August 1923
Patton: church, rectory and school
St. Mary’s church, rectory and parochial school in Patton, mapped in August 1923.
Mapped in 1923, after Father Edwin’s 1922 retirement from the Patton parish.Family stories · Full documentary · 15:28
The First Edwin — The Monk Behind the Name
Father Edwin Pierron: the Benedictine monk behind a family name, and the world he helped build.
Switch quality without losing your place.
Pause and inspect the current document or map.
Download smaller copy · 61 MBRead the film & complete credits
About this film
A family name leads back to Father Edwin Pierron, O.S.B. (1846–1930): immigrant, Benedictine monk, teacher, plant collector and Pennsylvania parish builder. Seven chapters follow his life through period maps, photographs, newspapers and a surviving 1877 specimen, then return to the name that continued in the MacNamara family.
Read the landscape
The town around the story.
Open each original map to read its labels, or follow the link to Penn State’s archive.
November 1895
Hastings: streets and stations
Hastings in November 1895: shops, hotels, livery stables, and passenger and freight stations beside Little Brubaker Creek.
Town geography, not a reconstruction of a personal journey.
March 1915
Hastings: coal, coke and railway
Coal, coke and railway geography around Hastings in March 1915. The map labels Oakridge Coal Co., coke ovens, and the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Hastings Branch.
Rich Hill Coal Co. is marked abandoned; the sheet contains separately oriented sections.Behind the film
The history & the evidence.
Period newspapers, a labeled botanical specimen, dated maps and family name records give this life its physical traces. Wirtner’s 1930 biography supplies much of the chronological framework through a proofread transcription; the companion separates those accounts from inspected originals.
- Contemporary newspaperPatton Courier, 20 April 1899, page 1 Father Edwin’s portrait and the church he served in Patton. The printed page and its dated images appear in the film.
- Contemporary sermon report“Food for Thought,” Patton Courier, 3 October 1901, page 1 The newspaper’s account of a sermon condemning lynchings and lawlessness. This is a report of the sermon, not its complete transcript.
- Contemporary remembrancePatton Courier, 13 February 1930, page 4 The sold-out portrait issue and the published tribute describing practical help and Father Edwin’s place in the community.
- Original specimen label1877 botanical specimen, Herbier Tourlet HG06436.02 P. E. Pierron’s name, St. Vincent College address and September 25, 1877 date appear on the surviving label. Photograph © Université de Tours, CC-BY-NC.
- Institutional historySaints Peter and Paul parish history, Patton The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh preserves the account of Father Edwin allowing the community to hold services at St. Mary’s.
- Institutional history and portraitBlessing the Years to Come (1997), pp. 41–42 Paschal Baumstein and Debra G. Estes, Archives of Belmont Abbey. Source for Pierron’s rector duties and portrait, credited in the book to Saint Vincent.
- Period illustrated bookSouvenir St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 1851–1901 The 1901 publication includes a St. Mary’s College, Belmont campus view. It is an image of the educational setting, not a portrait of Pierron’s exact years there.
- Archival finding aidWalter Deane papers, Harvard: Pierron to Lester F. Ward, 12 November 1877 Collection gra00073, Box 22, Folder 12, finding-aid page 123. The letter is cataloged; its words and subject have not been recovered.
- Historical mapMap of Washington and Ozaukee Counties, Wisconsin, 1873–74 Nash and Tucker; American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries. Geographic context for the Wisconsin setting, not an identified childhood parcel.
- Historical mapPatton Sanborn map, December 1910, sheet 3 St. Mary’s church in its street setting during the carried-forward pastorate dates. The three additional 1895, 1915 and 1923 maps are linked in the companion below.
- Original yearbook entryEdwin Pierron MacNamara, The Graduate (1925), page 118 The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science yearbook preserves his name beneath his portrait. Family tradition supplies the connection to Father Edwin; this record does not itself state why the name was chosen.
- Original registration imageEdwin Pierron Mac Namara, 1942 draft registration The same historical given names appear on the registration completed during his lifetime. This is a second record of the name, not a claim of biological descent from the priest.
The soundtrack
Music credits
Show soundtrack credits
“Teardrop (FFS RMX)” — Massive Attack; remix by Future Funk Squad. Edited and crossfaded for the film.
“Where You Are (The Rumblist Remix)” — John Summit; remix by The Rumblist. Edited and crossfaded for the film.
“Sparks” — The Rumblist. Edited and crossfaded for the film.