FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY

The Journal and Republican

Lowville, NY

August, 1910

St Patrick's Church. Maple Ridge Will

Celebrate the Event on Tuesday, August 23d.

The fiftieth anniversary of St. Patrick's church, Maple Ridge, Is to be observed on Tuesday, August 23, 1910. A solemn high mass will be celebrated at 10 a. m., with a sermon by Rev. J. J. Dean, of Port Leyden. The musical programme for the mass la to be given by the choir of St. Peter's Church, Lowville. The church it being renovated and repaired in anticipation of this semi-centennial celebration. Eight new stained glass windows have been donated by members and friends of the congregation. These windows will add very much to the interior beauty of the church, and while serving as perpetual memorials to some of the prominent pioneer members of the congregation, they will at the same time give visible testimony of the generosity of living members.

St Patrick's Church is one of the oldest churches in the diocese of Ogdensburg. It was built under the administration of Father Fitzpatrick, then residing at Constableville, at a time when priests in this section were few, there being but three parishes in all of Lewis county. Standing on almost the highest point to Tug Hill, 1.900 feet above sea level, and in the midst of an exclusively farming community, its erection in 1860 was a notable achievement for a people rich only in the faith inherited from their Irish ancestors For the next seven years St. Patrick's was served by the priests of Constableville. In 1867 the Lowville parish was established, with Father Herbst as first pastor. Maple Ridge was then made a mission of Lowville, and has remained as such ever since. For several years it was even more important than Lowville in point of members and in the support It was able to give to a pastor. Thirty years ago the church was scarcely large enough to accommodate the people who attended mass there, but like many other rural communities, the population has gradually decreased. The land has deteriorated in fertility and in value, lumbering operations have ceased and the coming of the railroad has worked somewhat to the disadvantage of farms situated so far distant. Many have sought escape from the tedious winters of Tug Hill, which are noted, or one might better say, notorious; the lure of the city has attracted many of the younger people. Only a few of the original congregation are left; they, with those of the younger generation, who still remain on Maple Ridge are enthusiastically preparing to extend a glad welcome to old friends, old neighbors and former parishioners on August 23d, not only at the mass to be celebrated in a rejuvenated St. Patrick's, but also at the picnic which is to follow on the same day. The picnic is to be held at the residence of Edward Leviker, near the church. It is calculated to be a real "old home day," with a bountiful inner and plenty of amusements to fix in memory the half century history of St. Patrick's church, Maple Ridge.

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