St. Lawrence Catholic Church

Various newspaper clippings about the history of St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio.

Ironton Register, Nov. 24, 1887 – To IRELAND – Father Kehoe, who has been the assistant priest at the St. Lawrence Church for nearly a year, started on a visit to Ireland last Thursday. He acted upon a leave of absence granted by Bishop Watterson, which he received only the day before, so his departure was sudden but not altogether unexpected to himself and his associate priests, who knew that given impaired health, he had applied for permission to make the trip, his trouble is a lung disease.

In a dispatch to Father Bric after seeing the Bishop, he said he was expected to return to Columbus in five months. He may then come to Ironton or be sent to some other appointment. The young men of the St. Lawrence congregation presented him with a purse of $100 before he left.

Cornerstone Laid St. Lawrence Catholic Church – Ironton Register, July 2, 1891

Next Saturday, the cornerstone of the St. Lawrence Catholic Church will be laid. The Catholic societies of neighboring towns have been invited to be present, and some have indicated their purpose to attend. Bishop Watterson will officiate in the occasion ceremonies and arrive from Columbus on Friday evening. A reception committee of the church will receive the visiting societies as they arrive on Saturday, meeting at 11:30 for this purpose, and at 12:30, will escort the German societies and others to the St. Lawrence school house.

At 1 p.m., the parade starts from the schoolhouse, moving down Center to 3rd, to Railroad, to Railroad Street Park, up 2nd to Adams, to 4th and Center, to 7th, and then counter-march to the scene of the ceremonies at 6th and Center. Capt. Hart will act as Grand Marshal of the parade. Bishop Watterson will make an address before laying the cornerstone, and there will be a presence to assist in the ceremonies. Revs. O’Reilly of Columbus, Goelin of Ashland, Rauck of Pinegrove, Smith of St. Joseph’s church, and perhaps others.

Ironton Register, July 2, 1891

The closing exercises of the St. Catholic Lawrence schools, which occurred at the Masonic Opera House last Friday and Saturday nights, were pleasant and successful entertainments. Many children of the schools took part. A large audience attended each night. Rev. Cotter gave three prizes to pupils having the best grades. They were awarded to Katie O’Connor, Willie Sullivan, and Maggie Gallagher. Proceeds of the entertainment go to the new church fund.

Ironton Register, July 21, 1892

When the scaffolding is removed and the work is fully completed at the new St. Lawrence Catholic Church, the scene within will be of surpassing beauty. Enough is revealed to give one a promise of what there is to be. The interior of that church will be a source of pride to Ironton. The art there has been given a lofty place in expressing the ideas of the church.

Everything has been most tastefully and delicately done. The coloring is a rich blending of tints that rest the eye and comfort the heart. Many figures and faces are copies of the old masters, while original features are after the most approved ideals. Mr. Corrige, in charge of the scenic painting, is an artist of distinction. He has worked in the Vatican and other places of note. The modern designs are handsome.

The Resurrection, the central view in the rear of the altar, is a noble picture, the figure showing the effulgence of being, which is very striking. In memory of L. P. Ort, one of these windows contains a picture of St. Lawrence, from whom the church was named. Close observers have traced some strong resemblance to Mr. Ort himself in the picture. But we cannot now attempt a description of this abode of art. When it is finished and the lumber removed, we will briefly describe and criticize this beautiful art display.

St. Lawrence Catholic Church Beautiful Windows

Ironton Register, Thursday, June 30, 1892 

The windows of the new St. Lawrence Catholic church are a collection of art. They are done in a soft color that admits plenty of light and will not tire the eye. There are three large rose windows, about 25 feet in diameter, six large panel windows, a group of five sacristy windows, and several smaller ones in the wings and towers.

The feature of all the windows is the ascension of the colorings and the happy blending of the most delicate tints. The sacristy windows are the chief ones. The center one of the group represents the ascension—a figure of the Savior, the face of which is a copy of a masterpiece by Drshwarden.

About this window are grouped four others which represent four departments of Christian virtue—a martyr, confessor, penitent, and virgin—as follows: Saint Barbara, with the classic features of the Greek; Saint Aloysius, a sprightly young prince, dressed in the garb of the Knights of St. James of Spain; St. Lawrence, rich in the elegant dress of the episcopate, and Saint Mary Magdalene, pallid and tearful, in white and blue. All these faces are elegantly done, and the flesh tints are spirit-like rather than grossly human. The designs of the windows above and below the figures are rich and tasteful.

Of the three rose windows, the one on the Center Street front is contributed by the A. O. H. and is the most expensive in the church, costing $300. Its centerpiece is a fine representation of the head and shoulders of St. Patrick. The large window in the Sixth St. wing is in memory of Mrs. John Hannan and represents the Sacred Heart of Mary; the one opposite, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, this window being a memorial to Mrs. Owen Cloran, Sr.

The panel windows are after a special design of Greek architecture, with columns of marble of various kinds, and are as pretty as any in the church. Two windows in the church are the gift of John Delaney and Mrs. O’Donald, respectively, and the others are in memory of John and Mary O’Keefe, Mrs. Rafferty, James O’Rourk, Mrs. Martin Cloran, Aloysius Britt, Rev. J. F. Bric, L. P. Ort and deceased members of the Blessed Virgin Sodality.

ADDENDUM
Morning Irontonian, Friday 3 April 1925

ST. LAWRENCE ORGAN WILL BE HEARD EASTER MORNING
Installation of New Rudolph Wurlitzer Company Instrument Completed; Choir Has Been Reorganized

A wonderful musical offering will be given at the St. Lawrence church on Easter morning, on the beautiful new Wurlitzer Hope-Jones unit organ which has just been installed by Joan W. Boex, of Cincinnati. Mr. Boex ranks as one of the ablest and most accomplished organ builders in the country and is leaving for Cincinnati to complete the installation of a large organ for the Crosley Radio Corporation, which will soon be heard from W.L.W. radio station. This grand instrument is also the product of the Wurlitzer Mammoth factories.

The St. Lawrence organ was specially designed and built for this particular church by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, the largest builders of pipe organs in the world today. It is of the very latest type of construction, being entirely electric in action so that the tone production is instantaneous with the pressing of the keys, enabling the organist to play all kinds of music, from soulful church hymns to the great works of the master composers.

Over twenty-five miles of electric wiring was used in the construction of this organ. All of the electric contacts are made of pure silver, and many months were necessary to build the instrument, as every part was made to order so that, in its entirety, it is suited to the requirements and conditions of St. Lawrence church.

Fourteen Tone Degrees

One of the marvelous features of the instrument, and the proof of the great advancement in organ construction today, is that the entire organ is under tone expression. There are no pipes in the open that play at one tone, never louder, never softer. Fourteen degrees of tone expression are obtainable from the instrument, and because of this, the most wonderful, sweet shadings of tones are obtainable.

This is accomplished through the medium of patented Venetian swell-shutters that open and close at different degrees through the slight pressure on a pedal. These shutters are automatic and instantaneous in their movement so that a range from the softest whisper of tone to a great crescendo is possible in an action of a second.

The beautiful tone mixture in the St. Lawrence organ is another great feature, as the organist can mix tone colors just as the artist does his pigments, and they produce marvelous tone pictures. Every tone in the great organ is individual, and every pipe in the organ can be called on at any moment the organist wishes so that its resources are practically unlimited.

Charles Argus of this city, local representative of the Wurlitzer Company, personally supervised the installation. 

Miss Hilda Cloran will preside at the console on Easter morning as organist. Mrs. Catherine Massie is the leader of the newly organized choir. The organ is a new and powerful instrument that replaces one installed seventy-two years ago by Father Gilmore, afterward Bishop of Cleveland. Rev. Dr. J.H. Cotter, pastor of St. Lawrence, is delighted with the new organ.