The original Parish of St. Mary's was established by Bishop
Benedict Joseph Fenwick on Old Rutherford Avenue in 1828. In 1847, there was a revival of the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic
Know nothing sentiment and a mob gathered and stoned St. Mary's. With the arrival of more immigrants, hostility increased. In 1853, a young Irish woman named Hannah Corcoran had become a Baptist. Her mother and a Catholic priest took her to Philadelphia. Nativist pamphleteers alleged kidnapping and murder and there was widespread public disorder. A Charlestown mobbed, inflamed by the handbills, came very close to storming the house of pastor Patrick F. Lyndon. Rev. William Byrne became pastor of St. Mary's in 1874; he became vicar general of the diocese in 1878 and served in both capacities until 1881 when he became president of
Mount St. Mary College in
Emmitsburg, Maryland. Om October 29, 1887 pastor John McMahon laid the cornerstone for the new St. Mary's on Warren St. He was the younger brother of Bishop
Lawrence Stephen McMahon of the
Diocese of Hartford, who was at that time overseeing the completion of
St. Joseph's Cathedral, designed by
Patrick Keely. Father McMahon chose Keely to design the new St. Mary's. The Gothic exterior combines Rockport granite with brick trim. The altar was likely designed by
Thomas F.Houghton, Keely's son-in-law and principal draftsman. The Stations of the Cross are by
Joseph Sibbel and duplicate those he supplied for St. Joseph's in Hartford. The first service was held May 26, 1889 in the basement; the sermon preached by Bishop McMahon of Hartford. On August 13, 1890 the funeral for poet
John Boyle O'Reilly was held in the church with thousands in attendance. ==References==