1842 Diocese of Buffalo Created
With the death of Bishop John Dubois in 1842, John Joseph Hughes became the fourth bishop of New York. He decided to divide ther New York diocese into smaller portions and created the diocese of western New York with headquarters in Buffalo.

Bishop John Timon was appointed the first Bishop of the new diocese, covering many parts of Western New York including Pendleton. It was in this same year that “The Church On the Canal” (the future Good Shepherd parish) was established on the banks of the Tonawanda Creek-Erie Canal. The congregation was simply called “The Church on the Canal” but was without a building. Mass services were held in family homes.

Departure of Bishop John Neumann
When Father Neumann was named Bishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his departure from all of the parishes in Western New York had to be attended to by new priests assigned by Bishop John Timon. This was no easy task as many of the wide spread communities and families were rapidly increasing. Fr. Kramer was appointed pastor to the Pendleton area.