by Frances James
When the original town of Irving was platted in 1903, the developers, J.O. Schultz and Otis Brown set aside lots for the three churches that were already in existence. One of the lots was for St. Luke’s Catholic Church. Many of the members of this church were French Colonist who had moved to the area now known as Irving when the Colony was disbanded in the 1850s. Their names appear on the 1860 census, some in the Buck and Breck Precinct! This vicinity had good soil for growing crops, very different from the land in the original Colony site. There was also adequate ground water, many trees and land was available for purchase.
These pioneers had been meeting in private homes for mass when one of the few priests in Texas would come to them, possibly twice a year. Bishop J.M. Odin, the Bishop in New Orleans, in a report he delivered in Rome in 1851 summarized the situation. He described the progress in bringing thirty-five priests to Texas and training them after their arrival. He also mentioned he had to defray their expenses. Of that first thirty-five, ten had succumbed to fatigue, privations, and sickness. Eleven others, members of religious congregations, had been moved by their superiors to other places where they were needed, and the report concluded that “there remain not more than twelve in Texas.” Bishop Claud Marie Dubois, the Bishop of Galveston, was able to assign several of these missionary priests to this large territory in the 1860s. Names of some of these missionary priests were a Father Chamudit, the Reverend Father Sebastian Augagneur from Nacogdoches, Father Thomas Hennessey, and finally the number of Catholics increased sufficiently that a French missionary priest was assigned as a resident priest. His name was Reverend Mathurin Perrier and he has been described as being so obese that he could not ride horseback but traveled in a spring-less wagon. In 1873 Reverend Joseph Martiniere was assigned by the Bishop in Galveston to be pastor of Sacred Heart, a small frame church in Dallas in 1873. Martiniere was born in Lyon France in 1841 and his territory was from Jefferson to Denison, St. Paul, Weatherford and Dallas.
The Dallas Diocese was created by Pope Leo XIII in July 1891 and The Most Reverend Thomas Francis Brennan of Erie, Pennsylvania was sent as the first Bishop. The Diocese extended all the way to El Paso.
St. Luke’s in Irving was able to build a small church on the lot donated by the founders of the original town-site of Irving. Mr. Henry Moulard, a competent architect and builder, assumed the responsibility of constructing the church.
The first recorded baptism was that of the DeHaes twins, Louie and Louise, The infant girl only survived for a few months. These were the children of Octavia and William DeHaes. Louise (April 8, 1902 – August 2, 1902) is buried at Sowers cemetery where many of the French Colonist are buried.
The first recorded marriage was of Henry Beaufford and Marie Boinard in 1907.
In 1928 the congregation had grown and a new church was needed. Mr. Mourland was again available to help with the project, joined by Charles J. Schultz, son of one of the founders of Irving who owned a lumber company. The first couple married in the second church was Laura Allison and Louis DeHaes!
The Schultz family for two generations has remained involved in the Catholic Church in Irving. One daughter became a nun, and Charles and Catherine Schultz (who died in 2004) were always generous with any needs of the church.
