Jesuit records reflect that the building of St. Peter’s first church was initially overseen by the Jesuit pastor of Frederick, Fr. Maleve. When Fr. Maleve died in October 1822, his successor, Fr. John McElroy, S.J. stepped in to see the completion of Liberty’s Catholic church. St. Peter’s was consecrated on September 28, 1823, as recorded in the diaries of both Archbishop Maréchal and Fr. McElroy: “I set out for Liberty town and got out at Mr. Coales’s, an earnest and zealous man, and owner of all the land about the town. He built a fine stone chapel and intends to give land for a graveyard, and very likely, a presbytery, garden and pasture: great prospect for an ecclesiastical establishment." - Arch Bishop Maréchal diary entry September 26, 1823 [i] “On the 28th I blessed the church. A great crowd from the neighborhood, and singers from Frederick and a fortepiano. Mass with the deacon and sub-deacon. I spoke twice, first on dedication of the church and secondly on confirmat...

Richard Coale, Sr. earmarked 2 acres of his land for a church and adjoining cemetery on or about 1821.  Construction of the church was well underway when Archbishop Marechal, Baltimore Archbishop at the time wrote to Fr. John McElroy, S.J., who was overseeing the construction.  That letter, written in June 1823, was very clear as to the necessity of having the land on which the Church was located, transferred from Mr. Coale, prior to the church being blessed: As to the church at Lib’yTown, if it be finished, and in order to remove all uncertainty, I hereby authorize you to bless it, but before performing the sacred ceremony, I request you to see the deed made, you mentioned in one of your letters.  For I am positively charged by the H[oly] See never to consecrate any building to Div[ine] Worship, without having previously take the necessary steps of procedure, lest it should ever be converted as now in Ph[il]a[delphia], to schismatical purposes, or made use of against...

Richard Coale, Sr., a Catholic living in Liberty and in possession of considerable means, earmarked a portion of his land for a church, in or about 1821.  Over the next two years, he constructed the original stone building, which would be consecrated in September 1823. Jesuit records reflect that the building of St. Peter’s 1st church was initially overseen by the Jesuit pastor of Frederick, Fr. Francis Maleve.  When Fr. Maleve died in October 1822, his successor, Fr. John McElroy, S.J. stepped in to oversee the completion of Liberty’s Catholic church, writing the following after visiting Liberty on November 12 and 13, 1822:   “Went to Liberty town for the first time, lodged with Mr Cole a respectable and wealthy Cath: gentleman who has built a neat stone church at his own expense this last summer & intends finishing it next season. Said Mass in Mr Cole’s house & had 15 commts [communicants].  Gave an Exhortation & returned same day” [1] .  Like all ...