Thomas Cornell, one of the lay founders of St. Mary’s, was the city’s engineer for laying out the streets of Yonkers. When Judge William W. Woodworth, a former Congressman, along with Josiah Rich and James Scrymser, donated the land for the building of St. Mary’s Church in the summer of 1848, Cornell changed the name of the street from South Street to St. Mary’s. This was the agreed upon name of the church at this particular time.

However, when the first pastor, Fr. John Ryan, S.J., from Fordham (then called St. John’s College) signed the canonical papers to formally establish the parish, “he wished the church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin and it is hence called either Church of the Immaculate Conception or St. Mary’s at pleasure.”
Is our church the first church in the United States to be named “THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION?”

The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Yonkers has claimed this distinction. But is it true? The first problem is that our church in Yonkers has two names. The canonical and legal name today is the Immaculate Conception. However, its original name was St. Mary’s (our baptismal records begin in October of 1847 and are recorded in a book that clearly states that the parish is named St. Mary’s). Sometime in 1848, as the architectural plans for the building of a church were being reviewed, the pastor, Rev. John Ryan, a Jesuit teaching at St. John’s College, asked that a second name be added, namely the Blessed Virgin Church of the Immaculate Conception. This meeting seems to have taken plane before July of 1848 because Thomas Cornell writes in his “The Beginnings of the Catholic Church in Yonkers” that the contract for the mason work was signed in July. Cornell should know because he was present with Archbishop Hughes and Fr. Ryan when they discussed the plans for the church. Technically (although I don’t know what the canonical rule in 1848 was on such matters as two names for a church and a parish), our parish and church can claim the name of the Immaculate Conception in 1848.

What complicates matters further is that in the dedication ceremony of the new church of the Immaculate Conception in Manhattan (now on 14th St.) on May 16, 1858, Archbishop Hughes spoke of this church as having the distinction of being the first church in the nation so named. Who was the pastor? None other than the same Fr. John Ryan who certainly would have known about his church in Yonkers. However, if my memory serves me, Hughes’s precise words were “the first church since the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.” Since the dogma was defined on December 8, 1854, Hughes’s statement does not contradict the Yonkers church’s claim as being the first.

However, the most valid claim to being the first is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany. The final judgment depends on the answer to this question. When does a church officially receive its name: the laying of the cornerstone, the dedication of the church, the first time that Mass is celebrated in the church, or the signing of an official document before any of the above takes place? Let’s look at the evidence.

Bishop Hubbard of Albany, a classmate of mine, was kind enough to respond to my historical question.

“Dear Hugh,
In answer to your query, our records indicate that the cornerstone for our Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was laid on July 2, 1848 by Archbishop Hughes of New York and dedicated in November of 1852. Bishop McCloskey was installed as Bishop of St. Mary’s Church on November 19, 1847 making it the pro-Cathedral; until the dedication of the present Cathedral Church on November 21, 1852. I assume, therefore, that the July 1848 cornerstone laying would constitute the naming of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Fraternally, yours, Howard”

The case for our Church in Yonkers is as follows: The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on December 25, 1848. The dedication took place on November 16, 1851. We have no evidence when or if there was a laying of a cornerstone. The contract for the mason work was made in July of 1848. Did the work begin at this time? Was there a ceremonial laying of the cornerstone before any work began?

If the laying of the cornerstone is the answer, Albany has the evidence and should be considered the first (but only by a few days). If the answer is the first time the church is used for Mass or the dedication of the church, then Yonkers is the first.

To be fair, however, it must be said that our church was always called St. Mary’s until its incorporation in 1877. Even after this date, up until the present day, the popular name (although not the canonical or legal name) remains St. Mary’s.

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