A History of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in New Orleans, LA
1879--1999
by Brother Shawn Priggel, C.S.C.
In 1878 we see the first beginnings of Sacred Heart Parish in the negotiations initiated by Archbishop Perche with the Congregation of Holy Cross to take charge of a new parish he wished to form in the rear section of Canal St. On March 19, 1879 Holy Cross gave up its work at St. Vincent's Home for Destitute Boys on Bienville (where they'd been since 1873) and accepted responsibility for this parish extending from Broad Street to Lake Pontchartrain, and from Howard Street to St. Louis. One week later Mr. Patrick Burk O'Brien, cotton broker and generous benefactor of the parish, donated a square of land bordered by Canal, Gasquet (later Cleveland), Lopez, and Rendon Streets to Holy Cross for the use of the parish. A three-room combination church and rectory was built on the corner of Canal and Lopez, and the church was dedicated on August 24, 1879.
What must have been a rather bleak sight greeted the first pastor, Rev. Auguste Marine, C.S.C. Only 30 or 40 families inhabited his whole parish which consisted mainly of brush, palmettos, swamp, truck farms and cow pasture. Someone is reported to have remarked, "Frogs are the only worshippers here!" Canal Street was a shell surfaced road which was impassible during heavy rains or floods. Poor drainage necessitated the construction of board walks consisting of 2x12's raised about thirty inches off the ground. In times of floods even these disappeared and those attending service had to come by raft or row boat, as did the school pupils. A popular activity for the boys after Sunday Mass was to scoop crawfish from around the drain running along Lopez St. to Tulane Ave.
Collections were slim in Father Marine's day, and he often went without enough to eat--until his parishioners found out about it. The early parishioners were mostly poor Irish, poor but generous with what they had. Several families supplied milk to the rectory from their dairies, and another family, surnamed Lacoste, supplied food from their grocery store. Fr. Marine was apparently not afraid to remind parishioners of their religious obligations. He spent four months in the hospital as the result of being hit over the head by some dairymen after delivering a "scorching sermon" on their lack of attendance at Mass! (Apparently some were attending that day!)
Despite initial difficulties the little congregation must have grown quickly as within a few years a new white wooden church seating 300 to 400 was built facing Canal Street in the middle of the block and a 4th room was added to the original building. In the little memoirs written by some early parishioners many mentioned a "beautiful picture of the Annunciation," donated by the William Willett family, which hung over the altar in the new church.
Fr. Marine also organized a Sanctuary Society and saw the building of a 2 room schoolhouse in the last year of his pastorate. The school was built by Thomas Carey on the corner of Canal and Rendon, facing Rendon. Br. Oswald, CSC, and a Miss Slaughter from St. Joseph's parish taught the handful of students first attending. Apparently neither of them taught there for long; they were followed by Misses Margaret Carey and Agnes Thompson.
Fr. Marine was replaced as pastor in 1882 by Rev. Peter Cooney from Ireland. He served as pastor only 1 year. Rev. Guillaume Demers from Quebec became pastor in 1883 until 1886. A petition was sent in 1885 asking for his removal saying, "He speaks too much about the colored gentlemen, such questions shouldn't be discussed from the altar." (It doesn't say whether he spoke favorably or negatively about the "colored gentlemen", but whatever he said the parishioners didn't like it!) Rev. John Adelsperger from Ohio became pastor in 1886 until 1889. The parishioners were again in a petitioning mood and a lengthy one was sent to the provincial, this time asking to keep their pastor. In 1889 Rev. John Scherer from Germany took over the parish, serving for only 1 year. A secular (priest?) once remarked about Fr. Scherer, "I wonder whether the community has two superior generals or two provincials. He scandalizes all by his blind disobedience."
A Frenchman, Auguste Saulnier, became the next pastor and stayed until 1895. Fr. Saulnier was described as a "nice old man" and under his leadership the St. Vincent DePaul Society was organized as well as the League of the Sacred Heart. He reported in 1894 to Fr. Corby, then provincial, that the Rosetta Gravel cars were soon to pass by the church fixing cement banquettes on both sides of Canal St., and that more than 20 families were building around the church.