Marie McSwigan’s article “Symphony of Bells to Thrill Wilkinsburg Sunday When Nearly 12 Tons Send Forth Gladsome Tones, St. James Catholic Church Has Largest Carillon in the U.S.” appeared in the November 15, 1929, The Pittsburgh Press.
Bells—and still more bells! A score of them in all. Just every note on the musical scale from the lowest to the topmost note on the organ.
The bells comprised the immense carillon which were swung into place in the belfry of St. James Catholic Church, Wilkinsburg, and which are expected to send forth their lofty paean Sunday for the first time.
But even though the borough has not yet heard the bells’ full mellow tones, the gladsome carols and hosannas, nevertheless many residents are fully acquainted with “the big bells at St. James.”
“Almost every passing automobile stopped when the bells were uncrated,” said Rev. Stephen A. Walsh, pastor of St. James.* * *
“One might almost have thought that some important person lay dead in state and that the crowds came to pay respect,” said the gentle, kindly prelate in his cultured, precise tones “Every day a fresh group gathered around the carillon. I think almost every man, woman and child in Wilkinsburg has been to see them at close range.” “The bells were blessed last Sunday,” continued the pastor.
The article “Largest Carillon in U.S. Placed in St. James’ Church, First Concerts on Bells Weighing 12 Tons to Be Heard Sunday in Wilkinsburg, Formally Blessed“ appeared in The Pittsburgh Catholic for November 31, 1929 issue.
The entire Wilkinsburg district will hear for the first time this Sunday the huge carillon bells of the new St. James’ church when the first formal concert on them will be given at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and again at 7:30 in the evening by Frank L. S. Walter, carillonier, assisted by Joseph Casalli. organist at St. James’.
The bells, the largest in weight in any Catholic Church in the United States, were formally blessed on Sunday, November 10, by the Rev. John P. Shields, pastor of St. Colman’s church, Turtle Creek, assisted by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Stephen Walsh, pastor, and the Rev. Roy Atkinson, assistant pastor. Since that time workmen have been engaged in the difficult task of installing the bells and they are ready for the first concert.
In only two other Catholic churches in this country are there carillons. Our Lady of Good Voyage Portuguese church at Gloucester, Mass., and St. Peter’s church, Morristown, N. J., being the other two. The carillon in the Gloucester church weighs 1,800 pounds, that in the Morristown church weighs 4,900, and the Wilkinsburg carillon weighs 23,550 pounds, making it the largest in the United States. The nearest other carillon to Wilkinsburg is at the Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, Pa. The Wilkinsburg carillon is not the largest in number of bells, but in weight.
Program of Concerts
The concerts of Sunday will be varied to please the large number of nationalities residing in the Wilkinsburg district. The two programs contain hymns, religious and national, of different people and nations, so that all in the district, regardless of color or creed, may feel that they have a share in this new source of happiness and may be brought in thought to the scenes of their childhood. The following programs will be played:
Sunday afternoon: “Holy God. We Praise Thy Name”; “O Mother Blest”; “Lead Kindly Light”; “Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean”; “Kol Nedrl”; “Killarney”; “Italian National Hymn”; “Der Wacht Am Rhein”; “The Lost Chord”; “The Star Spangled Banner”.
Sunday night: “Praise Te The Lord”; “The Bella of St. Mary’s”; “Carry Me Back To Ole Virginny”; “Blue Bells of Scotland”; “Then You’ll Remember Me”; “Wedding March”, Lohengrin; “Sanctus” Gounod’s Messe Solenelle; “Largo”, Handel; “The Marseillaise”; “The Star Spangled Banner”.
The inscription on the large bell reads as follows:
”There was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army,
Praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the highest
And on earth peace to men of good will.” Luke 11, 12 and 14.Describes Carillon
“There are different arrangements of church bells,” said Msgr. Walsh. “There is the single church bell which exists in nearly every church in the land. Then there is the peal of bells, consisting of from three to five bells, chimes which run usually from one octave to 11, 15 or 16 bells. Then there is the carillon which consists of 20 or more bells.”
”Wilkinsburg has the largest carillon in weight to be found in any Catholic Church in the United States and there are few churches of any denomination which have a better set. The big bell weighs 4,495 pounds. The little one is but 440 pounds. The 18 between vary.”
In Europe, Msgr. Walsh explains, carillons are generally operated by a keyboard under the bells. This country, however, excelling in the use of electric appliances, has found electricity serviceable in playing church music.
The new church is an adapted Gothic of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It is of Indiana limestone and will have some remarkable windows of colored glass. Ground was broken for the church last February 29 and building work has gone speedily ahead.
St. James’ church was founded 60 years ago. Its present pastor, Msgr. Walsh, was made pastor 11 years age. “The bells will occupy a space of 20 feet square in the belfry,” Msgr. Walsh said. “They can be added to from time to time if future generations desire it. In Europe the carillons have many more small bells, some weighing only 90 pounds. We did not consider them because there is too much contrast. I think every one will agree that the present set is remarkable for its mellowness, the perfect harmony of tone and its perfect accord.”
The McShane Bell Foundry manufactured the bells. The company began in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1856. The company takes pride in the quality of their bells. In 150 years, the company manufactured more than 300,000 bells.
If you were walking on a Sunday around 1900 in what was then called Allegheny, Pennsylvania, you were likely to hear a McShane bell. McShane placed three pealing bells, E, G, and C, for Carnegie Free Library; D, F♯, and A for St. Andrew’s Church; D, F♯; and A for St. Joseph’s and E♭, G, and B♭ for St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church.
McShane placed five pealing bells, D, F♯ G, A, and D for St. Adalbert Catholic Church on the South Side, and C, E, G, and C for St. Mary’s Church in Homestead.
“Bells” in Shrines of Pittsburgh records,
The bells of Saint Anthony Chapel were ordered in April of 1891 by Father Mollinger from the McShane Bell Foundry, Inc., of Baltimore, Maryland. In the belfry next to the parking lot there is a large bell with a deep tone named “St. Anthony.” In the belfry by the rectory is a large bell named “St. Francis” and a smaller bell named “St. Clare.” Hence, the bells were named for three major saints of the Franciscan Order.
These bells are E♭, G, and B♭.
The McShane Foundry placed a chime of eight bells in St. Stanislaus Church at 21st Street and Smallman Street. The bells ranged from 2500 lbs for E♭ to 300 lbs for a higher E♭.
“St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church” at wayfinding.com references seven bells. Two bells are the same weight (750 lbs) and this is very unlikely. One bell is missing.
In the twin towers are seven bells. The right tower holds the St. Michael bell—2,500 lbs.[E♭], the St. Barbara bell—1,200 lbs. [G] and the St. Anthony bell—750 lbs [B♭]. The left tower holds the St. Casimir bell—1,800 lbs. [F], the St. Joseph bell—1,000 lbs. [A♭], the St. Rosa bell—750 Ibs. [B♭] and the St. Stanislaus bell—550 lbs. [C]. Five bells were electrified in 1956.
Ralph Hathaway in “Listen to the Bells! Calling us to Mass” tells of hearing the bells at St. Bernard, and at an earlier time, the bells of St. James Church,
Hearing the bells at 8 am, 12 noon, and 6 pm, announcing vespers, is like a melody of chimes that enforces my ordination and promises made to my bishop. Sort of like a promise that echoes throughout the day. How great that the Catholic Church has always called us to Mass and prayer through the ringing of the bells.
This reminds me in the years before answering the call I could hear the bells of my home parish, St. James in Wilkinsburg . . . when I was nearby. However, one day as I was working on a roof of a new apartment building doing electrical work, the bells rang at noon. This day I didn’t just hear them ringing, I listened! From that day forward events occurred that led me to the diaconate. The essence of those bells meant I listened instead of just hearing them.
He writes, “Now when the bells ring, listen to them and hear the voice of God.”
St. James Parish, published in 1963, records, “The melodious tones of these bells peal out now as they did then, summoning the faithful to Mass and Devotion.”
An announcement on the Saint Mary Magdalene Parish website for December 19, 2018, tells:
Saint James 20-Bell Carillon will be announcing to Wilkinsburg the coming of Christmas. Michael Kearney, a graduate of Geneva College and currently pursuing a Master’s degree at Duquesne University, will play Christmas carols for about 20 minutes each evening on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (December 19th, 20th and 21st) at 5:00 pm. The bells are best heard outside the church. . . just drive up, park and open the car windows. Please stop by to listen to these beautiful bells.
______
St. James Church, St. James Parish, Wilkinsburg, Pa., Wilkinsburg, 1963, bell: p. 27, tones: p. 34.
https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735051652133
Marie McSwigan, “Symphony of Bells to Thrill Wilkinsburg Sunday When Nearly 12 Tons Send Forth Gladsome Tones, St. James Catholic Church Has Largest Carillon in the U.S.,” The Pittsburgh Press, November 15, 1929.
“Largest Carillon in U.S. Placed in St. James’ Church”The Pittsburgh Catholic, November 31, 1929.
“McShane Bell Foundry,” Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McShane_Bell_Foundry
The McShane Bell Foundary, Catalog, Baltimore, Maryland, 1900. This has information on churches with bells.
https://archive.org/details/mcshanebellfound00mcsh
“St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church” at waymarking.com.
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm7BFF_ST_STANISLAUS_KOSTKA_Catholic_Church_Pittsburgh_PA
Ralph Hathaway, “Listen to the Bells! Calling us to Mass” April 5, 2020.
https://www.catholic365.com/article/11283/listen-to-the-bells-calling-us-to-mass.html
“Christmas Carols on St. James 20 Bell Carillon,” 2018.
https://www.cceep.org/news/chrtistmas-catols-on-st-james-20-bell-carillon