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Although no picture of this original church is at hand, there is a word picture of it contained in the reminiscences of the Rev. Joseph W. Stenger, published in the old CHURCH CALENDAR beginning with the June, 1897, issue. He writes "My imagination retains a clean-cut picture of the little edifice. It rests in my mind like a slide in a stereopticon... "Architecturally St. James' was not a pretentious structure. It had neither belfry nor spire. The front gable had been topped out in the curve which is now to be seen in the Cathedral (reference to the old St. Joseph's Cathedral), with the difference that were the Cathedral tower cuts the summit of the gable, in St. James' there stood a simple wooden cross. Several feet below the cross a quadrangular slab of stone bearing a Scripture text had been inserted. Below this slab there was a large plain window through which one could see from the outside the back of the organ. In the sides of the church there were four windows constructed in a style that might be appropriately called carpenter's gothic. That is, the pointed arches of the top had not been sprung by taking the width of the window for a radius. The sashes were glazed with plain window glass. The windows were provided with green shutters. These were necessary on the side next to Eleventh street, because there the sidewalks gradually ascended above the level of the window sills so that any evil-disposed person might have kicked stones through the glass. There was a large and nicely built stone perron, or porch.. in front with two flights of steps leading up to the front door. Inside this door there was a small vestibule on the right, and on the left of which paneled fly doors opened into the aisles. In the vestibule there stood a bookcase containing the books which were used in Sunday school, Bible histories, and Testaments.... 'The two aisles ran hard along the sides of the interior and a passage crossed from the one to the other in front of the sanctuary. As the church was rather wide for its length the sanctuary took up about two-thirds only of the space along the rear wall, leaving room for two pews and a small passage in front of them in the rear angle of each side, -These pews faced the sides of the altar... The narrow passages in front of these pews led to openings in the sides of the sanctuary railing by which entrance was had. into the sacristy. These openings also served for the confessionals which hung from the rear wall by hinges and could be swung into the openings like a door. An adjustable cross piece at the top sustained the curtains which screened the priest and penitent.... "After the arrival of the Bishop a temporary throne was contrived on the Gospel side. This necessitated the removal of this confessional to the sacristy, where it was set up behind the altar. The gallery extended across the front of the interior and was little more than large enough to accommodate the choir. The organ was a small one, ancient in make and appearance. The organist of St. James' in those days was Jacob Maser. (1847, etc.) *The altar of St. James' stood in a species of niche contrived in the back wall of the church. Four white columns of wood supported the roof of this niche. Above it on a sky-blue ground was inscribed in gilded letters the text, 'I have loved, 0 Lord, the beauty of Thy house.' In the dim rear of the niche was hung a picture of the Good Shepherd. The tabernacle, of deep red mahogany, which now stands on St. Joseph's altar in the Cathedral is the same that stood on the altar of St. James', and so too are the large candlesticks which occupy the top shelf of the high altar. Small candleholders, resembling diminutive pie-plates were fastened on top of them in which sperm candles were put. Sperm candles were the only candles that were used in the service of the church in Wheeling at that time... "The sacristy of St. James was an addition built up behind the church with a shad roof. A small room cut off from the rest of its space in the right hand corner served for a parlor in which the pastor saw his visitors on Sundays, and we altar boys prepared ourselves for our functions..The grounds around St. James' were not very extensive. A strip --perhaps 10 feet wide lay between the east aide wall of the church and the residence of Dr. McElhenny., a physician and son of an old Presbyterian minister... A high fence with a gate in the middle of it shut in this strip from Chapline Street." THE NEW ST. JAMES CHURCH (LATER RENAMED ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL In 1846 Bishop Whelan purchased the lots in the square where the Cathedral- now stands, This square used to have homes on it and was divided by an alley going from 13th to 14th Streets. The names of the streets were different then.14th Street was called Quincy St.and 13th Street was Hampden St. The date when the cornerstone was laid was May 2, 1947.The building of the new church, which was to become the Cathedral of a new diocese proceeded at a rapid pace. Bishop Whelan is supposed to have designed the new church,, and personally superintended the construction. There are two incidents when Bishop Whelan risked his life during the construction of the church. One was placing the cross on the top of the tall spire: "Coolly he climbed to the summit of the lefty spire, stood upon the ball,, and there., his white hair gleaming in the sunlight and his stately form outlined against the sky, in view of thousands of breathless spectators., he deliberately lowered the cross into its socket and wedged it securely against weather and storm." The other incident was during the raising of the huge bell to the belfry of the tower, which was supervised by the Bishop standing in an opening of the tower. When the bell was almost to the top, something happened to the machine on the ground, and the bell started falling with great speed. Unfortunately, one workman had a firm grip on the rope, and before he could let go, he was raised rapidly into the air, and left dangling just outside the belfry. The Bishop leaned forward, almost his entire length, holding onto a support with his left hand, grasped the workman around the waist with his right arm, and lifted him into the tower. St. James Church, the new one, was a grand structure of brick trimmed with white sandstone, 150 feet long and 80 feet wide with a tower and spire 210 feet to the top of the cross. The dedication of the church took place on Nov. 26, 1849 under the title of St. James. Loss than one year later, it was to become the Cathedral of the Wheeling Diocese, which was established in 1850. A few years later the name of the church was changed to St. Joseph's Cathedral. THE PRESENT ST. JOSEPH'S CATHEDRAL In 1922 the Most Rev. John J. Swint was appointed the fourth Bishop of the Wheeling Diocese. The old Cathedral was then 73 years old and needed to be replaced,, so Bishop Swint made plans for the now Cathedral. Work was started on demolishing the old structure during the summer of 1923. A temporary Cathedral Chapel was erected in the space between the Cathedral High School (now the grade school) and the Cathedral residence, extending back into the grounds of the old St. Joseph's Academy (now Central Catholic High School). The cornerstone for the new Cathedral was laid on May 5, 1924. The new Cathedral was designed by Edward J. Weber, a Pittsburgh architect. R. R. Kitchen Co. of Wheeling was the contracting company in charge of the actual work and construction. In less than two years after the cornerstone was laid, the magnificent new Cathedral of the Wheeling Diocese was completed and consecrated on April 21, 1926. A booklet was published on this occasion., containing pictures of the Holy Father.. Pope Pius XI., Bishop Swint., the Cathedral clergy-at the time, and different views of the inside and outside of the Cathedral. The booklet also gives a complete description of the Cathedral, along with a list of contributors to the Building Fund. When I looked at the names of those who gave money, I found my great-grandfathers name, Peter Walt, who donated $200.00 in memory of his wife. Also on the list was my grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. John P. Walt, who gave $100.00. I will not give a complete description of the church because another person is writing about this. I will just say that it is built according to the best traditions of the Lombard Romanesque. It is 198 feet in length. The width in the back is 85 feet and the width in the front is 67 feet. The height of the front of the Cathedral to the cross on top is 75 feet. The height to the top of the cross which is on the dome located toward the back of the church is 148 feet. The Cathedral will easily accommodate from 1,300 to 1,400 people. In 1976 the present St. Joseph's Cathedral will be 50 years old. It stands as a monument of our Catholic faith, a credit to the Catholic Church in the City and Diocese of Wheeling. |