Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVMs) Serve Holy Family for 150 Years Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, was a familiar figure in the neighborhood as she raised funds for nearby Columbus Extension Hospital in 1911. His son, Charles Comiskey, baseball player, manager and founder of the Chicago White Sox, was a member of the parish and one of the first students to enroll in Saint Ignatius College in 1870. He is memorialized in one of the church’s 12 round clerestory windows, the oldest stained glass in Chicago which dates to 1860. John Comiskey, president of the Chicago City Council, was an active member of the parish who walked the neighborhood collecting funds for the new parish. The family lived at 137 De Koven Street, now 537 under the city’s 1909 numbering system and the site of the Chicago Fire Academy today. O’Learys and Comiskeys Among Early Holy Family ParishionersĪmong the memorable Chicago families who worshiped at Church of the Holy Family were Catherine and Patrick O’Leary, whose small barn at De Koven and Jefferson streets on the east side of the parish, was said to have ignited during a lengthy fall drought on Octoand sparked the Great Chicago Fire.Īccording to Holy Family’s records, between 18, three O’Leary children were baptized in the church: Cornelius, 1860 James, 1863 and Catherine, 1866. He founded Saint Ignatius College which became Saint Ignatius High School and later Loyola University of Chicago, two of the city’s important educational institutions. They were followed by German, Italian, African-American and Hispanic people,” Father Gabriel noted.įather Damen established a network of elementary schools that served nearly 5,000 students. It’s estimated that one-third of Chicago’s Irish trace their roots to Church of the Holy Family. The original congregation was comprised of Irish immigrants. “Known as the ‘Ellis Island of the Midwest,’ Holy Family welcomed waves of immigrants to Chicago. The church embodies the cultural heritage and ethnic diversity of the City of Chicago.
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It is one of five public buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. “It’s estimated that since 1857 when the parish opened more than 56,000 persons were baptized here and generations of couples exchanged their wedding vows in this church,” Father Gabriel, said.Ĭhurch of the Holy Family is the city’s only example of pre-Civil War Victorian architecture. Once the largest English-speaking parish in the U.S, with 25,000 parishioners, Church of the Holy Family’s boundaries, at one time, extended from the south branch of the Chicago River west to Austin Boulevard-a distance of nearly seven miles.