Today in Wheeling History: January 30--Rev. Arthur D. McSwiggan, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Warwood, was buried from Corpus Christi Church and laid to rest with fellow priests at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling (1934).
Rev. Arthur Devine McSwiggan was born March 3, 1878, in Tyrcur, Omagh District, County Tyrone, Ireland, the son of Patrick McSwiggan and Isabella Devine. Trained for the priesthood in Ireland, he emigrated to the United States as part of the broader wave of Irish clergy serving growing Catholic communities in industrial towns. During the First World War era he was assigned to the Weirton area of Hancock County, where he became a formative spiritual and civic presence. There he directed the building of a church, rectory, and school “on the old county road” and, through his own efforts and funds, secured and developed Saint Paul Cemetery, giving local Catholics a dedicated burial ground that continues in use. Later, Bishop John Swint appointed him pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Warwood, then a rapidly developing northern suburb of Wheeling. From 1928 until his death in 1934, McSwiggan guided the parish through years of growth and Depression-era hardship. He died January 27, 1934, in a Baltimore hospital and was buried January 30 from Corpus Christi, with interment among fellow priests at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling; a cenotaph honors him at Saint Paul Cemetery in Weirton.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/3hteww3d); Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/58duspba)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Find a Grave, The Clio
Rev. Arthur Devine McSwiggan was born March 3, 1878, in Tyrcur, Omagh District, County Tyrone, Ireland, the son of Patrick McSwiggan and Isabella Devine. Trained for the priesthood in Ireland, he emigrated to the United States as part of the broader wave of Irish clergy serving growing Catholic communities in industrial towns. During the First World War era he was assigned to the Weirton area of Hancock County, where he became a formative spiritual and civic presence. There he directed the building of a church, rectory, and school “on the old county road” and, through his own efforts and funds, secured and developed Saint Paul Cemetery, giving local Catholics a dedicated burial ground that continues in use. Later, Bishop John Swint appointed him pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Warwood, then a rapidly developing northern suburb of Wheeling. From 1928 until his death in 1934, McSwiggan guided the parish through years of growth and Depression-era hardship. He died January 27, 1934, in a Baltimore hospital and was buried January 30 from Corpus Christi, with interment among fellow priests at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling; a cenotaph honors him at Saint Paul Cemetery in Weirton.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/3hteww3d); Find a Grave (https://tinyurl.com/58duspba)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Find a Grave, The Clio
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