My mother loaned him a horse and saddle. He was granted the use of an empty house in Plantersville near the railroad station where he was soon domiciled and set building a church on land acquired from the estate of Mrs. Della Baker, about three miles north of Plantersville. To the erection of this church, and a small rectory he spent all of his energy doing much of the work himself. In the course of a few months it was finished and dedicated to the service of God under the name of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This church being finished and ready for divine service, the little church in Plantersville was closed, and some years later it was torn down and rebuilt several miles northeast of Plantersville as a school for Catholic children. Father Klein had a school near the new church, which he himself taught until he procured the service of teachers, Prof. Loley, and his daughter.
On the night of December 31, 1900, midnight Mass was celebrated in the new church. A bitter cold night but people came for far and near, many walked for miles, and many more on horseback (the writer among the latter). Cold weather never seemed to deter any person from attending Mass, though there was no heat in the church for years on end.
Father Klein had other missions, so we did not have Mass on the third Sundays of the month. Prof. Loley was our organist and we had High Mass on Sundays.
Father Klein was our pastor for thirteen years. He left us in March 1907, and St. Mary’s became a mission attended on one Sunday in the month by Father Jacob Schnetzer of Houston, then recently ordained.
On Saturday night of his August visitation, my mother was taken ill. I sent word to Father Schnetzer of her condition. He came the next day and administered Extreme Unction and the blessing of a happy death (the kind of death she had prayer for) and she died three days later on August 28, 1907.
Father Schnetzer told me a few years ago that my mother was the first person to whom he had administered the last sacraments.
St. Mary’s remained a mission about a year, then Father George Wilhelm came as pastor in 1908 and remained until 1910. During his pastorate the congregation was divided. He superintended the building of a church at Stoneham, Texas for the Polish people. This church was placed under the patronage of St. Joseph, and was dedicated by Bishop Gallegar (Gallagher) in 1910.
Father Wilhelm was succeeded by Father Dombroski (Dombrowski) who attended both St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s. He spoke both Polish and German, also English sufficiently to be understood, but not if he gave the Polish and German sermons first.
After Dombroski (Dombrowski) came the Rev. Charles Weisneroski (Weisnerowski) on September 27, 1911. In 1913, Rev. Father Geo Apel came to St. Mary’s as pastor. He also attended a church in Hempstead one Sunday in the month, and during his absence on the third Sunday in July 1917, St. Mary’s Church was struck by lightning during a storm and burned to the ground. Fortunately, it was the steeple that was struck, so the back of the church was last to burn; which gave the few people time to carry out the statues. The Blessed Sacrament was saved by Mrs. Martin Klein, sister-in-law of Fr. Joseph I. Klein. She took it to her house which was a greater distance from the burning church than the rectory, and was considered safer.
After the church was burned, Mass was said in the public school building near by. Father Apel rebuilt the church on a larger scale, but with a much lower steeple than the old one. Father Apel left us in 1917 and was succeeded by Father Schertz, who was pastor until 1934, and was succeeded by Rev. Geo. Elmendorf, who left in 1936, and was replaced by Rev. John Geiser who was replaced in 1940, by our present pastor Father Stindle.
During the fifty-five years, near to twenty girls of this parish have joined sisterhood and three native boys have become priests and said their first Mass in St. Mary’s church. The first was Charles Kirk, grandson of James McMurrough, who came to Plantersville in the 1870’s. The two are the boys referred to as entering the Seminary during Father Schertz pastorage, vis. Rev. John Diehl, O.M.I. and Rev. Bernard Wagner O.M.I. who was ordained June 1946 and sang his first Mass on June 6th, 1946.
Rev. Father Claude Thorp, C.M., a son of my half-brother Henry R. Thorp was mentioned elsewhere in this narrative sang his first solemn High Mass in St. Mary’s on August 1, 1920.
The first girl to enter the convent from Plantersville was Catherine, daughter of James McMurrough, in 1892. She is Sister Mary Gabriel of Ursulines in Dallas, Texas. She celebrated her Golden Jubilee January 2, 1942 and her Diamond Jubilee on January 2, 1952.
The baby born at sea and baptized at my father’s house died near Plantersville in 1945. She was Mrs. Elnore (Eleanore) Kuta.
NEWSPAPER GLEANINGS
Plantersville Item, 14 Nov 1898 – Mrs. Markey has lately put up a handsome gray granite monument at the Head of Mr. Markey’s grave.
Plantersville Notes, 4 Aug 1900 – The old Catholic church in our little village which Mr. Markey was principal in having built, and in which he always worshipped, was taken down this week and carried two miles into the country to the Womack farm, and will be rebuilt as a school house for the German children.
PlANTERSVILLE
By: Louise Busa Borski
The Church Deed—The deed for the little church Miss Markey mentioned was drawn up for part of a 2 ½ acre church lot in the city of Plantersville. It was signed on January 6, 1874 by Jack Baker, Jessie Womack, C.D. Quinn, R.P. Saunders, and A.B. Easley trustees of Plantersville. Witnesses were J.K. Markey and J.P. Booth.
The Deed states that the land, 1200 square years, was given by Henry Griggs and was made out to Bishop Dubuis of Galveston for the sue and benefit of the Catholic Church. The deed was recorded in Grimes County on January 11, 1875. (Vol. K. pg. 362. The land still belongs to the Galveston-Houston Diocese. A forest covers the entire plot today.
Not once did Miss Markey refer to the little church in Plantersville by name. It would not be unreasonable to assume it did not have one. Some of the sacramental records for Plantersville residents before 1876 were located in surrounding parishes like St. Joseph’s in New Waverly, Walker county; St. Joseph’s in Bryan, Brazos County; and St. Mary’s in Brenham, Washington County. The baptismal record for Mrs. Kuta, the baby born on the ship, was located in Houston. Others are still missing. Many priests who served the little church were visiting priests. Area genealogists are still trying to solve the mystery as to where their records are now housed.
The Markey home and school—The Markey school no longer exists and the basement in the school where Mass was celebrated has been filled in and covered over. That area is now level pasture land. The house, however, still stands. The kitchen which once stood a short distance away has long ago been moved and made a part of the main house.
The house was occupied until a few years ago with some of the original hand-made furniture inside. A wardrobe, too heavy for the man alone to handle, was never removed from one room
Several fireplaces are located throughout the house and several pieces of dining furniture remain in the dining hall. A horseshoe shaped porch wraps around the east half of the house
Within walking distance a little house believed to be the one Father Felix Orzechowski occupied also stands. It is now used to store hay for cattle.
*An additional note of interest found in this material written by Louise Busa Borski.
When [St. Mary’s] church burned in 1917, the parishioners were divided as to where to rebuild. Letters were written and petitions signed in hopes of relocating in Dobbin, six miles east. There were good farms and roads, tow railroads, and at least thirty families already settled there—all good reasons for relocating. However, the land and rectory were already settled issues at the old site and relocating was not practical. So the church was rebuilt at the old location. The first St. Mary’s Church stood facing south. The second and present church faces west.
A bit of history learned jut recently from Mrs. Margaret Wagner…
When St. Mary’s church was burning down in the 1917 fire, all the furniture from the rectory was taken out, fearing that the walls of the burning church might collapse outward and fall on the rectory. The present rectory was build later in 1924.
So end the narrative histories of St. Mary Church/Plantersville as related by Mrs. Betty Markey and Louise Busa Borski. Neither history is dated.
An challenging proposal: A present day historian to bring up–to-date the history of St. Mary Church/Plantersville from the pastorate of Father Stindle to the present.
Mrs. Pam Poole is compiling and completing the documents for a Texas Historical Marker for Registered Places. Pam has researched much of this history and it will be included as part of the application for the Historical Marker. However, other interesting stories and personal recollections would be invaluable to add to the Markey and Kuta histories and the history of St. Mary’s to the present 21st century.
If you’ve got any memories or handed-down stories, please write them down and send them to Fr. Ed. or Pam Poole. What a continued legacy to hand down to future generations.
