Diamond Jubilee Fete Slated

1942: “The 75th anniversary of the cornerstone laying of St. Mary's church [in Chillicothe] will be celebrated April 17.

“It was on Passion Sunday of 1867 that the cornerstone of the beautiful early Italian Gothic church, which still serves the parishioners, was blessed and placed by the Most Rev. Edward A. Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati. The pre-ceremony procession which escorted the Archbishop to the site was, according to the Catholic Telegraph of that time, ‘the largest assemblage seen in the streets since the Morgan raid’ in the Civil War.

“Admired by experts as an excellent example of early Italian Gothic architecture, and considered the best of its age, architecturally, in the archdiocese, St. Mary’s church is 66 by 150 feet, and has a 135-foot tower. Construction was begun in July of 1866, when the Rev. John Murray, later rector of Mt. St. Mary’s seminary and Vicar General of the archdiocese, was pastor. Archbishop Purcell solemnly dedicated the edifice on the Feast of the Assumption, 1869. On that occasion His Excellency presented to the parish a large oil painting of the Assumption, obtained in Europe, that still hangs on the north wall of the church.

“The present church property at the corner of Paint and Fourth streets was purchased in the pastorate of the Rev. T.J. Tierney in 1864 from the Sisters of Notre Dame, who had conducted on this site an academy since 1848.” (See The Catholic Telegraph-Register, April 10, 1942)

Note: Six counties and portions of four others in the Cincinnati archdiocese were transferred to the Columbus diocese by Pope Pius XII in November 1944. Sixteen Cincinnati priests, 11 parishes — including St. Mary Parish in Chillicothe, Ross County — and seven missions were affected by the transfer.