A strenuous life, carrying the gospel on foot

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
With Leonard Cash
 
Historian Leonard Cash pulled out his records from Corpus Christi Catholic Church to begin this week’s installment of “History on Main.” 
Following the traditional pattern of his series, Cash started with a general overview of the church’s foundational history. He warned that the following weeks might be scattered because the history is coming from at least five different sources. 
This week, his information came from an article titled “First Priest Led Strenuous Mission Life,” a paper/booklet titled “History of the Parish of Newcastle, Wyo. 1888-1928,” and a booklet by Elizabeth J. Thorpe titled “A History of Corpus Christi Parish And Its Missions.” 
But Cash also consulted newspaper articles starting as early as 1890. 
Starting with the paper, we learn that the Catholic church was established in Newcastle soon after the town first came to be. Although he wasn’t a resident, the Rev. Patrick Brophry (also listed as “Patrick Brady” in another source but most likely “Brophy”) of Chadron, Neb., made several visits between 1889 and 1896 and held a baptism for children in the town, as well as the first Mass. Additionally, a German priest (whose name is unknown) from Ardmore, South Dakota, made occasional visits. 
“Considering that these dedicated, courageous, and self-sacrificing priests had to travel by team and buggy or on horseback, it is incredible that they made so many trips for the sake of isolated Wyoming parishioners,” the booklet says. 
However, it wasn’t until the Rev. P. Cassidy from Hot Springs, South Dakota, who came “periodically” to Newcastle and Cambria from 1891 to 1896, that the planning for a church building begin. The lots were both purchased by the parish
and donated by the Lincoln Land Co., and according to Cash. The building was constructed on the west side of its current location.
According to Thorpe’s booklet, construction on the building started in 1892, and it was dedicated by Cassidy at the beginning of 1893, even though it still had years to go for completion. Cassidy said Mass there and named the parish Corpus Christi. 
“By slow degrees, as the people were able to acquire the money, they added the necessary improvements to the building, such as plastering the walls, putting down proper flooring, providing pews and an humble altar,” the 1928 paper says. 
Construction also took place during the ministry of the Rev. John Aherne (also from South Dakota), who made trips to Newcastle and sporadically said Mass from 1896 to 1898.
By 1898, the town finally had a “resident pastor.” The Rev. J. Bigaouette (also spelled Bigouette) nearly stayed for a year and “boarded wherever he could,” including in the sacristy in the back of the church. 
Following Bigouette, the next resident pastor – the Rev. Thomas Hayes – came. He was responsible for “general missionary activities” in the northeastern Wyoming region, and Newcastle was his headquarters. Serving a large area that reached to Douglas, Buffalo and Sheridan, Hayes led “a strenuous life carrying the gospel on foot over the barren prairie to his scattered life.” 
In the early 1900s, the building was completed and paid for without debt, costing $3,500, thanks to the provisions from “zealous Catholics who were the pioneers in this locality.” At the time, the parish consisted of 12 attending families, with Pastor Walsh serving for a few months in 1902, before the Rev. Patrick Lynch picked up where Walsh left off, finishing the remainder of 1902 and serving the parish until 1910. 
Soon after Lynch’s arrival, the “commodious parochial house” was built in 1902. According to Thorpe, the exact cost is unknown, but its cost was between $2,500 and $3,500. 
And that’s how the Catholic church in Newcastle began. 
Before moving on, Cash wanted to include a section about the establishment of other Catholic churches in nearby towns.
The 1928 paper included a paragraph on the Cambria church because “the mission in Cambria, besides building its own church, aided very materially in providing the parochial house for Newcastle.” 
Mass was originally said in someone’s home or in “the Hall,” which served a variety of purposes. In 1903, St. James’ Church in Cambria was built.
Kilpatrick Brothers gave a 99-year lease for the lot, and with the company’s “liberal donations,” the miners were able to build it debt free for $2,000. 
Cambria mining families were diverse in nationality, including a mix of Italian, Polish, Irish and Austrian families (as well as others), and the paper said “some of these people are more zealous to have their children baptized than many apparently practical Catholics.” 
Many of the ministers succeeding Lynch also celebrated Mass once a month in Upton, Moorcroft and Rozet. With the help of the Church Extension Society, churches were built in all three of these towns. 
St. Patrick’s Church in Moorcroft was dedicated in 1917, and the land was donated by the Lincoln Land Company. 
Unlike Moorcroft, Upton parishioners had to buy the lot themselves for St. Anthony’s, which was dedicated a few months after St. Patrick’s. At the time, Upton had one Catholic family, with the other members (totaling around 12) “scattered over an extended territory.”
Rozet was the final one out of the three towns to construct a church building. The feat was accomplished, however, and the Gillette parish eventually took it over. Cash said this is probably still the case today. 
Additionally, the “Church of St. Albert” located in Four Corners reopened as a “corporation” in 1925. 
When the second-class division of the Burlington Railroad moved from Newcastle to Edgemont, South Dakota, the town was deemed “dead” and the parish had not grown much
because many of the Catholic railroad families moved to Edgemont, according to the paper. In 1918, the parish boasted of “one hundred twenty souls” or in other words, about 30 families.
“Some of these are not very practical catholics, and some of them are so far from church that it is only occasionally in the Summer time that they can attend Mass,” the paper says. A different article explains that it was due to the traveling distance. 
With the overview established, Cash plans on returning to the beginning and going through his records on the church from News Letter Journal issues as early as 1890 to take a deeper look at the long history of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Newcastle.