USA > Illinois > Will County > History of Will County, Illinois, Volume One > Part 32
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A Baptist society was organized at Plainfield in 1834. Rev. J. E. Ambrose was the first pastor. The original members were: Leonard Moore and wife, Rebecca Carmen, Thomas Rickey and wife, and Albert B. Hubbard; their first church . building was erected in 1836.
The Dupage Baptist Church was organized August 26, 1834. On that occasion, Elder Tolman preached from Malachi 3:10.
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The charter members were: Mr. Freeman, Alvina Boardman, Hiram Warren and wife, and daughter, Samantha, and Candace Godfrey.
The first Baptist Church in Joliet was organized by Elder Ashley of Plainfield, in 1837. The first meetings were held in the school building on Broadway, and Rev. R. B. Ashley served the church as pastor one-half of the time for one year. The first members of the church were Mrs. Sophia B. Chancey, Mrs. Hannah Cagwin, Mrs. Rebecca Higinbotham, Mr. and Mrs. Denison Green, Elijah Johnson and Rev. R. V. Ashley. In 1840 Rev. Solomon Knapp became pastor of the church, but meetings were held very irregularly until 1853, when on the sixteenth of February a council was called for the purpose of reorganiz- ing the society. Rev. R. B. Ashley presided at the council and the following persons united as members: Michael and Mar- garet Tait, Thomas Tait, Prudence Burdick, J. B. Wait, Jesse Kyrk, Eliza Henry, F. Crouch, Eliza Crouch, Henry Watkins, Julius C. and Sarah Williams. The following letter was brought to the church by Michael and Margaret Tait:
"These certify whom it may concern That the Bearers here- of, Michail and Margaret Taitt, have been Members of the Baptist Church here for nearly Twelve years; dureing which time, they have conducted themselves with strick propriety in every part of their Deportment, and leave us in full com- munion, their absence much regreted, as it will be much felt by the Church in general, and by their more intimate friends and connections in particular.
Sinclair Thompson, on behalf of the Baptist Church assembling in Dunropnep, Shetland. "Spiggle, May 12th, 1833."
These meetings were held in the courthouse until the fall of 1857, when they determined to erect a place of worship. In July, 1858, Mrs. S. F. Savage, whose husband had been a suc- cessful pastor in New England, but was now an invalid, went
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back to the scenes of other days, and from old personal friends and others who became interested, obtained in the course of six months the handsome sum of $3,000. That amount, with what was subscribed at home, was sufficient to build a hand- some church building at the corner of Scott and Van Buren streets.
In 1892 the Eastern Avenue Church withdrew from the First Church and was organized with Rev. H. J. White as pas- tor. For two years this body worshiped in Hobbs' hall, while their church building was in process of construction at the corner of Eastern Avenue and VanBuren Street. The first officers of the church were: Clerk, G. L. Vance; treasurer, E. E. Howard; trustees, S. W. Lull, F. P. Golliday, D. H. Darling, J. G. Patterson, J. E. Bush, E. E. Howard, Frank Bush, Solo- mon Williams, and Dorrance Dibell. This church has been very fortunate in its selection of pastors, and much aggressive work has been done in the community.
In 1917 the space occupied by this church was required by the high school and was sold to that body, since which time the Eastern Avenue Baptist Church has worshipped in the Masonic Temple, which seemed the most available building to be had, but the members are looking forward hopefully to the time when it will seem feasible to erect a suitable place of worship.
The Baptist Church was organized in Lockport by Rev. Solomon Knapp in 1844 with twenty-one members. Some years later their church building was erected at a cost of $1,500. It is to be regretted that that building has not been occupied for several years. The church was at one time quite flourishing under the leadership of Rev. John Higby, now in Pennsylvania.
A German Baptist Society was organized about the year 1855 in Green Garden by Rev. H. Jacobs, and six years later a fine church building was erected at a cost of $1,400.
The Baptists built a very neat place of worship in Elwood in 1859. This building is converted into a Masonic Lodge build-
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ing and has been used by them for a score of years or more. Thus it continues as a place of worship.
In 1863 a Baptist Church was built in Frankfort. Rev. David Letts was the first pastor.
A Baptist church was built in Wilton Center, formerly called "Twelve Mile Grove," in 1868. This was a well-known and famous locality frequented by hunters who knew of the prevalence of deer, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, and other game; it was also an Indian reservation and the trail from the Des Plaines timber to the Kankakee River led directly through it, so that "Twelve Mile Grove" often furnished an excellent camping place for the Indians.
A Swedish Baptist Church was organized in Joliet on the ninth day of October, 1881. Four of the original members were received by letter from the English-speaking Baptist Church, five by letter from Sweden, and three were received after baptism a week later.
In 1903 the First Baptist Church of Joliet erected a fine house of worship in Brooklyn, an east side suburb of Joliet, and are doing an excellent work in that community.
Centenary Camp Meeting Association of the Joliet district was organized, as recorded in Book 102, page 546, Recorder's office of Will County, as follows: A meeting was held at the M. E. Church in Joliet, November 9, 1867, in accordance with due notice previously given, at which members of the M. E. Church, from different parts of the Joliet District of the said Church had under consideration the interests of the said Church in immediate connection with purchase of Camp Meeting Ground within the bounds of the said district. Rev. W. F. Stewart, presiding elder of the district, called the meeting to order and Henry Fish was elected secretary. Rev. W. P. Gray offered the following resolution, which, after discussion, were adopted :
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Resolved, I. That we organize ourselves into a camp-meet- ing society.
Resolved, II. That the association shall be known as the Centenary Camp Meeting Association of Joliet District.
Resolved, III. That we elect nine (9) Trustees to serve for three (3) years and until the successors are elected.
Resolved, IV. That the annual election to fill vacancies be held sometime during the cession of the Annual Camp Meeting, the day of the election to be determined by the presiding elder of Joliet District.
Resolved, V. That the Presiding Elder of the Joliet Dis- trict shall be, ex officio, President of the society. The society then proceeded to elect trustees by ballot and the following persons were declared elected:
Otis Hardy, of Joliet.
Abel Bliss, of New Lenox.
John Crawford, of Wilmington.
Harvey Evans, of Plainfield.
Elijah L. Brayton, of Blue Island.
Russell Segar, of Yellow Head.
Joseph Lewis, of Channahon.
John L. Jessup, of Wilmington.
John S. McGrath, of Lisbon.
The meeting then adjourned.
In the office in Book 116 on page 602, one finds the deed for the Centenary Camp Meeting Grounds of New Lenox, in which Otis Hardy and wife, and William F. Stewart and wife sold to the trustees of the Centenary Camp Meeting Associa- tion of the Joliet District, named above, the land which is still held, for two thousand one hundred dollars ($2,100).
This organization is probably the oldest corporation exist- ing without change of name in Will County. It has been a powerful force for good during all of the intervening years throughout the district. Each year it was the gathering place
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for thousands of people from all parts of the district. They gathered to get help for a better life. As a social gathering and a "vacation" in times when the annual vacation was un- known, it served a great good and could have justified its existence for that alone. Changes in travel, and communica- tion through the press, magazines, mail deliveries for rural folks, and the radio have made camp meetings undesirable. However, the Association still presents strong hopes for good in the Institute for Young People of the Methodist Church.
Congregation of the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Mary Immaculate, Joliet, Illinois .- The establish- ment of this congregation dates from the year 1863, the time of political disquietude and differences in the United States. The consequent disturbances affected not only the civil condi- tions of America and Europe, but those of religious institutions and its members as well. In the latter case it became necessary in some instances to sever connections with the European foundations, and for individuals with their respective houses in America. So it came to pass that four members of the Holy Cross Sisterhood at Notre Dame, Indiana, sought dispensation from their obligations to that congregation, which was granted to them by the Rt. Rev. J. H. Luers, bishop of Ft. Wayne, Indi- ana. They then sought affiliation with the Third Regular Order of Saint Francis. They obtained an affiliation with this great Franciscan Order under the direction of the Very Reverend Pamfilo da Magliono, Custos Provincial of the Friars Minor of the Province of the Immaculate Conception at Allegany, Catar- augas County, in the State of New York.
At this time Reverend Karl Kuemen, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church at Joliet, Illinois, heard of these Sisters and offered to engage them as teachers for his school. The offer was gladly accepted and the work of education begun on the third of November, 1863. On August 2, 1865, the Rt. Rev.
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James Duggan, bishop of Chicago, approved this little com- munity, thus establishing them as the first community of re- ligious teachers in Joliet, as well as the first Franciscan Sister- hood in the State of Illinois.
On this same date Mother Mary Alfred Moes was appointed superior general of the new congregation for an indefinite time, and on the 8th of August, 1867, the congregation was canonic- ally aggregated to the Third Order of St. Francis by document. At this time the Very Rev. Pamfilo was called to Rome. Then the young congregation was placed under the direction of his secretary, Rev. Diomede Falconio, O. F. M., who later on be- came cardinal protector of the congregation. His successor as provincial of the Friars Minor in the East and as director of the Sisters in Joliet was the Very Rev. Charles da Vizzani, O. F. M., of Italy. He was commissioned by the bishop of Chicago, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Foley, to preside at the election of a new superior general, August 21, 1876. After this canoni- cal act the Sisters at Joliet were withdrawn from the jurisdic- tion of the Eastern Franciscans and placed under the direction of the Friars Minor of the Province of Sacred Heart, then at Teutopolis, Illinois. Since that time these fathers have attended to the spiritual needs of the Sisters, of the students of the academy and of the college, and of the orphans with the great- est fidelity.
After the first decade of years with its struggles and priva- tions were past, the Joliet House became more widely known. The Rev. Alexander Christi-since 1899 archbishop of Oregon City, Oregon, and now deceased-recommended the Sisters to Bishop Grace of St. Paul, Minnesota for the establishment of schools in his diocese for higher education of girls. The stipu- lations were that the motherhouse at Joliet defray all expenses for building and equipment. The necessary funds being on hand, the proposition was accepted and made effective by writ- ten contract. Under the supervision of Mother Aldred acade-
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mies were erected at Owatonna and Rochester, Minnesota, in 1876-77. The ruling of these-at that time considered faraway places-became independent of the motherhouse at Joliet in 1878, by order of the bishop of Chicago. Mother Mary Alfred Moes was appointed mother general of the new congregation by Bishop Grace. The new congregation developed rapidly, also in the line of charitable work, the most noted being St. Mary's Hospital at Rochester, Minnesota, under the direction of the Doctors Mayo, of international renown.
The Joliet House was engaged in a special work of charity during the yellow fever epidemic at Memphis, Tennessee, in 1873. While giving aid to the fever-stricken, four Sisters con- tracted the disease, two of them dying in consequence.
Schools .- The congregation is principally engaged in the education of youth. The first number of children taught by the Sisters in 1863 averaged eighty. Now, after a lapse of sixty-five years, the number is about 15,000. These schools are at present located in the arch-diocese of Chicago and St. Louis; in the dioceses of Peoria, Rockford and Springfield, Illinois; in Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo, Ohio; in Superior, Wisconsin; and in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Normal Department .- The young Sisters are taught and trained at the motherhouse. Until the year 1893 this duty de- volved mainly upon the mistress of novices and her assistant. In the fall of 1893, however, regular teachers were appointed for this important work. From the very foundation of the congregation means for the acquisition of knowledge were provided in the form of correspondence courses, private les- sons and summer schools, for which both clerical and secular teachers were engaged. Regular annual institutes have been held at the motherhouse since 1887, not only for the purpose to aid the advancement of the young teachers, but also to ex- change views and determine upon good methods. Since 1910 higher studies are pursued at the De Paul and Loyola Uni-
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versities, Chicago, at the State University of Illinois, and in special extension courses. Music, vocal expression and paint- ing are developed wherever talent is discovered. A great num- ber of the Sisters have won degrees either of Bachelor or Mas- ter of Arts and Sciences or of Philosophy, of Music, Harmony or Vocal Expression, in Washington, D. C., and in Chicago, at the American School of Home Economics, and at the Columbia School of Music. Every opportunity is given the young Sisters to become efficient teachers.
Saint Francis Academy .- Saint Francis Academy at Joliet, Illinois, was chartered as an institution of learning under the laws of Illinois in 1874. The charter was amended in 1920, to the effect that the association known as "the Congregation of the Third Order of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate, Joliet," whose business it is to found, establish and maintain institutions of learning, devoted to the education of young ladies, shall be divided into several departments or Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science, Philosophy, Literature, Fine Arts, Music, Domestic Arts and Sciences, and the various commercial branches." By this concession the Sisterhood has the authority of conferring diplomas at the completion of any branch of studies.
During the intervening years between 1882-1904 the merits of the academy became widely known under the principalship of Sister M. Stanislas Droesler, who is celebrating her dia- mond jubilee of reception this year, 1928.
In order to relieve the scarcity of teachers required for the parochial schools, the academy suspended its studies in 1904, except musice and painting. In the jubilee year of the congre- gation, 1915, classes for externs were resumed.
The academy is accredited to the De Paul University at Chicago, to the State University of Illinois, and to the State Normal at De Kalb. The present enrollment is 278 for regular study, 250 for music and vocal, and 55 for art work, making a total of 583.
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Assisi Junior College .- On September 8, 1925, a College De- partment, to be known as Assisi Junior College, was opened by the Sisters. In opening a college, the Sisters have acted in response to the urgent appeals of their friends, and to the de- mand for a Catholic institution for young women of Joliet and vicinity, who desire to pursue advanced study permeated with Catholic principles and shaped in accordance with Catholic ideals. It is a standard accredited junior college, and enjoys full recognition by the State Board of Education. It is also a member of the American Association of Junior Colleges. It contains a fully equipped library, of about 6,000 usable books. Fifty students are in attendance, and about 200 attend the extension courses of the college.
Classes in the Women's Department of the State Penitenti- ary .- Rev. Leo Kalmer, O. F. M., chaplain at the State Peni- tentiary in Joliet, has found it imperativee that the women prisoners be instructed in some of the secular branches of learn- ing. He therefore conferred with the convent authorities of the beneficial influence of Sisters giving them lessons. It was accordingly agreed to accept the work, and on May 5, 1924, Sister M. Valeria Reeb and a companion Sister opened classes. The women proved very responsive and studious. Arithmetic, English, spelling, composition, bookkeeping, shorthand, and singing are taught. Since August, 1925, three Sisters went to the prison every day. In March, 1928, lessons at the prison were discontinued, as the engagement of a secular salaried teacher was contemplated; the Sisters' work had been done free of charge.
St. Francis Relief School and Center .- The School of St. Francis Parish, Roosevelt Road and Newberry Avenue, was accepted in 1867. During the years 1885 to 1893 it became very flourishing, after which time attendance waned, because of the fact that many of the early parishioners had died and the young generation was moving largely to the outskirts of
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the city. The new influx was mostly Italian. Their numerous children were either neglected or came under the influence of the public schools, in which they were withdrawn from the atmosphere of religion. Then the Most Reverend Archbishop of Chicago intervened. He ordered St. Francis School to be open, free of charge, to these neglected children. Under the auspices of the parish care and protection is given them, while thirteen Sisters are employed in the classrooms. From the rent income of some parish property the Sisters receive what is necessary for the purchase of food, otherwise their services are gratuitous. Nearly 700 children attend the school at pres- ent. Of late a Mexican element is also coming in.
St. Mary's Industrial School for Indian Girls .- As early as 1879, on the application of the Provincial of the Friars Minor of the Sacred Heart Province, an Industrial School for Indian Girls was opened at Bayfield, Wisconsin, with Sister M. Aloysia Bernert as first directress. In 1884 the institution received support from the United States Government for seven girls, at the rate of $108 per capita. In the year 1895 payment for forty girls was advanced at the same rate; but shortly after that time, when a bill was passed in Congress to withhold support from "sectarian" schools, the above mentioned allowance was gradually decreased by a yearly deduction of ten per cent, and a decade later all support was withdrawn. At the present time the institution receives a nominal support from the Catholic Indian Bureau; the number of girls still averaging forty. On the part of the Sisters the work is wholly charitable, as is also the teaching of the school of the parish, where three teachers are employed.
Red Cliff Indian Reservation .- The Red Cliff Indian Reser- vation School, three miles north of Bayfield, was accepted by the congregation in 1880. Two teachers were required, who taught the pupils, all Indians, without remuneration until 1896, when the United States Government salaried them. Since the
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reservation has been thrown open for settlement to the whites, the school is not considered a government school any longer, hence the salary is also withdrawn. Sister M. Nazaria van Aarle was first directress. Sister M. Seraphica Reineck labored among this Chippewa Nation from 1887 to 1923; her assistant, Sister M. Victoria Steidl, from 1897 to the present time.
As Red Cliff had no resident pastor, the Sisters were obliged to go to Bayfield for the reception of the sacraments, and make their return to their field of labor in the early mornings, either on foot or in a spring wagon, or in winter, facing the icy winds of northern Wisconsin, in an open sled, drawn by their faith- ful horse "Dolly."
Missions for Catechetical Instruction .- Throughout the year, on every Saturday of the week, some of the Sisters in- struct the children of five outlying parishes of Joliet in the truths of our holy religion and prepare them for the reception of the sacraments. These services are gratis.
Work for the Blind .- Rev. J. Stadelman, S. J., of New York, having made persistent requests that some member of the con- gregation take up the study of Braille (writing for the blind), in order to form classes for teaching reading to the blind or for transcribing good literature into Braille for the use of the blind, Sister M. Camilla Woermann volunteered to learn the Braille. After having received a certificate of efficiency, she in turn initiated Sister M. Veronica Haarth, who was also quali- fied, and is now teaching Braille and transcribing useful and interesting literature into Braille for the blind to read. Though the plating of transcribed Braille is expensive, she has managed to interest persons of means charitably inclined, to help in covering the cost of such work. Several volumes of her tran- scribed Braille are on the shelves of the college library as also on those of the Chicago Public Library.
Guardian Angel Home .- This orphanage was established in 1897, mainly through the efforts of Mother M. Angela Rosen-
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berger, with the sanction of the Most Rev. P. A. Feehan, arch- bishop of Chicago, for neglected and destitute children in Joliet. A cottage on the convent grounds housed the first children for some time; but as petitions for homing them steadily increased, it was found necessary to secure grounds and erect a proper building. Lots, on which stood a three-story brick house, were purchased for $7,600. The enlargement of the house, together with necessary renovations within the building and on the premises, cost $15,563. Much work in the building was done by the Sisters. The institution was dedicated under the title "Guardian Angel Home" on October 2, 1898, by the archbishop of Chicago. In 1905 the "Home" received a further addition containing a basement, a chapel on the first floor, dormitories on the second, and a quarantine department on the third floor. This annex with other improvements, amounted to a cost of $27,489. In September of the same year an adjoining property was bought for $4,500.
Nineteen, the number of children sheltered at the "Home" in 1898, had now increased to a yearly average of one hundred fifteen. Many of the children reared in the "Home" had become fathers and mothers of families; others were holding comfort- able positions, and some had followed the calling to a religious life.
Until the year 1917 the "Home" was largely dependent for its maintenance upon this congregation. The baking of bread was done at the convent until 1917, the laundering till October, 1926. The town of Joliet concedes to the present time monthly a sum of $126.00 for destitute children. Some friends give continued aid. Several small bequests have been made in its favor, and some nominal monthly payments are made by a parent or guardian of the children. The yearly "tagday" for the institution, in vogue since 1914, has been to it of great financial aid. The cash expenditures of the congregation for the "Home" until 1920 were approximately $68,300. The numer-
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ous outlays for incidental repairs and household goods and clothing and food stuffs, for the labor of hired hands, for water tax used at the convent for the orphans' wash, not to speak of the wear of the machinery, of oil, soap, and electricity, were borne by the convent; and aside of all, the service is rendered gratuitously by the Sisters.
In 1920 a question was advanced by Very Rev. Edward Hoban, then chancellor of the archdiocese of Chicago, as to the probability of making the "Home" a diocesan institution to be supported by the people of a certain district. The convent authorities receiving information and agreeing to the proposi- tion, the Most Rev. Archbishop George Mundelein extended the charitable circle to embrace Will and Grundy counties. Then a drive for subscriptions for a fund to provide new and larger housings was set afoot by him. This promised ample support at first, but the real returns were meager. After a few years the entire affair was turned over to the Sisters, who with the money on hand purchased at once 115 acres of land to the north- west of the city of Joliet, which consumed over twenty-one per cent of the cash on hand. Several loans of hundred thousand dollars were made to defray the expense of the building. This was completed in the spring of 1926, and dedicated by His Eminence, George Cardinal Mundelein. The children were transferred to the new "Home" the following October. They number now 160 and are cared for by a staff of sixteen Sisters, four of them functioning as teachers. As has been the case heretofore, there is not now any remuneration for the services of the Sisters.
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