Thank you for visiting the St. Peter Church history page. Please feel free to read the abbreviated history (below) which was prepared by an unknown author, or view the PDF version of “Upon this Rock“, a book written about St. Peter
Thank you for visiting the St. Peter Church history page. Please feel free to read the abbreviated history (below) which was prepared by an unknown author, or view the PDF version of “Upon this Rock“, a book written about St. Peter Church. Unfortunately this book is no longer in print.
This book is dedicated to the parishioners of St. Peter’s Church, past, present and future: to the past and present for their heritage of zeal, love and sacrifice for their parish; to the future for the heritage they will receive.
St. Peter’s history started in 1830 when, under the stewardship of Bishop John B. Purcell, Fr. John McGrady purchased the land it now sits on in Steubenville, OH, from James Ross of Pittsburgh and Bezaleel Wells. The purchase price was not recorded, however the cost of the first vestments, pulpit and one set of candles came to a total of $16.37. These two gentlemen owned most of the land that is now called Steubenville. The plot of ground was small, located on Fourth and Logan streets; however it was large enough to serve as site for a little church and a parish burial ground. St. Peter’s was originally named St. Pius and was the first Catholic Church to be built in the city. This was a time in history when parishioners would do whatever it took, whatever sacrafice, to make their church the center of their community life. This is certainly shown in the beautiful house of God, the first parish built.
The first parishioners of St. Pius/St. Peter’s, mostly of German and Irish decent, set up the altar, laid the floor, plastered walls, glazed windows, made pews, contributing in every aspect of the construction of the building.
On July 26th, 1835 Bishop Purcell solemnly blessed the new Catholic church of St. Pius at Steubenville. The building was a small brick structure, with dimensions of only thirty feet by forty five feet, it did not have an organ, statues or a shrine, only a pulpit and candle sticks, this was the church founded by Reverend Mr. McGrady in 1832. In 1845, Father James Kearny became the first permanent resident and pastor of St. Pius Church. In 1841, Father Neumann, later to become Bishop Neumann, and who recently became St. Neumann, stopped at the Steubenville Church on December 5, 1841; Father Neumann baptized three children in St. Pius Church.
The first women’s association was “The Society of Ladies,” under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin, was formed on May 4th, 1845. The Steubenville population was rapidly increasing in the 1850’s and Father Emmanuel Thienpont, the pastor at the time, decided to enlarge St. Pius. The current structure and land it sat on was not practical to use for the new church, so it was cleared in order to build a new church on a different site on the corner of Fourth and Logan. With contributions from parishioners and railroaders, the new church was built. Father Thienpont then changed the name of St. Pius to St. Peter’s, and it was consecrated by Archbishop Purcell in 1854.
The new church was of impressive size for this era, but only about one half the size of the current church structure. The first floor of the church served as the school and included a small student chapel. The church proper was on the second floor and was accessed by stairs just inside the front door of the church.
During this time in Steubenville a very strong anti-Catholic sentiment arose motivated by religious prejudice. The cornerstone setting was nearly cancelled when an angry mob approached the church to stop it. Fortunately for St. Peter’s, a soldier intervened with the mob and convinced them to disband.
In 1864 Fr. William Thomas Bigelow became pastor of St. Peter’s. Upon arriving, he found it too small for the burgeoning congregation and added an extension to the building, doubling the length of the church. It was Fr. Bigelow who converted the lower floor of the church into classrooms and appointed ladies of the church to teach the children. In 1868 Father Bigelow asked five “Sisters of Charity” to come to Steubenville, from their motherhouse in C