The story of Johnstown : its early settlement, rise ... - JohnstownCafe

FATE OF PASTORS A.\D CHURCIfES.
fmislied and furnished ele-antiv. Connected with the church and supported
In- it was St. John's ConNent. a laryc brick buildiny. on the corner of Clinton
and Locust streets. The con\ ent and schools, which 600 pupil., attended, were
in cJiarge of the Sisters of Ciiarity. Sister :\Iary Helena was ^^lotlu r Superior, assisted
by iw elve Sisters as teachers. The convent v. as almost wholly demolished.
The only part standing is a wing in which the chapel v.as located. To tliis
apartment, where so often they had knelt in devotion, the pious Sisters tied
for refuge from the llocd. Gathering in front 01 the altar as the torrent bore
off two-thirds of the buildin-. tliey supplicated the protection f
the Almif-ht\-
Ruler of the v.inds and th.e waves. Every moment threatened to sweep aw.ay
the tottering wing of the convent, but the suldime trust of these good women did
not waver. Once the servant-girl retreated to the bay window in the rear and
called for help. She might as well have tried to fly as to look for aid from anv
human source. .\ Sister drew h.er back to the altar and counselled her to
exercise faith in God. Aii night the little band knelt in fervent prayer. On
Saturday morning they emerged from their refuge to comfort the afthcted, to
nurse the sick and injured, and to succor children who had been bereft of liome
and parents. Sister Ignatia, Si:.ter Marie. Sister Genevieve, Sister Elizabeth.
Sister Augustine. Sh-ter Pcrpetr.a. Sister Marie Loui.se. Sister Agatha and
Sister Ursula were the subjects of this remarkable experience.
.\bout eight o'clock in tr.e morning friends of :\Irs. iMarN- McXallv. wlio
died at Prospect on Thursday, escorted her body to this church for the funeral
rites. During the requiem the v.ater rose steadilw The carria-es and hearse
started for the Lov.er Yoder Cemetery, but coidd not proceed far and returned
with the coffin, which was again placed in the church.
It was there when the
flood and the fire combined their efforts to destroy tlie editice, but was not cremated.
Some of the mourners, who did not go home as soon as the funeral
was abandoned, were drowned in Johnstown. Tlie singular conjunction of
circumstances attending its de-^truction gave St. John's church yreat prominence
in connection with the tlood.
Rev. U. C. Phillips, pastor of the Welsh Calvmistic Methodist Church,
which was obliterated, reported lost from his congregaticn twenty-two adults
and twenty-eight children under fifteen years of age. He and his family -ivere
at their house on Main street.
After the wreck. Mr. Phillips chopped a small
hole with a hatchet through the ^^ all. between his house and J.
.\. Larkin .t Co. 's
jewelry store. Before lie got the hole big enouirh to let himself and family
through, he lost the hatchet. Then with his hands he tore the h.Je lar'-er and
obtained egress. After getting into the store of tlie Messrs. Larkin. the i