Martin Welsh visits Parents
July 20, 2018Maggie Welsh visits Gardner near Shepherdstown
July 20, 2018Catholic Church Reopened
St. Agnes Catholic Church, of this place, after repairs and decorations was reopened […] The rededication of the church calls to mind that sometime between the Revolutionary War and 1800 a Catholic chapel was erected on what is known as the “chapel lot”, an eminence just northwest of town, which commands a lovely view for many miles. This was said to have been the first Catholic church in the two Virginias. It was said to have been ministered to by Prince Gallitzin, a German nobleman who became a missionary priest to America, with headquarters at Conewago Furnace, Pa. Just when this old church was abandoned no one seems to know. Numbers of graves show in the upper portion of the lot, said to be mostly those of Irish laborers who died in the cholera outbreak along the C. & O. canal in the 30’s. One slate stone, bearing the name of Charles McElroy, shows plainly the date of death 1827. It is said that McElroy was killed by a blast while helping to build the present road up the river hill. […].
