Rev. O’Loughlin took over the missions in Newcastle

Hannah Gross 
NLJ Correspondent 
With Leonard Cash
In last week’s installment of “History on Main,” historian Leonard Cash left off his series on Corpus Christi Catholic church toward the end of Rev. James Boland’s time there. This week, we learn that the community sent him off with a farewell party of sorts. 
An article from Sept. 21, 1916, announced that there was a “splendid reception” at the library as a farewell for Boland. The evening included refreshments, song performances and a series of “brief talks” from community members who were expressing their gratitude, including Dr. Horton, W. Schoonmaker, A.M. Nichols and Judge E.C Raymond. Boland was also given a financial gift. 
The Jan. 11, 1917, paper reported that the Rev. John O’Loughlin was sick “with a severe case of la grigge,” which means he couldn’t “leave the stool,” Cash said. According to “A History of Corpus Christi And Its Missions” by Elizabeth Thorpe, O’Loughlin was appointed the pastor that same year.
The ladies of the church held another supper and dance fundraiser —  this time at the armory— and were able to secure $131.43 for the church, according to the March 22, 1917, issue. 
A couple of issues later, the paper reported that the fences around the parsonage and Episcopal church were painted, “which added greatly to the appearance of the grounds.”
“That (the fences) was to keep the cows, the pigs, and the horses out,” Cash said, among other livestock. “Even the courthouse had a fence around it (at one time) to keep the animals out.” 
An article from June 21, 1917, reported that the Rev. Tomiak visited Newcastle from Carneyville (where it was reported that the Rev. Nicholson was transferred to, but “evidently,” as Cash said, he ended up going to Buffalo) “for some time.”
“A History of the Parish of Newcastle, Wyo. 1888-1928,” a paper in Cash’s records, said that in June of 1917, Bishop McGovern came up to Newcastle to confirm a class of 40 in the parish, “nine of whom were recent converts to the church.” 
On Aug. 23, 1917, the paper reported that a dance was scheduled in Upton to raise money for a new church building there.
The next paper in Cash’s records, from Nov. 1, 1917, stated that Nicholson was transferred to Buffalo, where he’d take charge both there and in Gillette, so O’Loughlin was officially taking over the missions in Newcastle and the surrounding areas, even “as far as Rozet.” 
O’Loughlin dedicated St. Anthony’s church in Upton on Dec. 22, 1917, according to the booklet, which was built for $900 on a purchased lot. The Church Extension Society donated $500 to the cause as they did in Moorcroft, and the building was debt free.
The booklet also says that a “similar church” was erected in Rozet. 
To help with the traveling, O’Loughlin invested in a new Ford Roadster, according to the May 23, 1918, issue, and the following week, the paper said that O’Loughlin and Paul Young “motored over” to Hot Springs, South Dakota. 
Unfortunately, on June 13, 1918, the paper reported the theft of O’Loughlin’s Ford car. He left it parked in front of the Antler’s (where he was living while the rectory was being remodeled, according to the booklet), but “as of yet” nothing was found. 
According to an article from July 11, 1918, the interior of the Catholic Church was remodeled and redecorated, with the “finishing touch” of a “handsome new carpet for the altar.” Mrs. Colby was credited for “her efforts for the beatifying of the church.”
The Oct. 17, 1918, newspaper announced that O’Loughlin received a visit from the Rev. Theodore Schultz, a close friend of O’Loughlin’s from the Carneyville parish, and the Rev. Hayes, of whom many friends were glad to see again. 
An article in Cash’s records from Nov. 28, 1918, said O’Loughlin was “under the weather this week” and, as later issues report, he soon took a turn for the worse. 
On his way home from Denver around Dec. 5, 1918, Schultz stopped to visit O’Loughlin and found him “lying at death’s door,
death coming about an hour later.” He didn’t even know that his friend was sick but was glad to “administer the last sacrament to his friend” before he passed away. 
The same issue said that O’Loughlin died peacefully at the Antler’s hotel, his home pro tempore after a six-year battle with tuberculosis. In fact, his poor health is what brought him to Newcastle, and he was the second out of two Catholic priests to be buried in the Greenwood cemetery. 
Schultz stayed in Newcastle a few days longer and officiated at O’Loughlin’s funeral.
“As this was the year of influenza epidemic, it is possible that Father O’Loughlin was one of its victims. After his death, the parish was without a priest for four months,” the booklet says. 
O’Loughlin “loved to tramp the hills and frequently walked up the canyon to
Cambria to say Mass,” the booklet says. One day, he left his Mass kit hanging on a tree where it was found after his “untimely” death. 
But that wasn’t the only thing found after his death. 
Even though O’Loughlin’s stolen car was never found during his lifetime (and “perhaps this is another reason why Father had walked to Cambria,” the booklet says), by Jan. 23, 1919, the paper reported that Sherriff Howell went to Custer to retrieve it. 
“The local authorities never did give up their diligent search for this car until finally they had traced the thief,” the article says. 
In next week’s installment, Cash will begin with a letter from a Utah reverend that sheds some light on O’Loughlin’s life before Wyoming.