Untitled - Digitizing America

and 8,811 in 1850. By 1860, there was a total
population of 9,723- including 1,028 slaves.
The beginning of the Civil War in 1861
found citizens of Potosi divided in their sympathies,
and they went on record in May, 1861, in
favor of armed neutrality. In the same month,
however, Federal troops took over Potosi, forcing
citizens to take sides. Some joined the Union
troops, while others helped to form Confederate
companies behind rebel lines.
There were a number of skirmishes and
raids by Southern troops during the war, but it
was in 1864 that Potosians came under a major
attack by General Jo Shelby. A story is told that
the church became a re{uge for women and
children, and that the three-tiered tower was
weakened from the impact of an artillery ball.
During the war years, Father Fox had religious
articles of the church moved to Allen's Cave.
During that time St. James had no resident
pastor. In 1866, Reverend Michael O'Reilly,
who had just been ordained, was appointed to
assist Father Fox at Old Mines. When parishioners
of St. James heard this, they sent a delegation
to Archbishop Kenrick to remind him of
hispromise to send a residentpastor. Mr. Joseph
Connolly had set aside quarters in his own
home on the strength of that promise.
Faiher O'Reilly thus was transferred in
the fall to St. James Parish, residing with the
Connolly family while construction of a rectory
next to the church went on. The pastoral residence
was completed the same year. This was
the beginning of the present-day parish rectory
- another section of rooms was added in the
early 1900's.
Father O'Reilly spent much of his time
teaching Latin to the parish boys. Among them
were the future Monsignor Joseph A. Connolly,
Father Francis Jones, and Judge Teasdale.
Barite Mining
Toward the end of the Civil War, lead deposits
ran low. and the industry declined. It was soon
replaced by the surface mining of barite, a compound
derivative of the element, barium. While
barium had been discovered in7774, its varied
uses for other industries only grew in the latter
part of the nineteenth century and the early
:*entieth century. The Potosi area was rich in
jre mineral, once a discarded byproductof lead.
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A chalky substance , barite became an ingredientused
in rubber, paint, soap, anda number
of otherproducts. Barite mines dotted thelandscape.
The miners worked independently, mining
the ore and selling it to the landowner, who,
bycustom, provided a house nearthe minefree
to the miner. Haulers,-who were also independent
contractors, would take it to shipping
points by horse or mule-drawn wagons.
Most of the parishionersof St. James, previously
involved in the mining of lead, became
barite miners. Barite became known in the area
as "tiffl'
As was reported earlier, the rectory was
completed in 1866. It was a narrow four-room
house, with two rooms upstairs and two rooms
downstairs. Twofireplaces were used toprovide
the house with heat and a place for cooking.
The frame house is today covered with
asbestos shingles. New roofs were put on the
house in 1875 and since. The interior has
undergone a number of renovations and improvements
in more recent years.
A rather interesting incident involved
Father O'Reilly in 1871. Two men, John
Armstrong and Charles Jolly, had been tried
and convicted for five murders, and were sentenced
to the gallows. Father O'Reilly and three
priests from St. Louis were scheduled to givethe
convicted men the last rites, and were late in
arriving on the day of the hanging, January 2 1st.
According to The Missouri Republican ol
January 28, 1871, , 'jThe crowd now began to
be impatient and cries of 'Bring them out' -'Let
us see them' were loud and frequent," as the
people were anxious to see the prisoners.
The priests went into the courthouse where
they gave the last rites to Armstrong and Jolly;
they accompanied them on the gallows along
with several officials. The priests spoke briefly
and quietly to the two men, then Father O'Reilly
addressed the crowd:
The men here present and now to be
executed have been condemned ludicially
by the court oi this county. Whether tried
correctly or not, it is not for us to say. They
on)y wish to say that they desire to plead
neither guilty nor noi guilty. If they are
guilty, God knows it. If they are notguilty,
God knows it. The evidence seems to say
they are, and in the eyes of the law they
are guilty and worthy of death. But they
desire to die pleading neither one way nor
the other.