History of Saint Anthony Parish 
Three Woos (Woas) (Waas) brothers. Sebastian, 22, Ignatius, 20, and Francis Xavier, 18, left Germany when their parents died to escape military conscription in the German army, arriving in Philadelphia in the mid 1700sAfter crossing the Delaware River, they followed an old Indian trail for over 20 miles arriving in what is today known as Waterford Works.Here they cleared out trees and used them to build a rough cedar cabin which we have ascertained was next to the Waterford Memorial Park Cemetery on Pestletown Road.Sebastian then sent for his betrothed from Germany (Clothilda Weiss) and married her when she arrived in Philadelphia.They had 3 daughters and 2 sons and, sometime after the birth of Anthony Ignatius on November 9, 1758, Clothilda died.Sebastian then married Anna Maria Braun at St. Joseph’s Church on Willings Avenue in Philadelphia on April 17, 1759. Marriage was performed by Father Ferdinand Steinmeyer (Father Farmer).They had 4 children, all of whom were baptized at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia along with the 2 young sons of Sebastian and Clothilda.Anna and Sebastian opened their home to Father Farmer whenever he was in the area and he celebrated the first Mass in our area in their cabin on October 5, 1760.In 1760, they applied to the Council of Proprietors to grant them title to the land.The daughters of Sebastian and Clothilda married ~ MaryAnn married Samuel Crowley in Old St. Joseph Church in Philadelphia on July 24, 1781, Catherine married Herman Myrose from Amsterdam on February 12, 1797 in Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia; and another daughter married Eli Neild who came from Antrim, Ireland.Catherine and Herman Myrose purchased 100 acres on the south side of the swamp on Pestle’s Branch, where, with the help of the entire family, they built a large farm house. When it was finished, all the family moved into it except the Neild’s, who remained at the old cabin and called it “Shane’s Castle” in memory of his homeland. |  | In 1820, Jonathan Haines established the Waterford Glass Works which was built where St. Anthony’s parking lot is today. | | In 1826, Samuel Richards built the “Atsion Mansion”. After Richards died in 1842, the property was passed through his heirs and was eventually sold. | | In 1871, Maurice Raleigh, a wealthy businessman from Philadelphia, purchased Atsion Mansion from the Samuel Richards estate and built a cotton factory. | | In 1880, he built the “Waterford Roman Catholic Church” on the corner of what is today known as Chew Road and Arrowhead Road to accommodate the Catholic workers in the area. | | A simple wooden Church, with gas lanterns and a wood stove, it was known as Holy Family Church and is the predecessor of our beloved St. Anthony’s which was built in 1929 | | In the early 1900s, we were a mission to St. Joseph’s in Hammonton, Before 1925 we became a mission of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Berlin and remained a mission of OLMC until transferred back again to Hammonton in 1940. | | In 1947, St. Anthony’s became a mission of the newly established parish of the Assumption in Atco. | | St. Anthony’s was named a parish May 23, 1966 and the Rectory was built in 1969. |
| Property InformationIn 1914, the St. Antonio de Padova Beneficial Society was formed and on May 10, 1923, they purchased the property on which our Church stands from Antonio Monzo and his wife, Mary Monzo, for the sum of $1,800.The St. Antonio de Padova Beneficial Society donated this property for the building of the new Church in 1929On September 26, 1968, the Society deeded over the additional property on which the Rectory now stands. |
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