St. Joseph's Parish History Part II
With the architects fee, the total building cost was $18,500. An additional $7,500 for furnishings brought the total cost to $26,000. Later the tower was built to house the first set of chimes in Middletown and an organ was purchased. The new building had a seating capacity of over 1,000 due to the Gothic style wood braces that supported the roof. There was only one other building constructed in this manner at the time. A small chapel added to the rear of the church was the last piece of construction which had taken almost a year to complete. In 1884 a stone school was added for the church Sunday School at a cost of $1,100.
During this time, Father Prendergast was not only concerned with the building of the new church, but continued to look after the spiritual welfare of his congregation. In 1876 there were 1,500 communicants in the parish and 245 members pledged 50 cents a month toward the building fund. In 1876 a July Festival was sponsored by the church in order to aid the funding. The local paper ran an article at this time informing the community that Father Prendergast had prohibited round dancing at church picnics and festivals. He went on to say that people who indulged in this behavior did so against his wishes. The paper agreed with him saying while it was possible for some to dance round dances without harm, it was impossible for people with ungoverned passions to indulge in it with perfect freedom from impure thoughts and harmful results.
In December of 1876 Father Prendergast was again in the news. The local paper commented on his ability to sleep soundly. Burglars ransacked the rectory while the pastor was asleep in his room. They entered through an unlocked window and took three dollars in coins that were on his desk. Another large desk, having many small drawers, was removed from the rectory and later found in a garage one block away. After ransacking the entire house, except for the room with the sleeping priest, they adjourned to the cellar and split a bottle of altar wine, which came from the Jacques Brothers Winery of Washingtonville. When the left they took a second bottle. The following day Father Prendergast told the police he had removed all bills from the collection and stuffed them into his pants pockets. The thieves got only a small part of the collection, which was described as "substantial".
The Rev. John Patrick McClancy was born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland on December 17, 1844. Following the great famine and the growing political unrest in that country, his family came to New York in 1850. John McClancy attended Catholic Schools graduating from Manhattan College in 1866 and was ordained by Archbishop McClosky at St, Joseph's Seminary in Troy, New York on May 22, 1869. Father McClancy's first assignments were St. Joseph's and St. Peter's, both in NYC. On September 17, 1877 he arrived in Middletown to assist Father Prendergast. CArdinal McClosky sent him to Father Prendergast for one month. That month lasted fifty-seven years.
On July 27, 1879 The Most Reverend Bishop O'Hara of Scranton, Pennsylvania traveled to Middletown to lay the cornerstone for the new St. Joseph Church. The guest speaker was to be the famous Father McGlynn of New York City. He was one of the country's most noted speakers of the time and a large crowd was expected to attend. Charles Jones, a Western Union messenger, arrived at the rectory on the morning of the ceremony with a telegram for Father Prendergast. Father McGlynn would not be able to arrive in time for the ceremony, The pastor informed his young assistant that he would be the speaker for the ceremony which was to take place in less than two hours. Father McClancy, almost unprepared, spoke eloquently and won the reputation of being one of the finest orators in the nation. For the remainder of his life, he would be asked to speak at prestigious gatherings and even for non-Catholic groups.
On May 9, 1880 The Most Reverend Patrick Neilson Lynch, D.D. Archbishop of Charleston, South Carolina dedicated the new Saint Joseph Church. Father Prendergast remained pastor of the parish until 1888 when he was reassigned to Kingston. The Reverend John P. McClancy who had assisted Father Prendergast for eleven years, was appointed Pator of St. Joseph's by the Archbishop of New York.