ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST CHURCH Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST CHURCH The following is an excerpt from the Souvenir Centenary Addition of the Register published August 3, 1941: "The most famous mission attached to Boulder is called the Valley church. It was built in 1880-1881 by Matthias Weber. The money needed to pay for the building of the church was raised by subscription. The church, costing $1,500, was built while Father Venneman, S. J., was in charge of this territory. The ground for the church and cemetery was donated by Michael Quinn. The people themselves hauled in the materials. 'The first settler to come into the valley was Ed Ryan in 1864. A little later he was followed by the Bradys, Smiths, Clarks, Rodgers, Dunns, Mulveys, McCauleys, Wickhams, Webers and Quinns. The Jesuits from St. Peter's Mission used to come through the valley on horseback. Then later the priests built a railroad from Helena to Boulder and then to Elkhorn. Elkhorn was a silver mining camp of about 1,200 people, but today it is a ghost town. When the Bishop or priests came from Helena, they were met by some one of the people of the valley, and they stayed with the various families in the valley. Before the church was built, the custom was to say Mass either at the Ryan home or at the Brady home. The Valley church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist by Bishop Brondel. The day on which Bishop Brondel dedicated the church a couple from Basin, Miss Catherine McDermott and Emery Hewitt, were married. Father Thompson added the small vestibule and tower to the Valley Church. In 1903 he called he called a meeting of the Trustees, Ed. Ryan, R. Dunn, and Pat Wickham, to discuss the improvements to be made on the Valley church. He told them that the improvements would cost $400. A harvest Ball was held to help pay the expenses of the improvements and by this means $213 was raised. Miss Mary Dunn was the organist and sacristan of the Valley church. NOTE: The above excerpt shows the name of the church as "St. John the Baptist". However, the history of the church, written by Father J. C. Harrington, who was pastor in 1906, after the church was dedicated, shows the name as "St. John the Evangelist". In Father Palladino's book, "Indian and White in the Northwest", he states as follows: "Father J. G. Venneman arrived in the spring of 1880, and remained until August, 1882. In 1881 he built the Boulder church, named after St. John the Evangelist...." The articles contained in the August, 1941 Register were sent in from the various parishes and it is thought the name "St. John the Baptist" was in error. The following is a list of some of the early day churches built in the western part of Montana: 1st Indian Mission - St. Mary's, Stevensville - 1841 2nd Indian Mission - St. Ignatius Mission, St. Ignatius-1854 3rd Indian Mission - St. Peter's Mission, Sun River at Fort Shaw - 1862 White Missions: St. Michael's at Hell Gate, built in 1863, was the first white mission. Others were as follows: St. Louis at Frenchtown - 1864 All Saints at Virginia City - 1865 Sacred Hearts at Helena - 1866 Immaculate Conception at Deer Lodge - 1866 St. Joseph at Canton - 1875-76 Old St. Patrick s at Butte - 1877-78 St. John the Evangelist in the Boulder Valley - 1880-81 There were numerous chapels built throughout the western part of Montana in the early days but all these and those listed above as white missions, we have been able to find on Chancery records only three left standing as of this date (June 23, 1975); the others have been torn down or have been replaced with newer churches. They are St. Michael's at Hell Gate, which is now a historical monument, St. Joseph's at Canton, and St. John the Evangelist in the Boulder Valley. The following is copied from a history of the Valley church by Father J. C. Harrington, who was pastor in 1906: Boulder Valley has a Catholic population of about nineteen families nearly all of whom are practical. This mission has a plain but neat little church which was built in 1880-81 by Fr. Venneman, then a Jesuit Father residing in Helena. At first it was a plain rectangular building, but sufficed for its purpose in this condition for many years. Father Thompson during his pastorship in Boulder made several improvements in this Church (which is called the Church of St. John the Evangelist) the principal of which improvements was the building of a steeple and placing on it a bell. It is also been beautified recently by the addition of a beautiful main alter, a donation from a Catholic Lady, not a parishioner, at a cost of $350. The people of the this Valley are what are generally known as "Old-Timers" have lived there for the last forty-six years. They are all Irish with one exception, and still retain in a great measure that simple Irish Faith that was instilled into their young hearts by their parents in Catholic Ireland. The following is a list of the members of St. John's Alter Society of the Boulder Valley formed shortly after the church was built in 1880-81: Mrs. Jno Brady Miss Anna Daily Mrs. Jno Dawson Miss Mary Dunn Mrs. R. Dunn Mrs. Wm. Flood Miss Anna Maguire Mrs. Rose Maguire Miss Sadie Maguire Mrs. H. M'Cauley Mrs. Jno M'Cauley Mrs. M. Murphy Mrs. Wm. Rogers Mrs. E. Ryan Miss Uretta Ryan Miss Anna Smith Mrs. Con Smith Mrs. Jack Smith Mrs. Peter Smith Mrs. Thos. Smith Mrs. R. Swarbrick Miss Emma Twiggs Mrs. D.D. Twohy Miss Delia Weber Mrs. Mat Weber Miss Agnes Wickham Miss Mary Wickham Mrs. Pat Wickham