A Beloved Priest Departs for New York
Parishioners of Sacred Heart Church bid an emotional farewell to Father Charles Sigl as he departs for a new assignment in New York City.
The story, cleaned up
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Father Charles Sigl, rector of the parish of the Sacred Heart at Sixth and Bell streets, leaves this city on Tuesday evening for New York City, where he takes charge of St. Alphonsus church. Father Sigl was born in Rochester, New York, and arrived in Seattle in October 1891 to take up his duties. Since Father Sigl's rectorate began, the congregation has more than doubled, now numbering nearly 1,000 communicants. Last night, a gathering of members of the parish met in the school hall to bid goodbye. Corporation Counsel George Donworth, one of Father Sigl's parishioners, spoke, and a purse of $390 was presented to the retiring rector by his friends. Father Sigl will be succeeded by Rev. Joseph Kevitt, now of St. Boniface church at Philadelphia.
“The congregation of this parish has more than doubled since Father Sigl took charge, and now numbers nearly 1,000 communicants.”
Belltown today is a densely populated urban center, but in 1893, it was the site of the growing Sacred Heart parish. The intimate nature of this community fundraiser highlights the close-knit social fabric that defined Seattle’s early neighborhoods before they were transformed by modern development.
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