Journey to St. Peter of the Fields

This book is dedicated to those parishioners who were instrumental in the development of Randolph and Rootstown Townships in Ohio, where the Catholics of St. Peter‘s, Rootstown, and the Catholics of St. Joseph's, Randolph, settled as they migrated from Western Europe. Most came from France and Germany. Chapter I gives a brief history of the development of Randolph and Rootstown Townships. The growth of these two townships is very important and sets the stage for the development of the two Catholic churches described in the following chapters. Finally Journey to St. Peter of the Fields would most probably never have occurred if not for Randolph‘s and Rootstown‘s early residents. Many of the early settlers of Rootstown and nearby New Milford were not of the Roman Catholic faith as the settlers of the southwestern part of Portage County near Randolph were. Major credit is due them, however, for their great pioneer and religious work in that area of Rootstown. This book documents the journey from early 1800‘s to present day. Today, of course, hundreds of Catholics and Protestant families live side by side in both of these areas. The accuracy of specific times, dates, and places of events was sometimes difficult, yet of primary concern for this author because many historians and writers do not agree on these time lines. The works cited, however, and the dozens of interviews conducted by this writer have provided the information as written. The book eventually centers on the 1868 parish of St. Peter of the Fields, Rootstown. St. Joseph‘s, Randolph, is included because that church was established in 1831 as a mission church of St. John's, Canton, Ohio. St. Peter's then followed as a mission church of St. Joseph's. The new church was the determination of certain St. Joseph parishioners from the Rootstown area who wanted their own church in Rootstown; their determination led to its establishment. It is the author's hope that the appeal of this book resides in the strength and power of the oral histories and first person stories contained herein, but also in the development of the two townships and the two churches. May this history and these early pioneers inspire those of us now living here to live our lives in the imitation of Christ. Chapters I through X contain many photos which the author hopes will help explain the total story of this book. Additionally, Chapter XI contains documents, charts, letters, reports and other photographs of special interest. There are many more photographs and reports of various church activities occurring throughout the years, too numerous to include here. They can be found, however, in the archives of the historic church of St. Peter of the Fields. On May 28, 2010 Bishop George V. Murry S.J. Bishop of the Youngstown Diocese announced a reconfiguration plan for the Diocese. The plan called for certain parishes to eventually be closed, others to merge & still others to become collaborative parishes. St. Peter of the Fields, Rootstown & St. Joseph, Randolph would collaborate meaning they would share one or more priests, retain separate identities, but share resources, staff & programming, thus leaving these two historic parishes in tact. This collaboration is currently in progress at the writing of this book.