Early History of the Catholic Church on Fishers Island

Early History of the Catholic Church on Fishers Island

by Pierce Rafferty

While researching within online newspaper archives, I recently stumbled upon a July 1893 article whose headline caught my eye: “A Hundred Years Since Mass Was Celebrated on Fishers Island.” The article recounted that Father Daniel Sheehy of St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Brooklyn, had just returned from saying Mass on Fishers Island the prior week, the first time that such a service had been held on Island since around the time of the American Revolution. During that period “some Catholic clergymen, who were chaplains upon some French frigates, are said to have celebrated mass there for the benefit of the French soldiers and a few straggling Catholics who were then on the island.” (Brooklyn Eagle, 23 July 1893.)

I found no further historical evidence of the Mass conducted by French priests, but did uncover considerable detail about Father Sheehy’s 1893 Mass. The district schoolhouse (today’s F.I. Library) was borrowed for the service as St. John’s, then the only church on Island, was Episcopalian. Sheehy’s Mass was very popular and attracted not only Catholic residents, but also guests of that faith staying at the Island’s three major hotels, along with numerous Protestants, and “infidels,” i.e. non-believers.

The success of the July 1893 Mass encouraged the Brooklyn Diocese to continue the practice of sending a priest to conduct religious services on Fishers Island in borrowed venues during the summer season; this tradition continued for the next tenplus years, during which a succession of priests served, some for multi-summer stretches. They held services in either the F.I. School, or in private homes, the latter also being used to house the visiting clergy. At least for the summer months, the arrival of priests freed Catholic worshipers from the considerable burden of travel by boat to attend Mass at mainland churches.

The ambitious goal of establishing a permanent Catholic church on Fishers Island was first raised in the press immediately after the 1893 Mass; however, it would take more than a decade of concerted and persistent efforts by clergy, church officials, and Island residents to realize this dream. The impediments were mostly fiscal: “The work of erecting a church on Fisher’s Island was necessarily slow. The permanent Catholic residents were few in numbers and not of more than ordinary means.” (Brooklyn Citizen, 16 July 1905.) Hotel guests of Catholic faith also contributed, but not significantly.

Father John A. Ferry is widely credited with pulling and pushing the campaign for the new church across the finish line. After his arrival in 1898 as a visiting priest, fundraisers were held both on Fishers Island and as far away as Montauk, L.I. During this period, an entirely new group of faith-seekers began attending the Island’s Catholic services: workmen who were building the new fortifications of Fort H.G. Wright. They joined a coalescing congregation that included many residents “employed around the villas of the summer residents.” (Catholic Union and Times, 7 September 1899.)

The Brooklyn Diocese chose noted architect George H. Streeton to design the Island’s new church. He was the architect of many prominent buildings throughout the boroughs of New York built primarily for Roman Catholic clients in a variety of architectural styles. By September 1901, the project had progressed to the point that Rev. Ferry purchased a plot of ground on Fishers Island as the site for the new church. (Times Union, 21 Sept. 1901.) The overall cost for building the new church was estimated at $15,000.

On September 11, 1902, Right Rev. Charles E. McDonnell, Bishop of Brooklyn, led high pontifical ceremonies that commemorated the laying of the cornerstone for the new church, originally named “Church of the Star of the Sea.” Brooklyn diocese officials and approximately a dozen priests from both Brooklyn and multiple towns on Long Island attended the ceremonies. (The Standard Union, 13 September 1902.)

Rev. Ferry stated in 1902 that it was his intention “to have the new church built during the coming fall and winter, so as to be ready for divine services early next summer [1903].” However, it would take two more years of fundraising to enable the completion of the project, including a benefit event at the Mansion House Hotel on Fishers Island and a theatrical benefit in Brooklyn. The much-delayed construction finally began in October 1904 and was finished by early summer 1905.

The completed church was renamed “Our Lady of Grace,” possibly because there already was a Church of the Star of the Sea in New London. Dedication ceremonies were held on Sunday, July 30, 1905. The structure was blessed by Bishop McDonnell, assisted by clergy who delivered a high Mass. Father Belford of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Brooklyn, preached the dedication sermon. (Brooklyn Eagle, 22 July 1905.)

Construction on the adjacent rectory began in May of 1912 and was almost certainly completed during that year. Our Lady of Grace Church was formally incorporated in 1915.

As for today’s Catholic services on Fishers Island, Dominican Friars conduct one Mass on Saturday evenings and one on Sunday mornings during summer months; in the off-season, priests from New London perform weekly Mass on Sunday mornings on Fishers Island as well as special services on Holy Days.