The Catholic Church in Otisville NY

In 6/1850 in Otisville, Orange Co NY, Mary St. Lebim married Martin Reagan b. 1830 in County Tipperary, Ireland.

The hamlet [town] of Otisville is located within the town [township] of Mount Hope, Orange Co NY. And in the 1850s, Otisville was an industrial hub which supplied workers for the Delaware and Hudson Canal and the Erie Railroad's expansion west out of New York City. The question is "Why were Martin and Mary in Otisville when they got married?" Irish laborers were welcome.

So, where are the marriage records for Catholic Irish immigrants who worked at Otisville? Researching Otisville, we have to work backwards. First, there wasn't an actual church until 1866.

The schoolhouse in 1846 was nearly a mile south of the village on the plains, the present site of the cemetery. A church was also there. . .The coming of the Erie boomed Otisville for the next few years. A Methodist and a Presbyterian church were built and a little later a Catholic church. [Holy Name of Jesus, 1866]

    History of Mount Hope, NY, "The History of Orange County, New York," 1908 <http://history.rays-place.com> 2 November 2014.

Beginning in 1860 with the organization of Immaculate Conception at Port Jervis NY, the Church at Otisville was under the auspices and supervision of different regional churches beginning with Port Jervis then Middletown and then back and forth; as the Church at Otisville was a mission for a long time.

Rev. Langdill and Rev. Dr. French (the latter in 1817 and the former in 1818) were the first Catholic missionaries in Orange County, and at Newburgh, in 1826, St. Patrick's Church, the first Catholic church in the county, was organized. There are now [1881] fifteen churches and missions in the county, viz. . .Holy Name of Jesus, Otisville, attended from Middletown

    History of Orange County New York, 1881, <http://www.archive.org> 3 November 2014

So, we find that the first Catholic Church organized in Orange Co NY was St. Patrick's at Newburgh in 1826. If there are any records to be found, they would be at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. And Martin and Mary would have been married by Rev. Patrick Duffy, Pastor, 1836 to 1853.

Roman Catholic Churches. — St. Patrick's, the first Roman Catholic Church in the county, was organized in 1826. Previous to that time Newburgh was visited by itinerant Catholic priests, among whom was the Rev. Dr. French, who said mass, in 1817. . .At the time of the organization of St. Patrick's the number of Catholics in the town did not exceed 30, and mass was said every six months. Soon after this time the Rev. Philip O'Reilly was stationed on the Newburgh district, and said mass here once every month. In 1836 the Rev. Patrick Duffy was appointed to the station, and for seventeen years remained Catholic pastor of Newburgh. He died in  1853.

    History of Orange County New York, 1881, <http://www.archive.org> 3 November 2014

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This site is provided for reference only. Except where specifically cited, information contained is conjecture and should not be considered as fact.
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