The first parish church, built in a section of the present cemetery, was erected in 1838 by a parishioner named Mathias Melanson on land donated by Bénoni-Henri Melanson. In 1881 it was replaced by a second church on the site of the present church. This church lasted until the fateful day of June 3, 1938, when it, the rectory, the parish hall and three outbuildings all burned in a fire which began in the basement of the church.
On the southwest side of the church stands its large cemetery, its size undestdandable when one realizes that it has been in use since at least 1838 and quite possibly longer. The Clare township website has a
photo index page of this cemetery in which are listed 607, which seems to equate to 607 headstones.
Find A Grave lists only 41 of the interments, the earliest dated 1867. We expect there to be earlier ones.
At this time (1838), the first chapel was built at Holy Cross and it stood where the present cemetery calvary scene stands now. Oral tradition has it that the land for the chapel was donated by Bénoni-Henri Melanson and that this first chapel was built by Mathias Melanson. By 1868, Saint-Bernard had become a parish in its own right and Holy Cross became a mission served by the pastor of Saint-Bernard.
In 1881, construction began on a new church to replace the chapel. The Stations of the Cross were erected in 1890 to coincide with the completion of the new church. Construction on the rectory began in 1891 and was ready for the arrival of the new resident pastor, Father Louis Decheneau, in 1892.
It fell upon Father Luc Gaudet to rebuild the church and rectory after the disastrous fire of June 3, 1938 destroyed the church, the rectory, the parish hall and three outbuildings in the space of an hour and a half. As reported in a local newspaper at the time:
“
…Father Luc Gaudet, parish priest, told the press he was eating his dinner when he was told the church was on fire. Entering the building, he found the flames coming through the floor from the basement, and were breaking out in all sections…”
The only items saved in the 1938 fire were the blessed sacrement and vestments (from the church), furnishings and parish records from the rectory and some furnishings in the new parish hall.
In May 1939, less than one year after the fire, the cornerstone of a new church was was blessed; the new church took ten years to complete. At this time, Holy Cross Parish served not only Plympton inhabitants but also those of its missions at Doucetteville, Marshalltown and Digby Neck.
From Clare Township