Parish History

(Thanks to Glenda Kopchinski, our unofficial parish historian):

Sir William Fitzherbert of York, England, son of an earl, was a controversial religious leader who was the archbishop of England in the 12th century. His mother was the half-sister of the King of England, making him the King's nephew. He was canonized in 1227 by Pope Honorious III. Our parish community, which bears his name, traces its origin back to 1647, when the Brent family moved to Stafford County to escape religious intolerance. Sir Giles Brent, an English Catholic nobleman who once served as Governor of Maryland, moved from Baltimore to the Virginia wilIderness near the mouth of Aquia Creek. In 1686, Captain George Brent was granted a patent of 30,000 acres of land lying betwen the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. The patent, granted by King James II, included a royal mandate assuring them and later inhabitants of Virginia free exercise of their religion.

They established the town of Brenton, later called Aquia. In 1785, Bishop John Carol reported about 200 Catholics in this area. Little more is known about the Catholic community here until almost 1900. The original cemetery of the lost community in Aquia was rediscovered in 1897. In addition to the inhabitants of the pioneer settlement, a monument was discovered to Spanish Jesuit priests who were martyred in 1687 while trying to convert the local Indians to Catholicism.

During the 1920's, Bishop O'Connell purchased the land containing the cemetery and gave the job of its restoration to the Richmond Catholic Women's Club. A brick wall was built around the cemetery and an altar was erected. On October 6, 1929, the first field Mass was celebrated in the cemetery. One year later the large crucifix, which still stands on Route 1 at the entry to the Widewater District of Stafford County, was unveiled and dedicated. It, too,

was erected by the Richmond Catholic Women's Club.

The earliest recorded recollection, from persons living in 1980, of Mass being celebrated in Stafford County comes from the decendants of the Alfred J. Pyle family of Widewater, Virginia. Priests traveling here from Fredericksburg said Mass in their family chapel during the 1920's. On May 17, 1925, the day St. Therese was canonized, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Mountjoy was made available to the visiting priests for Mass and religious instruction, which continued until 1943. Anna Mountjoy was particularly instrumental in the foundation of St. William of York parish, and conducted much of the religious instruction herself. She would gather about 30 children each week for their catechism lessons.

In 1943, a mission station named St. Therese was established at the Midway Island government housing project and continued after Midway Island was put under the supervision of Quantico Marine Base. During this time, 1920 - 1956, the Catholic community of Stafford County, which had been a mission area since colonial times, was served as a mission of St. Mary's Church in Fredericksburg. During its earlier days, the local ten or twelve famlies comprising the Stafford Catholic community would gather together to say the rosary and hope that a visiting priest would arrive to say Mass.

In 1955, Bishop Ireton granted permission to build a church near the crucifix to serve the Catholic community of Stafford. On May 6, 1956, St. William of York Church was dedicated. The dedication Mass was celebrated by Peter L. Ireton, D.D. Bishop of Richmond. The parish had an initial enrollment of 25 families. On May 12, 1957, St. William of York had its first First Communion class of fifteen children. Father James J. Widmer, pastor of St. Mary's Church and after whom our Knights of Columbus chapter is named, was the Mass celebrant. The first wedding celebrated in our church was on June 17, 1961, at which vows were exchanged between James C. Habina and Edna Mae Ginn. The first First Mass of a newly ordained priest was celebrated by Fr. Michael Dobbins on May 16, 1999, the day after his ordination by Bishop Paul Loverde. Fr. Dobbins was in the first ordination class after Bishop Loverde assumed his position as Bishop of the Arlington Diocese. Bishop Loverde was appointed Bishop of the Arlington Diocese following the death of Bishop John Keating. Bishop Loverde is the third Bishop of Arlington.

On June 1, 1971, St. William of York was established as an official parish. Father John S. Wysocki was assigned as the first pastor. In 1976, when Fr. Edmund Kollar succeeded Fr. Wysocki as pastor, there were about 150 families in the parish. By 1980, we had about 350 families. At that time, St. William of York parish had the largest membership of any church in Stafford County. By 1992, we had 1200 registered families. The Parish Activity Center was dedicated September 14, 1980. On Pentecost Sunday, June 7, 1981, The Church of St. William of York celebrated its Silver Jubilee.