Such is the brief outline of the early history of the Catholic Church in this part of the country and it will thus be seen that shortly after the Catholics were first permitted to worship God in their own way Catholicism took root in New Jersey.
The following concerning the first Catholic missionaries who visited New Jersey is taken from an article which appeared in the Catholic World in 1875:
"About this period (1757) there were a few Jesuit priests in Maryland and Pennsylvania; and the earliest account that we have of Catholics in New Jersey is in 1744, when we read that Father Theodore Schneider, a distinguished German Jesuit who had professed philosophy and theology in Europe, and been rector of a university, coming to the American provinces, visited New Jersey and held church at Iron Furnaces there. This good missionary was a native of Bavaria. He founded the mission at Goshenhoppen, now in Berks County, Pennsylvania, about forty-five miles from Philadelphia, and ministered to German Catholics, their descendants and others. Having some skill in medicine, he used to cure the body as well as the soul; and travelling about on foot or on horseback under the name of Doctor Schneider (leaving to the Sinelfunguses to discover whether he were of medicine or of divinity), he had access to places where he would not otherwise have gone without personal danger; but sometimes his real character was found out, and he was several times raced and shot at in New Jersey. He used to carry about with him on his missionary excursions into this province a manuscript copy of the Roman Missal, carefully written out in his own handwriting and bound by himself. His poverty or the difficulty of procuring printed Catholic liturgical books from Europe, or, we are inclined to think, the danger of discovery should such an one with its unmistakable marks of 'Popery' about it (which he probably dispensed with in his manuscript), fall into the hands of heretics, must have led him to this labor of patience and zeal. Father Schneider, who may be reckoned the first missionary in New Jersey, died on the eleventh of July, 1764. Another Jesuit used to visit the province occasionally after 1762, owing to the growing infirmities of Father Schneider, and there still exist records of baptisms performed by him here. This was the Rev. Robert Harding, a native of England, who arrived in America in 1732. He died at Philadelphia on the 1st of September, 1772. But the priest principally connected with the early missions in New Jersey is the Rev. Ferdinand Farmer. He was born in South Germany in 1720, and, having entered the Society of Jesus, was sent to Maryland in 1752. His real name was Steenmeyer, but on coming to this country he changed it into one more easily pronounced by English-speaking people. He was learned and zealous, and for many years performed priestly duties in New Jersey at several places in the northern part, and seems to have been the first to visit this colony regularly. In his baptismal register the following among other places are named, together with the dates of his ministrations: a station called Geiger's, in 1759; Charlottenburgh, in 1769; Morris County, Long Pond, and Mount Hope, in 1776; Sussex County, Ringwood and Hunterdon County, in 1785. The chief congregation at this period was at a place called Macoupin (now in Passaic County), about fifteen miles from the present City of Paterson. It was settled in the middle of the last century by Germans, who were brought over to labor in the iron mines and works in this part of the provinces."
"After the evacuation of New York by the British in 1783, there was a prospect of collecting the few scattered Catholics on Manhattan Island into a congregation, and the venerable Father Farmer used to go twice a year to visit the faithful there, across the northern part of this State, stopping on his way to officiate at Macoupin. On the 22nd of September, 1785, the Rev. John Carroll, who had been appointed by the Pope Superior of the Church in the United States and empowered to give confirmation, set out on a tour to administer this sacrament at Philadelphia, New York and (as he writes to a friend) 'in the upper counties of the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, where our worthy German brethren had formed congregations.' In this year Rev. Mr. Carroll computed the number of Catholics under his charge at sixteen thousand in Maryland, seven thousand in Pennsylvania and two thousand scattered about the other States. The number of priests was nineteen in Maryland and five in Pennsylvania."
[CHAPTER II.]
The First Mass said in Paterson.—Interesting Anecdotes Concerning Father Bulger.—Prejudice against the Catholics. The Old Church on Congress and Mill streets.—Origin of St. John's Congregation.
The first priest who placed his foot within what are at present the corporate limits of the City of Paterson was Father Philip Larrissy, a Franciscan monk who came here from New York. Just what year he came here is not positively known but it seems to be tolerably well established that he was here for some years previous to Father Langton. The first mass in Paterson was celebrated in the residence of Michael Gillespie, which stood in Market street on the site of the present Godwin homestead. Father Larrissy was a missionary priest who travelled between New York and Philadelphia and visited Paterson every few weeks. He generally arrived on Saturday evening and as soon as he reached Mr. Gillespie's house a messenger was sent to notify the Catholics that mass would be celebrated the following morning. Up to that time Catholics were compelled to go to New York, frequently performing the journey on foot, in order to attend divine service.
Father Langton was the second priest who celebrated mass in Paterson. The Gillespies had removed to Belleville and so a room for the holding of divine service was fitted up in the residence of Barney McNamee on the corner of Broadway and Mulberry street. Here the Catholics attended mass for several years. Father Langton was also a missionary priest, going from New York to Paterson, to Macoupin, Bottle Hill and other places; then returning to Paterson, which was a more important Catholic settlement than any in this part of the State. On his return to New York from Paterson Father Langton stopped at the residence of Mr. Gillespie at Belleville and after celebrating mass there proceeded to Newark, where there were very few Catholics, and from thence to New York. This seems to have been the route taken by the earlier Catholic clergymen, for even Father Bulger, who was not ordained until 1815, said mass in the residence of Mr. Gillespie.