Rt. Rev. Mgr. THOMAS H. WALLACE.
He was born in Somersworth, N. H. He died in Lewiston, Me., November 1. After finishing his course in the Somersworth High School, he graduated in 1864, entered Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass., and carried off the highest honors of his class at his graduation in June, 1868. In the following September he entered the Theological Seminary of St. Sulpice, Montreal. He was ordained priest by the first bishop of Portland, the Rt. Rev. David William Bacon, D. D., in the Cathedral, Portland, Me., August 5, 1871. After his ordination he was first sent as assistant to the pastor at Waterville, whose parish included twelve or fifteen missions. Here the young priest began his mission work and displayed that tireless energy and zeal that gave promise of his future success. In 1872 he was transferred to St. Dominic’s Church in Portland to assist the Rev. Eugene M. O’Callaghan, who is now the Rt. Rev. Monseigneur, and vicar general of the diocese of Manchester, N. H. The careers of both priests have been very similar, each of them receiving the purple in 1905. Father Wallace succeeded Father O’Callaghan as rector of St. Dominic’s and to this day both are most lovingly remembered by the old members of the parish. In August, 1876, Father Wallace was appointed rector of St. Joseph’s, Lewiston, which has been the scene of his labors for the past thirty-one years. He found St. Joseph’s with a debt which he set to work at once to pay off. In March, 1880, he purchased the Bonallie Block on Main Street. He remodelled this block and fitted it for a school for the girls of the parish at an expense of $30,000. He placed the school under the charge of the nuns of Notre Dame from Montreal. In 1886 he purchased the fine property at the corner of Bates and Walnut streets, at a cost of $25,000. This lot fronts on the City Park and is the most beautiful site for a church in the state. He began work at once on the foundation of the church and on June 24, 1887, the corner stone was laid by the lamented Bishop Healy, with appropriate ceremonies. The dedication sermon was preached by the Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Conaty, D. D., who is now bishop of Monterey and Los Angeles, Cal. The first mass in the sacred edifice was celebrated in 1890.
HON. FELIX CARBRAY, M. R. I. A.,
A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY, RECENTLY DECEASED.