History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 82

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340

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his successors, on account of the frequent change of pastors, the Church, while it did not decline, remained about at a standstill. In addition to the Sunday school which was started immediately on the organization of the Church, a day school was established, in a small building, about twenty by thirty feet in size, erected for the purpose, contiguous to the church building. The

first teacher in this school was Joseph Stommell, who was succeeded in regular order by Mr. Weinmann. Mr. Schmidt, Conrad L. Niehoff, who taught from May, 1850, to May, 1852, and by John Ketter, who taught until the school passed into the hands of the Sisters of. the Holy Cross, in 1861, at the time the Church passed into the charge of the Benedictine Fathers.

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH .- Early in the year 1852, a number of members of St. Joseph's Church desired the formation of a new society. This was on account of the crowded condition of their own congregation. The fulfillment of their desires was facilitated by Michael Diversy, who, at the suggestion of Henry Gherkin. do- nated to the proposed new Church, a lot, eighty-seven and one-half by one hundred and thirty feet in size, on the northwest corner of North Avenue and Church Street ; he having in that vicinity fourteen acres of land. Thus encouraged, those who favored the enter- prise held their first regular meeting June 20, 1852, at the invitation of Rev. Anthony Kopp, then priest of St. Joseph's Church, acting as Vicar-General for the German Catholics. At this meeting a committee of collectors was appointed, who collected $750 for the purpose of erecting a church building on the lot donated. With the approbation of Bishop Van de Velde, a frame build- ing forty by sixty feet in size was erected, at a cost of $730. On the 17th of October, 1852, this church was dedicated by Rev. Father Kopp. Upon the church was erected a tower in which a sinall bell was hung, and in about six years from the time of its erection, it was en- larged by an addition at the north end. As thus. en -. larged it served the purposes of the congregation until the erection of the new brick church at the corner of Hurlbut and Eugenie streets, when it was used as a school-house until destroyed by the fire of 1871. Among the original members of this Church were Will- iam Dussmann. William Faymoville, Michael- Diversy, John Kuhn, John Fossel, Christian Kuhn, Nicholas Hansen, John Schummer, Mathias Miller, Conrad Folz, Peter Brachtendorf, Peter Schimberg and Mr. Franzen. At the time of the dedication of the church the number of parishioners had increased to eight hundred. Rev. Anthony Kopp first celebrated mass in this church, and served temporarily as pastor until in November, 1852, when Rev. August Kroemer was appointed its pastor. He remained but a short time. On the 15th of May, 1853, Rev. Eusebius Kaiser, took charge of the congre- gation and remained until September 29, 1854, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph Zoegel, from Alsace. According to a German historian of this Church, his management was marred, and there were literally " sor- rowful appearances against him and the Church direct- ors, in consequence of which he was dismissed in No- vember, 1858." The successor of Father Zoegel was Rev. Anthony Saeger, who come about the Ist of De- cember, 1858, and with the permission of the Bishop left in the beginning of April, 1859. His successor was Rev. Alois Hatala, an Hungarian, who on account of difficulties remained but nine months. The society was then for a long time without a pastor, until in February, 1860, the Redemptorist Fathers took charge of the church. Soon after the building of the church, the lot on the corner of North Avenue and the alley was bought of Michael Diversy for $250. Of this amount SI15 was collected among the parishioners, and at the solici- tation of the pastor, Cardinal Reisach, of Munich, Bavaria, donated $240. Upon this lot the priest's house was erected. During the pastorate of Rev. Eusebius Kaiser, another lot was purchased, to the north of those already in possession of the congregation. On this a

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school-house was built. The first teacher was a Ger- man from Milwaukee, named Gartner, who could not speak English. He remained until 1834, and was suc- ceeded by Charles Ranker, who taught the school until 1858, commencing with forty scholars and closing with one hundred and eighty. Mr. Ranker was succeeded by a Mr. Homes, under whom the number of scholars increased to two hundred and fifty. Mr. Homes's suc- cessor remained until the school passed into the hands of the Redemptorist Fathers in 1860.

ST. LOUIS' CHURCH was established as an inde- pendent organization in 1850. For about two years pre- vious to the building of their own church, quite a num- ber of French Catholics had worshiped in St. Mary's old church building, which then stood in the rear of St. Mary's Cathedral, recently completed by Bishop Quarter, and was used as a convent by the Sisters of Mercy. Rev. Isidore A. Lebel, came to Chicago in 1848; under author- ity from Bishop Van de Velde, he commenced the erec- tion of a church for his congregation, on a lot leased for the purpose, of Captain Bigelow. This lot was on the east side of Clark Street, between Adams and Jackson. The church was a one-story frame, twenty-five feet wide by seventy-five feet in depth, and cost about $3,000, of which sum P. F. Rofinot contributed $2,000. For about two years it remained in an unfinished condition, but in 1852 the congregation became able to complete it, and made it a very neat and comfortable house of worship. The Democratic Press of December 1, 1852, said: "This little edifice on Clark Street, under Rev. Isidore A. Lebel, has lately been refitted and completely altered and renovated. It has been decorated interiorly in the neatest and most appropriate manner, and with the taste and artistic effect which are natural to the French." The body of the church, sanctuary and galleries were neatly painted and papered, and on the whole it was considered one of prettiest churches in the city. A fine organ was built in the church by Mr. Helinkamp and for the building and completion of the church, for the erection of the organ and of the priest's house, great credit was accorded to Mr. Lebel. In the latter part of 1856, Father Lebel was dismissed by Bishop O'Regan. He went to the Bishop of Michigan at Detroit, and was immediately given one of the best churches in that dio- cese at Kalamazoo, where he remained until his death in 1878. He was succeeded in the St. Louis Church by Father Le Meister, in October, 1857, who declined to have anything to do with the management of the finan- cial affairs of the Church, and to relieve himself there- from appointed a committee to act as collectors and disbursers of the funds of the Church. This committee consisted of Daniel Franchere, Toussaint Menard, Nar- cisse Lebeau, J. B. Valiquette and P. F. Rofinot; the latter of whom was elected chairman of the committee. In May, 1857, the pews were sold for six months, and on the first Sunday of November, Father Le Meister announced from the pulpit that immediately after mass they would be again sold for the ensuing six months, Mr. Rofinot attended to the sale, and collected the money, as the priest would have nothing to do with the finances. Money enough was realized from the sale of the pews to pay off the church debt, and to pay the rent upon the fot, so liberal was the response. and besides this, Mr. Rofinot paid the agent for putting up the or- gan, and took his receipts for the money expended and the balance of money on hand to Bishop ()'Regan, who complimented him very highly for the ability manifested in the management of the business. In May, 1858, the pews were sold again, but this time the money received did not exceed the expenses, and the Bishop told Father

Le Meister that the church would have to be moved from the lot on which it then stood, because he did not want it to stand on a leased lot. Learning that the church was to be moved, Mr. Donahue and others who had property near the corner of Polk and Sherman streets, persuaded the Bishop to purchase two of their lots on Sherman Street, north of those fronting on Polk Street, for which the Bishop paid the money. He then wanted the church moved to the lots bought by him. One Sunday some of the communicants remained after church to consult with the priest. As a result of the consultation, the priest went to the Bishop with the advice that a committee be appointed to act as collect- ors, and to buy one or more lots upon which to move the church. The committee appointed was composed of the priest, Le Meister; Mr. Poncelet, the Belgian Consul; Dr. Henroten. Dr. Roger and P. F. Rofinot. This committee went to work on that very day (Sun- day), and received seven or eight dollars in cash and Sioo in subscriptions toward the purchase of a lot. In order to obtain subscriptions from the French, it was necessary to promise them that the Church should remain a French Catholic Church, and should have a French priest, or the money should be refunded. On Monday afternoon Dr. Henroten and Poncelet had selected and agreed to buy three lots for the use of the church at the corner of Franklin and Quincy streets, payments to be one-fourth cash, balance in three equal annual installments, and they had also secured the priv- ilege of buying two other lots on the same terms, with- in two years. On the same afternoon Bishop O'Regan had the church placed on rollers preparatory to its removal to the lots purchased by himself. He also the same afternoon notified Father LeMeister that he was silenced. That evening LeMeister went to see Mr. Rofinot, told him he was going away, handed to him his subscription-book and the money he had collected, and the next morning left Chicago. He was next heard from in New Orleans. On Monday evening the com- mittee met, and learned from Dr. Henroten and Mr. Poncelet of their agreement with reference to the three lots at the corner of Franklin and Quincy streets, and approved of the proposed purchase. On their way to the Bishop's to report the progress of their plans they discovered the church on rollers. Having made their report to the Bishop, that official responded : " Well, gentlemen, I shall not allow you to move the church, until you bring me the deed of the lots in my own name." To this Mr. Rofinot replied, " Bishop, you are asking an impossibility. We can not get the deed until we have paid for the lots, and we can not now do more than make the first payment." To this the Bishop excitedly, and with a plentitude of energetic gesticula- tion, replied: " I want you to understand, Mr. Rofinot, that ] can sell all the churches in my diocese, put the money in my pocket, and spend it wherever I please." Mr. Rofinot, to this sally of the Bishop, said: "Yes, Bishop, that is the law in our State, because the Catho- lies are too trustful of their bishops. But when you came into the diocese did you not take an oath that you would leave all the property to your successors in office forever?" To this the Bishop responded, " I want no insults from you, Mr. Rofinot," and made a hurried movement to leave the room, but was prevented from so doing by the three members of the committee pres- ent. At length the interview terminated. the Bishop firm in his determination to move the church on to lots purchased by himself, unless the lots bargained for by the committee were deeded to him before it was moved to them, the committee equally determined that the

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church should not be moved to the Bishop's lots. In order to prevent the Bishop from carrying out his designs, Mr. Rofinot consulted his attorney and stated his case, reciting the manner in which the church was built originally, who contributed the money that paid for its erection, etc. But his attorney could give him no encouragement. He cited to Mr. Rofinot a parallel case in Quincy, which on an appeal to the Supreme Court by the Bishop of St. Louis had been decided in his favor. The committee therefore abandoned their opposition to the Bishop's desires, and he soon had the church moved to his lots at the corner of Polk and Sherman streets. In order to make sure that the French should not occupy the pews for which they had paid on the first Sunday in May, the Bishop had the church raised some four feet from the ground. In this condition it remained unoccupied until the following November, when Rev. John Waldron was made priest for the purpose of occupying the church. Then com- menced the contest between Mr. Rofinot and Bishop O'Regan, in which so much interest was taken by the French Catholics, and which lasted until the Bishop left Chicago, the results of which will be detailed in the succeeding volume of this History.

ST. FRANCIS D'ASSISIUM .- This church was estab- lished in the year 1853. and was located at the corner of Clinton and Mather streets. The first church built by the organization was a small frame structure, having a seating capacity of about four hundred, and cost about $2,000. At the time of the organization there were about fifty families connected with the society. The first priest was Rev. John Bernard Weikamp, then late priest of St. Peter's Church. Reverend Father Weikamp remained until 1857, when he was succeeded by Rev. G. H. Ostlangerberg, who also had charge of St. Peter's just before being assigned to St. Francis' Church. Reverend Father Ostlangerberg was suc- ceeded in 1858 by Rev. Ignatz Schnirch, who remained until 1859, and was succeeded, July 19 of this year, by Rev. Ferdinand Kalvelage, who has been ever since, and is still (1883) in charge of the congregation. At the time Mr. Kalvelage took charge, the society con- sisted of about one hundred families, since which time it has increased to eight hundred families, or four thousand members. In 1867, the first church building becoming too small, and the location unsatisfactory, a new and much more substantial church edifice was erected at the southeast corner of West Twelfth Street and Newherry Avenue. The old church building was sold to St. Paul's Catholic Church, and used by that society until swept out of existence by the fire of 1871. The new church building, which is still used by the Church of St. Francis, is of brick, sixty-six by one hund- red and sixty feet in size, with walls forty-five feet high, and fifty-eight and a half in the clear inside. The steeple, which was erected in 1875, is one hundred and ninety feet high, and contains a chime of three bells. The cost of the church was $65,000. An organ was built in the church at a cost of $5,000. The assistants of Rev. Ferdinand Kalvelage have been the following. appointed in the years appended to their names: Revs. F. L. Yunker, 1867; John Miller, in July, 1868; B. Baak, January, I870; Charles Schnuckel. September, 1872; Anthony Schmidz, June, 1874: Augustine Wenck- er, September, 1874; Franciscus X. Sixt, July, 1876; Mathias W. Barth, July, 1878; George D. Heldmann, July, 1881. The societies connected with this church are, St. Francis', organized in 1856, and St. John's, organized in 1865, both for purposes of benevolence: St. Stanislaus' Young Men's Society, St. Stanislaus'

Boys' Society, St. George's Knights, St. Mary's So- dality for married women, St. Elizabeth's Association for helping the poor, St. Rosa's and St. Agnes's Sodal- ities for young women, the Altar Boys' Sodality, and the Society of Holy Childhood for school children. The corner-stone of a new brick school-building was laid in ISSI, at the southwest corner of West Twelfth Street and Newberry Avenue. The house is seventy by one hundred and thirty feet in size, three stories high, and contains sixteen rooms, besides a large hall. The total cost of this building was $50,000. It was inclosed in the fall of 1883, and ready for occupancy in the spring of 1884.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY NAME .- In 1846 the North Side was made a parish and placed under the charge of the priests of the College of St. Mary's of the Lake. A small room was fitted up in the old college building, which easily contained the congregation that assisted at mass on Sundays. This was the origin of the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus: In 1848 a church building was commenced by Rev. Jeremiah A. Kinsella, who was at the same time rector of the college, and with whom there were associated the Rev. Fathers William Clowry and John Breen, This building was erected on the southwest corner of St. Mary's College grounds, at the corner of Rush and Superior streets. It was completed in 1849, and was used for divine service for the first time on Sunday, November 18. of that year. The growth of Catholicism did not make itself especially manifest on the North Side until 1851, five years after the establishment of St. Joseph's, and two years after the building of the Church of the Holy Name. By this time the number of Catholics had become considerable. and in this latter year Father Kinsella built a small church at the corner of State and Superior streets. This movement gave an impetus to the settlement of Catholics on the North Side, for it is a well known -and note- worthy fact that the Catholics prefer to locate near a church, often making many sacrifices in order to do so. In 1852 an addition was made to the little church, but the Catholics increased so rapidly that the necessity of a large and permanent edifice was soon felt. Consequently in the year 1853 the Rt. Rev. Bishop Van de Velde assented to the erection of a large brick church at the corner of State and Superior streets, which should be used as the cathedral of the diocese. The ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the edifice took place August 3, 1853, at 4:30 o'clock P. M. The sermon was preached by the Rt. Rev. Michael O'Con- nor, Bishop of Pittsburgh. Bishop Van de Velde sol- emnly blessed the foundation stone. At the ceremonies there were present, in addition to Bishops O'Connor and Van de Velde, the Rev. Fathers McElhearne, Kin- sella, Quarter, Mclaughlin, Lebel, Tucker, Dunne, Fitzgerald, Clowry, Hoey, Feely, Brady, Kopp, and Donohue. The dimensions of the church were eighty- four by one hundred and ninety feet, and the steeple was two hundred and forty-five feet in height. The material of which the church was built was Milwaukee brick. the style of architecture was Gothic, with windows of stained glass, representing scenes in Biblical history. The building was completed in the fall of 1854, at a cost of $100.000. Catholics then living in Chicago con- tributed toward this enterprise with extreme liberality. The Catholics of the parish were gratified to enjoy the opportunity of celebrating mass for the first time in this church on Christmas Day, 1854. The Very Rev. Jere- miah A. Kinsella remained priest until January. 1855. when he, in connection with Rev. William Clowry and Rev. John Breen, was requested by Bishop O'Regan to

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resign. The removal of the clergy was not satisfactory to many of the parishoners, and on Wednesday evening, January 17, a meeting was held in North Market Hall for the purpose of expressing adverse sentiments. A series of four resolutions was passed, the substance of which was as follows :

I. Expressing confidence in the priests that had been removed.

2. Pledging themselves to assist in completing the new church, if the priests were permitted to remain.

3. Bowing with most profound respect and reverence to the Church and Bishop, but at the same time appealing to the Holy See.

4. Appointing a committee to draw up a statement of their grievences and forward them to the Pope at Rome.

The committee appointed under the fourth resolu- tion consisted of Charles O'Connor, Patrick Connelly, John Murphy, Edward D. Colgan, Edward Kelly, James Driffy, Patrick McAlpin and John Prindiville. Late in the year 1855 Charles O'Connor brought suit against the Rt. Rev. Anthony O'Regan, Bishop of Chicago, to recover under a contract which the plaintiff had made with a Catholic clergyman, formerly of the city, to build the Church of the Holy Name. The defendant denied all knowledge of such contract, as well as having au- thorized any party to make such contract for him, but at the same time admitted having offered to pay the plaintiff a fair and reasonable price for the labor ex- pended on the building. On the 6th of November, 1855, a verdict was rendered the plaintiff of $6,263.96. It was decided to take an appeal to the Supreme Court, but no decision on the subject can be found.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARY'S OF THE LAKE .- This institution of learning was established June 3, 1844, by Rt. Rev. William Quarter, the newly appointed and arrived Bishop of Chicago. At the opening, how- ever, only the college existed, the germ of the Uni- versity. The college commenced with two professors and six students, in a portion of the building formerly occupied as the old St. Mary's Church at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Madison Street. The two pro- fessors were Rev. J. A. Kinsella and B. McGorisk. The six students Patrick McMahon, B. McGorisk, Timothy Sullivan, and three nthers whose names can- not be ascertained. On the 19th of December, 1844, the Legislature passed a bill incorporating the "Uni- versity of St. Mary's of the Lake." Having a charter for the University, Bishop Quarter wished next to estab- lish an ecclesiastical seminary, in which young men might be educated to supply the great dearth of clergy- men in the holy ministry. In order to remove the one great obstacle in the way-lack of funds-the Bishop left Chicago for New York early in April, 1845. In about four months he returned, having collected a large sum of money, which enabled him to commence the erection of the building. The foundation of the college and seminary were begun on the 17th of October, and so rapidly did the work progress that they were under roof on the 22d of November. But in order to com- plete the buildings more money was required, and to raise the necessary funds the Bishop directed his pas- toral of 1846 to his clergymen, urging them to assist him in his undertaking. By the 4th of July the last touch of the painter's brush had been made to the new University, and on that day it was opened with appro- priate ceremonies for the reception of pupils. Among the early pupils in this institution were Rev. Dr. John McMullen, late Bishop of Davenport, and General James A. Mulligan. In 1846 among the advantages named as being possessed by this institution were the following : It is situated in the city of Chicago near

the borders of Lake Michigan. The location is pleas- ant, healthy, and sufficiently removed from the business portion of the city to make it favorable to the pursuit of study. The ample grounds and extensive meadows in the vicinity afford the student an opportunity to enjoy healthful exercise and abundant recreation. The Uni- versity was situated on the northeast quarter of the block bounded by Chicago Avenue, Rush Street, Superior Street and State Street. It cost $12,000. The course of instruction in the University embraced the Hebrew, Greek and Latin, English and French, poetry, history, mythology and geography; book keeping, arith- metic, algebra and other branches of mathematics; in- tellectual and moral philosophy; natural philosophy and chemistry. German, Italian, Spanish, music and drawing were also taught, but for these there was an extra charge. Board and tuition were $150 per year. In 1846 the officers and professors of the institution were as follows: Rev. J. A. Kinsella, president: Profes- sors, James Kear, A. B., Latin and Greek; Rev. J. Ubrich, German, Spanish and Italian; Lawrence Hoey, A. B., French and philosophy; John Brady, mathe- matics; Hugh Brady, English and declamation. The faculty was George A. Hamilton, Lawrence Hoey, William Quarter, Walter J. Quarter, B. McGorisk, J. A. Kinsella, P. McMahon, J. Ingoldsby, and Thomas O'Donnell. According to the catalogue of 1846, there were forty students in the Humanities and fifteen in the Theology. In 1849 the officers and professors were as follows: Trustees-President, Rt. Rev. James O. Van de Velde; vice-president, Rt. Rev. J. A. Kinsella; Chancellor, Walter J. Quarter; treasurer, Lawrence Hoey; secretary, William Clowry; B. McGorisk, John Ingoldsby, Patrick McMahon, Thomas O'Donnell and Dennis Ryan. Faculty-Rev. J. A. Kinsella, president, and professor of dogmatic theology and sacred Script- ure; William Clowry, vice-president and professor of " moral theology and ecclesiastical history; Lawrence Hoey, A. M., mathematics and moral philosophy; P. Byrne, A. B., modern languages and literature; Hon. David L. Gregg, A. M., rhetoric and belles lettres; B. Rodaham, A. B., ancient languages and literature; P. Baltes, now Bishop of Alton, German language and literature; J. Tracy, English; John E. McGirr, anatomy and physiology, hygiene, chemistry and botany; John Kinsella and James Shields, professors of vocal and instrumental music; tutors, P. McMahan, P. Donohue, P. Lamacher and P. Sherry. In 1851 the faculty con- sisted of eight members, the president and vice-presi- dent remaining the same as in 1849; Rev. John Breen was professor of rhetoric and belles lettres; Rev. Law- rence Hoey, professor of natural philosophy and French; John E. McGirr, as in 1849; Michael Hurley, professor of Latin and Greek; Ferdinand Kalvelage, professor of German, and Mr. Peter, professor of music. There were four tutors: Thomas Clowry, Charles Fay, Patrick Sherry and William Russell. In 1852 John E. McGirr and Ferdinand Kalvelage ceased to be mem- bers of the faculty, and H. Knauers became professor of music. Otherwise the faculty and the tutors were the same. In 1853 and 1854 the faculty and tutors were the same as in 1852. About this time difficulties broke out between Bishop O'Regan and some of his priests, in consequence of which Rev. J .1. Kinsella, Rev. William Clowry and Rev. Lawrence Hoey resigned their professorships and left the city. The University property was soon after rented to members of the Holy Cross, at an annual rental of $5,000. Rev. E. Sobin, at present principal of the Notre Dame University, In- diana, was the first principal of St. Mary's University of

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History of Chicago. From the earliest period to the present time, Part 82

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas Number of Pages: 1340

Author: Andreas, Alfred Theodore
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 1340