18/09/2024
St. Mary's Catholic Church in Newport - where our ancestor John Wathen worshipped and is almost certainly buried - is celebrating its 350th anniversary! Some of John Wathen's land is very close to St. Mary's Church and is still farmed by the Wathen family. Be sure to check out this article from the Catholic Standard!
Here's an excerpt:
"Frank Wathen, a past grand knight of the Knights of Columbus Holy Ghost Council 11484, noted that he is a direct descendant of John Wathen, who came to Maryland from England in 1670 as an indentured servant, later became a farmer and was among the first parishioners at St. Maryโs in Newport when it was founded in 1674. Today Frank Wathen and other family members, including his parents Pat and Jenny Wathen who live nearby on their family farm, continue to attend St. Maryโs Church.
โI sometimes can hardly fathom it, how long we have been here, the Wathen family, still very active in the community and at St. Maryโs in Newport to this day,โ Frank Wathen said. โTo practice (our faith) here, to serve here, to be a part of this small country community since 1674, itโs a lasting legacy.โ
His parents Pat and Jenny Wathen, who both will turn 88 years old in December, have been married for 68 years and raised their 10 children at St. Maryโs Parish. Jenny Wathen said the secret to their long marriage is โlove, patience, understanding and talking it out.โ Pat Wathen joked that there was no way he could have afforded alimony payments to support 10 children.
When asked how long he has been a St. Maryโs parishioner, Pat Wathen said, โEver since the day I was born.โ He said he helped out at their familyโs farm โ which used to grow to***co and now grows crops including soybean and corn โ โfrom the time I was able to put a harness on the horse.โ After graduating from high school, he worked for the phone company for more than four decades to support his family.
Jenny Wathen noted how St. Maryโs parishioners knew each other and their children and grandchildren over the years, and how the farm families there provided pork, lamb and chicken for parish picnics, along with vegetables that they grew on their farms. Today the parish is known for its monthly food pantry serving the community.
In 1674, 102 years before Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, St. Mary Parish in Newport, Maryland, was established, giving Catholics in that rural community a place to pray together and receive the sacraments in a colony where English settlers had first arrived 40 years earlier...
