and Eugene Asselin have spent
the
winters here for the past 3 years. Their
daughter
and son-in-law
Sandra and
Bob Boyd and grand-daughters
Jeanine
and Bonnie
have lived
here
14 years. . , . . .
Rosemary Brogan Ryan -
My
grandfather, Frank Brogan, owned the general
store
in
Emmett which s t i l l
stands today (the
current
barber shop).
His
store
was known
for
i t s Brogan's Tea , supposedly the best tea ever. The l i t t le poem below tel ls i t
all .
Brogan's was a grocery
Once
to try a
test
on her
In a
l i t t le
country
town I
told
a
l i t t le
l ie
An item that was carried long Brogan's hadn't any
Had brought
i t
great
renoun.
So
I
made
another buy.
When Grandma had a
shopping
l is t I handed her the Brogan Brand
And handed i t to me and watched her make a brew.
She always mentioned carefully She poured i t
in
a china cup
A pound
of
Brogan's
tea. And
took
a sip or two.
A look
of disappointment
Was
what she
turned
on me.
There
isn' t
any
other
brand
That
equals
Brogan's Tea.
This
store was
later
operated by my Uncle Elmer. It also housed
the post
office and Elmer was postmaster until
his death.
My
grandfather
married
Kary Carroll and
they
had
seven
children - Helen
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Brandon
Thomas Brandon
of
County
Clare, Ireland,
and
Margaret
Dunigan
of
Emmett
but
born
in Pennsylvania married
and
set t led in Emmett. Thomas had a brother,
Michael and 2 s is ters Ann who married a
Mr.
Fitzgerald,
and
Mary who married a
Kr.
Reedy.
Margaret
was a
s i s t e r
to
Michael
Dunigan
the f i r s t
white
child
born
in
Riley
Township in 1840. She had one
s i s t e r and
two other brothers besides
Michael.
Tom
and Margaret
purchased
80
acres
on what
is
now Burt Road
near
Keegan
Road cleared
the
land and
bui l t
a home
there.
They eventually added
40
more
acres
to their
homestead. Ten
children
were born to Thomas and Margaret.
Patrick, who
l e f t
Em.mett owned
and operated
a hotel
in northern Michigan.
He married
and
had two children. He was accidentally shot and killed while
trying to remove some
s tray dogs
from
under his house.
John,
who
had
wanderlust
in his
soul, emigrated
to
Alaska
and
worked
in the
gold fields.
He
returned to
Em.mett
only for brief vis i t s and died in Alaska.
John never married.
Mary married Patrick Rynn
and
they had a
farm at
Rynn and Quain Roads.
They
bad
one son, Billy.
Margaret
married Thom.as Rynn who
worked
for the
railroad. They lived
in
Battle
Creek and had
no
children.
Timothy died a t the age of 2 years.
Michael
and James stayed on
the farm
with the i r parents and continued
farming with their
father. Neither
of them married.
Martin
never
married either, and
also
lived at home
but
he was a
mail
carr ier
for the
Emmett Post
Office.
Thomas married
Elizabeth Haggerty and
moved
to Chicago.
maintenance man for various elevators in and near Chicago.
children, Marguerite,
Bessie, P.J . , Catherine,
Martin,
and
Thomas.
He worked
as
a
They had s ix
Christopher, born December 24 1859 also worked on
the
farm but he
eventually
went to work on
the
Grand Trunk
Railroad which
was being
built
through
the area a t
th is time.
He
married
the former
Gertrude
Klauka
of Centerline.
Gertie came
to
Emmett
to
work as a
cook
in Larry 0'
Neil ' s
Hotel
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Brandon
(Con'
t
The res t
of the
children were born
in
this home.
Joseph in
1895, Thomas
in
1897, Leo in 1898, Mary in 1900, Margaret in 1902,
Helen
in 1904, Vincent in
1906,
Ann
who died
at
birth
in
1908, and James,
who
died at birth in 1910.
Chris was
very active
in the
pol i t ics of the
village,
serving
for many
year::> on the
council
in
different
cap 1ci t ies , and
also
served as a Township
official .
During
the
construction
of
the
new
Our Lady
of
Mt.
Carmel
church
in
Emmett, he
donated
many
hours of
work,
and his
team
of horses and
wagons.
He
was
also
an
active
member
of
the Holy
Name
Society. Gertie was not involved with
outside organizations as caring for her home
and
family occupied al l her time.
In
la ter years,
she became a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the
Gleason-Butler
post
in
Emmett.
Chris
continued farming until
his
death
in
1940.
Gertie
remained l iv ing on the
homestead
with
hersons,
Joe, Leo, and Vincent, unti l her
death in 1948.
Jahn
worked a t home
for
a
time, but
eventually
lef t and
became a
telegraph
operator.
He was the
telegrapher a t
the Emmett Depot for
many
years.
He
married
the former Nellie
Jackson, and they had four
children,
Madelon, Mary
Ella,
Elsie,
and Joseph.
John
died
in
1974,
and Nellie
in 1975.
Thomas was a member of
the
U.S. armed forces
in
World
War I.
While he was
in Texas, he was
in
a t ra in
accident while
they were moving troops from one camp
to another. He was badly
injured,
and spent many months
recuperating in
a
hospital.
When he came home, he went
to
Flint
to
a trade
school, learning the
f ie ld of mechanics. He returned to Emmett and established a garage a t the "Y",
the intersection
of
old M-21
and
Brandon Road.
Tom
and Irene
Balie
were married
in
Emmett and had s ix
,children, Lorene, John,
Lucy,
Robert, William, and
Thomas.
Tom died in 1933 and
Irene
and
her brother-in-law,
Vincent Brandon
continueed
to
operate
the garage
for
many
years. She eventually moved to Fl int where
she
l ived
with her sons,
John
and Thomas.
Irene
died in 1987.
Joe and Leo
continued
to l ive on the homestead, helping their parents with
the
farm
work. However,
for several
years in the winter time, they l e f t
to
work
in the lumber mills of Wisconsin, returning home in the spring to
help
with the
planting.
Neither
Leo,
who
died
in
1961,
nor Joe,
who
died
in
1969
married.
Vincent, known as
Dutch ,
helped
with
the farming
for only
a
short while,
preferring to work with his brother, Tom as a mechanic in
his
garage. After his·
brother 's death, Irene and Dutch continued this partnership. Dutch served with
dis t inct ion in the army
during
World War II. He was
involved
in
many
of the
European campaigns, and participated
in
the famous Battle of the Bulge. After
his return, he was instrumental.
in the formation
of
the
Gleason-Butler
V. F. W
Post in Emmett and served
many
years as commander. Dutch never married and died
in 1956.
Caroline,
after
completing school, went
to
Port Huron where
she
entered the
nursing program
a t Port Huron Hospital. After
graduating, she
became a
private
nurse, caring for various
pat ients
in the
area
unt i l her marriage to Frank
Brennan. They had six
children
- Leo,
who
died
at
3 days of age,
George,
Martin,
who
died
at birth,
Thomas,
Marie,
who
died
at
6 months,
and
Jimmy,
who
died
when
he was 11 years old.
Frank
was an area
farmer
and
also
worked for the St. Clair
County
Road Commission.
Frank died in
1957
and
Carrie
in
1983.
M.ary was sick
for many years.
However, she was able to finish her
schooling and graduate. She
died
in 1917
at
16
years
of
age.
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Brandon
(Con
t
Margaret, better known as Peg, after graduating from
the Em.' lett
school,
went
to
Cleary
College in
Ypsilanti and
enrolled
in the f ie ld of
accounting.
She
returned to
Emmett
and
worked
for Frank
Keough
at the
Emmett
elevator as
the
bookkeeper
until
her
marriage
to
James Brennan. For a few
years
af ter
their
marriage,
they owned
and
operated a farm on
Bricker
Road. However,
they sold
th is
farm and moved
to
Detroit where Jim worked in the construction business.
They eventually moved back
to
Emmett
and
owned and operated a
gas
station,
grocery
store, and creamery
station.
When Jim
suffered a
heart attack, they sold
the
gas
s tat ion - grocery store business. They retained the
creamery
business
and
moved
to
a new
home
on Main
Street.
They had
no children and
Jim died
in
1968 and Peg died in 1989.
Helen graduated from the Emmett school and stayed a t home
to
help her
parents with
the home
and
farm. She worked
for
a time at the Kike Mcinerney Ford
dealership and gas s tat ion
which was
located next to
the Emmett
Hotel.
She and
Clem Quain were
married October
29, 1929
in
Emmett by Father John Farrell. Clem
worked
as
a
farmer
for
some
years, then
went
to
Port
Huron where he was employed
by
Mueller Brass
and then
Chrysler
Corporation. When Chrysler s closed, he
returned ta work in Emmett at Johnny Mullally s gas stat ion, located on Kain
Street next to his
home. After Johnny s
death,
he found employment at the Emmett
Elevator where he continued
to
work unt i l
his retirement.
Clem died
in
1970.
Clem and Helen have
three children
- -
Patrick, who married
Kary
Ann
Sweeney, l ives on
the original
Chris Brandon
homestead.
He
has
carried on the t radit ion of farming. They
have
three
daughters, Laura,
who
is a research
nurse
a t the University of
Michigan
Hospital
in Ann Arbor;
Anne,
who is married to
Mark Ladd from Port Huron,
and is
a
claims
representative
for
Aetna
Insurance
Company
in
Troy; and
Judy, who is
a
student
at
Michigan
State
University.
Robert, married Donna Belle Welch of Yale and they have
six
children, Linda, who
married Vito Palazzolo
and
l ives
in
Emmett;
Robert,
who
was kil led
in
1974
in
an
auto accident;
Michael, who is married to
Nancy Normandin and l ives in Emmett;
William,
who i s
a student at Grand
Valley College;
and Nancy
who l ives in
Emmett
with her parents. A
daughter,
Sue Ann, died at 2
days
of age. Bob is a
detective
with
the
St.
Clair
County Sheriff Department.
Helen Marie married Daniel LaM:ay,
l ives
in
Emmett and has 6
children.
is married to Don
Lester and l ives in
Port
Huron; Sherry,
who is married
Thomas and
l ives
in Yale;
Daniel,
Christoper, Jason, and
Bradley,
who al l
home. Helen
i s
a homemaker.
Sue,
who
to Andy.
l ive at
Grandma,
Helen bas always been active in her church
and community, working
for
many
years
as a
section
leader in
the
old Homecomings Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel became famous for, as a very active member in the Legion of Mary, holding
various off ices in the
Daughters
of
Isabella,
and always a willing supporter
of
the
Al
ta r
Society,
now
known
as
the Catholic
Womens'
Guild. For
many
years,
she
was a member of
the
Emmett V F W Auxiliary. She is
currently very
active in
the
Emmett
Senior
Cit izens,
and is
a
Minister
of
Praise in the
OLM Church. Helen
i s
the sole
surviving
child of
Christopher
and Gertrude
Brandon.
The descendants of Thomas and
Margaret
Brandon have lef t their mark on
Emmett
and
the
four corners
of North America. They were,
and
are, a
hardy people
who sunk
the i r
roots here,
ins t i l led the i r
values of
hard
work,
concern far their
fellow man,
and
love
of God in
their children.
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Stor ies
to ld by Irene Brandon
by Bil l Brandon
I rene ' s grandfather , Robert Balie,
came
from Ireland. He ran
away
from
home and a capta in
of
a
ship
hid
him.
His fa ther followed
him'
to
London,
but
gave
up.
Irene says she remembers
being
paid
10¢ a week to milk the
cows
unt i l she
learned how to do i t , then "she ju s t
did i t .
Her fa ther was a mailman
and,
when the
roads were
too bad
for the buggy, she
rode
the l i t t l e horse through
the
deep
snow to
get the mail delivered.
Irene reca l l s : "
There
was a
massive oak icebox
that hulked in a
corner
away
from the
cookstove.
I t
was a
monster whose ent i re l i f e
was
dedicated to
aggravat ing people. The block ice was never made in
s izes tha t
would
f i t
and
each time t
needed t be
f i l led ,
i t
meant
custom
chisel ing
and
showers
of ice
in every
direct ion.
Dad
put
in a melt-pipe to the basement to s top the overf low
in the drain pan in the ki tchen, that
no
one ever emptied. But i t never worked.
Li t t l e
pieces
of
food
were always get t ing in the
hose and
plugging
i t
up. When
Detroi t Edison
s t a r t ed
se l l ing
ref r igera tors
they bought the old ice ea te r for
two
dol lars .
I th ink they
hauled
them to the dump. The new ones cost ten
dol la r s
and
had brass hardware."
About
her mother: My mother
was Methodist
and
when I was
three ,
I
remember
s i t t i ng
on
her
lap in the buggy coming home from church. I
s t a r t ed
to
s ing
'Sweet
Rosie
0 ' Grady'
and she
to ld me tha t on Sundays, we could only s ing
hymns.
She died
when I was
f ive.
I sa id
tha t
they didn ' t
have to take me in
there,
I
knew
she was
dead. That Christmas there wasn't
anything
under the t ree
for
me. I guess everyone was so sad
they
jus t forgot , When my aunt Ste l l a
found
out
she
cried. The
next
year
my brother ,
Bob, got me a doll and Aunt
Ste l l a made a l l the
di f ferent
kinds of clothes for i t . "
In l e s s than four months, Irene
los t
her father, the uncle who helped
r a i se
her, and her husband,
who
died of l inger ing
war
wounds from
World War I.
She
ra ised
s ix
chi ldren
and
some
orphan
chi ldren
by
hersel f
in
the depression
years.
She owned two gas s ta t ions a t one t ime in her l i f e
and
kept a l l
the
books for them
hersel f .
She
was
the
f i r s t
woman to work in the
elevator
as the
bookkeeper.
Previously, th i s posi t ion was always held by a man.
When Irene
Brandon died
on
February
12,
1987, i t was said tha t
her
q u a p t i e s were: se l f - sacr i f ice , perseverence, and courage;
she
had
"t rue
gr i t "
A woman of s t rong character , body,
and
mind, a t rue fr iend,
devoted ch r i s t i an
and
generous
to
a f au l t , the
family and f r iends of Irene Brandon
suf fe r
an
i r reparable loss in her passing. Good night , Irene - we love you "
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The History of the James C and Anna Brennan Family
by Donna
Francek
was born to Thomas and Catherine
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The Brennans, The
Breens,
The Purtel ls ,
and
The
Neatons
by
Marian Pra t t
Grandpa Brennan
(John F.) had
7 brothers
and
5
s i s t e r s . His brothers and
s i s t e r s are
l i s t ed
in
Donna Francek'
::;
s tory about
James C
and· Anna
Brennan
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Brennans
(Con t)
John Brennan
ind Catherine
Breen
h ~ i :3 children. Catherine
married
Tom
Flannigan and
1 i
ved Detroi t with the i r children:
Don, Jack,
and Eileen.
Helen married Gerald Butl-er---and _ had three children: Kay who died as a
baby,
Jerry who died
as
a baby,
and
Sue, who married Jim Kovach and
l ives
in
Goodells.
They
have
three
children: Jim, Karen and Jerry
who was ki l led
in an auto
accident three
years
ago).
Tom Brennan
married Mary Rita Purtel l , the only
chi ld
of John Pur te l l and
Mary
Ellen Heaton.
Tom
and Rita
had 8
children,
7
of
whom
died a t bir th:
Theresa
Cl947), Michael J.
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Harold
B.u..al.aCdeceased)
husband
of Mrs.
Martha Burns
and father
of
Harold
Burns,
Jr.
Great-grandparents:
Bernard
Burns
(died 1852),
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Our
Lady
of Ht. Carmel
Written
by Euphemia Collins
'Tis
indeed
grand
tha t
Pa Kennedy brought along a l i t t l e name plate when he
came across
ta
America
from
his
birthplace in Ireland.
Ah
the
pride in the
heart
of an Irishman,
as
he stands there forninst
the
door
of
his
bit of a lag house an
the
l i t t l e knoll by
the creek bank,
and
gazes a t
the words, Tara's Hall imprinted there an the
l i t t l e
plaque which he had just
fastened aver the
doorway.
Yes, t i s a far
cry
from the
Tara's
Hall
in
County lfoath
in Ireland
but
i t
i s
a
bi t
of home.
God
bless
th i s house and a l l
within,
and may ye al l prosper, invoked
the
youthful
voice of
the
missionary
priest .
Father Laurence Kilroy whose
t ravels
led
him along
the t ra i l beside the rude cot only
recently
erected
by Pa Kennedy and
his
stalwart
sons.
Twenty odd
miles
west of what was then the
village
of Desmond, now
called
Port
Huron, lay
this
gentle
land. Wilderness,
yes,
but a
kind
and generous
wilderness. The
soi l
was r ich
and
pliable.
There
were
t rees aplenty
for building
and
good water
so t i s no wonder Pat Kennedy loved i t and wished to
share with
others.
Pat
Kennedy was known to a l l and
sundry
as Pa - Pat
with
the
t
lef t
off. -
a kindly man who with his wife and family had come
to
carve a home for himself
and
his loved ones here in this
good land. He was
one
of
the f i r s t to find his way in to
this
beautiful
woodland,
but
he
did not
leave
the
world
so
far
behind
for
he
made
i t
a
point to t ravel to
Desmond
to get
a weekly
newspaper,
published
in Boston and
brought
by boat to this small settlement a t the
foot of Lake
Huron. The Boston
Pilot,
published
in Boston by John Boyle O'Reilly
was
the strongest l ink
between
the
new
settlements, so what
does our friend Pa Kennedy do?
On one
of
his t r ips to
Desmond he takes
along
a
prepared
copy
of
an
advertisement
which
he
sent
to
Boston
which probably read something l ike
this:
Come
to
Michigan -
fine
land - fine opportunities -
Ir ish Catholics
wanted - homesteads $1.25
per
acre -
government
land
-
rai lroad
construction
offers
employment.
So-
along went
the
ad
and the Boston Pilot did the
rest . Families came
from New York, Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
the New England States, and Canada. These early
se t t le rs had
l i t t l e
in worldly goods
but
they were sturdy and venturesome and soon
many
had
come
in
and
taken up
land.
The
settlement
grew and,
although
i t
had been
known
as
Clay - the name was
eventually
changed to the
present
name of Emmett in
honor
of
the Ir ish patriot .
At that time Detroit
was
a fair ly
large
town and had a number
of
Catholic
families. Riding out of Detroit on horseback were two Catholic missionaries. Father
Kelly,
who traveled
to the
west and south
and
Father Kilroy whose pathway led
to the
north and eas t and Emmett and i t
was
this
young pries t who celebrated the
f i r s t
Holy
Mass in Emmett. The home of
Patrick
Dunigan, a log house
which
s t i l l
stands
was
the
scene of
this f i r s t .Mass. The exact date
is not
known
but
descendants
of
the
Dunigan family
set the time as probably about 1840 as records show that the f i r s t
land
in Emmett was entered in 1836.
A
log church
was
eventually replace
by
a
frame
one.
In one
of
the
early
records is brief statement as
follows:
"A.D. August 23, 1865 Ego didicavi Ecclesiam hujus loci
Kenockee
sub-honore
Sanctae
ariae Virginis de Monte
Carmel.
-Laurentius
Kilroy, Pastor
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Grant
and Jim Collins• grandfather, Timothy Collins hauled stones for
the
church.
His
great-grandfathers
were
Jeremiah Collins
- 1823 and
Sylvester Coacty
- 1819.
Bridget Collins, daughter of
Jim
and Jo
Collins
was
the
f i rst baby
Father
Farrell
baptized
by
the name of
Bridget
- 1958.
Their
son, Jim was Father Farrell 's f irs t
commentator
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Dunigans
by Ann
Donnellon
Patrick Dunigan
emigrated
from County Limerik, Ireland, in 1832 and
set t led in Philadelphia where the f i rs t two
of
his five children were born. He
and his wife Bridget Keough Dunigan
lef t
Pennsylvania in 1837 and headed to the
wilds of Michigan. The places
la ter
called Emmett and Riley Twonship were then
known only
as
Town 7, Range 14
in the
terr i tory of Michigan. Patrick and
his
friend Michael Harrington were the f i rs t to
sett le
with their
families in this
area.
I t was
here
on February 12, 1840 that Patrick's and
Bridget 's th ird
child,
a boy, Kichael, was
born.
He was the f i rs t
white
child
born
here and
in later
years, he loved to reminisce
about
the
pioneer
times. In an interview in 1928
Ctwo years before his death)
Michael
recalled
how the Indians would come to his
parents
cabin
and
throw
the
venison
they
carried
up on
the roof
to protect
i t
from wolves. On cold nights, the Indians
often
came into their cabin to sleep
on the floor before the f ireplace. At night, the wolves prowled around the
cabin
and
they got
so bad
that
the
county
offered 6. bounty and the state
$7.00
bounty to get
r id of them.
When
the
civi l
war
began,
Michael was 21 and
he t r ied to
enl ist
in the army. The fact that he was rejected
because
he was
too frai l gave the old
pioneer
a good chuckle over sixty years later.
He recalled that the great Michigan forest f i res of 1871 and 1881 did not
seriously
threaten Emmett but
stated
that the smoke was so
dense
that , when he
dug
for
potatoes, he would
have to
get
down
and
feel
around for them.
In 1866 Agnes Brogan came to Emmett from Perth, Ontario to visi t
her
s is ter , Mrs.
John
Furlong and there she met Michael Dunigan. They were married
by Fr. Kilroy in 1867 and had a
family of four sons
and a
daughter.
Msgr.
Patrick
Dunigan, one
of
their
sons,
gained
fame
in
World
War
I
as
the
highest
ranking chaplain in the army
and
as a decorated and wounded war
hero.
Their
daughter, Mary, lived al l
her
l i fe in this parish and is often remembered as the
President of the Altar Society.
Xichael
Dunigan died
in
December 1930 and his wife of 65 years died a few
days later . Their funerals were attended by hundreds
of
mourners, more than 7
priests , the bishop and the governor of the State of Michigan.
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George
and Luci l le
Eschker
Family
by Luci l le Eschker
George Eschker s German ancestors l e f t the
Black
Forest
area
of Germany
and immigrated to Hungary when Maria Theresa was Queen of
Hungary.
· The Germans
were
given
a
small
piece
of land
in the center
of
Hungary
that
was
mostly water.
They were good farmers so
they worked tha t part in to
the best wheat f ie lds
in
a l l
of
Europe.
They
were very poor. There was barely enough
to eat .
Georges s mother and fa ther
had
re la t ives in Detroit
so
they came to
Detroi t about
1910. The
fa ther
had
t rouble
f inding
work.
He spoke only
German
and Hungarian. He made a
l iving
by taking care of horses and
del iver ing
coal
to
homes
by horse and wagon.
George was born in Detroi t in 1912. Two brothers
and
a s i s t e r were
born there
too. Work
was scarce with the advent of the coal
t ruck.
The family moved to the farming country around Allenton
and Capac
and
worked
on the
farms.
George
grew up there and jo ined the Civi l ian
Conservation
Corps
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The Foleys
of
Foley Road
The Foley
family
immigrated from Cohersiveen, County
Kerry,
some time in
the la ter
1B40 s or
early 1850 s.
The father,
mother, five
adult
sons
and two
daughters
made the t r ip
from Ireland to Canada. The oldest son, James,
had
died
in Ireland but his widow and three children
accompanied
the family.
I t was while they were in Canada that the senior
Foley
died and family
t radi t ion maintains that
he
had to
be
secret ly buried
at night because
the
Orangemen
resented the
intrusion
of the Catholic
Irish to the i r land. The
widowed
mother,
Catherine Foley, with
her
family, entered the
United
States
and
se t t led in Jamestown,
New
York. The Foley men worked
as
laborers
and la ter as
contractors, building roadbeds for
the
railroad. They followed this work which
took them into Ohio during the Civil War period (1860 s).
The deceased James son, Jeremiah, was, by
th is
time,
17 and old
enough to
enlist
in
the
Ohio
volunteers. He
fought
in
several
batt les,
traveled
with
Sherman s
and
Sheridan s
armies through the south and was wounded, losing the
fingers of one
hand.
Upon his return
from
war, Jeremiah
found his
mother
had
died
and his younger brother, P.J. was
being
cared for by members of the family.
His
l i t t l e sister
Alice, however,
had
been allowed
to
stay with
another family
and, in
the
unsettled
times following
the Civil War they had migrated westward.
Jerry searched in vain for
his
l i t t l e sis te r . Subsequent generations of his
branch
of the family have
had gir ls named
Alice
but no trace
of the original
child was ever found.
In the late 1860 s,
the
Foleys migrated to Kichigan where
they
purchased
farms
in the northern
part of Emmett Township. John, .Maurice, Paddy, and Dan
along with their sis te rs Hanora Bowler and
Bridget Carey
Newell owned several
farms along or near the
road
which subsequently took the family name. Because of
the prevalence of
11
Kerrymen
in
that
area, i t
became known
as the
Kerry
settlement.
The most
remarkable
of these
pioneers
was Dan, a bachelor, with whom his
mother
lived until her death
in 1891. Jeremiah, who
had married
Elizabeth
Parkinson
af ter his discharge from
the
Union Army
joined
Dan and, together, they
bui l t up a thriving stock farm.
In
1898,
the family
moved from the i r
log house
into a
large, brick,
Queen
Anne
style
home on Foley Rd. This house, today, remains in
the possession of
descendents of
Jeremiah.
I t was from here that
Dan conducted
the business of the
busy
stock farm
and
also the
ci
vie and pol i t ica l affairs in which he took an
active part . He
served
as
supervisor
of
Emmett Township
and twice,
was
elected
Clerk of St.
Clair County.
Jerry and his
wife,
Elizabeth, had eleven children and, although
several
died young,
the
remaining have many
descendants l iving
in
the
parish today.
Their
th ird daughter, Nellie, married Edward Butler and
the
Edward,
Gerald, Tom
Basil
and
Elizabeth Butler Gleason
branches of
this family
l ive in the
EID1Uett
area. The
youngest
daughter, Alice, married Frank Keough and their two daughters
Ann
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8/9/2019 Our Lady of Mt Carmel 150 Years Entire Text Recognition
35/113
Dan Foley s
Journal
Daniel
Foley
kept a diary for
over
twenty years and though much of what he
wrote was a record of the weather
and
farming conditions. He also comments on
events
of the times. His
f i rs t
journal was a
notebook
begun on
Christmas
Eve
1889
l i s t ing
the
acreage and description of
Maplewood
stock farm.
·The
next
few
years,
he
kept only
a
sketchy record but
by 1897 he
wrote
on a
daily basis
and
i t is from th is diary
that most
of
the material
has
been taken.
Dan
was
self- taught learning to read and write
on
his
own.
He
was an
avid
reader,
following
newspapers, farm journals, and
owned
an
extensive
l ibrary.
The
reader
must
note that
Mapel wood Farm was located seven
miles
from
Emmett and ten
from
Kenockee so the family found i t too inconvenient to often
attend Mass at
the mission church at
Brockway unt i l the new Our Lady of Mt
Carmel was buil t
in
1896.
Despite
poor roads
and
slow travel by
horse and
buggy,
they attended Mass almost
every
week and i t i s his comments
about
the
parish
tha t
are
recorded here.
July 9. 1891: Mrs. Byrnes was
buried
on
the
9th. Funeral being
the
la rges t I
ever saw going
to
Kenockee. t was one
mile
and a
quarter long
- 160 teams.
July 21. 1891: Attended Father
Kilroy s
funeral. t was the biggest ever
brought
to Kenockee. The
Bishop and