St. Paul Catholic Church
and cemetery is located in the St. Paul Community in southeast Collin County
just east of the intersection of Farm Road 2514 and St. Paul Road. St. Paul
was the first catholic church to be formed in either Collin or Dallas
Counties and predates by thirty-four years the establishment of the Dallas
Diocese. The church is a landmark for the Catholic Church and for Collin
County, Texas.
According to Sister
Lois Bannon (deceased) at the Dallas Catholic Archives, the church was
established as a mission in 1847 by local Irish farmers in the community. It was operated
as a mission by the Diocese of Galveston, whose jurisdiction composed all of
the State of Texas east of the Colorado River. In the beginning there was no
building. The parishioners in the St. Paul community met in each others
homes. It was in one of these homes where the idea was formed to build a
church!
According to Sister
Lois’s archival files, the acquisition of the land is recorded as
follows: Aunt Ella Burns was washing clothes in the creek with
another lady companion when they were frightened by a stranger approaching
them on horseback. The gentleman introduced himself as James Gallagher.
He told Aunt Ella he was searching for Andrew H. and
Lucinda Burns. Gallagher said his mission was to ask them whether a
parcel of their land could be purchased by the Galveston Catholic Diocese
for the purpose of building a church for the small community. Mr.
Gallagher appeared to be a gentleman who meant no harm. Aunt Ella
recognized his name and evaluated the circumstances. After she told
Gallagher where to locate Mr. and Mrs. Burns, Gallagher
approached them and presented his proposal. They quickly agreed to sell a
parcel of land to the church.
The legal transaction
occurred in the fall of 1869. Andy and Lucinda Burns, both
Baptists, sold the land for $1 to Bishop C. M. Dubius of Galveston
for the use of a catholic church. At that same time, on 27 November 1869,
Emily Galleghar sold to Bishop M. Dubius of the Galveston
Catholic Diocese two acres on the waters of East Fork in St. Paul for a
cemetery for the price of $10.
Father Thomas Henesey,
from Nacogdoches, was the first circuit priest until St. Paul was built in
1856. At that time, Father Henesey became the permanent priest to the
parish. The second clergyman was the Roman Catholic Priest, Father Joseph
Martiniere, a native of France. He became the
priest in 1868. In 1872, Father Charles Martiniere joined Father
Joseph Martiniere, his brother. Others to follow were:
1875 -- Rev.
Troncy
1879 -- Rev. A. Des Flaches
1880 -- Rev. Claude Martiniere
1881 -- Rev. A. Des Flaches
1882 -- Rev. P. Garvey
1883 -- St. Paul attended from Dallas
1885 -- Rev. R. F. Neale, buried at St. Paul
1890 -- Dallas Diocese established
1891 -- Rev. J. B. Lehne
1892 -- Rev. P.M. Regan & Rev. J. J. O'Riordan
1893 -- Rev. B. Pujos
1894 -- Rev. A. O'Hara
According to the Collin
County Census of 1880, Father Martiniere resided with the James
Kirkland family on their farm outside Wylie.
Please note the
various spellings of these French Priest's names. I have not corrected their
spelling of names.
The Diocese records
document the church’s destruction by a cyclone in 1871. It was rebuilt by
church patrons with lumber hauled from Jefferson in wagons of local
businessmen John Burns and Tom Brown. The patrons of the
rebuilding are listed in the archives files as being fine people of Wylie.
The original lumber bills, paint bills, etc., are all kept in the files of
the Diocese Archives Library in Dallas, Texas.
The church was destroyed
for a third time by fire. Rather than rebuild the church one more time, the
parishioners decided to build the church closer to Wylie. This new church,
St. Anthony Catholic Church, built in 1916, is still in operation and is
located at 404 North Ballard.
Footnotes:
1. The records and history were graciously given to me to record by the
late Sister Lois Bannon, Archivist, on 21 July 1985. Sister Lois died of
leukemia at St. Paul Medical Center, age 75, 27 March 1991.
2. Collin County Deed Book T, page 169, Register Deed of Emily Galleghar to
Bishop C. M. Dubious, Signed 18 November 1869, recorded 16 March 1871.
Collin County Clerks Office, McKinney, TX.
3. Msgr. Joseph Martiniere, 8 Jan. 1841-3 April 1910, was buried in
Ursuline Academy Cemetery, as is Rev. The remains were reentered in Calvary
Hill Cemetery on Lombardy Lane in Dallas in 1981.
4. Rev. Claude Martiniere, 9 Aug. 1842-15 Oct. 1884, was buried in Ursuline
Academy Cemetery. The remains were reentered in Calvary Hill Cemetery on
Lombardy Lane in Dallas in 1981.
5. Priests names and dates after 1890 given to Brenda Kellow by Sarah Y.
Stibbens, 1313 Burns in Dallas, on 4 August 1991.
6. 1880 U. S. TX Census, Collin Co. Supr. Dist. 3, enum. dist. 26, p. 5,
dwel. 40, family 41, enumerated 3 June 1880.
About the author:
Brenda Kellow, a Certified Genealogist and a Certified Genealogical
Instructor, grew up in Plano, in Collin County, Texas. She is the
great-great granddaughter of Charles C. Stibbens, the only soldier of the
Battle of San Jacinto to be buried in Collin County. He and his wife,
Elizabeth Creekman, are buried in St. Paul Catholic Cemetery. A Texas
Historical Marker stands by their graves. Brenda is the author of the award
winning book copyright in 1992, Charles C. Stibbens: Soldier of the
Battle of San Jacinto, Citizen of the Republic of Texas.
Photo from the files of Brenda Kellow
St. Paul
