Excerpt from "Looking Back at Over 150 Years"
submitted by Dale Martini
appeared in the St. Aloysius Newsletter
On October 25, 1898, parishioners at Saint Aloysius celebrated the silver anniversary of the parish with great pump. The day began with Low Mass at 5am, followed by a 7:30am Mass. Father Scholl celebrated a solemn High Mass at 10:30am AM, assisted by former pastors, Fathers Joseph Stoeppelman and Francis Kessing and new pastor Reverend A.F. Runnebaum. Archbishop Elder preached the sermon, with Bishop Henry Moeller as Master of Ceremonies. After Mass, Confirmation was conferred to many members of the parish, followed by a dinner served in the school house by the ladies of the congregation. St. Al's has a wonderful photo that preserves this glorious day.
A lot had happened in 25 short years. The congregation grew from a handful of families to nearly 100 households. The parish had a new church; and school was conducted in the old church, which had been remodeled at a cost of $1,500 to hold 4 classrooms. And 1890 the school was placed in the hands of sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg, Indiana, who continually served the parish for the next 107 years. Father Scholl, just prior to being reassigned in 1896, purchased land on Whipple northwest of the church and began construction of a new parsonage which was finished two weeks before the silver anniversary. The Sisters then moved into the old parsonage between the two churches.
A new pastor, A.F. Runnebaum, replaced the beloved Father Scholl in 1896. Father Runnebaum was also assigned pastor at St. Joseph in North Bend, while in residence at Saint Al's.
Not all parishioners at Saint Aloysius were from Ohio. Farmers Wendell and Barbara Miller were from Taylorsport, Kentucky, directly across from Sayler Park. At that time an on-call passenger ferry ran from the mouth of Elijah's Creek in Taylorsport to the foot of what is now Revere Street in Sayler Park, but family lore says the millers also often rowed across. The Millers' 10 children were baptized at St. Al's and they made the trek across the Ohio River every day for school. Not surprisingly their ties to the Ohio side of the river grew as the children became adults and married many familiar Delhi in Sayler Park names. Records from St. Aloysius and Our Lady of Victory from 1894 to 1915 show the marriages of Nicholas Miller to Margaret Ritter, Matthew to Clara Spille and Adam to Rose Sandman. Cornelia Miller and her sister Mary married brothers Joseph and Andrew Martini. Cecilia Miller married Frans Schwartz at St. Al's who tragically died a year later. She then married Frank Dornacher at Our Lady of Victory. Many of the Miller descendants today are members of both parishes – as well as St. Simon.