From riverbank to hill, 150 years of faith

By: 
Sandy Vasko

There is no doubt; the history of Will County is intertwined with history of the Catholic community, and the history of Wilmington and the surrounding communities, no less so.
Consider that the first white man in Wilmington was Father Marquette, a Catholic missionary and explorer who passed through in 1673 and Father Hennepin a few years later.
The French voyageurs that plied the rivers also brought the Catholic religion with them as they traded with the tribes of the Plains. But the story of the organized church probably begins with the I&M Canal.
Work on the I&M began in 1836 and extended from the shores of Lake Michigan to LaSalle. Most of us know, the work force was predominantly Irish, who were predominantly Catholic.
Workers were strung out from Bridgeport in Chicago down the length of the canal. Trying to tend to the spiritual needs of this widespread community required the time and resources of many missionaries.
Priests traveled among the labor camps, saying Mass wherever they could, on whatever day they arrived. Many of these priests were also Irish sent by the Irish Missionary Society to minister to the needs of Catholics in the Wild West.  
Soon canal laborers were purchasing land with their money, sending for their families and settling in towns that were building up along the waterway.
In most cases churches were quickly built, St. Dennis in Lockport in 1837, St. Patrick in Joliet in 1838 and Dresden Heights (near the Dresden Power Plant) in 1845.
Although Wilmington was not directly on the I&M, the building of the feeder canal and the accompanying state dam near where Interstate 55 now crosses the Kankakee, brought the Irish to our area, many of them choosing to stay.  
In 1845, Wilmington was listed in the Catholic directory as an out mission of St. Patrick's in Joliet. The Rev. John Ingoldsby traveled a circuit that included Corktown, Lockport, Wilmington, Bourbonnais Grove, Ausable Grove, Dresden, Morris, Kickapoo, Aurora, Little Rock, Benjamin Grove and Naperville.
Between the bad roads and the malaria, it is no wonder that priests did not last long as missionaries to our area.
By the 1850's the Irish had been joined by the Germans and English, and the Catholic community was ready for a church of their own. On April 8, 1852 Henry Caraher deeded Lot No. 10, Block 1 on Water Street, to the Bishop of Chicago for the purpose of building a church.
 The construction began in 1852 and the common stone and mortar church was finished sometime in 1853. It held about 75 people. But though they had a building, the congregation had to wait until 1855 for a resident pastor to be assigned before becoming a full-fledged parish. The Rev. Hyacinth Inthout was the first pastor, quickly succeeded by the Rev. Philip Conlon.
The thriving village of Wilmington quickly out grew that first small structure and by 1862 the lots where the present structure stands, on Kankakee Street, were purchased. But unfortunately, the title to the property was in question and the expanding needs of the congregation meant that the second church had to be built on the site of the first.  
While construction was going on, services were held in Empire Hall down the street. The second church was built from local brick and could seat 500 people. It was a long narrow structure with a single entrance on the front, and one in the rear.
Inside the walls were painted, and the woodwork such as the wainscoting, pews, alter and communion rail were all of walnut. The pulpit was on wheels so in could be wheeled down the main aisle during the sermon.
The vestry contained the parish library. The cost was $8,000 (about $158,400 today) and it was finished in 1863.
 The first rectory was built in 1859, but the pastor also had to minister to the congregations in Dwight and Twelve Mile Grove (now Wilton Center), so it was only used a few days a week. It also meant that Mass was only said every other week here in Wilmington.
In 1868 a second pastor was assigned, and an addition to the rectory was added. Services in Wilmington could then be held every Sunday.
So as the town flourished in the 1870's with the addition of coal miners, ice cutters and railroad workers, the number of parishioners increased and the congregation of St. Rose flourished, until tragedy struck in 1875.  Next time we will look at that disaster, and take them to their present home on Piety Hill.
 

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