All Saints' Catholic Church

	Jefferson Township
	*All Saints' Catholic Church*
	All Saints' Catholic Church, in Jefferson Township, about three miles from Mercer, to the left of the road leading to Greenville, was organized about 1838. At that time its principal members were John and Ellen Jennings, William Jennings, Richard Jennings, Patrick McCloskoy (a pioneer of 1796), William Kane, William McKeever, John Griffin, Patrick Griffin, Thomas Connolly, Daniel O’Connor, John Donahoe and others, some of whom were among the first settlers of the county. The same year a small frame church edifice was erected on land donated by one of the Jennings family. It was used, likewise, for school purposes. James Hanavan, one of the pioneer teachers of the county, and a resident at present of Sharon, taught there as early as 1843. This building, having undergone suitable enlargements and improvements in 1855, answered the purposes of the congregation for thirty years more. In 1885 the present [1888] structure was erected at a cost of $12,000. It is a commodious, ornamental and substantial brick structure, in harmony with the most improved notions of church architecture. It, with the extensive grounds surrounding, constitutes a valuable property. The
		*All Saints Cemetery*

		congregation has grown to be a large and influential one in the community. It has been ministered to by Revs. Hugh Gallagher, John Reed, M. J. Mitchell, C. M. Sheehan, Father Creeden, Arthur McConnell, J. J. Gallagher, Patrick C. McGrath, William Pugh, Peter Brady, John Donnelly and J. H. McAdam, the last being the present [1888] pastor. All Saints is the pioneer Catholic congregation of the county, and is in quite a flourishing condition. The present pastor has accomplished a great deal since taking charge. History of Mercer County, 1888, pages 546-548-
All Saints Church The Oldest Catholic Church in Mercer County The oldest Catholic church in Mercer county is known as All Saints church, and is located in what has for years been called the Catholic settlement north of Mercer. The brick church itself stands on the west side of the Greenville road, about three miles from Mercer and in Jefferson township. In this vicinity a small Catholic community had been formed, some of the members being among the early settlers of the county. Patrick McClosky was a pioneer of 1796, and other family names that appear on the first roll of membership are Jennings, Kane, McKeever, Griffin, Connolly, O’Connor, Donahoe. Members of these families organized the church about 1838, and the same year a small frame church was erected on land donated by one of the Jennings family. This building was remodeled and enlarged in 1855 and continued in use until 1885. The original building served both for school and church purposes, one of the early schools of this vicinity having been held in the little frame church. This has been one of the influential Catholic congregations of Western Pennsylvania ever since it was organized. In its earlier years its membership comprised persons who resided all along the Shenango valley and elsewhere in the county. At Greenville were some Catholic families and services were occasionally held there, but no church was erected there until 1868. The church at Sharon was likewise of much later date than All Saints. Of the early pastors of the church should be mentioned the Revs. Hugh Gallagher, John Reed, M. J. Mitchell, C. M. Sheehan, — Creeden, Arthur McConnell, J. J. Gallagher, Patrick C. McGrath, William Pugh, Peter Brady, John Donnelly. Rev. J. H. McAdam, the present rector of Sacred Heart parish at Sharon, was pastor for a number of years, and was succeeded in 1898 by the present pastor, Rev. Father O’Mahony. The church building now used was built in 1885, at a cost of $12,000. It is a handsome country church, situated in beautiful grounds, and after seventy years of growth it continues to exercise its beneficent power in a large community of Mercer county. Source: Twentieth Century History of Mercer County, 1909, pg. 267