When I first located James and Sarah Hickey and their family in the census, I was very surprised to learn that my great-grandmother (Bridget Hickey) worked in a cotton mill as a child. In 1880 the Hickeys were listed in Howard County in a village known as Elysville. Bridget, who was 10 years old at the time, worked in the mill along with 4 of her siblings. According to the census enumerator, the population of Elysville at that time was 322.
Through further research, I was able to discover that Elysville (also known as Alberton, then Daniels) was a mill town on the Patapsco River. Most of the village was in Howard County, but part of it was in Baltimore County. The mill that Bridget Hickey worked for was most likely the Alberton Cotton Mill, which produced cotton duck well into the twentieth century.
I also learned that a Catholic church once stood on a hill within the boundaries of the town. St. Stanislaus Kostka Church had quite a rich history. It was built in 1879 to serve the Catholics living in Elysville/Alberton. It was built up on a steep hill, on land donated by James Gary, the owner of the mill. The church did not have a resident priest, but was rather served by priests from Woodstock College, a Jesuit seminary a few miles away. In the winter the priest would skate down the frozen Patapsco River on ice skates to say Mass for his parishioners.
The church was dedicated in December 1879 by Cardinal Gibbons. About 100 people attended the Mass and dedication that day. I like to think that James and Sarah Hickey and their family were among the number in attendance.
The interior of the church was destroyed by fire in 1926. The outer stone walls, however, remained intact for many years. Recent newspaper accounts indicated that the ruins of the old church were still visible today within the boundaries of Patapsco State Park.
I was fascinated by the stories of the ruined church and wanted to visit there. It took me quite a few years, but I was finally able to visit the site about 5 years ago.
The forest is beginning to take over the site, but much of the walls still look as they did over 100 years ago when my ancestors first saw them. James and Sarah may have climbed these same steps to attend Mass here. There is a small cemetery beside the ruins of the church. James and Sarah's oldest son, John, and some of his family are buried there.
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