St. John’s church (Roman Catholic), New Baltimore, dates back to 1824. In that year the place was visited by Rev. Th. Heyden, who continued to supply the congregation several years. There was no resident priest until 1850, when Rev. Joseph Theresia Gezowsky became the pastor. His successors have been:
Rev. Richard Brown
Rev. T. Tamchina
Rev. Frederick Seneca
Rev. Patrick Brown
Rev. Robert Byrn
Rev. Norbert Bausch, O.C.C.
Rev. A. H. Kammer, O.C.C.
Rev. Joseph Walsh, O.C.C.
Rev. Anastasius Peters, O.C.C.
Rev. Norbert Bausch, O.C.C., 1877.
The members composing the congregation are about one hundred families, mainly of German descent. The number of sabbath-school scholars is between seventy-five and one hundred.
The first part of the church, 25 x 35 feet, of stone, was erected in 1825. It was dedicated January 1, 1826. In 1870 the building was enlarged, making its dimensions 25 x 75 feet, and in 1880, a steeple, eighty- two feet high, was added.
The church has been greatly strengthened since 1870, when the Carmelite fathers took charge of it, Rev. Norbert Bausch, O.C.C., then becoming pastor. All the improvements in the church buildings have been made during his administration; and besides those above mentioned, a brick house, 40 x 40 feet, and three stories high, has been built and paid for. The church is highly prosperous at present.
Rev. Norbert Bausch, pastor of the New Baltimore Catholic church, was born in Prussia, and educated at Annapolis and Cumberland Maryland. He was ordained to the priesthood at Baltimore, Maryland, June 29, 1869.
Among the original members of St. John’s church were: Anthony Luken, Francis McGirr, Jacob Riffle, Michael Hughes, Patrick Rice and their families.
(Source: History of Bedford, Somerset & Fulton Counties, PA; 1884)
About Author
