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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-30, Page 138Psg. n Dempsey loved by Catholics and Protestan *from page 97 silver tankard to the eldest son of old John rather than to old John himself because "he would melt it down into temperance medals, and that would be sacrilege" - this same Tiger had a serious.side and an innate sense of fair play. In his statistical sket- ches on Upper Canada for the use of emigrants which he wrote in Goderich in 1832, we read: - "An elder of the Kirk, and bred in the most orthodox part of Scotland, I came to this country strongly prejudiced against Catholicism and its ministers; but experience has shown me that these prejudices were unjust. I expected to find both priests and people as violently op- posed to the British gover- nment here as at home, -I found them the strongest supporters of the constitution. ] had been taught to believe, that a Catholic priest was a hypocritical knave, who ruled his misguided followers for his own selfish purposes, -I have found them a moral and zealous clergy, more strict in their attention to their parochial duties than any body of clergy I ever met in any part of the world, and not a bit more intolerant than their clerical brethren of any other sect. And I look upon this public" avowal and recantation as a penance for my sins of ignorance, and I hope it will be accepted as such. I have no very par- ticular leaning. as may well be supposed, towards the doctrine of the Church of Rome, but I merely wish. like Lord Byron. 'Justice to do to Trojan and to Tyrian, For I was bred a moderate Presbyterian.' .Just what type of men did Dunlop have in mind when he wrote the above lines? At that time, Goderich was within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Kingston; when the western portion of Upper Canada was taken from Kingston. Goderich came under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Toronto: and when that diocese was subdivided Goderich became part of the Diocese of London when it was established on February , 1856. When Dunlop was writing, however, the Bishop of Kingston was a fellow Scot, Alexander MacDonnel, and he held him in high regard: "It is well known that, during the war (of 1812), Ogdensburg was taken by the gallant change made, under a heavy fire from the enemy's bat- teries, by the Catholics of Glengarry, headed by their priest, the Reverend Alexander M'Donnel, now Catholic bishop of Upper!, Canada..." FIRST PRIEST The first priest to arrive in Goderich after its founding was Father Lawrence Dempsey. In "A History of St. Peter's Parish, Goderich", written in 1927 by Thomas J. McCarthy, a Goderich native, then a student at St. Peter's Seminary, London, and now Bishop of St. Catharines Ontario, he tells us that Father Dempsey was pastor of St. Thomas and London, who came to Goderich for the first time in 1831. The Lizars sisters tell us "In the Days of the Canada Company" that Father Dempsey was "a good man, beloved by Romans and Protestants, preaching to all alike; he married, buried and baptized them with the ut- most impartiality..." This same Father Dempsey said the first mass in Stratford, having arrived there on horseback from St. Thomas in 1832. In 1839 Goderich was placed under the care of Father Joseph Louis Wiriath (sometimes spelled Worrath) and attached the German settlements in Waterloo. Some idea of the dedication of the priests of those days and f why they gained the ad- miration of Dunlop may be seen in the conduct of Father Wiriath. From the Wilmot line in Waterloo County in November 1835, he walked to near Stratford, his vest- ments, chalice and the other materials he required to celebrate mass packed on his back. There he gave a three- day mission, celebrating daily mass. On he went to St. Columban (Irishtown) and Goderich and then returned exhausted to.Stratford. As the Lizars put it, "Low shoes, thin clothing, intense cold, sleeping in his clothes, and making involuntary fasts, not prescribed by calendar but by uncertain time from one hospitable if humble board to another — all did their work of wreckage." In spite of these hardships, Father Wiriath secured a site on North Street in Goderich in 1834 and a frame church, St. Peter's, was erected, with Hugh Chisholm being the builder. This was the first church building erected in Goderich, and as late as 1889, an unknown writer in The Signal -Star wrote that "St. Peter's, although a frame edifice, gives no evidence of having withstood the storms of over fifty-five years". Following Father Wiriath, Father Thomas Gibney in ...••1 1836 took charge of the car Goderich and Stratfordw really meant he had thee of Huron and Perth Count This old Irishman was but of seven priests who had care of the area now known London Diocese compris nine counties of Southwest Ontario. Up to this point in ti Goderich had been cared by visiting priests, but on retirement of Father Gibn in 1843, the first resid pastor in the person of Fa Peter Schneider was pointed, having charge also the mission of Stratfo Father Schneider was to Turn to page /Uncooit mali stor 'th riod Fat] our tob hoe anc s my, ater est his can reri ork. ngst ally e Di Od Dunt] nee isc rikin tel ers mer t go ng bre t Fsilt an of 'enig li to ath velli wash eb: d on for pha: ria his roar Inc sior IIOPIFF: sport shop OltnntarI (Alone CENTRE Leisure ; world NAKAMURA PHARMACY t XNIT WIT Furniture w, ad 0105 dT fel the it e. fed ke gine e fc iam vote lcoln leidi ecte wee! htot Happy Birthday Goderich • 5 years compared to your 1 50 years but we're proud to be a part of Goderich. Highway 21 South Nu!