Religion in Lemay, Missouri

My husbands GGgrandfather William Dunn is listed in the article below.   Published Wednesday, March 10, 1976 titled "It Happened in Lemay"

Religion in Lemay

The community of Lemay was 201 years old before the first church spire appeared.

  When the Jesuit Fathers came in 1704, the seed of the Roman Catholic faith was planted in the hearts of the Indians;  the first mission house was built near the spot where Broadway and Horn are today.  But after the Fathers went back to Canada, the little mission fell into a state of disrepair and because of lack of interest among the settlers was abandoned.

  The same thing happened to the little log and stone mission near Mount Olive Cemetery, built and serviced at a later date by traveling priests from Ste. Genevieve.

  Spiritually hungry people of the settlement had to content themselves with facilities offered in Carondelet, or in Cahokia - across the Mississippi river.

  Because of such hardship and lack of convenience, many of the people fell away from the faith and at the turn of the century, 1899 to 1900, the average citizen considered religion as only a minor need.

  In 1904 William Dunn, realizing the need for a Catholic parish in his locality, spoke with John Lechner and the two of them canvassed the neighborhood to see how many Catholic families they could find.  They located 40;  later Mr. Dunn's children went  "way out in the country" and found 60 additional families.

  On Sunday, August 14, 1904, a meeting for the purpose of organizing a parish was held at old Kugler Hall, 9800 South Broadway.  After that meeting the Archbishop approved establishment of a German parish to be used by all nationalities in its territory.  The name St. Pious parish.

  First  Mass was celebrated February 5, 1905 by Rev. Father Albert Mayer at the little frame chapel of the Sisters of Mount St. Rose Sanitorium, who loaned their facilities to the new parish until a new building was completed at Hoffmeister and Military roads.

  It was December 17, 1905, that the new church was dedicated - a frame building, 110' x 47', of which the first 30' was classrooms for a grammar school.  At this time the name of the parish was changed to St. Andrew

  Within the next six years St. Andrew grew to such a size that it was necessary to build a new church and additional school facilities.

  On March 23, 1930 Father Mayer turned the first spadeful of durt for the new location of the church, a few feet east of the original building.  This was a courageous step for Father Mayer because  at the time the country was in the depths of a terrible depression.  In fact, many of the St. Andrew parishioners were begging for daily bread.

  In the spring of 1931 the people of St. Andrew dedicated their new church.

  In the past quarter of a century, the Catholics of Lemay expanded and multiplied until now there are five other parishes in the Lemay area:  St. Martin de Tours, St. Francis D' Assisi, St Bernadette, St. George and Assumption.

  The St. Andrew Catholic Church of Lemay, Missouri established the very first Credit Union in the world on July 7, 1927

 Picture of St. Andrew today

St. Louis, MO Flood Aug 1915

GULF STORM BRINGS FLOOD TO ST. LOUIS
Hundreds in City and Suburbs Driven from Homes by Nearly Six Inches of Rain.
RAILROAD TRAFFIC STOPS
Rescues Made in Boats--Levee Breaks at East Alton, Ill., Sending Flood Waters Through Town.
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 20.--- The storm that devastated the Texas Gulf Coast last Monday and Tuesday, sweeping northward, struck St. Louis with diminished fury last night and today, bringing with it the heaviest downpour in the history of the city, and causing a flood that drove hundreds of city and suburban residents from their homes.
Up to 5 o'clock tonight the rainfall since the storm began was 5.95 inches.
The flood here was due to back water in the storm sewers in the western part of the city and to a big rise in the River Desperes, which went out of its banks in the western and southern parts of the city, and flooded suburbs, interrupted train service, and caused annulment of street car service to suburban towns.
Through train service into St. Louis was affected by the storm which continued tonight. Rumors of drownings in Maplewood and other suburbs were unconfirmed.
By the middle of the afternoon every automobile road and street car line leading from St. Louis to the surrounding suburban towns had been closed because of high water. Firemen were rescuing inhabitants of several suburbs from second-story windows in boats.
Four feet of water entered the subway of the Union Station, the underground passage through which baggage and mail is handled. The gates of the tunnel leading from Union Station to the main Post Office were closed, preventing damage to the latter building and its contents. Damage was slight.

Shortly before noon Mayor Kiel ordered Street Department trucks to take lifeboats from the city harbor boat to Maplewood to help in the work of rescue. All available city automobiles were hurried to the suburbs.
At noon one fire engine company in the extreme southern part of St. Louis had taken 115 persons from their homes.
A train stopped at Delmar station, near the city limits, but the water around the station was so high that firemen and street employees were called on to assist the marooned passengers. Ropes were tied about the rescuers to pull them through the current as they waded in.
Police stations received many telephone calls from persons who said they were marooned on the second floors of their homes. Many houses in the suburbs of Greenwood and Maplewood were completely surrounded by water, with only roofs and chimneys visible. From a distance, rescuers in skiffs could be seen taking the people from second story and attic windows.
The 500 residents of Benbow City and West Wood River were warned of the oncoming flood by two men on horseback, who, preceding the water by a few minutes, rode through the streets calling, "Run for your lives!"
The entire population of both towns sought refuge in the city of Wood River.
Four hundred employees of the Western Cartridge Company and the Equitable Powder Company in East Alton escaped the wall of rushing water. The property loss of these two plants alone was estimated at more than $200,000.
A Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis train, with seventy-five passengers, was caught between two streams of flood water and was stalled. Efforts to remove the passengers by boat were begun.
The New York Times, New York, NY 21 Aug 1915