The Catholics at Amherst sent an urgent petition to Archbishop Hannan, who had succeeded Connelly in the Halifax See in 1877, in 1878, in which they described their particular need of a resident priest.50 The Archbishop realized that they were not exaggerating, and within a few months erected Amherst as a parish separate from Parrsboro, and appointed Patrick Donnelly the first Parish Priest. The new parish included the eastern section of Cumberland County, and embraced not only Amherst, but Pugwash and Nappan. There were probably small groups scattered here and there through the territory whom the priest also had to visit.51
Donnelly, though of Irish descent, was ordained in New York for Halifax Archdiocese in July, 1878. After a brief stay in Halifax, he was sent to Amherst.52 His successor stated that he never kept records.53 In fact the only accomplishment of his ten years in Amherst that is known was a rectory that he built beside the church on Prince Arthur street.54 His last years in Amherst were miserable because of a nervous condition which made it impossible for him to take proper care of the parish. In November, 1888, he was succeeded by William J. Mihan, when he was placed in a hospital for treatment. He recovered his health enough within five years to serve as Assistant to Monsignor Charles Underwood at St. Peter's, Dartmouth. He died in April, 1905, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Halifax.55
Mihan was already well-known in Amherst, for he had been Parish Priest at Parrsboro from 1869, a year after his ordination, until 1872; during this period he took care of the Amherst Catholics. He was the first Parish Priest of Truro and in 1874 was appointed to St. Anne's Parish, Eel Brook, where his parishioners were all Acadians. Six years later he was sent to St. Bernard's, Digby County, and it was from this parish that he went to Amherst. The number of Acadian families at that time warranted a priest who could speak French as well as English.
Mihan's first project was to build a new church. The old chapel, begun as we have seen in 1848, had been moved from its original site, and by 1888 was delapidated and far too small for the growing congregation. To further his plans Mihan bought two lots on Church Street.56 Six years later the town authorities bought a narrow strip of this land and put through a street to connect Church Street with the railway station.57 At one time known as Chandler Street, this is at present a continuation of Prince Arthur. Subsequent purchases of surrounding lots have increased the Catholic property to its present extensive holdings.
Construction began in 1889, and on Easter Sunday, 1890, the priest celebrated Mass in the church basement. The church was not completed until 1893, though the exact date when Mass was said in the upper church is not known. Bishop James Rogers of Chatham, New Brunswick, who had been the first resident priest in Amherst in 1856, by special invitation of Cornelius O'Brien, Archbiship of Halifax, blessed the new church and said Mass there on April 30, 1893. The church was dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo. This event was truly historical in that it brought together the largest gathering of Catholic priests that Amherst had ever seen. Beside Bishop Rogers and Father Mihan there were present two Jesuits, W.J. Doherty and G. O'Bryan of Montreal, Thomas Daly of Windsor, Thomas J. Grace of Herring Cove, Father Knight of Chatham, J.D. Cummane of Truro, and Peter Egan of Springhill. The two Jesuits began a parish mission that same day, during which about 500 persons received the Sacraments. This seems to suggest that there were about 100 Catholic families in Amherst at the time.
While the church was being built Father Mihan redecorated a house which was standing on the newly purchased property.58 Presumably the old rectory was sold at that time. The priest lived in his new rectory until 1902 when the present rectory was built, into which he moved in February, 1903.
It gives some indication of the Catholics' enthusiasm for their Church if one remembers that all this purchasing of property and construction was carried out without causing a formidable debt. Mihan paid as he went.
Archbishop O'Brien made many visits to Amherst. On August 11, 1896, besides administering confirmation to 87 candidates, he blessed a new bell which he dedicated to St. William in honor of the parish priest. It is interesting to note that Father J.D. Curry, Parish Priest of Joggins Mines, was present at the ceremony. He died in 1959, that is 63 years afterwards.
The Catholic population, no doubt mirroring the growth of the town showed a gradual increase, for by 1910 the 19 heads of families reported in 1870 had grown to 370. Of these 270 were French, 100 were Scots and Irish. All told the town had 2,055 Catholics.
Shortly after the beginning of the century parents became concerned about the proper religious training of their children. A committee of four men, Messrs. G. Cook, W. Ormond, Donalds, and J. Brown, sent a petition to the Archbishop in 1904 to ask him to establish a Catholic school.59 On June of the same year the Archbishop went to Amherst for Confirmations, and called together a meeting of the parishioners at which he spoke of his concern for their children.60 The meeting unanimously decided to support the Archbishop's plan to erect a school and convent, and selected a committee of laymen to solicit donations for the project. Evidently the committee did not proceed rapidly enough to suit the Archbishop, for in the late summer of 1904 Mihan received a telegram from him announcing that three Sisters of Charity would arrive in Amherst the next day. The committee through C.R. Smith, a non-Catholic whose wife and children were Catholics, bought a house on Chandler, now Prince Arthur Street, not far from the church and rectory.
The old church had been moved to the new property when the old property was sold to the Town of Amherst, and had been used as a parish hall. It was converted into two classrooms and Saint Charles school opened its doors to 75 children on September 8, 1904.61 Forty children were in the first three grades; thirty-five in grades four, five and six. The pioneer teachers, Sisters Seraphina, Columba, and Leonora, all members of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, were often amused as they walked through the Amherst streets to notice that Amherstonians would obviously avoid coming near them.62 This was only temporary for in later years the Sisters found many benefactors among the Amherst Protestants.
Funds for the new school were provided by voluntary donations from the parishioners each month. Many of the enthusiasts lost their zeal for Catholic education when it came time to pay, for during the first years the Sisters had to do without many ordinary necessities, like sugar and butter, for they did not have money to buy them. They made the sacrifices gladly as they saw their school begin to take shape; within two years the student body numbered 175. Although the school has always been a heavy financial burden on the parish, it has long since proved its value, not only by giving vocations to the priesthood and religious life but by forming boys and girls who in later life became staunch supporters of their Church.
The first school building was inadequate. Mihan began to make plans for a new building at once, and blessed the cornerstone of the new school on September 12, 1905; within a few months the children were in the school. The old building which had begun as the first church in Amherst in 1848, and had been transported twice, had served as a parish hall, and then for a year as a school, now became a parish hall once again. In 1918 Father Brown bought a Presbyterian Church on Robie Street for a parish hall, and the old church was torn down.
The first attempt to place Saint Charles' School under the Amherst Board of Commissioners was made in 1906.63 Mihan asked the School Board to take over and maintain the new school. This appeared to be just, for the Catholics paid school taxes to the town, but their children attended Saint Charles' School. the Board, after a considerable delay, refused the request with the explanation that the public were opposed to the using of public funds for the maintenance of a separate school. They offered to hold a plebiscite on the matter but Mihan decided not to pursue it further. Many attempts to have Catholics share in the public funds for school support have been made since that time; but they all failed.
The old cemetery which had been blessed by Bishop Walsh in 1848 and where the old church had first stood, had become over-crowded in 1905, so Mihan bought land from George Cooke to enlarge it.64 Four years later he arranged an exchange of land with the Amherst Cemetery Company which conducted a public cemetery beside the Catholic burial ground.65 Archbishop Edward McCarthy, who succeeded O'Brien in 1906, consecrated the new land on August 10, 1909.
It was at this time that Pugwash was detached from Saint Charles Parish and added to the parish of Londondery.
Father Mihan's had been an extremely active life. By 1907 he had been ordained for 39 years and was in his mid-sixties. To help him the Archbishop appointed as Assistant John E. Comeau, who after one year was succeeded by Philip Thibault. The latter left in 1909, and his place was taken by Emil Bourneuf. Thus the practice was begun of having an English Parish Priest with a French Assistant which allowed for the national susceptibilities of both English and French speaking parishioners; the practice has continued to the present day.
Father Mihan became increasingly feeble. Yet he was still active in parish work, even after twenty-five years in Amherst, and forty-five in the priesthood. His death came suddenly, without warning on September 1, 1913, when he died in Father Bourneuf's arms.66 He was buried in the priest's lot, which he had himself prepared, in Saint Charles' cemetery.
Direction of the parish was assumed by Joseph William Brown. The new pastor had been born and brought up in Amherst. An outstanding athlete he was well-known to everyone, Protestant and Catholic. After his ordination in 1904, he served as assistant priest at St. Patrick's in Halifax, and in 1905 was appointed to St. John's parish, Windsor. It was from this parish that he came to Amherst.
Although there was no debt on the parish, for Father Mihan had managed to pay for every building he had built, the chief problem was that the school needed to be enlarged. On May 12, 1914, Father Brown laid the cornerstone of the new addition, which was finished in time for the beginning of the school year. This addition cost $15,000. In 1919, this is only five years later, there were between 550 and 560 children attending St. Charles' School.67
In 1919 Father Brown also opened St. Charles' Commercial School.68 The first classes were held in a small building on the church grounds. In 1919 the priest was able to enlarge the church property by buying the Gorman land which gave the school yard access to Crescent Avenue. The large house on this land was converted into classrooms for the Commercial School, and classes continued to be held there until 1935, when Father Smith, Brown's succesor, converted the top floor of the school into suitable classrooms for the Commercial School and had the Gorman house demolished. This school has from the beginning been open to Protestants and Catholics, and its success through the years has been essential, for the Sisters to a large extent have depended upon the income for their support. The convent on Prince Arthur Street had long outgrown its usefulness. In April, 1915, Brown was able to buy a suitable house and property on Church Street, about one block from the church.69 Brown enlarged the building so that the five Sisters on the staff would have convenient quarters. Since then the convent has been enlarged at various times to make room for the ever-increasing Staff.
In November, 1918, the priest fulfilled a long-standing ambition to have a capacious parish hall. The old church, which was used for the purpose, had become a decaying ruin. Brown was able to buy a former Presbyterian church on Robie Street. It has been said that the Protestants were willing to sell because a man had hanged himself in the sanctuary and thus had desecrated the church. Brown remodelled the building and opened it as his new parish hall.70 The old church was demolished, the new hall is still in use. On many occasions it has been enlarged; indeed such improvements have been made that by 1962 this building was one of the most efficient parish centers in the Archdiocese.
Soon after the beginning of World War I, Amherst became terribly over-populated, as every factory went into operation night and day to carry on the war effort. The sudden increase had an extremely deleterious effect on the town's morals, needless to say. It was at this time that Father Brown began to prowl the streets every evening, and when he discovered young people, whether Protestants or Catholics, with what he considered bad companions or in suspicious circumstances, he marched them back to their homes. Once arrived there he was careful to give the parents a vigorous lecture on the proper care of children. Although this particular practice may not have endeared the priest to the town youth, it certainly made him an awesome and formidable figure.
War brought material prosperity to Amherst; but by 1919 the war was over and the prosperity soon disappeared. The population decreased radically; between 1923 and 1929 one third had left. Factories closed and Amherst become a depressed area before the term was invented. The result was an overwhelming financial burden, as the Parish Priest tried to maintain not merely his church and rectory but a Catholic parochial school besides.
Father Brown had several curates. Bourneuf stayed until 1916, and Denis Comeau succeeded him. The latter was replaced in 1921 by Olivier Bellefontaine, who was followed five years later by Denis Robichaud. One of the lasting memeories is that of Father Brown, who had a specially low view of moving pictures, condemning them violently, Sunday after Sunday, when it was well-known by every parishioner that Father Robichaud never missed a movie, since the theater manager gave him a pass. Robichaud was succeeded in 1931 by Louis Comeau.
Father Brown had been 19 years in the parish, but the constant financial burden became too much for him to handle, and (persuaded by the Archbishop) he resigned in 1932. After some months he was given another appointment, and served the Archdiocese in various capacities until he retired from active work in 1943. His death occurred at Antigonish On December 14, 1951, in the thirty ninth year of his priesthood. His body was brought to Amherst and there interred beside Father Mihan in the Catholic Cemetery.
William H. Smith, who was ordained in 1923 and served as Parish Priest from 1929 to 1932 at Woodside and Eastern Passage succeeded Brown in Amherst. Financial problems facing the new Pastor to be insurmountable. The depression of 1929 had made a bad situation far worse. By 1932 there were as many as 700 families on public relief, and many of these were Catholics. The educating of nearly 600 children without public aid seemed to make the situation impossible. Many Catholics advised their new Pastor to shut down the school so that the authorities would have to assume the burden. Father Smith refused to consider that solution, and determined to maintain the school no matter what the cost. In spite of everything the school stayed open.
In fact, despite the chronic shortage of money, Smith was able to make many improvements. For example, during his first year he replaced the heating system in the church, making the change from hot air to water. Through generous donations of parishioners he also installed stained-glass windows. As we have seen he also made over the top floor of the school, for the Commercial classes and demolished the Gorman house. He also installed a splendid organ in the church. These improvements together with the continuing upkeep and constant repair on various buildings were made without adding to the parish debt---a remarkable feat. Early in the 1930's a wealthy parishioner died and from her, that is the Lamy estate, the priest obtained enough money to pay off the entire parish debt in 1936.
World War II brought prosperity again to Amherst. The population increased notably, factories hummed night and day, and the strenuous years were forgotten. This prosperity was of course reflected in increased church income. Because of this Smith was able to fulfill a long-term ambition and open a Catholic High School. Previously few Catholics had ever attended the public High School. Out of a class of fifty, for example, often there would be only two or three Catholics. This scandalous situation existed in a town where Catholics numbered at least one-third of the total population. In spite of everything the priests could do, the Catholic parents refused to send their children to the public school, preferring to see them end their education with Grade 8 and go to work. In September, 1944, Smith obtained the services of one more Sister and opened Grade nine. Fifty students attended the first year. The next year he opened classrooms for Grades ten and eleven. Later a Grade XII was opened by Monsignor Mackey but closed after one year. By 1949 there were 400 students in Saint Charles' High School.
The Archbishop in 1946 appointed Father Smith, who had been in Amherst for thirteen years, to Saint Peter's Parish, Dartmouth. Nine years later he was appointed in charge of Saint Thomas Aquinas parish, Halifax, where he at once began to plan a new church. Much to the joy of his former parishioners in Amherst, on the occasion of the solemn blessing of the new Saint Thomas Aquinas Church, Archbishop Gerald Berry who succeeded to the Halifax See in 1953, announced that His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, had created Father Smith a Domestic Prelate.
Shortly after Smith's arrival in Amherst, the Archbishop had given him charge also of Maccan. The Catholics there had for some years belonged to Joggins parish, but Monsignor Curry, having grown old, could not take care of them. Smith began saying Mass regularly in private homes, that of Swinamer's at Chignecto, and of Whalen's at Maccan. Within a short time most of the Catholic families left Chignecto, and Smith continued Sunday Mass at Maccan. Meanwhile he looked around for suitable land to build a church. Land offered by the Legere's who lived at Maccan was accepted and in 1937 a small church was erected on it, and dedicated to the Sacred heart. Mass continued to be said in this church every Sunday until 1961, when most of the Catholics had left Maccan, and those who remained had suitable transportation to the church in Amherst. C.R. Smith, who became a Catholic on his deathbed, gave $200 toward the new Maccan church, James Mahoney gave $500, and Father Smith donated the rest from his own pocket.
During Smith's pastorate he had been assisted by various curates. Louis Comeau left in 1937 and was replaced by Adolph LeBlanc, who was succeeded by Fredrick Melanson in 1941, and he in turn by Pierre Comeau in 1945.
Jeremiah Mackey, who became Parish Priest of Saint Charles' in 1946, was ordained in 1918, and after serving as a curate at the Cathedral in Halifax and at Annapolis, he became the Parish Priest at Pugwash in 1928.
That year the provincial Government established the school for Indian children at Shubenacadie, and Mackey became the first Superintendant, a position he resigned in 1943. Archbishop McNally appointed him Parish Priest at Parrsboro, a position he kept until his appointment to Amherst.
Although Mackey's term was brief and he was hampered by continuous ill health, it was note worthy for two events. For the first time two Assistants was given the parish, for the Catholic population had grown to such an extent that two were needed, and the increase was maintained to a large extent even after the war ended. In 1946 J. Harry Mitchell became the second Assistant. The following year, both Comeau and Mitchell were withdrawn and were replaced by John Campbell and Raoul Deveau. The former left in 1948, but the latter remained until 1953. The second event was the Pope's selection of Mackey as a Domestic Prelate.
Father Mackey was a very humble man. He was a patient in the Halifax Infirmary when Archbishop McNally came to inform him of his new dignity. Mackey immediately refused it, claiming that he did not deserve such a honor. The Archbishop simply smiled and replied: "My dear man, when the Holy Father appoints you, all you do is accept." The prelatial robes were conferred on the new Monsignor by Archbishop McNally in Saint Charles' church in December 1947. Monsignor Mackey was the first Parish Priest of Amherst to receive Papal honors while still in office. It was fitting honor to a man who, despite a lifetime of ill health contributed much to the Archdiocese; a fitting honor to a parish which had from its beginning made incredible sacrifices to maintain its priests, its church, and its school.
Monsignor Mackey was forced because of failing health to resign his parish in 1948. he returned to the Indian school at Shubenacadie, where he wished to retire but Government officials insisted that he be the Superintendant and decided to pay for an Assistant if he would accept. The devoted priest continued in this position until his death on May 10, 1957. His body was taken to Springhill, his native parish, where it was interred after Pontifical Mass in Saint John's Church.
Gerald B. Murphy, the new parish priest of Saint Charles' came to Amherst well equipped to solve the various vexing problems. Ordained in Halifax in 1935, Murphy had served as curate at both the Cathedral and Saint Patrick's, and in 1939 became secretary to Archbishop McNally. A year later he was appointed chaplain in the Royal Canadian Navy and served through the war both at home and abroad. Having completed his war service, in 1946 he was made the first Parish Priest of the newly created parish of the Sacred Heart at Lakeside, Halifax County. Two years later he accepted the appointment to Amherst.
Two immediate problems faced the new Pastor. The school was terribly over-crowded and the convent, because of the additions to the staff needed to be enlarged.
The priest at first opened up new classrooms in the lower church to relieve the congestion, but this was purely a temporary measure. In 1949 he bought the late Doctor Bliss's property, which was next door to the church, and converted the house into a High School, which he named "Borromeo House." It was to serve, inadequate as it was, until 1958.
To solve the convent problem, Father Murphy added a large addition to the old building where rooms were provided for the increased number of Sisters together with other necessary space. The last addition to the building was, as we have seen, a new chapel, erected by Charles Frecker in 1957.
Various other projects were carried out during Father Murphy's regime. A summer camp, purchased from the Springhill Rotary Club, was especially beneficial to children of needy families.
This camp was unfortunately wrecked to a large extent by hurricane "Edna" in 1953. Many improvements were made on the parish hall, where considerable enlargement resulted in much needed space for more parish activities, new bowling alleys made it a youth center for the town, and the Catholic Club attracted many dozens of Catholic youth under the direction of various curates. More classrooms were added to the school.
Murphy's work was hampered to some extent because the second curate was withdrawn in 1948, and Fathers Murphy and Deveau had to carry the burden until 1952, when Ronald Docherty was appointed also to the staff. In 1953 Deveau was replaced by Louis Armstrong, which did not change the tradition for the latter was of French extraction and French was his native tongue.
A pleasant event took place in February, 1954, when the new Archbishop, Gerald J. Berry, was on his way to Halifax for his enthronement as the tenth Bishop and eighth Archbishop of Halifax. By orders wired from Montreal, the Ocean Limited stopped at Amherst so that the children there as well as many adults could welcome him to his new diocese. His Grace with his companions descended from the train to receive a tumultuous welcome. The children sang and presented him with a spiritual bouquet. He replied, thus giving his first public address in the Archdiocese in Amherst.
In September, 1954, Father Murphy replaced Father William Smith as Parish Priest at Saint Peter's in Dartmouth, and was succeeded in Amherst by Charles Frecker. Saint Charles' parishioners were overjoyed in 1958 when the Archbishop announced the creation of Father Murphy as a Papal Chamberlain with the title "Very Reverend Monsignor."
Although the drop in population that followed the war was not so drastic as it had been after World War I, nevertheless the resultant decrease in revenue brought added financial problems to the Pastor. The ever-growing school ate up parish income so that many parish works had to be postponed indefinitely. Despite the considerable financial contribution Amherst Catholics made toward their children's education, the public authorities continued to be intransigent about allowing the parochial school a share of public funds.
Father Frecker decided, because of the rate of increase in school attendance, not only in the Commercial School but in the High School grades as well, that he must proceed regardless of the difficulties. Consequently, after a complete survey of the parish in 1957, he organizd a financial drive, and such was the enthusiastic response to his appeal, that he immediately began to plan for a new High School. This school was blessed by Archbishop Berry on November 4, 1958. Besides the High School grades, it includes the classrooms of the Commercial School. The latter with a staff of two Sisters and a part-time lay teacher care of 68 commercial students. There were in 1960 also 170 High School students taking commerce.
Father Frecker had as his assistants Fathers Ronald Docherty and Louis Armstrong. Docherty was succeeded in 1954 by his brother Henry Docherty who stayed for four years and was succeeded, after being transferred to Woodside, by Gerald L. David, ordained the previous month. Armstrong left Amherst for Yarmouth Diocese in 1959 and was succeeded by Austin Burke, who remained until his appointment as Parish Priest of West Chezzetcook in April, 1960. Burke was succeeded by Bernard Landry, an Amherst native and member of the first graduating class of Saint Charles' High School.
For many years the Pastors of Saint Charles' had worried about the Catholics who lived in the West Highland District, commonly known as "The Hill."
Being some distance from the church they tended to neglect the practice of their religion. The small children could not travel all the way to Saint Charles' School, and once their education began in the public school, it was difficult to direct them later to the Sisters.
The financial drive of 1957 not only indicated the generous enthusiasm of Amherst Catholics, but showed that there were enough Catholic families to warrant the erection of another parish. Consequently, on September 8, 1957 Archbishop Barry announced the establishment of a second parish in Amherst, dedicated to the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady's Nativity. The first Parish Priest was Ernest Sweeny, who had for some years served as curate at Saint Thomas Aquinas Church in Halifax, and Saint Peter's Church, Dartmouth. When the boundaries of the new parish were settled on January 13, 1958, nearly 300 families were separated from Saint Charles. The Maccan mission was added to the new parish.
The new Pastor arranged with the school authorities to rent the West Highland school auditorium for Mass on Sundays. He bought a large trailer and had it moved to his parish property so that he could live there. The Archbishop also gave him permission to hear confessions and to have baptisms in the trailer.
The new church was begun in the Spring of 1959, with Father Sweeny acting
as Contractor to save money. The new church opened for public worship in
the Fall of 1959, but it was officially blessed by Archbishop Berry only
on June 3, 1962. The pastor continued to reside in his trailer until his
new rectory was completed in late 1960.
The Amherst Catholic story shows a marvellous growth over a century or more. The sixteen heads of families, reported in 1870, developed into two thriving parishes, one of which was served by three priests, a large Grammar School, a new High School, and a Commercial School. And the remarkable truth is that the Catholics there accomplished it all, even though at times they were hard-pressed for money just to live, without the least monetary aid from any other source.