Catholic Church Records by
Cumulative Indexes to Munnicks Catholic Church Records
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St. Mary's, Siletz
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Our Lady of Guadalupe Church at Siletz, Oregon was built in 1896
and dedicated on August 1, 1897 by Archbishop Christie. Father Felix Bucher, a Salvatorian priest who was
stationed in Corvallis, served the Indians of Siletz and was responsible for the building of the first church.
The name was changed to St. Mary's in 1897 with no explanation for the change that we have found. Siletz was
a mission of Corvallis at first and then Newport and later Toledo.
St. Katharine Drexel, a millionaire who became a nun and then was canonized,
donated the money to build this first church.
Father Martinus Cawley, ocso., states in his book The Singing Priest of Siletz,
Father Raymond of Ocean Lake, that "as early as the 1860's one of the Indian Agent's spoke of a small building
that had been set aside for the use of the Catholic priest. We could guess that this was a hut of sorts, near the
home of one of the Catholic tribesmen from French Canada. Its location is unknown and it doubtless soon fell into
ruin from infrequency of use."
"This Church of 1896-97 was built on Government Hill, adjacent to the Catholic
cemetery. It had rooms at the back for Fr. Felix and his lay brother housekeeper, Br. Nazarius. Their successor,
Jesuit Fr. Dimier built a rectory down at the site of the present church and had a chapel there for weekday Masses.
Then in 1913 another successor Fr. Forget moved the old church down alongside the rectory. A windstorm in the mid 1950's
blew everything down and after a fund raising campaign the new timber church was dedicated June 23, 1955." The
church pictured above is the one built in 1955.
This parish is very rich in Indian and Catholic history and the priests that served
her were some of the most saintly ever to serve in Oregon. There are several publications written about Fathers
Bucher, Croquet and Raymond regarding this parish and others that they served and are recommended reading for anyone
interested in Catholic history.
Heritage Trail Press offers the following records for St. Mary's; Baptisms 1894-1900,
Marriages 1896-1948 and Deaths 1894-1948. In addition, there are a few records for this parish found in the combined
parishes also in this section.
St. Mary's, Our Lady of Guadalupe was the 59th Catholic parish dedicated in Oregon.
Present Day information: St. Mary Church: (Mission of Sacred Heart Parish, Newport, OR)
231 E Logsden Rd.
Siletz, OR 97380
Mass Schedule:
Sunday: 12:30 pm
Parish Office, Newport, OR: (541)265-5101
Rev. Brian V. Allbright, Pastor
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