Untitled - Digitizing America

in Richwoods. Valles Mines, Iron Mountain,
and Delassus.
Father Tucker's successor was Father
Joseph V. Wiseman, a near relative of the
Cardinal of the same name. A scholar, Father
Wiseman was considered an eloquentspeaker,
although he read his sermons. To meet his expenses,
which the small congregation in Potosi -
could noi completely support, Father Wiseman
taught in a public school for some time.
One of the stories that has come down
through the years concerns Colonel Michael
Taney, who was a non-Catholic, and the brother
of Chief JusticeRogerB.Taney, aCatholic. He
had a farm in the Potosi area, and after becoming
ill, moved to a hotel in Potosi. He was attended
by Dr. John G . Brien, who was given the
deed to Colonel Taney's land on the condition
that if the Colonel recovered, the deed would
revert to the owner. He died. and because he
waspenniless at the time, hisfriends in St. James
Parish arranged for his burial in the parish cemetery.
It occurred about 1845.
Father Higginbotham
Early parish records indicate that priests kept
many notes about the payment of subscriptions
and pew rent. The subscriptions were pledges to
pay a certain amount annually for parish support,
and pew rent entitled a family to the regular
use of a particular pew and excluding othersfrom
it. Pew renl was paid twice a year.
When Father John T. Higginbotham arrived
in 1846 to replace Father Wiseman, one of his
first acts was to call a meeting o{ parishioners f or
December 15th. His record of the meeting
shows that there were seventy-six families, or
three hundred and five Catholics in the parish.
The meeting, held in compliance with a
pastoral letter from the bishop, rTuas to solicit
support for the maintenance of a resident priest.
The subscription showed sums ranging from
one dollar to forty dollars, with the median
amount of three dollars prevalent. Firmin
Desloge pledged the single forty-dollar amount,
while John and Andrew Casey each pledged
thirty dollars.
A report on that date showed the parish to
be in debt to Mr. Desloge for three hundred
dollars, and to the Caseys for more than two
hundred dollars. When Mr. Desloge offered to
cancel his debt, the Caseys followed suit. In
gratitude, the parishioners permitted the benefactors
to retain their pews free of rent.
Parishioners also resolved to liquidate other
debts ln the amount of $97.50. The debts were
incurred for church articles ($23.00) , thebuilding
of a confessional ($7.50) , furniture for the
"parochial house" or rectory ($25.00) , and for
an obligation remaining from constructing the
rectory ($42 .00) .
Pew rents were discontinued during the
time Joseph Cardinal Ritter served as head of
the archdiocese of St. LouisfromJulg20,7946,
to June 10,7967.
Father Higginbotham was transferred in
1848 toSt. Louis. He was succeeded thereafter
until the turn of the century by a number of
priests who served a year or two. The longest
period of service was that of Father Owen J.
McDonald, from 1875 to 1884.
The Third Church
In 1854, land was purchased to build a church,
rectory, and school. T. W. Brady was hired to
design the church. The cornerstone was placed