St. Joseph's Cathedral

St. Joseph's Cathedral	Oishei Bell in Forest Lawn Cemetery

John Timon, the first bishop of the new Diocese of Buffalo in Western New York, built St. Joseph's Cathedral that opened in 1855.  In May 1866 he was present at the University of Notre Dame for the blessing of the Statue of Notre Dame.  While there, he was impressed by the sound of the 23-bell carillon that had been installed there ten years earlier.  He obtained the detailed of the bells and the founder in France, and upon returning to Buffalo he ordered 43 bells from Bollée et Fils in Mans, France, the firm that had supplied the bells at Notre Dame. The bells were displayed at the Paris Exposition in 1867 where they won a gold medal.  They cost nearly $24,000, including an import duty of $2,200.  The carillon was first played on September 12, 1869, but the enormous weight of the bells was too much for the single bell tower, and the bells were put in storage around 1875.  A proposal to display the bells at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition was received favorably the parish and local community, but did not bear fruit due to cost and other factors.

The carillon was moved and installed in the twin towers of a new cathedral that opened in 1915, but their weight again proved too much for the structure and they went back into storage for more than fifty years until the second cathedral was demolished in 1976.  One bell was bought by Patricia Colby of the Oishei family and was installed at Forest Lawn cemetery, where it is electrically run for funeral processions entering the cemetery..

References
1867 L'Exposition universelle de 1867 illustrée: publication internationale autorisée par la Commission impériale, Volume 1, by François Ducuing
Page 90:  Description of 43-bell carillon for Buffalo church.

1867 Fort Wayne Daily Gazette, July 18, 1867, Page 2.
A carillon of forty-three bells, now in the Paris Exposition, is intended for the Buffalo Catholic Cathedral. The makers of the magnificent clock works which give movement to the chime, are Gourdin, father and son, at Mayet department of Sarthe, and the bells are from the celebrated foundry of Ernest Bollee, at the Mans, in the same district. The immense cylinder, by the cogs of which, on the principal of the music-box; the bells are touched in order and melodious succession, is so constructed that, with the utmost facility, at any time, a new set of tunes can be introduced, and these too of the most complicated description! if such is desired. The Shadow Dance and Old Hundred are equally within the powers of execution with which the admirable machinery is endowed.

1868 "The Cathedral Chimes," Buffalo Courier, July 17, 1868, Page 2.
The long expected carillon of bells, for St. Joseph's Cathedral, arrived at the New York and Erie freight depot yesterday.  There are to be forty-three bells in all.  Only thirty-nine, we understand, have arrived as yet, the others having been mislaid; but it is probable they will be forth coming.  The bells will be taken to the cathedral this morning, where they will be hung when a person employed for the duty arrives from France.  It is thought that he is already on his way.  It will require about six weeks to hang them.

1869 "Consecration of Bells," Harrisburg Telegraph, June 30, 1869, Page 2.

1869 "The Chime of St. Joseph's Cathedral," Buffalo Courier, July 2, 1869, Page 2.

1869 "The Carillon of Bells in Buffalo," New York Daily Herald, September 13, 1869, Page 8.
Third-largest chimes in the world.

1870 The Life and Times of the Rt. Rev. John Timon, D. D.: First Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, by Charles George Deuther
Pages 251-252:  Without doubt, the carillon of bells that swings within the tower of St. Joseph's cathedral, is the finest on the continent, and ranks third in number in the world . It is to be regretted that the compass of the tower is such as to obstruct the melody that dwells in rich and magnificent chords in the carillon, although this difficulty could be some what obviated, by widening or increasing the number of the apertures in the tower, so far as not to endanger the strength of the latter.
The intention of Bishop Timon originally embodied a carillon of twenty-eight bells only, and an order for this number was accordingly given.  Subsequently, however, through some inducements held out to the Bishop, he concluded to increase the number to forty-three.
Pages 323-333:  Appendix - Accounts of the Bells.

1872 "Our Cathedral Chimes," Catholic Union and Times (Buffalo, New York), December 5, 1872, Page 1.
The United States possesses two carillons, one at the Cathedral University of Notre Dame, Indiana, the other and by far the finer, is attached to St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo.

1873 "The Carillon," The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, April 19, 1873, Page 4.
It appears that there is another carillon in America of 23 bells, in Notre Dame, Indiana.   The one in this city has 43 bells. They both were made by the same partler, M. Bollie & Sons, at Mans, France. Those in this city were put up by M. Amadee Bollie, son of the chief of the house, aided by another workman brought out for that purpose. The cost of the carillon, together with the expense for putting it up, was about fifteen thousand dollars. The duty, freight, amounted to six thousand two hundred and eighteen dollars. The weight of the largest bell is 2172 kilogrammes; tbe smallest 17 kilogrammes.
Most of the bells have inscriptions. On the largest: "Deo uni et trino laus et gloria sempiterna." On the second largest, "Laudate Dominum omnes gestes." On the third, " Gloria in Excelsis Deo;" and on the fourth, " Mater puiisasima sine late concepts." The inscriptions on the other bells can be found in the life of Bishop Timon, by Duther, of this city.
The lowest note or tone given by the carillon is C, in the second space of the bass clef; thence the tones ascend diatonically to F, next above; after that they ascend chromatically for four octaves to C above the fifth leger line in the treble clef.
For these facts we are indebted to the Rt. Rev. Bishop Ryan, through his Secretary, James A. Laniaan, Esq.

1879 Bells at Notre Dame, by Edward Sorin, C.S.C.| also here | and here |
Page 1:  When in May, 1866, the Statue of Notre Dame was blessed here by Archbishop Spalding, in presence of five other Rt. Rev, Bishops and anu immense concourse of people, the bells of of the new chime, or at least six of the largest, were freely rung in full peal, to the delight of all present. The following day, at the solemn procession of the Blessed Sacrament, around St. Joseph s Lake, the same beautiful sounds, electrified, as it were, for two hours, all who attended the grand ceremony. Never will the memory of these two glorious days be obliterated at Notre Dame. The bells of the first chime in the United States had never before delighted, to such an extent, two large American assemblies of pious worshippers. The venerable Bishop Timon of Buffalo, among the rest, was so charmed with the harmony and rich sounds of the new bells, and their wonderful effects for miles around, that he wished, before he left, to obtain an account of the various weights of the twenty-three bells composing the chime, the cost of the whole, etc., etc., and the residence of the founder in France, with a firm determination to send him an order, on his return tu Buffalo, for even a larger chime; a resolution which, we all know, he carried out immediately, to the great delight of the city and which, ever since, is enjoyed there, by day and by night, as the richest aerial music in the New World. The chime of Buffalo includes 44 bells; there is nothing to equal it in the States. It has added not a little, as all say, to the enjoyment of the citizens in that already famous city. By itself, it would immortalize the name of the saintly Bishop, who enriched his beautiful Cathedral with this grand and perpetual rehearsal of pious hymns and tunes of what is admitted to be most exquisite in church-music; thus hourly and most sweetly charming all ears and bringing home from on high, with real rapture to the soul, recollections of the purest joys, filling the air with the choicest praises of God, of the Blessed Virgin and of most popular saints, at a time when luxurious voices and lascivious airs from theatres are heard on every street, and repeated everywhere in private circles.

1884 "St. Joseph's Bells," The Buffalo Evening News, April 29, 1884, Page 1.
What is said of the project to ring them anew.

1889 "Belfry Chimes," Boston Sunday Globe, July 14, 1889, Page 20.
It is probable that there are few carillons in this country.  At Buffalo, N.Y., it is understood that there is a carillon of 48 bells, and those are run by a cylindrical shaped machine which is turned by a heavy weight, and that only four tunes can be placed in succession upon them.

1899 "Silent Chimes of St. Joseph's," Buffalo Morning Express, March 5, 1899, Page 6.

1899 "Grand Chimes May Ring Again," The Buffalo Enquirer, August 3, 1899, Page 7.
Suggestion Made That St. Joseph's Carillon be a Pan-American Feature.

1900 "Approved it," The Buffalo Commercial, April 25, 1900, Page 11.
St. Joseph's Chimes Will be an attraction at the Pan-American exposition.

1900 "The Psn-American Exposition," The Erie Daily Times, April 30, 1900, Page 6
St. Joseph's Carillon of 43 bells to be displayed.

1901 "St. Joseph's Chimes Will Not Be Heard," The Buffalo News, May 8, 1901, Page 4.

1901 "St. Joseph's Bells and the Exposition," Catholic Union and Times (Buffalo, New York), May 9, 1901, Page 4.
Thousands in Buffalo are keenly disappointed that the negotiations for ringing the glorious bells of St. Joseph's Cathedral at the Pan-American Exposition have fallen through.

1911 A History of Buffalo: Delineating the Evolution of the City, Volume 2, by Josephus Nelson Larned
Page 75:  St. Joseph's Cathedral
Wishing to give his cathedral the distinction of a surpassingly fine chime of bells, Bishop Timon, in 1865, ordered an arrangement of forty-three bells from a famous bell-foundry at Paris. The bells were cast in 1866, exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1867, and arrived in Buffalo in 1868. Including a duty of $2,200, their cost when they reached the cathedral was nearly $24,000. The tower in which they were hung, having no proper openness, proved very unsuitable for the purpose. The sound of the bells was muffled, and the lack of an airy belfry caused rusting of the mechanism by which they were to be rung. A grievous disappointment resulted, and for more than thirty years, after about 1875, the famous chime never uttered a sound, except from two of its bells. In the spring of 1907 an electrical apparatus for the ringing was constructed, and the chime is now heard occasionally, but only near at hand, being stifled in the enclosure of the tower. It is to be hoped that at some time, not distant, the bells may swing in a proper campanile, and radiate the charm of airy music which the good bishop expected them to do. There are probably few, if any, finer carillons in the world.

1912 "History of Cathedral Identified with Growth of Buffalo in Power," Buffalo Courier, June 10, 1912, Page 9.
Famous Bells Unused.  The carillon of bells bought by Bishop Timon at a cost of $24,000, have never been utilized, owing to the difficulties of operating them. Thev were made hy Bollee & Son of Mans, France, and are considered the finest in the world. The organ by Hook and Hastings, cost $65,000.

1915 "Chimes will Ring From New Cathedral on Easter Morning," The Buffalo Times, May 9, 1915, Page 1.
Beautiful-toned carrillion from old St.Joseph's Cathedral will soon be removed to handsome new edifice in course of construction.

1915 "Removing Chimes to New Cathedral," The Buffalo Enquirer, March 15, 1915, Page 1.

1915 "Cathedral Chimes Finest in World," The Buffalo Enquirer, March 16, 1915, Page 3.
Sweet-toned bells now being removed from Old to New Cathedral will soon be run for first time - their history and names of sponsors.
One of the bells which make up the beautiful chimes is missing.  Whether it was stolen or lost cannot be ascertained.  It was first missed in 1907, when Herman A. Wende, inventor of the electrical drive by which part of the chimes were rung, inspected the tower.  It has now been decided to install the chimes and when they are run and the tone of the missing bell ascertained a duplicate will be ordered from the original firm in Mans. France. 

1915 "Historic Chimes Being Removed to New St. Joseph's Cathedral," The Buffalo Times, March 16, 1915, Page 1.
Picture of bells removed removed.

1915 "Engine Lifting Five Tons To Work Today in Placing Chimes in Cathedral," Buffalo Courier, March 17, 1915, Page 6.

1915 "Last of 42 Bells Go from Old to New Cathedral," Buffalo Courier, March 18, 1915, Page 8.

1915 "Bells in New Cathedral to be Ready for Dedication," Buffalo Morning Express, April 6, 1915, Page 6.

1927 "Cathedral Chimes to Ring," Buffalo Evening News, December 27, 1927, Page 32.
City's Pioneer Carillon for 57th Time Will Announce New Year.

1928 "Church Bells Ready to Peal Glad Tidings of Christmas," Buffalo Evening News, December 21, 1928, Page 22.
Famous Carillon of St. Joseph's New Cathedral, However, Will be Silent This Year.
Repairs of the tower of St. Joseph's cathedral in Delaware avenue led officials to decide against the playing of the bells during the holiday.

1940 "City-wide Catholic Loyalty Is Pride of Old Cathedral," Buffalo Evening News, March 11, 1940, Page 7.
The 43 bells which made up the cathedral's carillon at one time was the largest carillon in the United States.  They were played for 25 years by Amos Pettingill Ford, whose violin and bell playing still might be remembered by some Buffalonians.  The bells now are in the basement of the new cathedral in Delaware at West Utica Street.

1976 "Part of City's Life Lies Dead in Cathedral Ruins," Buffalo Evening News, April 3, 1976, Page 4.

1977 St. Joseph's Cathedral, Buffalo, New York 
No mention of the carillon.

2004 "The Oishei Bell," Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, NY, by Fred Remington Whaley, Jr., Reprinted from "The Gate," Winter 2004.

© 2022 Morris A. Pierce