St. Joseph Rectory and Church 1880
History and State of St. Joseph Parish
Beginning in January 1878 Father Joseph Strub, C.S.Sp., the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers in the United States, came to Arkansas for the first time. Five months later, with the permission of Bishop Fitzgerald of the Diocese of Little Rock, he opened a mission. Father Strub made a deal on behalf of the Holy Ghost Fathers
with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad which gave him
land in the following counties: Faulkner, Conway and Pope. By
1879 Father Strub along with two priests, several brothers
and others had built a church and a rectory in Conway, AR. The first
church, like the entire colony, was consecrated to St. Joseph and
placed under his special mark.
Before St. Joseph had its first church in 1879 there were Catholics
living in the area. The first Catholic family to arrive here, not long
after Faulkner County was organized in 1873, was the Jacob Schichtl
family. By 1876 the Schichtl family was joined by other Catholic
families – Jacob Erbach, Edward Lachowsky, Joseph Schneider, Father Joseph Strub, C.S.Sp
John Weber, V. Wurtzelbach and H. Rappel. The spiritual wants of these few people were
attended to by a secular priest, Father Brehm, who sometimes traveled from Little Rock to Fort Smith and ministered to the Catholic families en route. The first Mass said in Conway was offered on an improvised altar in the house of Jacob Schichtl that was located on the Lewisburg Road one mile east of Conway.
About the time the first church was being built, the Hiegel, Balmat, Nahlen, Henze and Simon families settled in Faulkner County. The first resident priest of St. Joseph was Father John Willms, C.S.Sp., and he was accompanied by Brothers Leo and Genes. The first church was a frame building, 60 by 30 feet with an 80-foot bell tower. Bishop Fitzgerald blessed this church on February 23, 1879. For this occasion there was a special train from Little Rock, which brought the Bishop, priests, Cathedral Choir and visitors. In 1880 Father Strub wrote a guide book for Catholic emigrants called “The Guiding Star” for the St. Joseph Colony.
This book explained everything one would need to know to travel
from Europe to the St. Joseph Colony in Arkansas.
Catholics were leaving Germany (Prussia) in large
numbers in the 1870’s. The Iron Chancellor,
Prince Otto Von Bismarck, pushed through policies
which systematically discriminated against Catholics
in the new German state. Beginning with the
expulsion of Jesuits from Germany in 1872,
series of laws known collectively as the Kulturkampf,
or cultural struggle, struck at Catholic liberties and
institutions. Things were at their worst for German
Catholics at the time this booklet was written. Louise Daven Anthamatten & Judith Daven Lock
Swiss emigrants. Picture made in 1929.
There was a steady flow of settlers now from Poland, France, Switzerland and many from German. Soon the number of Catholic families had increased to 90.
The history of the first catholic school in Conway, AR began in 1881. Father Strub, pastor at that time, contacted the Sisters of St. Joseph, Cluny, France. A plot of land was procured for the school on the Northeast corner of Deer and Locust Avenue. A deed was received from Sanford Robinson to Reine Bafard, Sister Mary of Jesus, Superior General of the Sisters of St. Joseph, for the sum of $700.00. The purchase was made on the 8th
day of January 1881. A two story building was
constructed on the corner for the White children, with
living quarters for the Nuns. A small building on
Deer Street was built for the Black children. Most of
the money for the school construction and operation
of the school came from Cluny, France. Three Sisters
arrived to run the school. They were Sr. Emilien
Kearney, Sr. Mary Sainie Adeltrude Brophy, and
Sr. Mary Sainte Edburge Brady. They struggled
with the school for several years, but due to low
attendance, fire, drought and storms, were forced to close Part of original St. Joseph School
in 1896 and the nuns left. The land was sold on December 2, 1904 for $100.00, plus back taxes. Later the two story building was torn down but the small white building still stands.
Because of the severe drought of 1881, followed by a typhoid epidemic, the number of Catholic families was reduced from 90 to 60; for many died, others became discouraged and left Conway for Little Rock, while still others moved to different parts of the United States.
Father Charles Steurer, C.S.Sp. was the
pastor during these trying and arduous
times, having been appointed in 1879.
Father Steurer encouraged the
remaining people to persevere. Their
homes thus brightened, they wrote to
relatives and friends persuading them
to come to Conway. The result was Catherine Nahlen, Frederick J. Nahlen, Father Paul Nahlen, O.S.B.,
that many more migrated from France Margaret Grummer, Theresa Darscheit, Fred Nahlen, Father Peter Zell,
and Switzerland. C.S.Sp., and Joseph Nahlen, 1908.
Just as things were apparently going well with the little mission, a terrible tornado passed through Conway in 1883 and destroyed the Church. For the remainder of the year, Mass was said on the porch of the rectory while the people stood in the yard to assist. For the construction of a new church, Father Steurer went to Europe and recruited the assistance of the Leopole Nerein in Austria and the Bonafatius Verein in Germany. The new larger church contributed to the permanent growth of the parish. However, the quick succession of pastors gave evidence of trying times. Despite adverse circumstances, Father Charles Laengst, C.S.Sp., who returned as pastor in 1898, reopened the school, which had been closed for lack of financial support. With lumber from the old school four blocks away, Father Laengst, erected St. Joseph’s Hall on the Church grounds. Here a school was reopened with some 30 pupils and with Miss Catherine Herbert as teacher. Later the same year the first convent was built. Father Laengst then applied to the Motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame for some Sisters to teach in the school. His request was granted, and on October 29, 1898 the first three School Sisters of Notre Dame arrived. Classes began November 17, 1898 with an enrollment of 20 pupils. The parish took on a flourishing aspect under the faithful guidance of Father Laengst. However, the toil, anxiety, and superhuman work caused him, in his exhausted condition, to fall a victim to fever which caused his death September 5, 1899. He was the first priest buried in St. Joseph Cemetery.
For the next eight years, Father Andrew Feger,
C.S.Sp. was in charge of the parish during which
time the two side altars were erected in the second
church. He was succeeded by Father Peter Zell,
C.S.Sp., who was pastor for fifteen years.
In 1908 Father Zell came to Conway and
immediately began to plan for the enlargement
of the property, and to that end he erected a
beautiful parish hall and cleared the church of the
heavy debt. Father Zell a large man, physically
and mentally, and gifted in languages,
preached three sermons at each Sunday Mass in
French, German and English. Inside of the Second Church, 1899
In 1912 the School Sisters of Notre Dame began the School
Bazaar. March 1924, Father Joseph Pobleschek, C.S.Sp.
became pastor. In 1926 the St. Joseph Hall burned down.
Burning embers from the compress where the fire
started, were carried by high winds, which destroyed
the Hall. Father Pobleschek immediately began rebuilding
it, having completed the third church at St. Joseph which
was began in 1924. This new church was erected at a cost
of $50,000. The cornerstone laying of this church took
place November 23, 1924 and was dedicated a year later,
December 13, 1925. To match this church, the old school
was razed and Spiritan Hall constructed in 1926. To
complete the church plant, a new convent was erected
Third Church under construction, 1924
Father Anthony Lachowsky, C.S.Sp., the first native
son to serve as pastor of his home parish, began his
duties here in 1934. In 1936 he enlarged the grade
school, repainted the church in 1944, and had the
interior decorated in 1947. He then planned the
building and organized the drive that later culminated
in the St. Joseph High School. The highest peak of
Father Lachowsky’s administration in Conway was
the foundation of the Church and School of the
Good Shepherd for the Black people in 1948. To
complete the church plant two Notre Dame Sisters
opened the two-room Good Shepherd School.
Miss Caroline Favre and Theresa Siebenmorgen gave
of their services in teaching at the school. In 1950 Father Anthony Lachowsky, C.S.Sp.
two Benedictine Sisters graciously undertook the Flower girls Gertrude Lachowsky, Ida Rose Halter,
teaching at the school. and Martha Schichtl
Another native son, Father Henry Thessing, C.S.Sp.,
succeeded Father Lachowsky in 1950. Although
weakened in health from his missionary work in Africa,
he shouldered his responsibilities, one of which was the
construction of the new high school. He had the pleasure
of seeing the cornerstone laid, but did not live to see the
building completed because of a fatal heart attack.
Father Thessing died February 8, 1951.
Father Henry Thessing, C.S.Sp.
In March 1951 Father Anthony
Lechner, C.S.Sp. came to Conway
as pastor. St. Joseph High School
was completed and was dedicated
by the Most Rev. Albert Fletcher,
Bishop of Little Rock, on
September 30, 1951. In 1955 he
erected a convent for the Benedictine
Sisters at Good Shepherd School.
While helping with the landscaping
of the grounds around the newly-erected
convent, Father Lechner, C.S.Sp., on
August 17, 1955, sustained a fatal heart
Father Sylvester Dellert, C.S.Sp. was
appointed pastor in September 1955.
During his first year the old gym was Church Grounds in 1953; including Church, Rectory, Spiritan Hall, Convent
erected. In 1965 the Good Shepherd and Cemetery.
Kindergarten program was initiated for all parochial children regardless of race or status. Mrs. Patsy Bruich organized it. In 1966 the rectory (current Parish Administrative Building) was erected. Father Dellert served faithfully for 14 years and died on February 21, 1969.
Father Martin Conroy, C.S.Sp. in 1969 succeeded Father Dellert as pastor and continued to modernize and expand the parish facilities. In 1970 with positive thinking of the future by Father Conroy the property west of the railroad tracks owned by George Schichtl was purchased. Also that year the School Sisters of Notre Dame were withdrawn from St. Joseph Junior and Senior High School. In 1971 the St. Joseph Elementary School was renovated and expanded and that same year the Sisters of St. Joseph assumed the High School teaching and duties. In 1972 the Notre Dame Convent was remodeled and redecorated. In 1973 Father Joseph Behr, C.S.Sp. was appointed pastor. In 1974 St. Joseph School Board conceived the idea of the St. Joseph School Endowment, which became a reality in 1976. In 1979 the School Sisters of Notre Dame began phasing out their sisters of the elementary school due to a shortage of personnel and the same year the Sisters of St. Joseph felt the call to new fields of endeavor and left the high school.
In January of 1983 Father Joseph
Deniger, C.S.Sp. became pastor of
St. Joseph Church. He immediately
recognized the needs of the school
and the parish and began to correct
them. Father Roger Duffy, C.S.Sp.
was pastor from 1986 to 1988 followed
by Father Michael Carr, C.S.Sp. A
new elementary school was erected
in 1989. Father Wayne Epperley, C.S.Sp.
became pastor in 1990. St. Joseph Elementary School, 1989.
Father Anthony McKay, C.S.Sp. became
pastor in 1992. Within a year the former
Constantine family home was purchased
for the use of after-school care. He also
initiated the school uniform policy for
all students at St. Joseph Schools. The
parish was growing very fast and he
established the largest building program
in the history of St. Joseph. A 1,100 seat
new church was built next to the existing
one, which also was remodeled for a
chapel. The once-small school gym was
transformed into a parish hall/school
cafeteria. A spacious Family Activities
Center became the new home of the Parish Family Activities Center
school’s basketball and volleyball
teams. All of this was completed by
1995. He also was very supportive of
the establishment of around-the-clock
Perpetual Adoration at St. Joseph.
St. Joseph School was bursting at the
seams. The neighboring Ellen Smith
Elementary School was closing.
Although he was not in favor at first
to acquire the Ellen Smith property
he did relinquish and allow the Friends
of St. Joseph to negotiate the purchase
of the property with the financial help
from the St. Joseph Endowment and St. Joseph Primary School
Charitable Trust. This property was
renamed St. Joseph Primary School. These buildings and grounds were dedicated by Bishop J. Peter Sartain in September 2000.
Some history of the first St. Joseph Church was returned
to the “Gathering Area” (now the Baptistry) of the church.
The painting of St. Joseph with the Christ Child hung in
the St. Joseph Church, Conway, AR, 1879. When the
church was destroyed by a tornado on April 14, 1883 the
painting was blown out of the church and was found
undamaged leaning against a tree. For many years it hung
in the St. Joseph Convent. With the nuns departure in 1979
they entrusted the painting to the rectory for safe-keeping.
In 1994 the painting was restored to its original state. On
St. Joseph’s Day, March 19, 1996 the painting was returned
to the St. Joseph Church, Conway. It currently hangs in the
entry way of the Baptistry outside the chapel. Painting from first St. Joseph Church
During Father McKay’s time as pastor an increase in Spanish speaking people moved to Conway, AR. Father John Yates, C.S.Sp. was assigned to St. Joseph to assist with the Spanish speaking parishioners. He celebrated the Mass in Spanish and attended to their other sacramental and spiritual needs. Upon his departure from St. Joseph after 2001 the Mass in Spanish was celebrated for the next few years by then the new pastor Father Tom Byrne, C.S.Sp. (2001), Father Brandon Nguyen, C.S.Sp., Father Joseph Nguyen, Father John Brown, C.S.Sp., or a visiting Carmelite Priest. From 2008 through 2009 Spanish speaking services have been primarily conducted by Deacon Arnold Hernandez, C.M.
Father Thomas Byrne, C.S.Sp. accepted the position as pastor in January 2001 and found that the parish had a serious financial problem. He was forced to make cuts in personnel and adjust salaries in order for the parish to survive. He established a business plan for the parish, which enabled it to grow. In January 2002 the debt of the previous building program was paid off. Also in the same year, the St. Joseph School Endowment and Charitable Trust, with the support of the parishioners began a three-year pledge/drive for $2,000,000 to pay off the Ellen Smith Property and set aside monies for a Maintenance Trust for the School. The property was paid off in June, 2004.
Under leadership of Father Byrne a new residence for the priests was constructed off campus. The former rectory was converted to administrative offices for the church. Father Martin Conroy, former pastor at St. Joseph and Senior Priest in residence, died on August 15, 2004, a week before moving into the new residence.
The Precious Memory Walkway was completed (October 2007) during Father Byrne’s final year as pastor of St. Joseph. The walkway extends from the entrance of the St. Joseph Cemetery to the large crucifix in the center of the cemetery. One foot on each side of the sidewalk has been stained and divided into 12 x 16 inch rectangle bricks. Originally, the bricks were set aside for memorializing “Pre-Term” losses. In 2009 it was decided to open up the available bricks to any parishioners who would like to memorialize a family member or friend.
Due to health reasons, in June 2007 Father Byrne returned to the Holy Ghost Fathers Provincial House in Houston, TX, but continued to serve as pastor of St. Joseph until the arrival of a new pastor, Father George Spangenberg, C.S.Sp. in February 2008.
Under Father Spangenberg, the Tabernacle was relocated to the sanctuary of the church and the sanctuary was refurnished. The chapel was repainted and recarpeted and serves as the Chapel for Perpetual Adoration and prayerful meditation. The former Gathering Area was repainted and recarpeted and serves as the Baptistry, housing the Baptismal Font previously in the sanctuary and the fourteen paintings displaying the “Stations of the Cross”. Two new rooms have been added to the Baptistry, one serving as a robing room for the Altar Servers and housing of materials for the Church Ushers and the other as the Mass Preparatory Sacristy and when needed a Brides Dressing Room. In 2009, the wrought iron fence which surrounded the perimeter of the cemetery was extended to include the south end and west side of the church and elementary school yard.
Sanctuary of Church, 2009 Adoration Chapel
In June of 2010, St. Joseph Church made the transition from the supervision of the Holy Ghost Fathers to the care of the Diocese of Little Rock. After over 130 years of Spiritan guidance, Father John Marconi was assigned by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor as the first Diocesan Pastor of St. Joseph and Monsignor Richard Oswald was designated as Associate Pastor. In the fall of 2010, Father James Melnick joined the parish, as well. Monsignor Oswald was reassigned in June of 2011 after a year of service to St. Joseph. After just over a year as a Diocesan parish, St. Joseph has experienced many blessings of this new relationship.
Father Marconi has begun renovations on the Parish Administrative Offices to better utilize the space and make the building more accessible. He has also reinstated the Pastoral Councils and commissions to help advise the pastor on the many issues facing the parish. Father Marconi, Father Melnick, and the Diocesan leadership are working daily to serve St. Joseph’s vibrant Catholic community.
From a small number of Catholic families in 1879, the parish has grown to 2,019 families in 2011, with a catholic membership of 5.954. This membership has an average age of 34 years, with 22 percent (total of 1,302) of it consisting of children and youth from 6 through 18 years of age.
St. Joseph Catholic Church, Conway, AR has experienced a rich and diverse history through the years and with the help of its parishioners and priests is looking forward to serving the Catholic community for years to come.
We are a faith community with diverse gifts to teach Christ’s message of love and peace to all, through word and action. We are led by the Spirit to worship through prayer and sacraments and to serve and support others in a common path to the Father’s Kingdom. We will continually strive for unity and peace as we embrace the diversity of our community.