Chapter 1: The Beginnings 

The First Catholics…

(first published in the weekly bulletin the weekend of August 4, 2019)

The first comprehensive history of the beginnings of Milford was written by Adin Ballou, a minister of the Universalist Church in Hopedale, who published his work in 1882.  He details that the settlement of this area was determined by its geography, in particular that of the Charles and the Mill Rivers.  He writes, “Mill River rises in North Pond—only a fraction of which is in Milford—and forms its outlet.  …  Before any bridges were built, this river had several conspicuous fords; familiar to the Indians and used for some years by early white settlers.  Hence tradition whispers that Mill River and its fords suggested our town’s name.”

History seems to indicate that from the incorporation of the Town of Milford on April 11, 1780 until 1830, there were few if any Catholics in this area.  If there were, they were most likely migrant laborers: working on farms, hewing timber or sawing wood.  That changed in 1830 with the introduction of boot, shoe and leather industries to the local commerce.  These trades attracted Irish Catholic laborers who were skilled as cordwainers, tanners, and curriers of hides.  These industries raised the need for new roads, one to Upton (now West Street) and the road to Medway, both of which brought Dominic McDevitt to Milford as the sub-contractor and builder.  He brought his family and several workers with him who settled here.  At the same time, Edward McGovern arrived with his family.  He was a currier by trade, that is, one who is skilled in the techniques of dressing, finishing and coloring tanned hide to make it strong, flexible and waterproof.

The need of two of those employed by Dominic McDevitt who became seriously ill records the first visit of a Catholic priest, Father James Fitton (pictured here), to offer them 'consolation' in 1836.  Though the actual date is lost to history, most presume that Fr. Fitton celebrated the first Catholic Mass shortly thereafter in a “cottage house in the rear of Gillon Block;” one source identifies it as Edward McGovern’s house.  Records claim there were a dozen people in attendance.  The house was later owned by John Rogers, who moved it to the Medway Road.  Thereafter, Masses were said in the home of Dominic McDevitt on the Hopkinton Road, a house later occupied by Jeremiah Davoren at the end of the 19^th century.  Subsequently, one supposes that Masses were celebrated in the households of the more prosperous Catholics who could accommodate the number of the attending faithful.  They would have their marriages solemnized and their children baptized in the parishes in Boston, Worcester or Woonsocket, unless a priest from one of those parishes had visited Milford on a missionary excursion.  Burials were taken care of in Blackstone.

Before the road to Medway was finished, the Boston and Worcester Railroad was begun and contractors were looking for large numbers of laborers, many of whom lived in Milford.  In 1830, Milford had a total population of 1,360 people.  Twenty years later, in 1850, its population numbered 4,819, nearly three times its size in two decades.  It is safely assumed that of this nearly 5,000 citizens, 1,500 were Irish Catholics!  During this time, the states vital statistics give evidence of 8 marriages and 51 births, though the law didn’t require legal record keeping until 1844.  Father Matthew Gibson and his successor, Father John Boyce, celebrated Mass once a month and recorded attendance of 150 people which no house would hold.  If the priest failed to arrive, those gathered would pray the rosary and recite litanies in common.  At this time, there was a need for a Catholic church; so first Fr. Gibson and then Fr. Boyce began to collect funds.