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That St. Thomas the Apostle Church was ever
built at all is a miracle of faith. Surely
all odds were against it. In 1845 the sum
total of Wilmington’s Catholics was but
thirty-nine souls. Only one of these was a
native son and practically none of the other
adults had money or influence. At that time
the Protestant majority found the “Papist”
religion so suspect that the new Irish
priest, who had come as a missionary, could
not even find someone to sell him land for a
church.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Ignatius Aloysius Reynolds,
Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston on
January 1, 1845, officially formed the Roman
Catholic Parish of Saint Thomas Apostle in
Wilmington, North Carolina. He appointed the
Very Rev. Thomas Murphy as pastor of the
congregation.
Two Catholic converts and the husband of a
Catholic – Miss Catherine Ann McKay, Bernard
Baxter, and Dr. William A. Berry with a
solution on November 1, 1845 purchased the
lot for the erection of a church. They
raised $797.00, the asking price for a deep
lot on Dock between Second and Third
streets, obtained the deed, and then
transferred it to Fr. Murphy. The members
decided on a subscription list, contributing
according to their means.
Fr. Murphy had big dreams and high hopes.
In the course of the following summer he
collected funds in New York and Philadelphia
and with the subscription of the
congregation undertook the building of St.
Thomas. He was so impressed by St. James
Episcopal Church built in 1840 that he hired
its builders, J. C. and R. B. Wood, to build
a church for his small Catholic
congregation. The architect is unknown. The
contract called for the building of a brick
structure 60 X 40 feet. Fr. Murphy
superintended the construction of the Gothic
Revival style building on this location at
208 Dock Street. The builders constructed a
massive central gable and lancet arched
windows of three lancer units in place of a
tower. In 1846 the cornerstone was laid and
a year later the Church was finished and
dedicated to the service of the Almighty on
July 18, 1847 by the Rev. J. F. O’Neill of
Savannah, Georgia. Stucco was applied to the
building in 1858. A twenty-four by
thirty-two foot addition to the church at
the rear of the older structure was
completed by 1870. It was intended as the
bishop’s residence. Changes in the interior
of the church were made in 1933 and a fire
in November 1966 caused great damage.
Fr. Thomas Murphy was Wilmington’s first
full time Roman Catholic minister. He was
born on November 30, 1806 and he was from
County Carlow, Ireland. He began his studies
for the priesthood in that county before
transferring to the Dioceses of Charleston
completing his studies in the seminary there
subsequently being ordained in 1836. By
1838, Fr. Murphy was stationed in
Fayetteville, North Carolina and was named
Vicar Forane by Bishop John England. In 1844
he was transferred to Georgia and the
following year to Wilmington. From 1845 and
for the next fifteen years he tended his
flock and watched it grow. All people of the
community regardless of faith knew Fr.
Thomas Murphy for his kind ministry. In 1862
a yellow fever epidemic nearly destroyed
Wilmington’s civilian population. Many
fled, but Father Murphy stayed on to tend
the afflicted, he died as a result the
following year on August 18, 1863. Fr.
Murphy is interred in a crypt in the church
basement.
Two years later Rose O’Neal Greenhow (1817 –
October 1, 1864), a heroine of the
Confederacy, drowned off Fort Fisher while
attempting to run the Union blockade and
bring gold and secret messages to the
Confederates in Wilmington. Her funeral was
held at St. Thomas and she is buried in
Oakdale Cemetery in Wilmington. Her story is
an interesting epic and truly one of
morality. For further information: Ann
Blackman, Wild Rose: Rose O'Neale Greenhow,
Civil War Spy. New York: Random House, 2005.
ISBN 1-4000-6118-0
Catherine Ann McKay Fulton (1821-1898) who
is often noted in the St. Thomas registers
first acted as a benefactor in the purchase
of the church lot. She is listed, for
example, sponsoring children’s baptisms or
as an entry participant herself such as her
marriage to David Fulton on August 10, 1846.
Mr. Fulton and a member of St. Thomas,
Alfred L. Price, began the Wilmington
Journal newspaper in 1844 to further the
cause of the Democratic Party. Also
noteworthy, are the numbers of persons
identified as the “Slaves of Mrs. C.
Fulton.” Maria Anna Jones (1838-1929), a
former slave of Mrs. C. Fulton, was a life
long member of St. Thomas and she is often
mistakenly referred to as North Carolina’s
first and oldest baptized Black Catholic. We
know from Bishop England’s visits to North
Carolina he was providing sacraments to
African Americans as early as 1820.
The Rev. James Andrew Corcoran D.D.
succeeded Fr. Murphy as pastor of St.
Thomas. Rev. Corcoran was a native South
Carolinian and remained pastor until 1868.
He was called to Rome to help prepare for
the Vatican Council held in late 1869 and
early 1870. Rev. James Gibbons arrived in
Wilmington in 1868 and on November 1 of that
year was installed at St. Thomas as Vicar
Apostolic of North Carolina. In 1869 Fr.
Gibbons requested the Sisters of Mercy of
Charleston to send teachers to begin a
school. Among the three nuns who came was
Sister Mary Charles Curtin who kept annuls
of their mission in Wilmington. The sisters
opened the Academy of the Incarnation on
October 11, 1869 for girls and by January
1871 had begun a parochial school in the
basement of the church under the patronage
of St. Peter, then St. Joseph’s Male Academy
in 1876. The two latter schools eventually
formed into one. Name changes, closings and
reopenings occurred over the years.
In 1872 James Bishop was appointed Bishop of
Richmond and later moved to Baltimore where
he was later elevated to cardinal. He
continued his interest in Wilmington and St.
Thomas through the years. He wrote Faith of
Our Fathers a distinctive book about the
principles of the Catholic faith. This
best seller, which went through more than
one hundred editions, sowed the first seeds
of the Ecumenical religious movement.
Bishop John J. Keane continued in charge of
the Vicariate of North Carolina until 1882
when the Rt. Rev Henry P. Northrop was
installed at St. Thomas. During his
administration Thomas Frederick Price
(1860-1919), son of Alfred and Clarissa
Price, became the first native Catholic
priest in North Carolina. St. Thomas
nurtured the faith of two families whose
sons were destined to enter the priesthood
and become the founders of the home and
foreign missions of the American Catholic
Church. Fr. Price co-founded the Catholic
Foreign Missions – the Maryknoll Fathers,
while Fr. William Howard Bishop founded the
American Home Missions – the Glennary
Fathers.
On June 27, 1891, the Rev. Christopher C.
Dennen came to Wilmington to assume his
duties as pastor of St. Thomas. He
negotiated the sale of the property in 1907
to Mrs. Preston L. (Mary) Bridgers, with
others, to set aside funds for the building
of Saint Mary Church. A few years later,
parties representing Mother Katherine
Drexel, Mother Superior of the Blessed
Sacrament of Sisters, purchased the St’
Thomas Church building. The parish was then
committed to minister to African Americans
and Rev. Thomas Hayden was made pastor. The
church was integrated on a small scale, the
majority being African Americans. The first
convert to the newly formed church was
Margaret Loftin, and both she and her
daughter were received into the Roman
Catholic faith together. Fr. Hayden remained
with St. Thomas Parish until 1915. The Rev.
Charles B. Winckler, a member of the Society
of Josephites, was put in charge in 1917.
The priests of the Society of Josephites
dedicated their lives for the advancement of
all black people in the United States and
Africa. A parochial school for African
American children was opened on October 11,
1911. The school was located in the basement
of the Dock Street church. In 1912, during
Fr. Hayden’s pastorate he purchased the
building on 105 South Second Street, which
was renovated and used as a school. The
Sisters of Mercy had opened a school for
black children in 1888. In 1913, the
Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore, then known
as the Franciscan Sisters of Mill Hill,
England, came to Wilmington and took over
the school. St. Thomas High School was
closed in 1939 shortly after the opening of
Williston Public High School (1931) and the
elementary school closed in 1951. In 1952,
the Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
came to St. Thomas Church and a kindergarten
and nursery school were opened. The last
Handmaid was Sister Vincent who left in 1990
and Lydia Braye succeeded her as principal.
Mrs. Braye served until 1999. Her sister
Helen Pennington was principal until the
school closed December 2000. Students
transferred to St. Mary Elementary.
After a 1966 fire damaged the interior of
St. Thomas, the two Roman Catholic parishes
merged at St. Mary. Additionally at about
the same time the decision that all American
Catholic congregations should be integrated
ended St. Thomas the Apostle Church’s life
as a church. The building was in danger of
being torn down in 1970. A group of
concerned community members lobbied
successfully to save the structure. The
building was officially deconsecrated and in
1979 the Historic St. Thomas Preservation
Society was incorporated with the goal of
restoring and rehabilitating the building so
that its space could serve the needs of the
citizens of Wilmington. The Society
obtained the deed in 1982. Over the next
years the society restored the building
called St. Thomas Preservation Hall. The
Society maintained and administered St.
Thomas Preservation Hall through private
donations and rental income from special
events. A major overall to the building was
completed in 2004 and through their efforts
St. Thomas Preservation Hall became the
premier rental facility in Historic
Wilmington.
For Forty-two years St. Thomas has not
served an active congregation. On December
24th, 2007, River City Reformed Church held
a Christmas Eve service and on Sunday,
January 13, 2008 they held their first
official service in their new home at St.
Thomas. Pastor Robert Carter, a Wilmington
native, uses the Westminster Standards,
traditional hymnody and expository preaching
to pursue the church's calling - "To magnify
the beauty of Christ". Services are on
Sundays at 10:30am.
In November of 2008 St. Thomas was acquired
by the charitable organization, The Promise
Foundation. The mission, maintain and
preserve Saint Thomas Preservation Hall as
an historic monument and continue to develop
it as a highly sought after venue for a
variety of events. In addition the goal is
to produce excess funds to support the
development of other charitable
organizations.
Sources: Sister Mary Charles Curtin, Annals
Sacred Heart Convent, 1841 – 1892 (The
Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the
Americas). William M. Reaves, Strength
Through Struggle, (New Hanover Public
Library, 1998). Tony P. Wrenn, North
Carolina, an Architectural and Historical
Portrait (Charlottesville, VA: Tony P. Wrenn
and the Junior League of Wilmington, NC,
1982). Clarendon Courier, Journal of the Old
New Hanover Genealogical Society, 1999 –
2001 (Wilmington: 1999- 2001). St. Thomas,
the Apostle Catholic Church, 1847 – 1947
(Saint Mary Parish of Wilmington, NC).
Church of St. Thomas Baptisms Register. New
Hanover Deed Book 52, pages 198 & 207.
Joseph E. Waters Sheppard 2004.
Special thanks for
information extracted from "A Brief History
of the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle",
written by Joseph E. Waters Sheppard, 2004.
Saint Thomas Preservation Hall is listed in
the National Register of Historic Places and
is open year round on a rental basis for
weddings, receptions, performing arts,
music, theatre, dance, educational programs,
professional meetings, seminars, lectures,
and other special events.
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