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Rich in the history of the area, Potosi has served during its more than two centuries as a microcosm reflecting events and eras of the larger world around it.

The site has been an active or peripheral participant in the historical panorama of the growth and development of the country. It has witnessed the wanderings of Indian tribes, felt the effects of the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and conflicts that have followed. It has gone through the technological changes of the Industrial Revolution and times of economic panic and depression. It has seen it all and survived it all, and justifiably takes pride in its contribution to the American scene.

Its story begins with wandering tribes of native Indians who crossed the rolling hills, hunted in the forests, fished in the clear streams, and gathered for ceremonies at Big River in what is now Washington State Park.

Other Indian tribes stopped and settled here for time in their flight westward from the encroachments of the White Man.

The French arrived as early as the 1600's to proselytize as missionaries, to claim the land for France as explorers, or to hunt, trap, and trade furs. When their numbers were too few to pose a threat to the Red Man, they learned from the Indians of the lead and possible gold and silver deposits in the area.

Those who sought the rarer and richer minerals went unrewarded, gave up, and returned from where they had come. Others, finding the lead so easily, settled here and began surface mining operations. Father James Gravier makes early mention of lead in the region in 1700; LeSeur, in 1701. Mineral explorations were begun by Crozat, under a charter from Louis XIV in 1712. The Illinois-Missouri Country of "Louisiana" came under the jurisdiction of the government of "New France" (Canada), and French settlements developed on the Mississippi River's east bank.

Claude Du Tisne returned with iron ore samples from the interior of Missouri, where he had been drawn by following Indian trails. La Mothe Cadillac, the Louisiana governor, led an expedition in search of minerals, which resulted in the discovery of lead fields. The Royal Company of the Indies was formed, attracting a wave of immigrants from Canada and France into the "Illinois Country:

"Philippe Francois Renault, member of a prominent French iron-mining family, was the most successful of the early French miners and was also responsible for the introduction of slavery into Missouri."

He left France in 1719 with men, tools, and furnace bricks. Bound for Upper Louisiana, he stopped on his way in Santo Domingo where he bought slaves to work the mines.

Some two hundred workmen mined the area, smelted the lead, and molded it into pigs (molds). Pack horses transported it to the river. It was then shipped from New Orleans to France. Six years after his arrival, Renault's workmen were obtaining fifteen hundred pounds of lead a day. When Renault returned to France in 1742, many workmen remained behind to work the mines, but mining activity lagged for a time. Ste. Genevieve became the principal lead shipping point on the west bank of the Mississippi River..

After the French and Indian Wars- 1689-1763 - involving France against England, France ceded her territory west of the Mississippi to Spain. and east of the river to the English. Rather than live under English rule, the French settlers migrated to the west bank, establishing their homes near the mines.

One of these settlers was Francis Azor, who was born in Brittany and was referred to as The Breton. During a hunting trip, he came across a rich surface outcropping of lead ore on the site now known as Potosi. A mining camp, followed by a village, developed as other settlers were attracted here by The Breton's find. The village, mines, and creek became known as Mine au Breton. Time brought about a corruption of that term to Mine A Burton.

The district was under the Spanish regime, which took sides with France against England in the American Revolution. Led on by the English, Indians often attacked settlers in Missouri. According to tradition, lead from the mines of Washington County was used by American troops in the War for Independence.

To ensure its hold on the territory west of the Mississippi after the Revolution, the Spanish gave out land grants to populate the territory. It caused a dynamic change as such grants attracted American settlers from the east and slave holders in the south, who began farming in Bellevue Valley and elsewhere, as well as mining for mineral deposits of iron, copper, zinc, but principally for lead.

A prominent figure in the development of Missouri, of the lead mining industry, and of the opening of the West was Moses Austin, who received a land grant which included a large part of Azor's grant at Mine au Breton. Through his efforts and those of his partner, John Rice Jones, lead mining and smelting became Missouri's first major industry.

Mine au Breton served as the "trading point for all the country south into Arkansas. People

came from miles around to trade, and on some days a hundred pack mules and ponies, some

of them belonging to Indians, could be seen tied on the street before the stores of the Mine au Breton merchants."

Citizens of Washington County were active in the territorial legislature and in the movement for statehood. A booklet on the history of Potosi, issued in 1963 when it celebrated its bicentennial, comments:

Washington County was formed on August 21, 1813, with Mine au Breton as the temporary seat of justice. The town became the permanent seat on February 26, 1814, and was established on forty acres of land donated by Mr. Austin and ten acres donated by Mr. Jones. This area, combined with Mineau Breton, was briefly termed St. George, then on May 2, 1826, Potosi, in honor of a mining town in Bolivia.At the territorial convention for the formation of the State of Missouri, Potosi lost by one vote the opportunity to become the capital of the new state.

Henry Marie Brackenridge, a lawyer-historian, wrote of Mineau Breton in 1811: "Mine A Breton is situated on a handsome stream, large enough to turn a mill the whole year. The situation of the village is pleasant. There are some handsome dwellings. The surrounding country, although broken in many parts, yet affords a great deal of fine land."

In 1818, New York historian, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, referred to Potosi as "the last village of white inhabitants between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. It has 3 stores, 2 distilleries (one by a stream), 2 flour mills, 9 lead furnaces. 1 saw mill and a Post office"

By 1819, roads connected Potosi with Herculaneum, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Jackson, and the Mississippi River country. Mail was carried on a route between St. Louis and New Orleans through Potosi.

From 1803-when the area was included in the Louisiana Purchase - to 1819, Washington County produced three million pounds of ore annually. In the decades between 1820 and the Civil War, Potosi remained a thriving town, "prominent in state affairs and center of the mining industry."

Catholicism's roots in the area date back to the early period of exploration by the French. Then, from about 1720 to 1793, the Jesuit Fathers of Kaskaskia, Illinois, ministered to Catholics in Washington County. After 1793, it was the Vincentian Fathers from Ste. Genevieve and "The Barrons:' called Perryville, who came periodically to care for the Catholics in the region.

When Vincentian Father John Timon (also referred to in records as Father Tyman) arrived in Potosi about 1825, he found that a small wooden church building had been erected some time previously on a site in Potosi that had been know as Mine au Breton, a locale presently called The Citadel. It was probably a small log building, as it was termed the Pytosi chapel.

Father Timon serviced the Catholic community and took care of their spiritual needs:

baptized, married couples, anointed the sick. and heard many confessions - after which he celebrated Mass.

Before the parish was established, Father Xavier Dahmen, Congregation of Missions, solemnizeda marriage between Alexandre Duclos and Judith Dufour on October 17, 1826, and filed it in the Book of Marriages at the County Courthouse on October 28th of that year.

As the Catholics of the area began to coalesce, records show that the first baptism was that of Joseph Biron, son of Gabriel Biron and Mary Louise Russ, on January 14, 1827. The first marriage on record was that of Louis Lord and Hyacinthe Placette on April 2,1827.

After a canonical parish was founded in 1829, Father Jean Boullier, C.M., became the first resident priest of Washington County. He acquired a half-acre lot. The land was donated on May20, 1829, to Bishop Joseph Rosati of the Diocese of Upper Louisiana. It was Lot Sixteen of the plat of the Jones Addition to the town of Potosi. The donation was made for the purpose of erecting a church on the site.

It is apparent that at this time and the years previous, circuit missionaries attended Potosi. These priests were members of the Vincentian Order in the Congregation of Missions, and came under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Upper Louisiana. After becoming a canonical parish, Potosi Catholics were attended to on a more regular basis.

When Father Philip Borgna, C.M., succeeded Father Boullier, he arranged for construction of the church on the donated land in1831. It was a brick building, 52 by 40 feet, with a plastered interior. It had a bell tower and a repository for the Blessed Sacrament. There was neither baptismal font nor confessional chair. The new church was consecrated by Bishop Rosati in 1834.

In the History of the Arch. diocese of St. Louis, it is noted that "the place was regularly visited by Fathers Borgna and Boullier from Old Mines until 1835, when Father Lewis Tucker, a secular priest, became its pastor."

Father Tucker won the affection of his parishioners for his hard work in their behalf. When Bishop Rosati attempted to transfer Father Tucker in 1836, members of the parish petitioned Bishop Rosati, requesting that Father Tucker be allowed to remain. In part, the petition asked: "...let their dearly beloved pastor continue to reside with them." The Bishop consented, and Father Tucker remained in Potosi until 1844.

Among the petitioners was Firmin Desloge, who had been sent to America in 1822 by his parents. He was the third son of a family of twelve children, and his parents felt there was more opportunity for him to succeed in the New World. He first stayed with an uncle in Ste. Genevieve, and when his uncle thought him ready, he set him up in a mercantile business in Potosi with a Mr. Daly.

Desloge prospered, buying out in time Mr. Daly's interest in the business and establishing Firmin Desloge and Company. He built a furnace for smelting lead and started operation in November, 1831.

The following year, Mr. Destoge married Cynthia Mcllvane. The wedding was held in the bride's home, as was customary at that time. Father Dahmen officiated. The couple had twelve children, each of whom became prominent and established the Desloge name in American history.

Other parishioners of renown were Daniel Dunklip and the Honorable John Teasdale. Mr. Dunklin, who began as a farmer and tavern owner in Potosi, was instrumental in setting up the Potosi Academy. He became the county's second sheriff in 1815 and went on to become a state representative, then lieutenant governor, and governor of Missouri. He's known as the "Father of the Common School System" in Missouri.

Mr. Teasdale came to Washington County in 1856. He went into the mercantile business, and fathered six children. He served at different times as judge of the county court, and in 1885 became postmaster of Potosi. His great-grandson is the present Joseph Teasdale, governor of Missouri, who is related to Mrs. Margaret Mary Hornsey of our parish.

While he was pastor, Father Tucker resided with various families in Potosi, but began plans for construction of a rectory between the church and the cemetery. The rectory-a two-room building - was completed in 1844, under Father Joseph Wiseman, who succeeded Father Tucker.

By the end of his first year there, Father Tucker reported seventy-seven baptisms, thirty-one of them were converts from Protestant religions.

In the early days of Catholicism in the area. many missions were attended by the priests of St. James, including Aubuchon Crossing. Yankeetown, Irondale, St. Columbkill. St. John, Mineral Point, St. Stephens in Richwoods, Valles Mines, Iron Mountain, and DeLassus.

Father Tucker's successor was Father Josepb V. Wiseman, a near relative of the Cardinal of the same name. A scholar. Father Wiseman was considered an eloquent speaker, although he read his sermons. To meet his expenses, which the small congregation in Potosi could not completely support, Father Wiseman taught in a public school for some time.

One of the stories that has come down through the years concerns Colonel Michael Taney, who was a non-Catholic, and the brother of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, a Catholic. He had a farm in the Potosi area, and after becoming ill, moved to a hotel in Potosi. He was attended by Dr. John G. Brien,who was given the deed to Colonel Taney's land on the condition that if the Colonel recovered, the deed would revert to the owner. He died, and because he was penniless at the time, his friends in St. James Parish arranged for his burial in the parish cemetery. It occurred about 1845.

Early parish records indicate that priests kept many notes about the payment of subscriptions and pew rent. The subscriptions were pledges to pay a certain amount annually for parish support, and pew rent entitled a family to the regular use of a particular pew and excluding others from it. Pew rent was paid twice a year.

When FatherJohnT. Higginbotham arrived in 1846 to replace Father Wiseman, one of his first acts was to call a meeting of parishioners for December 15th. His record of the meeting shows that there were seventy-six families, or three hundred and five Catholics in the parish.

The meeting, held in compliance with a pastoral letter from the bishop, was to solicit support for the maintenance of a resident priest. The subscription showed sums ranging from one dollar to forty dollars, with the median amount of three dollars prevalent. Firmin Desloge pledged the single forty-dollar amount, while John and Andrew Casey each pledged thirty dollars.

A report on that date showed the parish to be in debt to Mr. Desloge, for three hundred dollars. and to the Caseys for more than two hundred dollars. When Mr. Desloge offered to cancel his debt, the Caseys followed suit. In gratitude, the parishioners permitted the benefactors to retain their pews free of rent.

Pew rents were discontinued during the time Joseph Cardinal Ritter served as head of the archdiocese of St. Louis from July20, 1946, to June 10, 1967.

Parishioners also resolved to liquidate other debts in the amount of $97.50. The debts were incurred for church articles ($23.00), the building of a confessional ($7.50), furniture for the "parochial house" or rectory ($25.00), and for an obligation remaining from constructing the rectory ($42.00).

Father Higginbotham was transferred in 1848 to St. Louis. He was succeeded thereafter until the turn of the century by a number of priests who served a year or two. The longest period of service was that of Father Owen J. McDonald, from 1875 to 1884.

In 1854, land was purchased to build a church, rectory and school. T. W. Brady was hired to design the church. The cornerstone was replaced placed in 1859, and the building was completed in 1861 and consecrated by Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick.

The church, our present church, measures 76 feet 6 inches x 40 feet 6 inches. The brick exterior was made of clay mud from the Frank White farm and was hand-molded by slaves. It has a three-tiered tower. A bell was cast in 1880 for the tower by J. G. Stuckstede and Brothers of St. Louis, Missouri.

There was no resident pastor at St. James at this time. Father Eugene O'Hea had served briefly in 1857. The church was constructed under the supervision of the "saintly" Father James Fox, pastor at Old Mines, and a Father Butler.. The following contract of July 30, 1860, signed by Robert Wishart, is an interesting vignette:

The records are actually imprecise about the date of the completion of the church, varying between 1860 and 1862. As the silver anniversary of the church is noted in an 1886 newspaper clipping, it is probable that the date of completion was 1861.

Unlike the cities in the east that grew rapidly via large waves of immigration, Potosi and its environs grew and developed more gradually. Between 1820 and the Civil War, Potosi became a prosperous business center due primarily to its importance in the mining industry. Although it did not become the state capital, the State Supreme Court met here twice annually between 1837 and 1843 in Potosi first courthouse.

Catholics were spread out over a large area, so that a number of missions develop and were served by the resident pastor of S James as previously mentioned.

Lead mining reached its peak in the yea before the Civil War. There were "towers, lead furnaces throughout the county, an diggings with such colorful names as Pigec Roost, Polecat, Coffee Pot, Ishmael, Graveyard, Old Dutch, Horse Battle, Crawfish, Picayune, and Hypocrite." By 1860, there was a total population of 9,723 - including 1,028 slaves.

The beginning of the Civil War in 1861 found citizens of Potosi divided in their sympathies, and they went on record in May, 1861, in favor of armed neutrality. In the same month however, Federal troops took over Potosi, forcing citizens to take sides. Some joined the Union troops, while others helped to form Confederate companies behind rebel lines.

There were a number of skirmishes and raids by Southern troops during the war, but it was in 1864 that Potosians came under a major attack by General Jo Shelby. A story is told that the church became a refuge for women and children, and that the three-tiered tower was weakened from the impact of an artillery ball. During the war years, Father Fox had religious articles of the church moved to Allen's Cave.

During that time St. James had no resident pastor. In 1866, Reverend Michael O'Reilly, who had just been ordained, was appointed to assist Father. Fox at Old Mines. When parishioners of St. James heard this, they sent a delegation to Archbishop Kenrick to remind him of his promise to send a resident pastor. Mr. Joseph Connolly had set aside quarters in his own home on the strength of that promise.

Father O'Reilly thus was transferred in the fall to St. James Parish, residing with the Connolly family while construction of a rectory next to the church went on. The pastoral residence was completed the same year. This was the beginning of the present-day parish rectory- another section of rooms was added in the early 1900's.

Father O'Reilly spent much of his time teaching Latin to the parish boys. Among them were the future Monsignor Joseph A. Connolly, Father Francis Jones, and Judge Teasdale.

Toward the end of the Civil War, lead deposits ran low, and the industry declined. It was soon replaced by the surface mining of barite, a compound derivative of the element, barium. While barium had been discovered in 1774, its varied uses for other industries only grew in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. The Potosi area was rich in the mineral, once a discarded by product of lead.

A chalky substance, barite became an ingredient used in rubber, paint, soap, and a number of other products. Barite mines dotted the landscape. The miners worked independently, mining the ore and selling it to the landowner, who by custom, provided a house near the mine free to the miner. Haulers, who were also independent contractors, would take it to shipping points by horse or mule-drawn wagons.

Most of the parishioners of St. James, previously involved in the mining of lead, became barite miners. Barite became known in the area as "tiff."

As was reported earlier, the rectory was completed in 1866. It was a narrow four-room house, with two rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs. Two fireplaces were used to provide the house with heat and a place for cooking.

The frame house is today covered with asbestos shingles. New roofs were put on the house in 1875 and since. The interior has undergone a number of renovations and improvements in more recent years.

A rather interesting incident involved Father O'Reilly in 1871. Two men, John Armstrong and Charles Jolly, had been tried and convicted for five murders, and were sentenced to the gallows. Father O'Reilly and three priests from St. Louis were scheduled to give the convicted men the last rites, and were late in arriving on the day of the hanging, January 21st.

According to The Missouri Republican of January 28, 1871, "The crowd now began to be impatient and cries of' 'Bring them out'-'Let us see them' were loud and frequent," as the people were anxious to see the prisoners.

The priests went into the courthouse where they gave the last rites to Armstrong and Jolly; they accompanied them on the gallows along with several officials. The priests spoke briefly and quietly to the two men, then Father O'Reilly addressed the crowd:

The bodies were left hanging for three days, then were taken down and buried in St. James cemetery. It was reported that no one else claimed the bodies nor offered a burial site for them.

Father Owen J. McDonald, who served from 1875 to 1884, was disrupted during a funeral Mass one day in April, 1883, when two young men created a disturbance. According to the account in The Weekly Independent, they had taken too much of "the ardent", and in that condition went to the Catholic church during services at the funeral of Miss Annie Masterson. Their conduct was anything but gentlemanly, and deputy sheriff Hunter being in the church, a nod from Father McDonald was all that was necessary for the sheriff to arrest them, which he did.. they were placed in jail to repent of their conduct for 30 days."

In 1886, St. James celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the construction of the permanent church building, erected in 1861. Preparations had been going on for some time.

A copy of the church's book of records shows that several new religious articles were purchased for the celebration on July 26th. Among them were a gold cloth stole, benediction veil, tabernacle veil, missal stand cover, missal markers, and a violet stole. Other items bought for the occasion were incense, coal oil, tapers, candle brackets, and vases of artificial flowers. The sum expended was $61.30 in all, including the cost of two innovative electric lamps.

The former pastor, Father McDonald, presented to the church a new monstrance and a new missal.

On hand for the event were, according to a yellowed newspaper clipping, "celebrated divines, who so ably and willingly assisted Reverend F. J. Jones, rector of the church." Among them were former pastors: Father O'Reilly, Father R. J. Hays, Father Thomas Cleary, Father McDonald, and Father Noonan.

Father O'Reilly was celebrant of the solemn high Mass at 10:30a.m. Father Joseph. The former pastor, Father McDonald, presented to the church a new monstrance and a new missal.

That evening at 7:30 p.m. the Very Reverend P. P Brady, V.G., addressed the parishioners, complimenting them in a very beautiful manner..

Ten years later, in 1896, The Weekly Independent reported in the Church Directory section that Mass was being said every morning at 7:30 o'clock, except Sunday, when Masses were said at 8 and 10 o'clock.

Social life in the 1890's included taffy pulls, square dances, afternoon musicales, picnics at Haunted Springs, torchlight political rallies, quilting sessions, strawberry socials, hayrides, and concerts by the Potosi Cornet Band.

The first solemn High Nuptial Mass was celebrated in the parish on October 14, 1891.The couple, Eugene O'Mara and Elizabeth Connolly, were married by the bride's brother, Father Joseph Connolly, the first member of St. James Parish to be called to the priesthood. There were about fifty families in the parish in 1837; that number grew to about seventy-eight families by 1893. During the last half of the nineteenth century, generous parishioners donated several lots to the parish for use as a burial ground. Donors included Augustus and Agnes Jones, who made the donation in 1874; Michael and Minnie Flynn, in 1895 and 1899; John and Mary Bugg, in 1899. The Flynns and Buggs stipulated that the burial lots were to be provided free of charge to parishioners of St. James.

The third church, completed in 1861 and still in use today, has undergone a number of changes through the years. Although there was a story that the three-tiered original tower was weakened when hit by an artillery ball during the Civil War, the tower stood until the need of repairs in 1890.

In 1905 pillars were installed in the church to take the weight of the roof off the walls. To cover the steel rods now hold the walls together, a false ceiling was put in.

This ceiling, composed of tongue-and-groove wooden planks, was considered an 'amazing piece of carpentry." The strain put on the church walls by the weight of the roof caused a bow-like effect that still can be seen by looking down along the outer walls.

The original church was illuminated by coal-oil lamps suspended on a counter-balance system so they could be lowered for lighting. The first electric lights were introduced in the church for the silver jubilee in 1886. The other coal-oil lamps were replaced with electric lights later. Spotlights, focussing on the altar, have since been added.

In 1960 twenty-five acres west of Potosi, adjoining the U. S. Forest Service Land, was deeded to the parish and the archdiocese by National Lead Industries for use as a cemetery. Walnut and pine trees have been planted there to provide beauty and income some day for cemetery maintenance. Named Calvary Cemetery, many improvements have been made on the property, including a fence, a concrete drive into the grounds, and a monument placed on the summit.

Locally, Calvary Cemetery is referred to as the "New Cemetery," as the parish has had a cemetery nearby the church since it was established. The old cemetery was located next to the small brick church, and two blocks north of the present church. The land for the new burial ground was acquired because the first cemetery was filled, and some parts of the lot were inaccessible due to the closeness of rock to the ground surface.

Major renovations were undertaken in 1958 as the result of a fire which broke out in the sacristy of the church on May 10, 1958, causing extensive damage. Fortunately, the fire was detected early enough so that the damage was primarily confined to the sacristy. A young man, Mike Cordia, saw the flames coming from the sacristy while on his way home at 10:30 o'clock He immediately roused the pastor, Father Charles B. O'Donnell, and called the fire department.

It happened to be the Saturday night before Mother's Day and the day the parish had set aside for the celebration of First Holy Communion. Besides the smoke damage and the acrid odor it emitted, there was extensive water damage, and the fire had reached a corner of the altar.

Nuns and parishioners responded to the emergency situation, working all nights scrubbing and cleaning to have the church in presentable condition for the following day.

It was in this period that the church had to be redecorated. The top grade of the altar was removed, and a new tabernacle installed. The large cross, formerly on the epistle side, was placed over the tabernacle, and the gold brocade curtain put behind the altar.

After Vatican II, between the years 1964 and 1969, the altar was moved forward so the priest could face the people while saying Mass. The upper sanctuary walls were covered with acoustical tile - The sanctuary was carpeted with gold and brown tweed, and inlaid linoleum put down in the rest of the church. The communion rail - no longer required as communicants receive while standing up - was removed.

The church exterior was sandblasted, removing the red paint which hid the handsome brick molded by slaves in the mid-nineteenth century. The exterior was then sprayed with silicone to protect it from the elements. A new roof was installed, a public address system was set up, new heating units put in operation, sidewalks were added and old ones improved.

The organ, which had been in the choir loft, was first removed to the front of the church, then moved to an alcove in the rear of the church in 1972.

The turn-of-the-century period for Potosians and the rest of the world is a period viewed today nostalgically. It was an era of peace, a time of parochialism, when family and social life ended at the town line, a time of taffy pulls, picnics, bicycle clubs. and band concerts. Wars, technological advances, the knowledge explosion, and families spread apart geographically by the economic demands of their work, were all yet to come. The activities of parishioners were noted in The Independent Journal: Father Charles Canning, pastor of St. James from 1905 to1931, was given permission in May 1909 to celebrate Mass at the new church in Mineral Point, a mission parish of St. James; the "Ladies of the Catholic Church in Potosi" served dinner to the public on August 24, 1909, at 5 p.m. Ice cream and other refreshments were served, followed by an evening of dancing; parish women held an Oyster Supper at Settle's Hall in Potosi on November 24, 1909; during a week in May, 1914, a mission was held at St. James Church with a "large crowd of Catholics and Protestants" in attendance.

On November 13, 1907, The Potosi Journal carried the obituary of a well-known and respected member of St. James and the community - Judge John R. Higgins. Judge Higgins, who had immigrated here with his mother and siblings from Canada in 1861, and favored the side of the Union in the Civil War, resided in the county for forty-five years "making his home on afarm near this place:' He was elected presiding judge of the county court in 1890, and "was always recognized as an honest man, a consistent Christian and a patriotic citizen, and it is right and just that every good man should respect his memory.

According to the booklet issued for the Potosi Bicentennial in 1963, the years between 1905 and the 1930's saw barite "hand-mining greatly increased as the chemists found more and more uses for the white mineral and more jobbers bought and shipped barite to the users several thousand people were engaged in hand-mining in Washington County, and several hundred houses were constructed by owners of barite-bearing property as homes for miners."

In a 1920 booklet, The Story of Barytes by Allen W. Clark, with illustrations by 0. E. Berninghaus, "America's Foremost Portrayer of Western Life and Scenes" sketches show that whole families were engaged in barite mining. Pipe-smoking women, along with their children, helped or watched as their husbands and father dug small circular holes with short pick axes and extracted the ore.

Transporting the ore increased activity at weighing stations and railroad depots, attracting numbers of Catholic workers requiring spiritual services at missions served by St. james. The oldest of these missions were St. Columbkill, Irondale, and St. John the Evangelist, Mineral Point; both missions had been attended to on a regular basis by the pastors of St. James since 1860.

While the need for a mission at St. Columbkill declined, that at St. John's in Mineral Point grew. In 1909, the church in Irondale was dismantled and the salvage used in the construction of a church for St. John's Parish in Mineral Point. Prior to that, Father William Noonan, former pastor of St. James from 1887 to 1892, had conducted services in a two-story schoolhouse in Mineral Point. The new church was dedicated by Most Reverend John Glennon, archbishop of St. Louis, in December, 1909.

In a letter received in June, 1978, from Mr. Murphy Woods Maxwell, the writer recalled the period around 1912:

Another example is shown at an event in 1918 when Reverend W. E. Judy, pastor of the Methodist Church in Potosi, was honored at a reception for having been returned to the church for another year.

An article in The Potosi Journal for October 9, 1918, recounts that "Mr. Judy has been so active and helpful in promoting war benevolences and Liberty Bond sales, and various charities, that the people of the community generally took this method of welcoming him back and manifesting their appreciation of his services."

The story reports that there were several officials and community leaders in attendance, including Father Canning. "Father Canning made an impressive prayer for the success of our armies and for the safe return of the boys of this county from the war;' and then requested that "appreciation of Mr. Judy's services be shown in a more substantial manner, and delegated Reverend ML. Eaves and Mr. J. B.Boyer to 'pass the hat; with the result that a donation of about twenty dollars was turned over to Mr. Judy."

The article concluded: "It was a community get-together meeting that warmed the very cockles of the heart."

The process of mining ore included separating the barite from clay, and was usually done at the site. The miner would place the chunks of ore and clay in a "rattle box" which had a screen bottom. He would then shake the box until the clay broke loose and fell through the screen.

This "washing" method was time consuming, and various mechanical processes were attempted, but proved inadequate until the mid- 1920's when the first barite washing plants were introduced in the area. It did not seriously affect hand-mining, which continued to thrive in the late 1920's.

With the Depression in the 1930's and wide scale unemployment, producers of mechanically washed barite halted operations and depended on hand-mining sources. But hand-mining and washing were mechanized in the 1940's when World War II and the 1940's changed economic conditions. Since then its uses have continued to grow and Potosi, the center of the barite-producing area, is often called "The Barite Capital of the World."

The history of barite mining is intertwined with the history of Potosi and St. James Parish. The number of parishioners increased and decreased along with the ups and downs of the barite industry, which in turn were affected by the country's economy in times of peace and war.

Parish status reports show that in the Depression year of 1932 there were about thirty families registered. That number grew to ninety-six families in 1937, and dropped to fifty-six in 1941. By 1977, there were some two hundred and seventy-seven families in the parish.

On June 9,1931, The Weekly Independent reported: The tower of St. James Catholic Church which has stood aloft for over 60 years is coming down to the dust only to arise gloriously again in the Gothic style. The entire church will be repaired. When prosperity reigns again the church will be tuck pointed and painted. The fence has been completed, and awaits the dressing of paint:'

It took World War II and the rising postwar economy to lift Potosi out of the doldrums. It was also in this era that Americans became "mobile," that is, they left their home towns to enter the armed services or urban areas offering employment opportunities that war and advanced technology had produced.

St. James Church lost some parishioners in this period but gained others. Discussions about building a school were held, and ground-breaking ceremonies were held on July 12, 1950, with Most Reverend John P. Cody, auxiliary bishop of St. Louis, officiating.

On April 12, 1951, Father Charles B. O'Donnell, pastor from 1947 to 1959, signed a promissory note to the archdiocese for $61,200, a sum to be applied towards construction costs of about $150,000.

The school formally opened on September 2, 1951, with an enrollment of one hundred students. There were three classrooms servicing eight grades, with three nuns, Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, as the faculty. A section of the first floor was partitioned off for use as the nuns' quarters.

The mortgage for the school loan was liquidated in 1969 during the pastorate of Father Clement J. Burghoff, 1962 to 1971. In May of that year, due to low enrollment and the shortage of teaching Sisters, the school was forced to close down.

During May, 1969, Father Burghoff celebrated his Twenty-fifth Anniversary in the priesthood. A color television set was the gift of the parishioners. In a letter of thanks to a friend he wrote:

In 1972 church renovations included the purchase and installation of pews made especially for the church. A new solarian floor was installed, along with air-conditioning units and the entire revamping of the heating system. The whole interior was cleaned and painted, and in the sanctuary a new altar of sacrifice was put in place over new red carpeting. A new baptismal font was located in the front of the church. Clear glass double doors replaced the ancient and delapidated wooden doors on the interior entrance. Panelling was installed on the lower part of the nave walls and a public address system was put in operation.

Following this complete renovation of the interior, the exterior underwent a rejuvenation with tuckpointing of the brick, installation of copper flashing, copper covered parapets, and copper gabled louvers for ventilation. The parking lot was paved with concrete, and over 379 cubic yards of concrete was poured around the foundation of the building.

After the school closed in 1969, the school and hall have been used for parish activities: the Parish School of Religion, which meets Wednesdays in the evening for first through eighth grades plus high school, from September through May; Fall Festivals; Fish Fries; and a number of social events. It has been used in more recent months as a meeting place for the senior citizens of Washington County called the "Happy Days Club;' and for private and community organizations.

From 1826 through October 1878, St.James Parish, including its former missions at Irondale and Mineral Point, recorded 3,335baptisms and 719 marriages. There were 1,492 confirmations celebrated between 1835and 1978.

Sister Odelia was the first principal of the school when it opened in 1952 with one hundred students, and along with other Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, taught grades five through eight.

There were two other nuns comprising the faculty - Sister Henrietta, who taught grades one through four and Sister M. Crescentia, music teacher. In 1953, they were joined by Sister Alpheus. Miss Agatha Casey replaced one of the nuns in 1959 and taught fourth and fifth grades for five and a half years. Miss Casey was succeeded by Miss Phyllis Theabeau in September, 1964, and taught for several years.

Among the eleven graduates of the first graduating class from St. James School was Mary Rebecca Casey, who received St. James first scholarship award, providing tuition to attend Ursuline Academy in Arcadia, Missouri.

Other Sisters who served through the years included Sister Francis Borgia, Sister Leonard, Sister John Bernard, Sister M. Daniel, Sister Josetta, Sister M. Clementine, Sister Fideles, Sister Margaret Ann, Sister Lorraine (a native ofWashington County), Sister Mary Teresa, Sister Jane Frances, Sister Marie De La Salle, Sister Anne Catherine, and Sister Laura.

In 1960, a carnival was held, providing proceeds for instituting a hot lunch program in the school. Cooks in the beginning were Della Villmer and Stella Boehm. Mothers volunteered to help out at lunch time.

A music room was setaside on the first floor, where Sister Corbinean gave music and piano lessons to both Catholic and Protestant children.

The faculty at the time the school closed in 1969 included Sister Laura, principal; Sister Margaret Ann; and Miss Theabeau.

The school was then leased to the State Department of Education, Jefferson City, Missouri, as a school for the Trainable Mentally Retarded. It was known as Center No.24, and opened with an enrollment of fifteen children. Mrs. Betty Portell and Mrs. Cecila Brunner were the teachers, and Miss Mary Ann Ackerson, a teacher's aide. The children were transported in two buses by C. L. Gibbons and Margaret Kite, drivers.

This school closed in 1974 when the State Department of Education elected to move the center to a public school building thirteen miles from Potosi.

In its long history, St. James Parish has met the needs of its parishioners spiritually and socially via a number of events and organizations. Many were scheduled and organized to respond to specific goals. When those goals were attained, committees and groups disbanded, permanently or temporarily.

Festivals have been held at different times throughout the years. The first was recorded on May 17, 1881, netting more than two hundred dollars to pay for painting the church. The second, in 1890, provided a similar amount to buy an organ. Similar events were held from time to time, and the parish now celebrates an annual Festival on the second Sunday in June.

The St. Joseph's Society was organized in 1882 on April 16th. John L. Detchemendy was the first president. There were twenty members, and officers were elected to serve for three months. Each member was required to pay an initiation fee of twenty-five cents. The group's objective was the edification of one another for salvation. It was a forerunner of the St.Vincent de Paul Society.

The Altar Society was formed in 1886 by the pastor, Father Frank J. Jones. The Promoters of the League of Sacred Heart was active between 1901 and 1905, with Miss Mary Pendergast, chief promoter. Miss Pendergast also was instrumental in 1901 in reorganizing the St. James Young Ladies Sodality, which had existed earlier in the parish.

The Young Men's Sodality was formed in1901 with Frank Flynn as prefect. In 1914 the Holy Name Society began meeting. The Society reorganized again in 1933 and 1947. The Young Ladies Sodality was reactivated on January 20, 1948, with a dozen women present. The first prefect was Miss Lucy Hornsey, with Pauline Harris, vice-prefect; Mrs. W. H. Boyer, secretary; and Mrs. Ed Bust, treasurer.

The parish's present schedule of events includes: the Parish School of Religion meetings Wednesday nights, weekly Stations of the Cross during Lent, weekly Rosary devotions during October, and devotions to the Mother of Perpetual Help Tuesday nights.

Organizations in service today are the Ushers Guild, Altar Group and Cleaners, and the Carlo Club.

The Carlo Club met for the first time in1966 to aid the needy of the parish and county.Dorothy Ketcherside was the first president. There are no current officers. There are seven active members.

Projects include distribution of clothing and furniture, assisting families to get established in the community, helping people in times of emergency. The women also quilt in the parish hall, donating the finished products to the Fall Festival, Summer Picnic, Fish Fries, Christmas Bazaar, and other functions.

The 1980's and 1990's brought some changes to parish life. There have been changes in prayers offerings and times due to the extensive work and time schedules. Our church has been blessed with four pastors in these 17 years, Fr. George being the longest for 8 years.

Additions to the parish have been renovations to the church to meet the new L:iturgy, a new rectory and meeting rooms, new storage facilities, new maintenance equipment, and a new van to assist the elderly to attend Mass.

Prayer offerings, though time has changed remain the same. We generally offer a yearly Mission for spiritual renewal.

Also serving the parish are the organists and choirs, lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, servers, and the Parish School of Religion teachers. The largest and most expensive program is the Parish school of religion which now has 128 students and 16 teachers and aids.

We look forward anxiously to the New Millennium and the furthering of Christ's work.