Under the supervision of Father Thomas Laffan, several changes and improvements were made to the Immaculate Conception Church at Wexford including building of a new bell tower. Father Laffan blessed the ground where the bell tower was to be built and started the groundbreaking ceremony with a prayer to heaven asking for safety during the construction and future prosperity

for the parish.

The parishioners wanted symmetry and beauty in the bell tower. They centered the bell tower on the front of the church with slightly over eleven feet on the right and left side of the bell tower. The bell tower measured 11’ 6” along the front side and extended out 10’ 6” from the wall of the church. The bell tower reached upward into the sky until reaching the peak of the current rock

church.

Limestone has a wide range of colors from bone white through tan to a dark grayish hue. With a level of hardness near 3 on the Mohs scale, limestone is soft relative to other rocks. When first removed from the ground, limestone is extra soft and chalky making drilling, forming, and dressing much easier for the masons. Once exposed to air, limestone begins to harden and

becomes excellent material for buildings including Wexford’s bell tower. Again, the parishioners went back to the nearby limestone rock quarry to cut, form, and haul limestone to build a stone bell tower at the front end of the church. Many of the early immigrants

who helped with the original construction of the Wexford church later helped with the bell tower construction. When the limestone blocks were picked and brought, the workers used prior acquired skills of quarrying and working with the galena limestone at both the rock quarry and in front of the church. The community worked together using chisels, iron bars, and sledgehammers to cut large

blocks of limestone at the quarry. The rough stones were piled onto wagons and hauled back using large draft horses to the construction site in front of the church. Specialized rock mason tools were used to form the final limestone blocks used in the bell tower. The main binding material that holds the limestone blocks in place is mortar consisting of (1) part lime to (3) parts sand mixed in water. When the lime, sand, and water are mixed together, a very plastic and creamy paste of putty is formed that can be applied beneath and between the limestone blocks. The lime for the construction was made on-site by heating clamshells and limestone pieces to high temperatures driving off the carbon dioxide. As the mortar sets or hardens, a carbonization process occurs converting the lime back into the harder calcium carbonate. This lime takes in carbon dioxide from the air and hardens. Since lime mortar is slightly water soluble, moisture can be used to reseal any hairline cracks during the hardening process. Another advantage of lime mortar is that it is soft and porous resulting in little change in volume and size during temperature changes.

The initial boundaries for the location of the first row of blocks were marked off, and a layer of mortar was laid down. The edges of the rough limestone blocks from the quarry were smoothed and formed using specialized hammers and chisels. Stonemasons used wedges, plum lines, and levers to set the stones in a straight line and hammer them into place with wooden mallets. When the first row was completed, the process was repeated alternating layers of stone and mortar while building up the sides. As the walls grew, supporting wedges were removed and mortar was used to fill in the gaps. A sharp tool “the tuck pointer” was used to smooth and even out surfaces of the mortar around the rock blocks. Special framing was positioned in locations for the windows and doors.

The parishioners selected and installed a double glass door 5’ 2” wide rising up eight feet and centered at the front of the bell tower. Above the entrance doors was an arched window stating Immaculate Conception 1848. This window was moved from previous churches and raises many questions about the early settlers who came to Wexford. What was the significance of 1848 to early settlers, and did this date have a connection to Ireland or to early missionary priests who traveled the Mississippi River saying Mass and spreading the faith by preaching the gospel?