The Mc Crearys move to Pennsylvania
The Church of the Sacred Heart, better known as Conowago Chapel, and its history
belongs rather to the history of the Christian Church in America than to any
present division of the United States. It was here before the sturdy Irish and
Germans crossed the Susquehanna, and may be said to be contemporary with the
Church of St. Peter’s, at Baltimore. From what has been learned of the
beginnings of this church, it dates back to the period of the Iroquois and
Algonquin wars. The Caughnawagas, a branch of the Algonquin race, rambled south
from the great lakes, settled for a time in this vicinity, and were here to
offer a welcome and a home to the first Jesuit fathers. Josiah Grayton, S. J.,
often called “Father Creighton,” was the first of the fathers who made any
direct reference to Caughnawaga of the Susquehanna. In 1720 he came here and
offered up services in the wilderness, making, it is said, the wigwam a temple.
Within a few years a cabin was erected, which was used until 1740, when Rev.
William Wappeler, S. J., had a new log building erected in the vicinity of the
present church. Mrs. Elizabeth Sourbrier, of Maryland, herself a centenarian,
remembers an old church cabin* of which many old settlers knew nothing; while
the German immigrants of 1735 “passed a mass house, built of unhewn logs, while
en route from York to Christ Church settlement.” Samuel Lilly, family and
household, and the Robert Owings family settled here in 1730, and were the first
actual white settlers and members of the church. Then came the McSherrys,
McCrearys, Marshalls, Sanderses, Riellys - all from the north of Ireland – the
Sneeringers, Shrivers, and a host of others from Holland and other parts of
Europe.
The Church of the Sacred Heart, better known as Conowago Chapel, and its history
belongs rather to the history of the Christian Church in America than to any
present division of the United States. It was here before the sturdy Irish and
Germans crossed the Susquehanna, and may be said to be contemporary with the
Church of St. Peter’s, at Baltimore. From what has been learned of the
beginnings of this church, it dates back to the period of the Iroquois and
Algonquin wars. The Caughnawagas, a branch of the Algonquin race, rambled south
from the great lakes, settled for a time in this vicinity, and were here to
offer a welcome and a home to the first Jesuit fathers. Josiah Grayton, S. J.,
often called “Father Creighton,” was the first of the fathers who made any
direct reference to Caughnawaga of the Susquehanna. In 1720 he came here and
offered up services in the wilderness, making, it is said, the wigwam a temple.
Within a few years a cabin was erected, which was used until 1740, when Rev.
William Wappeler, S. J., had a new log building erected in the vicinity of the
present church. Mrs. Elizabeth Sourbrier, of Maryland, herself a centenarian,
remembers an old church cabin* of which many old settlers knew nothing; while
the German immigrants of 1735 “passed a mass house, built of unhewn logs, while
en route from York to Christ Church settlement.” Samuel Lilly, family and
household, and the Robert Owings family settled here in 1730, and were the first
actual white settlers and members of the church. Then came the McSherrys,
McCrearys, Marshalls, Sanderses, Riellys - all from the north of Ireland – the
Sneeringers, Shrivers, and a host of others from Holland and other parts of
Europe.
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