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

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Greenville, Delaware, United States, in the Diocese of Wilmington. It is a historic parish church complex and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

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 Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

Campus

The complex encompasses four buildings as well as a large parish cemetery. The main church is a

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed 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, 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 family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (1739–1817), a French minor aristocrat. Currently residing in the U.S. states of Delaware and Pennsylvania, the Du Ponts have been ...

, 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 E.I.DuPont de Nemours & Co. The land was originally granted by Charles I. du Pont, who also served on the original board of Trustees along with Alfred du Pont, Henry du Pont, Peter N. Brennan, Edward Dougherty, Charles Dougherty, and Michael Dougherty. The church itself was dedicated the following winter in December 1842 by Francis Kenrick, 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 Sisters of St. Joseph 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 The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976, a marker was placed on the campus in 2016 by the State of Delaware.

Rectors

*Rev. Bernard E. McCabe, OSA: 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 *Rev. Edward Henchy SJ: 1887–1893, formerly President of Loyola College in Maryland *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'') 2018–2019 *Rev. Christopher R. Coffiey, (''Assistant Pastor'') 2019–2020 *Rev. Glenn Evers, (''Assistant Pastor'') 2020–2021 *Msgr. John P. Hopkins: 2021–Present

Notable burials

* Joseph R. Biden Sr., (1915–2002): Father of

* Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, (1917–2010): Mother of

* Joseph R. Biden III, (1969–2015): 44th Attorney General of Delaware and son of

and Neilia Biden * Naomi Christina Biden, (1971–1972): Daughter of

and Neilia Biden * Neilia Hunter Biden, (1942–1972): First wife of

* 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, they became the Oakland ...

and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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 America ...

* 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 Cemeteries in Delaware Roman Catholic cemeteries in Delaware 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Presidential churches in the United States