Saint Patrick Church & Cemetery

Saint Patrick Church and Cemetery. . , On February 5, 1779, a Catholic parish was established on this site and later named after Saint Patrick. From the earliest years, a burial ground was on the southern section of this lot. A red sandstone grave marker engraved in German script is the oldest stone to survive. The inscription reads “In memory of Nicholas Schwartz died 1784” who folklore describes as a Hessian soldier captured at Trenton, New Jersey, during the Revolutionary War. Tombstones from most of the mid-eighteenth century families have long disappeared. The early newspapers have identified a few Revolutionary War soldiers from the parish: Pendergrass, Quigley, Faust, Lechler and McManus., When the Civil War broke out, Carlisle rallied to the Union cause. In 1860, Father Edward McKee who was then Pastor of Saint Patrick, spoke to more than two hundred Catholics from the local garrison who went to Confession and Holy Communion just before their departure for service. Father McKee would later leave to become chaplain of the 116th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Among the parishioners of Saint Patrick who saw military service were two brothers, Leo and John Faller, who are buried in the cemetery. Their Civil War letters were published in 1963 in a manuscript entitled “Dear Folks at Home.”, A notable leader of Saint Patrick Church and a man of many talents was Father Henry G. Ganss, Pastor from 1891-1910. Amon his duties as pastor, he served as a member of the Hamilton Library Association, sponsored and performed concerts in the Carlisle Opera House and was one of the founders of the Todd Free Memorial Hospital. Father Ganss was also largely responsible for persuading then Mother Katharine Drexel to help establish a school in Saint Patrick’s Rectory where her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament taught Native American Indian and Black students., This Norman Gothic style church structure was built in 1893 and although damaged by a serious fire in 1923, was restored to its original architecture. A project of Historic Carlisle, Inc.