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The "Weltbuerger" describes the reception of the first Bishop of Buffalo on October 22nd, 1847, as follows: The Bishop arrived in the evening at 8:30. At 8 o'clock an immense crowd had gathered in Exchange Street, near Main, and at that time a torchlight procession of 400 men had started from the depot from St. Patrick's Church. As soon as it became known that the Bishop had arrived on the eastern train, the torches were lighted. The clergy of Buffalo were at the depot to welcome the following Bishops who comprised the party: Bishop Timon of Buffalo, Bishop McClosky of Albany, Bishop Hughs of New York, and Bishop Walsh from Halifax. They were escorted in a splendid coach, drawn by four white horses, and preceded by a band of music, to the center of the line of torch-bearers, who were placed on both sides of Main Street. The procession then moved between crowds of spectators, up Main Street to St. Louis Church. In the church, which was crowded to its utmost capacity, Bishop Timon was introduced and made a short, powerful address. St. Mary's Church The cradle of St. Mary's Church was old St. Patrick's Church, on the south-east corner of Batavia (now Broadway) and Ellicott Streets. On December 10, 1843, under Father Bayer, the first Redemptorist in Buffalo, holy mass was celebrated for those German Catholics who had seceded from St. Louis Church. On the same day those assembled resolved to found a new congregation under the name of St. Mary's Church. On December 16th, 1843, the new congregation was offered the basement of St. Patrick's Church in which to hold its services, until a suitable lot could be found for the erection of a temporary church. Father Alig bought the piece of property, upon which the present St. Mary's Church stands, on February 22nd, 1844. The work of erection Caption under picture at center reads St. Mary's Church

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was pushed so actively, in spite of the severe winter, that on May 12th, Ascension Day, the first services were held in the scarcely completed building. The School was opened in January, 1845, in a house rented for that purpose. Soon it became necesary to rent a second house for the same purpose, as at that time immigrants came to Buffalo in great numbers from all parts of Germany. After several years, the church proving too small for the constantly growing congregation, preparations were begun for the erection of a new and beautiful edifice in the Roman style of architecture. The corner stone was laid on April 24th, 1848, and on July 28th, 1850 Caption under picture at left center reads St. Boniface Church and old Schoolhouse Caption under picture at right center reads St. Boniface new School House Return to Introduction Return to Indexes Go on to Pages 132 - 136 Revised April 3, 2005 Susan Kriegbaum-Hanks