St. Rose of Lima Cemetery 
St. Rose's Cemetery, site of the St. Rose of Lima Church 
A plaque mounted on a boulder at St. Rose's Cemetery Address: Alder Brook Road, near Rock Street
Year built: 1854
St. Rose of Lima Church between Alder Brook and Union Falls was composed of sixty families in 1951. 1
On December 8, 1924, St. Rose of Lima Church was burned to the ground by an arsonist and was never rebuilt
Record-Post, December 18, 1924
FIRE DESTROYS ST. ROSE'S CHURCH
Alder Brook Edifice Wiped Out One Year From Date of Previous Fire
St. Rose's Catholic church at Alder Brook was entirely destroyed by fire on Sunday evening, December 7th, between twelve o'clock midnight and one a. m. The fire was of unknown origin and it is rather a strange coincidence that one year ago to the day it caught fire, also in some unknown manner, and it cost $3,000 to repair the damage.
Rev. R. O'Donnel, the pastor of St. Rose's church for the past thirty-five years, was in the church at 7 p. m. and examined the stoves thoroughly, for the fire of a year ago made him doubly cautious. He found no sign of fire in the stoves. At ten-thirty, John Ryan drove past and saw no evidence of fire. At twelve o'clock, Daniel Kennedy, on his way from Saranac Lake, discovered the church in a mass of flames.
This sad event is all the more sorrowful because Father O'Donnel is in failing health and threatened with total blindness. He has been a real missionary in that section, working hard himself— real manual labor, in building up the church property. His hand has always been outstretched to the poor and needy. On several occasions he has visited New York city and looked up poor, sick people and brought them to his home in Alder Brook and kept them free of charge, regardless also of their religious belief. Until his own health broke down, he always had with him from one to three young priests, whose health had broken down in the city. These he also kept free of charge. Father O'Donnel has never boasted of his charity but the writer of this article feels that it is time that the people of Northern New York knew more about Father O'Odonnel and the big wide-open heart he has. With the courage that he is noted for, he announced to his congregation last Sunday that he would build again. His congregation assembled for mass in a room in the pastor's house. It was a pathetic sight to see this wonderful old priest, bent with years of sickness and threatened with total blindness, announcing with a voice chocked with emotion that he would attempt to rebuild his church. Father O'Donnel has only twenty-five families in his parish, some of them poor, and it is thought that the people of Northern New York, regardless of their religion, will come to the afflicted priest's assistance and help him rebuild a little church before he is called to his reward.
Chateaugay Record, July 17, 1925
Rev. R. O'Donnell of Alder Brook, is planning the erection of a chapel to take the place of St. Rose's church destroyed by fire in 1923, the work on the new building to start about September 1st. Father O'Donnell, who is 66 years old and blind, is making a brave effort to build a place of worship for his flock. He has donated the logs to be cut up into, lumber for the new structure, which he estimates will cost in the neighborhood of $15,000.
Plattsburgh Press-Republican, February 1, 1979
North Country Byways
By THOMAS J.FLYNN - Correspondent
An excellent 9x10 paperback of 44 pages entitled “The Heritage of Saint Matthew's Parish of Black Brook, New York 1832-1976” by Jeffrey A. Gauthier was sold by the Catholic churches a couple of years ago.
The merits of the book lie not only in its detailed history of St. Matthew's Church of Black Brook, but in its historical narrative of the general area. It details the operations of the J.J. Rogers Co. of Black Brook and AuSable Forks, which was of great economic importance to the community. J.J. Rogers was an iron foundry and later a lumbering concern.
The booklet will be reviewed at a later date, as it makes interesting reading to residents of the North Country — especially the part pertaining to the Irish-French controversies within the parish itself. The narrative also devotes a number of pages to the legendary Rev. Richard O'Donnell who was the “mountain pastor” of Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church. His jurisdiction covered parts of Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties including such villages as Inman, Loon Lake, Alder Brook, Lake Kushaqua, Gabriels, Onchiota, Rainbow Sanitorium, Bloomingdale, Roakdale, Swastika and Hawkeye, plus Forestdale, Goodrich Mills, East Kilns, Slush Pond and many others.
How the good father covered this mountainous terrain throughout his fifty-eight years' pastorate is a mystery known only to him. He died on Feb. 12, 1949, and was buried from St. Bernard's Church of Saranac Lake with his remains being interred near the sanctuary where his church once stood — at St. Rose of Lima Cemetery, Alder Brook.
There are always stories within stories as all journalists know. Throughout my comings and goings in the Adirondacks, I've heard about “Alder Brook, an Irish settlement near Union Falls.” Its heydays as an Irish community are long gone of course, but I've always wanted to know someone from that community. Imagine my surprise in learning that my downstairs neighbor. Mrs. Edna Shannon, was born and raised in Alder Brook. They must have been raised with true grit in that part of the mountains, as Mrs. Shannon sweeps and shovels her porch and steps after every snowfall, and is still hale and hearty after rounding out her ninety-third year. And how fortunate I am that she bakes me muffins from time to time.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 16, 2019
From old country to North Country
by Griffin Kelly, Staff Writer
. . . the majority of Irish families in the North country came down from Canada. Clans such as the Laws, the Ryans and Keegans set up communities in places such as Alder Brook, Sugarbush and Loon Lake.
Plenty of residents back then attended church at the St. Rose of Lima Parish in Alder Brook with Father Richard O'Donnell as the pastor.
Now-deceased local Joe Hafford once wrote of O'Donnell, "He not only attended faithfully to the spiritual needs of the parishioners but also to their physical needs as well, when anyone was sick they sent for Father O'Donnell. Many people who learned that Father has helped ailing persons came long distances, some even drove with horse and wagon from as far as Canada, and many received help. . . .
See also: St. Rose of Lima Cemetery
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Footnotes:
1. Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, April 26, 1951, "Black Brook Parish Observes 75 Years of Church April 30"
