St.Agnes Parish Anecdote

Below is an account of John and Alice Ryan and son Charles

John and Alice Ryan, with their son, Charles, moved to Island Falls from Presque Isle in late 1897 or early 1898, when Charles was a little over a year old. John was a woodsman and was a former teacher.

They lived on the old Patten Road on the >shore of Mattawamkeag River. Across the street, on the shore of the river, was located a small Indian settlement, and the Catholic Church. When Charles was still a young child, the church was moved to its present location.

Charles served as alter boy for Father Fitzpatrick, and in all probability other pastors, who came to Island Falls from Benedicta once a month to say mass and attend the needs of the parish community.

Some parishioners I remember from childhood:

Joseph and Mary Paige

Joseph Shorette

Frank and Mary Pelkey

Henry Shorette

Henry and Julie Pelkey

Frank Berger

Thomas and Adelaide Brooks

Joseph Chasse

Harry Toner

James Sleeper

Raymond and Lydia Brooks

Maurice Lawler

Joseph Guimond and family

Thomas Lawler

? Plourde

Joseph Berger

David Emery

Joseph Grammeau

John Hart

Cyril Ouellette

Fred La Combe

George and Susan Thorne

? Cyr and family

James McKinnon

Frank Duguay

Joseph Paradis – Phoebe Paradis Green

Charles Shorette

Arthur Duran

Joseph Michaud

Fred Michaud

John Michaud

Dennis Michaud

Simeon and Mary King

Joseph Bishop

Frank Socia

Augustus Socia

William Socia

Frank and Maude Chappados

Edward York

William Cusic

Wallace Gerow

Merton Whalen

William St John

Peter Brasslett

Paul Hart

Theophile Oullette

? Kelly

Frank Martin

Ernest Fisher

Peter Fisher

Wilber Belyea

Minnie Berger

St. Agnes Parish . . . Island Falls, Maine

From The Church World (page 8)

July 11, 1955

The people of St. Agnes parish, Island Falls, were very much pleased when Father Clement M. Frazier, their first pastor, arrived in June of 1920.  Joseph Berger purchased a residence and rented it to the parish for the first rectory.

Father Frazier was a little down-hearted when he looked over the church in his first parish.  A stove was in the center of the church with a long stove pip to the chimney in the left front of the church.  The sanctuary was about 12 feet wide, 10 feet deep and nine feet high.  The choir was in the right hand corner in back of the church.  The outside was covered with cedar shingles in poor condition and the church needed paint inside and outside.  At that time there were about 45 Catholic families in the parish, which consisted of Island Falls, Smyrna Mills, Oakfield, Dyer Brook, Crystal and Hersey, with a Mission Church at Patten.

The first job was digging a small cellar under the church and putting in a furnace.  New posts were put under the church.  The ceiling of the sanctuary roof was raised and a choir balcony built across the back of the church over the door.  The inside was then painted.  The roof was shingled with asphalt shingles and the outside painted.  The parishioners made donations and a bell was purchased.  A plot of ground was given for a cemetery by Joseph Michaud.  The parish was gradually ‘getting larger as new families came to work in the mill.  At the end of two years the parish had grown to about 60 families or about 225 souls.

In September of 1923, Father Frazier was replaced by Rev. John W. Frawley.  The following year, Father Frawley built a new sacristy and extended the sanctuary across the front of the church, and put in new lights.  The first Lawn Party was held on the church lot which became a yearly event for a few years.  The following year the Berger family moved away and their residence was purchased for the rectory.

In November, 1926, Rev. C.E. Proulx replaced Father Frawley.  During the winter of 1928 a play, The Seal of Confession, was put on, which proved a great success.  The parish was gradually getting ? again and people were ? we would have to build ? church.  But the mill closed never to reopen and families began to move away.  During this period of readjustment, there was very little done to the church.  Money was scarce and men coming out of the woods in the spring time would make a “Bee” to cut wood for the church and the rectory.

In September, 1934, Father Proulx was replaced by Rev. Joseph X. Martin.  The people had adjusted themselves to the depression and a new way of living.  They were beginning to be in a little better spirits.  During this period nothing was done to improve the parish.  But due to marriage and a few new families moving in, the parish began to gradually grow again.

In September, 1941, Father Martin was replaced by Rev. Alban Michaud, pastor at the present time.  Father Michaud with the help of his generous parishioners did a great improvement in the parish.  A cement foundation was made for the church in Island Falls.  The basement is used for a parish hall and equipped with a kitchen and a pool table for the clubs and societies.  The outside of the church was covered with asphalt shingles and with new stained glass windows.  The inside was all repaired with panels.  The sanctuary was enlarged and the ceiling raised 10 feet higher.  A new composition main altar, two side altars, three new statues with crystal eyes, a hardwood floor, a set of chairs for priest and alter boys make the sanctuary.  The sacristy was also improved all over and with a new cabinet for the altar boys.

In Patten the Mission Church was also painted inside and outside, and a new cement foundation made.  For the glory of God, a new Hammond electric organ was added a both churches in Island Falls and in Patten.  Oil burner furnaces were also added to both churches and the rectory.  A plot of ground was bought for a new cemetery in Island Falls and adorned with a beautiful monument, a Calvary.

The societies and organizations now active in the parish are the Ladies of St. Anne, Holy Name, The Angels of Mary, and the Cadets of the Sacred Heart.  St Agnes Ladies Club, St. Joseph Men’s Club, Stella Maris Girls’ Club and the Sacred Heart Boys’ Club.  The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.