History of IHM

September 21, 1731, Captain Mr. Michael Franklyn, from Rotterdam, sailed his ship into Philadelphia after a voyage from Cowes, England. Among the 104 passengers on board was a gentleman by the name of Casper Weis.

The common spelling of the family name is Wise but various spellings will be found as Weis, Weiss, Wys, Wees, Wice, and Weyse.  Casper Weis was listed in the passenger list as being age 33. Other passengers listed were John Nicholas Wise, Casper Wise, and John Butt (or Bott), all German immigrants.

Casper Weis, born in 1698, probably in Germany, was married to Mary Sibilla, and died in Paradise in 1782. Their children, Casper, 11, and Sebastian, 1, were probably born in Berks and Lancaster Counties. Tradition says that these Weis children were raised along Beaver Creek with the Indian children as playmates.

As he walked down the gangplank, little did Casper Weis realize the impact he was to have on the place he would call home. Upon his arrival at the Paradise area, he built his home to include a room that could be used by visiting missionaries. In the early days of Pennsylvania, before we became the nation we are today, many houses were built to appear as a private dwelling, so as not to be in open violation of penal laws of England. They were referred to as "Mass Houses."

Many parishes at that time had no church building, so early missionary priests traveled a circuit seeking isolated Catholic immigrants. A visiting priest would search out a leading Catholic of the area. In his dwelling would be a large room where the priest could say Mass and perform other religious duties. Tradition tells us the first Mass in the neighborhood was probably said at Abbottstown by Father de Barth. It may have been said at the home of William Jenkins, a prominent Catholic of the time.

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