St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church

St. Vincent Church, Rectory and first School

805 Spencer Street, Logansport, Indiana

Priest Residence, Church and School St. Vincent Spencer Street

Logansport, Indiana.

The early Wabash valley settlers and founders of St. Vincent’s were the French followers of Robert de la Salle who was accompanied by Father Gabrielle Rebourde, Father Zenobe Membre, French priests. One of the first white settlers among the area Indians was Jacques LaSalle in 1778. Then his son Hyacinthe LaSalle moved his family here from Vincennes in 1833. Hyacinthe and his wife were charter members of St. Vincent’s. They were also publishers of the local newspaper the “Canal Telegraph”.

Julia and Hyacinth Lasalle/LaSelle, charter members

Irish names began to appear with the arrival of such families as the Leamys, the Murphys, and then the Quigleys; in fact the first Catholic marriage recorded was on October 11, 1836 between Mary Murphy and Joseph B. Quigley.

It was the building of the Wabash and Erie Canal, during the years 1827 to 1838, that brought the Irish to St. Vincent’s. The first church structure was a stone building on Duret Street, which is long gone but would’ve been in the general area, a bit west of the present church structure location.

In 1860 lots were purchased to build the present day church. The first construction of the present church had a southwest door opening to the canal. The Irish families were the predominating ethnic group for many years.

The following is from the Logansport Journal of May 19, 1860: “the Catholic congregation is erecting a fine building near the old graveyard which will be creditable to the church and an ornament to the town.” (The old graveyard referred to is the historic Ninth Street Cemetery.)

On Saturday, July 14, 1860 the Logansport Journal stated: “The corner stone of the new Catholic church will be laid with imposing ceremonies tomorrow at 3 o’clock. Services will be conducted by Bishop Luers of Fort Wayne and others. Bishop Spalding of Louisville is also expected. Sermons in English and German will be preached.”

Later on Saturday, July 18, 1863 the Logansport Journal stated: “St. Vincent’s church will be dedicated tomorrow, the 19^th.”

The church then constructed as it stands today is of the Gothic style of architecture.

Father George Hamilton, Pastor of St. Vincent from 1859 to 1864.

Italian names appear in both the parish records, but the first at St. Vincent’s seems to have been noticed when railroaders and limestone workers arrived in Cass County. Names such as Ricci, Buccigrossi, Perfetto, Vitelli, Scagnoli, Mittica, Appolonio, Rozzi and Pasquale were Italian pioneers at St. Vincents.

The first black family to enter the records at St. Vincent was that of Aloysius and Viola Dunn who came to Logansport in the 1930s from the Bardstown KY diocese. Their oldest son, Al Jr., became the president of the first parish council in 1968.

Al Dunn Jr. and family. He became president of the first parish council in 1968.

Above: St. Joseph Catholic Church is All Saints Church as of 2017.

St. Joseph Church comes along in 1869

In 1869 an offshoot of St. Vincent’s developed at the corner of 2^nd and E. Market streets named in honor of St. Joseph. (This Catholic Church is the only one that remains in Logansport Indiana as of 2017, it is called All Saints. It is the consolidation of what had been three Catholic churches in Logansport: St. Vincent’s, St. Joseph, and St. Bridget.) At the time St. Joseph’s congregation was mostly of German descent.

The Bell of St. Vincent Church

During the pastorate of Rev. Maurice de St. Palais, who later became the Bishop of Vincennes, a bell was presented by the French. (circa 1845) The French bell was originally put in place in the old stone church, then moved to the new church in the vestibule. Later the bell became a resident of the belfry of the school (next door to the church). Again it was moved due to an aging tower. In the 1940s the silver bell with the French inscription to St. Vincent’s was swung down and donated to a church in northern Indiana. (No, we do not know what church that was.)

In 1885 a new bell was donated by the parishioners and placed in the belfry of the present stone church. This genuine bronze bell tuned to the key of “d” was cast in Baltimore, Maryland and contained the names of Father Matthew Campion (pictured below), pastor and Bishop Dwenger, C.P.P.S., then Bishop of Fort Wayne.

Eventually, usage of the bell had to stop. One reason, the wooden structure in the belfry had rotted with age and couldn’t be trusted to withstand the vibrations of the 300 pounds being swung in rhythm. The other was the lack of young lads who could be counted on to rise at 6 a.m. to ring it, return at 12 noon and again at 6 p.m.

By Christmastime 1981 the bell had been renovated and reset and could once again be heard. (In 1982 the bell – a “bronze masterpiece” was estimated to be worth around $42,000.00)

First Communion class pose in front of St. Vincent with the Priest and Nuns.

St. Vincent School

For a while and previous to 1850 the children of St. Vincent parish were taught in an old frame building that stood near 4^th and Railroad streets, just east of the Pennsylvania Depot. There was one teacher – Professor Bradley – a lay instructor. Beginning in 1850 school was held in the old stone church on Duret Street. The teachers were Prof. Bradley and Jacob Rech.

The Sisters of the Holy Cross came to Logansport in 1863 at the request of Rev. George Hamilton and taught here for decades. At first Father Hamilton secured a large brick building that had been used for a hotel. It was quite a distance from the church, situated on Market Street near the Eel River. (The Cullen house.) It was here that four of the sisters assembled the children and began their work. Records for 1865 showed an enrollment of 100 pupils.

In 1869 Father Mayer erected a brick school on the parish property, a short distance west of the church. The school opened in September 1870. The Sisters of the Holy Cross were in charge.

1894 photograph of the brick St. Vincent school building. This was razed

in 1895. The new school was built in its place that same year, 1895.

In 1879 a cottage near St. Vincent church was secured for the sisters. This was used as a convent until the Walker property at 9^th and E. Broadway was purchased a year later. (Holy Angels Academy, which was a school until 1925 and strictly a convent until 1936,)

The "new" school was built in 1895.

In 1895 the school building, which still stands as of 2017 - a “new, larger and more modern” school -was built and dedicated. Dedication ceremonies took place on September 17, 1895. John Medland was awarded the contract to build at $12,935. Ground was broken April 4, 1895. Father Campion supervised every detail.

The church and school are now Emmaus Mission Center a homeless shelter.

The house which had been the Priest's home is a private residence.

In 1954 the parking lot – playground was constructed behind the school. Two wooden goal posts were torn down. The paved lot with the fence, lights and basketball hoops became quite a playground.

Parish Priest Residence

The residence was built in 1879 by Father Walters. The small frame house that formerly stood on the site was moved up to 13^th Street. Father Crosson later repaired and  and somewhat enlarged the parish residence and also added a hot water heating plant at a cost of about $4,700.

Vatican II

In 1962 the directives of the Vatican Council II filtered into the parish level, Monsignor Schall, who was the Vicar General of the Diocese during the Bishop’s absence, guided St. Vincents into this new era. The altar was turned around; the Priest faced the people; the Communion railing disappeared; English replaced Latin at Mass. All kinds of experimental music resounded and “High Mass” disappeared. The organ was sometimes replaced with guitars and clanging cymbals. Some parishioners were horrified, bewildered and disgusted, while others were exuberant and excited.

Probably the ultimate in lay activity came to St. Vincent in 1980 when extra-ordinary ministers were invested, allowing both men and women to distribute the Body and Blood of Christ, during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. These lay ministers distributed wine, while the Priest distributed the host, on most occasions.

Photo taken of St. Vincent interior for 1970 directory.

Photo above is from the 1971 church directory.

A pipe organ was added and an announcement appeared in the church bulletin on September 27, 1975.

The End of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Logansport, Indiana.
The Logansport Pharos Tribune covered a story about the suggested closing of both St. Vincent and St. Bridget churches in Logansport. The story ran June 4, 1986. Around 200 Catholic parishioners were told that the a renovation of St. Joseph church and the closing of St. Bridget and St. Vincent's would be the best financial move for the local parish. The presentation was made by Bishop William Higi who was joined by Robert Gloyeske of Walker Scholer Associates, who explained that it would not be realistic to keep all three church buildings open. The church was facing serious weekly deficit situations involved with heating church buildings during the coming winter.

Ultimately both St. Vincent and St. Bridget churches were closed. St. Vincent's buildings sold and in 1994 became Emmaus Mission - a homeless shelter operation.

St. Bridget church was razed.

New Beginning for an old building.

Mary Williams, president of Emmaus Corporation, of Medaryville, Indiana entered into a contract to purchase the former St. Vincent church, rectory and school for $75,000.  With a payment of $30,000 the contract between Emmaus Corporation and the Diocese of Lafayette was signed in the law offices of Starr, Austen and Tribbett, Logansport. 

Twenty-five thousand of the payment came from a grant to Emmaus from Brunnerdale  Tithing Fund of the Society of the Precious Blood – a religious community, according to Clarence Williams C.C. P.S. of St Anthony Catholic church in Detroit and chairperson of the BTF Committee of the society. The remaining $5,000 came from donations from individuals and businesses.

Williams’ planned for a three-phase project to shelter, feed and provide Christian based counseling to homeless girls in the former rectory, to provide a soup kitchen and banquet hall facilities in the former church, and for conversion of the former school building into a temporary home for displaced families. (This information came from an article in the Pharos Tribune, May 1, 1994.)