St. Joseph on the Brandywine, originally ''Saint Joseph's Church'' until St. Joseph's Church- Wilmington was built in 1947, is a parish of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

Catholic Church in Greenville,

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

, in the Diocese of Wilmington. It is a historic parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

complex and national historic district located on Old Church Road. Since 2002 its old convent building has housed the diocesan archives, with records going back two centuries. It is also the home parish of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.

Campus

The complex encompasses four buildings as well as a large parish cemetery. The main church is a stuccoed stone structure, painted yellow, with the pedimented gable of the facade pierced by the church's steeple. The other buildings consist of a rectory, convent, and former school. and The school was opened in 1853 and was originally staffed by the

Sisters of St. Joseph The Sisters of St. Joseph, also known as the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, abbreviated CSJ or SSJ, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in 1650. This congregation, named for ...

, and later by the Order of St. Francis in 1887.

History

While there was a strong Catholic presence in the Wilmington area since 1813, Catholic masses were relegated to traveling priests at private homes and in the local manufacturing mills. Irish mills workers began petitioning the Diocese of Philadelphia for their own church in the region starting in the late 1830s. They were supported in their efforts by the

Du Pont family The du Pont family () or Du Pont family is a prominent American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817). It has been one of the richest families in the United States since the mid-19th century, when it founded its f ...

, who contributed financial assets and political pressure to the establishment of the parish. The original church of St. Joseph was built in February 1841 by the Duponts for Irish and Italian Catholic workers at the C.I.DuPont de Nemours & Co. The land was originally granted by

Charles I. du Pont Charles Irénée du Pont (March 29, 1797 – January 31, 1869) was an American manufacturer and politician, and an early member of the prominent du Pont family business. He was a nephew of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, the founder of the E. I. d ...

, who also served on the original board of Trustees along with Alfred du Pont,

Henry du Pont Henry du Pont (August 8, 1812 – August 8, 1889) was an American military officer and businessman from Delaware, and a member of the Du Pont family. Early life and education Du Pont was born at Eleutherian Mills, Wilmington, Delaware, the se ...

, Peter N. Brennan, Edward Dougherty, Charles Dougherty, and Michael Dougherty. The church itself was dedicated the following winter in December 1842 by

Francis Kenrick Francis Patrick Kenrick (December 3, 1796 or 1797 – July 8, 1863) was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third Bishop of the Diocese of Philadelphia (1842–1851) and the sixth Archbishop of the Archdiocese ...

, Bishop of Philadelphia. Additions were made to the church structure in 1848 under Fr. John Walsh to accommodate 550 parishioners. In 1853, a house on the campus burned down and was rebuilt with the assistance of Amelia du Pont, who converted the building into a convent, thereafter inviting the

to occupy the grounds and open a parochial school through the parish. The parish school, which originally occupied the church basement, was moved in 1855 into its own building. The parish house was destroyed in 1866 during a fire originating from the roof. The school was also shut down during this period as the Sisters of St. Joseph were recalled by

James Frederick Wood James Frederick Bryan Wood (April 27, 1813 – June 20, 1883) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of Philadelphia, serving between 1860 and his death in 1883. Early life James Wood ...

, Archbishop of Philadelphia. The school would re-open under the direction of the sisters of the Order of St. Francis, as well as lay teachers from the parish. It would remain in operation under the sisters until the spring of 1972, when it was permanently shut down due to decreased attendance. The sisters have since vacated the campus to attend to their educational social mission elsewhere. Additional repairs and alterations to the church were made in 1878, 1941 and 1950, so much so that the present form displays very little of the original 1841 church structure. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, a marker was placed on the campus in 2016 by the State of Delaware.

Rectors

*Rev. Bernard E. McCabe,

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: 1841–1842, previously built St. Malachi's Church in Coatesville (d. 1857) (killed after falling asleep while reading with a candle) *Rev. John Frost: 1842 *Rev. Daniel Magorian: 1843-1846 *Rev. John S. Walsh: 1846-1867 *Rev. John Scanlan: 1867-1869 *Rev. George J. Kelly: 1869-1887 *Rev. Dennis J. Flynn (''Assistant Pastor'') 1883–1885, Later President of

Mount St. Mary's College Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up ninety percent of the student body. It was found ...

*Rev. Edward Henchy SJ: 1887–1893, formerly President of

Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in th ...

*Rev. Peter Donaghy: 1893, a native of Ireland and Gaelic-speaking priest, previously Assistant Pastor *Rev. John D. Carly: 1893-1895 *Rev. George S. Bradford: 1895 *Rev. William J. Bermingham OP: 1895-1900 *Rev. William J. Scott: 1900-1926 (d. 1932) *Rev. Martin McHale Ryan: 1926-1933 *Msgr. Patrick A. Brennan: 1933-1946 (d. 1950) *Msgr. Francis X. Fitzpatrick: 1946–1950, later Vicar of St. Peter's Church- New Castle (d. 1972) *Rev. Henry J. Dreyer: 1950-1966 (d. 1969) *Rev. John L. Noonan SSJ: 1952-? (''Assistant Pastor'') *Msgr. Henry I. Foltz: 1966-1977 *Msgr. Paul J. Schierse, Jr.: 1977–1992, Canon Lawyer and Chancellor of the Diocese of Wilmington (d. 1998) *Rev. Peter P. Harney: 1990-1995 (''Assistant Pastor'') *Rev. Stephen J. Connell, Jr.: 1992-1997; (''Assistant Pastor'') 1962-1963 *Rev. Joseph Wharton: (Assistant Pastor'') 1994-1997 *Msgr. Thomas Cini: 1997–1998, Previously Principal of St. Mark's High School and St. Elizabeth's High School *Rev. William Mathesius: (''Assistant Pastor'') 1997-1998 *Rev. David F. Kelley: 1998-1999 *Msgr. Joseph F. Rebman: 1999–2021 *Rev. John O. Barres: (''Assistant Pastor'') 2001-? *Rev. Brian Lewis, (''Assistant Pastor'') 2018-2020 *Rev. Glenn Evers, (''Assistant Pastor'') 2020–2021 *Msgr. John P. Hopkins: 2021–Present

Notable burials

* Joseph R. Biden Sr., (1915-2002): Father of Joe Biden * Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, (1917-2010): Mother of Joe Biden * Joseph R. Biden III, (1969-2015): 44th Attorney General of Delaware and son of Joe Biden and Neilia Biden * Naomi Christina Biden, (1971-1972): Daughter of Joe Biden and Neilia Biden * Neilia Hunter Biden, (1942-1972): First wife of Joe Biden *James Kalil, (1919-2014): American scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project * John McMahon, (1867-1954): professional baseball player for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight char ...

*Joseph McManamon, (1919-2014): Cleveland Municipal Court Judge * Joseph Walsh, (1930-2014): Delaware Supreme Court Justice * Margaret Gwenver, (1926-2010): Stage and Soap Opera Actress

References

External links

* *
St. Joseph Cemetery
on Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph on the Brandywine Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Churches in New Castle County, Delaware Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware Historic American Buildings Survey in Delaware Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Delaware National Register of Historic Places in New Castle County, Delaware Roman Catholic churches completed in 1841 Religious organizations established in 1841 1841 establishments in Delaware 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States