011r Catlzolic H e,-itage in Texas
Perrier. For a whole year he had to say Mass in the Odd Fellows' Hall, until the first Catholic Church in Dallas was built on the corner of Bryan and Ervay streets. The church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart the first Sunday of August, 1873. This year was important in the history of Dallas. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached the city; Father Joseph Martiniere was appointed pastor of Secred Heart, and the Ursuline Sisters of Galveston agreed to open a school. They located near the church and opened their school on January r8, 1874. 69 As Dallas grew, so did many other new towns dotting the countryside in north and west Texas. Thousands of pioneers had, by 1889, founded many new communities. Dallas had grown from a few scattered cabins into a city of over 61,000; Fort Worth had a population of 33,000; Den- ison, over 12,000; Sherman, r5,000; Marshall, 9,000; Jefferson, 4,000; Texarkana, 15,000; Paris, 8,000; Corsicana, 10,000; Weatherford, 7,000; Gainesville, ro,ooo; Saint Paul (Clarksville), 7,000; Tyler, 8,000; Ennis, 5.000; and Abilene, 6,ooo. 70 This vast new area was under the jurisdiction of Bishop Nicholas A. Gallagher, of Galveston, who upon the resignation of Bishop Dubuis, 71 had become administrator of the Diocese. A most zealous man, he had tried to visit his immense Diocese but had found it impossible for one man to care properly for the many souls scattered over so wide a territory. "The Diocese of Galveston," he wrote, "is too large to be conveniently and properly attended from Galveston, which is at the southern extremity of the diocese." In his request to the Provincial Council of New Orleans, he pointed out that "some parts of the Diocese are at least 800 miles distant." He admitted that there were very few Catholics in the northern district, but he said that "the prospect is that this portion will soon be settled." North Texas was growing fast in population and material pros- perity, and the good of the Church and of religion made it imperative, 69 Dallas Morning News, October 26, 1902; Sister M. A. Ursuline, Sketck of the life of Monsignor Joseph. Martiniere. 7 0Nicholas A. Gallagher, "Notes on the proposed new Diocese of Dallas," (in the Bishop's handwriting), C. A. T. 71 Tired and sick, Bishop Dubuis had resigned while in Rome on July 12, 1881, but retained the title of Bishop of Galveston. In 1 8 9 2 he was made Titular Bishop of Arca. He died in Vernaison, France, May 21, 1895. Gallagher ,vas made Bishop of Canopus and appointed administrator of the Dio- cese of Galveston, where he was consecrated on April 30, 1882. John H. O'Donnell, TIie Catholic Hierarchy of Ille United States, 1790-1922, (Washington, 1922), 62-63; Dincese of Gnfoestnn Centurninl (Houston, Texas, 1947), 36,
Powered by FlippingBook