USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 66
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"At the time it was built, it was the finest church building in the city. In this edifice the Rev. Mr. Forsyth was succeeded by the Revs. James F. Knowles, Henry M. Morey and George T. Keller. Under the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Keller, in 1887, the brick church was leveled to the ground, and the present beautiful stone church was planned and begun. The work had hardly commenced when the pastor passed away from his earthly labors and entered into heavenly rest. His loss was keenly felt and universally deplored. For a year the church worshipped in the Y. M. C. A. building, without a pastor, awaiting the completion of the new stone edifice. On its completion the Rev. Henry Webb Johnson, D. D., the present loved and able pastor, was called to the church, and under his pastorate the church has been signally blessed. It would be impossible in a brief sketch to review the labors of the several pastors of the church. The church, however, will ever hold their la- bors and sacrifices in grateful remembrance. "During the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Keller, in the year 1884. the church cele- brated its semi-centennial, the exercises last- ing three days, and the entire history of the church during the fifty years preceding was
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
fully reviewed and all ending with a banquet to celebrate her jubilee year. Many of the leading events of the church will have to be omitted in this brief article.
"Nor can we recount here the self-denying, faithful devotion to the interests of the church, of those who were long identified with her. who bore her burdens, who shared her adversity and prosperity, who labored heart- ily and zealously to build up and strengthen the church, and to secure her peace and pros- perity. It is all bound up in the volume of their lives, to be read by the great Head of the church, who in that great day will say. 'Well done, good and faithful servants. enter ye into the joy of the Lord.'
"Nor will the church in all its history ever forget her warm friends, who helped in her work, and aided and encouraged her, when in need of help and encouragement, and for them and theirs the blessing and favor of God will be their. reward.
"The church has had men and women within its fold of marked ability and great influence which they exerted to make the world better. Some have been noted as anthors (as Miss Finley, author of the popu- lar Elsie stories), others as jurists, editors, edneators, legislators, officers of the county, city, state and nation, and of the army, bank- ers, professional men. business men, minis- ters, pastors. missionaries, and many others too numerous to mention, who have used their talents and influence to advanee Christ's Kingdom in the church and world. The church to-day has entered into their labors. Of the workers in the Sabbath school, brief mention will be made of a few. Of the su- perintendents, mention has been made of a few, and of the secretaries, were Edwin B. Crocker, Schuyler Colfax. John T. Lindsey and Colonel A. B. Wade. Judge Croeker aft- erwards beeame chief justice of the state of California. Of the teachers were Judge Thomas S. Stanfield, who onee taught a Bible elass, and Prof. Benjamin Wileox, Dr. Louis Humphreys. Julia M. Bacon, who later be-
came a missionary in India, and a host of other able and efficient teachers, now in heav- enly rest. One of the early superintendents was Joseph L. Jernegan, then president of the State Bank, a lawyer of great ability. who later became prominent in his profes- sion in New York City, and afterwards re- sided in Florence, Italy, where he died. But the list might be extended and multiplied at length, if spaee permitted. We have only mentioned some now deceased, and none now living. Such in brief are some of the events in the history of the church. That the labors of those gone before us may not have been in vain, this heritage planted and watered by them and blessed of God. and left to us. must be maintained and the work carried on in the same earnest. zealous spirit. Our prayers and labors and our sacrifices must be given till the night of death shall come to eael, when our mission here shall end.
"The pastors of the church have been: Alfred Bryant. 1843: George Gordon, 1844; Robert R. Wells, 1844-46; A. A. Kerr, 1846-48: Justice V. Olmstead, 1848-49; A. Y. Moore. D. D., 1849-61; James C. Brown. 1861-62; Walter Forsyth, 1862-71; James F. Knowles, 1872-74: Henry M. Morey, 1874-79; George T. Keller, 1880-88: Henry Webb Johnson, D. D., 1889.
"The following are some of the Sabbath schools teachers: John McConnell, Horatio Chapin, Dr. James B. Finley, Francis Miller, Joseph L. Jernegan, Edward Carpenter, George W. Matthews, Sr., John Grant. Eli- phalet Ferguson, Jacob N. Massey. Henry Fisher. Charles W. Martin, Joseph G. Bart- lctt. Robert Johnson, Joseph B. Arnold. Sr., George W. Cook, John M. Campbell, Mar- shall P. Chapin, Benjamin Wilcox, Daniel Greene, A. H. Wheeler. Dr. Louis Hum- phreys. Henry C. Crawford, Elmer Crockett, Willis A. Bugbee, Samuel F. Allen, Ernest F. Grether. James Miller. William O. Da- vies, Frank M. Hateh, Will U. Martin and Daniel S. Marsh.
"The following members of this church are
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ministers in charge of congregations: Rev. George Thompson. Hamilton, Ohio; Rev. Charles Evans, Hoboken, N. J .; Rev. John N. Mills, Evanston, Ill."
The Trinity Presbyterian Church is lo- cated at the corner of North St. Peter street and East Colfax avenue, the Rev. Samuel M. King, pastor. The Westminster Presbyterian Church is located at the corner of North Scott and West Lindsey streets; the Rev. Henry B. Hostetter, pastor. Hope Presby- terian Chapel is on South Leer street: the Rev. Prentiss H. Case, pastor.
Sec. 3 .- THE REFORMED CHURCH .- The Re- formed Church of South Bend was organ- ized in 1849 by the Rev. David McNiesh. The brick church erected in that year at the corner of Lafayette street and Colfax avenue continued to be occupied until two years ago, when the present beantifnl mod- ern building was erected in its place. The parish was re-organized March 31, 1870, by the Rev. William J. Skillman. The most noted pastor in the history of this church was the Rev. N. D. Williamson, who became pastor in July, 1872, and who was known and hon- ored as Father Williamson by hundreds of persons besides those who were members of his church. The pastor since the completion of the new church is the Rev. Israel Rothen- berger. In 1873 a Mission Chapel was built on the corner of Lafayette and Sample streets; but this has been discontinued.
Sec. 4 .- THE CATHOLIC CHURCH .- In the year 1901, there was issued a brief history of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, situated at the southeast corner of La Salle avenue and Hill street, in the city of South Bend. In- cidentally. this sketeh contains much local history relating also to other Catholic churches in the city. The facts here stated are abbreviated from the sketch so published in 1901:
"St. Joseph's Church is the oldest Catho- lie establishment in South Bend. A short sketch of its history during the last fifty years is hereby submitted. For his material 27
the compiler depended on public and private records and the recollections of some of the oldest members of the parish.
"On the 18th day of September, 1847, be- fore Justice Johnson Howell, the Right Rev. Celestine de la Hailandière, bishop of the diocese, in trust for St. Joseph's congrega- tion. bought of Christopher W. Emerick and his wife, lots 133, 134 and 135, situated on Main street, now La Salle avenue, in the village of Lowell, now the Fourth ward of
ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH, SOUTH BEND.
the city of South Bend, for the consideration of fifteen dollars; and Catherine, the wife of Christopher W. Emerick, in consideration of the sum of one dollar to her in hand paid 'relinquished said Celestine de la Hailandière to the aforesaid premises.'
"At that time South Bend belonged to the diocese of Vincennes, and regular transfers of the trust were made as follows: At the end of 1847, to the Right Rev. John S. Bazin ; in 1848, to the Right Rev. Maurice de St. Palais; then in 1857, when the diocese of
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Fort Wayne was established, to the Right Rev. J. II. Luers; in 1871, to the Right Rev. Joseph Dwenger; in 1893, to the Right Rev. Joseph Rademacher, and in 1900, to the Right Rev. Herman Joseph Alerding, the present incumbent, who was consecrated bishop of Fort Wayne on the 30th day of November, the Feast of St. Andrew, 1900.
"Lots 133, 134 and 135 are the premises on which the present St. Joseph's church and parochial residence stand, the southeast cor- ner of Hill street and La Salle avenue.
"In the early forties the village of Lowell was owned by the elder Alexis Coquillard, the uncle of our late Alexis and Benjamin Coquillard, and of the Mesdames Sherland, Miller, Decker, Rupel, Campean, Beanbien, Meeker and Wills. But in 1847 a large por- tion thereof had been deeded to Christopher W. Emerick. Coquillard, Emerick and Sorin were considered the enterprising spirits of the time; and, no doubt, a place for a church was donated by Emerick, though not a Cath- olie, in a spirit of enterprise.
"The Catholics of South Bend, however. were not as yet numerous enough, and con- sequently not as yet able to erect a church, and, like their brethren of the neighboring woods, towns, cities and states, they continued to depend on Notre Dame for their spiritual wants, which were administered by the Rev. Fathers Edward Sorin, Alexis Granger, Fran- cis Cointet, Richard Shortis, Thomas Flynn, B. S. Force, and other fathers of the Con- gregation of the Holy Cross.
"Father Sorin with his small band of six Brothers arrived here and founded Notre Dame on the 26th day of November, 1842. On his arrival he found at Notre Dame a small log chapel which had been erected by Father Stephen Theodore Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States of America.
"Father Badin, it is said, never collected any pew rent, nor did he ever pay a cent for any services rendered to him. To boat cap- tains and to ox-drivers calling for fare he would reply simply, 'I am Father Badin !'
"In this chapel the earliest Catholic set- tlers joined in divine worship with the In- dians who had been civilized, instructed and christianized by such early mssionaries as Father Badin, Father de Seille and Father Petit. The regularly kept records of these early missionaries, as far as they have been secured by Prof. James F. Edwards, the manager of the archives of the Bishops' Me- morial hall at Notre Dame, date back to the year 1830.
"The site of the chapel is religiously pre- served at Notre Dame. An arbor vitae hedge marks the lines of the original foundations and a large stone cross with a suitable in- scription tells the visitor that this is a sacred spot.
"It was in a small cell behind the altar of this chapel that the saintly Father de Seille succumbed to his labors in 1837. When he felt the end approaching he longed for the Last Sacraments, those very consolations of religion which he had so many times admin- istered unto others. His nearest brother priests then had stations in Chicago, in Lo- gansport and in New Albany. He knew that even these were for the greater part of the time away from home on missionary fields, and to make sure of receiving the rites of the church at the hands of one of them, he sent three of h' " ithful Indians for a priest, one to each of the above named posts. Fa- ter Louis Neyron, of New Albany, was the only one that could be found. He followed his guide, through woodland tracts, without any other thought before his mind but the sad duty of ministering, as he thought, at the bed side of a dying brother priest. But when he arrived he found the chapel surrounded and filled with Indians who, in silent mourn- ing, were praying for the repose of the soul of the departed shepherd of their own souls.
"Father de Seille was dead three days, and the Indians never thought of either touching or disposing of his body. In his last hour he had asked his Indians to carry him to the tabernacle of the altar. whence his own dying hand drew forth the Blessed
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Sacrament and administered to himself the Holy Viaticum. Father Neyron made prep- arations for the burial, and one of his warm- est recollections in favor of the docility of the Indians on the one hand, and the zeal of Father de Seille on the other was the fact that. at the funeral, the Indians sang the Requiem Mass from beginning to end, in a manner which would put to shame many a more pretentious church choir.
"This same Father Neyron had charge of St. Joseph's congregation from 1864 to 1867. A native of France and an attaché of Na- poleon's army previous to his ordination to the priesthood, he had labored in the Ameri- can missions under Bishops Bruté, de la Hai- landière, Bazin, De St. Palais, Flaget and other pioneer prelates for thirty years, when in 1862 his health failed and he retired to Notre Dame for rest. But to attend to the little parish of St. Joseph's at the very door of Notre Dame was for him but play.
"On the 14th day of September, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the year 1853, the Very Rev. Father Edward Sorin, then provincial superior of the priests, brothers and sisters of the Order of the Holy Cross in America, bought of Samuel L. Cot- trell and Catherine his wife, lots 124, 125 and 126 in the town of Lowell for the consid- eration of two hundred and fifty dollars. As a part of the consideration the deed pro- vides that the property be used For the benefit of the Catholic School of St. Joseph's County, Indiana.' This property, at present known as the northeast corner of Hill street and La Salle avenue, is now exclusively used for school purposes and is under the manage- ment of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the trust having been transferred to them for the consideration of one dollar.
"The same year. 1853, Father Sorin erected on the above-named property a brick struc- ture, twenty-two by forty feet, to serve as a school and at the same time as a church for the Catholic population of South Bend. The school has long been known as the Assump-
tion School; and the church first as St. Alexis, but now for many years as St. Jo- seph's. A little addition was made to the rear of the building to serve as a residence for the sisters who taught the school.
"Both church and school were then under the patronage and the title of St. Alexis, which name, however, never belonged to the congregation that worshipped therein and which, even as far as the school is concerned, is no longer in existence.
"Mass was said here every Sunday for the people of South Bend and the Indians of the neighboring woods, and once a week for the sisters of the school and their pupils.
"Thus hand in hand together started school and church, and the wise pioneers ap- preciated the fact that the school is the more important of the two. The school received from the beginning a full corps of resident teachers, whose kitchen was regularly sup- plied by the commissioner of Notre Dame.
"In the St. Alexis Church, which was opened in 1853 and was used for Divine worship until the year 1866, the following reverend fathers have taken charge of the spiritual wants of the congregation: Edward Sorin, Alexis Granger. J. Bourget, E. Leveque, Peter Paul Cooney, Thomas Carroll and other priests of the Holy Cross. But these can scarcely be called pastors. They were not resident priests. They all resided at Notre Dame, taught there all week and then on Sundays did missionary work for St. Joseph's congregation in South Bend. for the Cath- olie congregations of Laporte, Logansport, Goshen, Kalamazoo, Niles, Bertrand and other missions, the very names of which would, after this comparatively short time, be lost from the memory of a more prosperous succeeding generation if it were not for the baptismal, marriage and funeral records which they so faithfully kept and which are preserved at Notre Dame. Father Sorin, during this time and for many years to come may be put down as the real pastor, who would on Sundays, and whenever on week
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days a priest was wanted, send the one who to him appeared most available.
"In the year 1859 the Catholic population of South Bend had largely increased. and the people living in the western part of the town considered themselves numerous enough to have a church of their own. Father Sorin at onee encouraged the enterprise and sent a priest to take the matter in hand.
"This priest was Father Thomas Carroll. then newly ordained and in charge of St. Joseph's congregation, in St. Alexis' chapel. He found a ready ear when he went among the people who were then arriving or passing here, and persuaded them to settle perma- nently in South Bend. With the unanimous good will of the people, the young priest or- ganized St. Patrick's congregation and built the old St. Patrick's Church on Division street, one block west of Taylor.
"While engaged in this work Father Car- roll taught catechism daily for all the ehil- dren of South Bend in St. Alexis' school and said mass there every morning. All sick-calls and other demands on the pastor were sent to the sisters of the school, who, as a rule, knew where the reverend father could be reached. Father Thomas Carroll may, there- fore, be said to have been the first priest to whom was entrusted the whole charge of South Bend.
"When the old St. Patrick's Church was built, Father Carroll continued to attend to the whole of South Bend on week days, but gave his time to St. Patrick's Church on Sundays. For Sunday services St. Joseph's congregation then again depended on Notre Dame; and the records show that Fathers A. Granger, William Corby, C. Exel. J. Bourget, J. C. Carrier, L. Neyron, P. Hartlang, A. Le- monnier, S. Daugherty, L. J. L'Etourneau and Julius Frere of Notre Dame conducted serviees on Sundays. It would appear from this that St. Joseph's Church may rightly be called the mother church of St. Patrick's. St. Hedwige's, St. Mary's, St. Casimir's. St. Stanislaus', St. Stephen's and the Sacred Heart Churches, of South Bend."
The first church and the first school had been put up at the expense of Notre Dame. The second church, however, was to be erected on the diocesan property and at the expense of the congregation. Accordingly Father Louis J. L'Etourneau, who suc- ceeded Father Louis Neyron, in September, 1867. started a subseription for the new church.
The contract for building the church was given to Mr. Hodson, for $1,385.76. It was a frame building, 40x60 feet, and was erected on lot 133. the southeast corner of Water and Hill streets, on the site of the present St. Joseph's Church. The church was completed in September of 1868, by which time Father L'Etourneau had been sneceeded by the Rev. Julius Frere.
In the year 1862. a frame building, eighteen by twenty-six feet, was ereeted on Lowell Heights, at the northwest corner of South Bend and Notre Dame avenues. to serve as the first school for larger boys. Here Brothers Raymond, Daniel, Romuald and Philip. surnamed the "Presbyterian" (be- cause he was a lineal deseendant of John Knox) taught the school for several years; and the large boys whom they made good still speak. at this late day, with the fondest recollections. of the school-masterly abilities and the eccentric methods of these early masters.
On the 13th day of September, 1869, Fa- ther Frere. then pastor of the new church on the original church property, had this school house moved from the hill into the middle of the parish, to the site of the present paro- chial residence, and Brother Raymond taught the boys here until March 3, 1871. when Fa- ther Demers, a succeeding pastor, sold "la petite ecole a Cottrell" for one hundred dol- lars, and the larger boys were returned to the sisters in St. Alexis' school, which had in the meanwhile been called "The Assump- tion Academy." La petite ecole is now a neat little residence. It stands on East Madi- son street and may be recognized by the name of Martin Hoban, which this lad en-
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graved on a door post while attending school on the hill.
In 1866 the original St. Alexis' Church was found to be too small for the congregation, in spite of the comparatively recent exodus of the people who now formed St. Patrick's Church; and a larger church was built on the site of the present church.
On the 26th of December, 1872. at high noon, this church, from some unknown source, took fire and burnt to the ground. The con- gregation then returned to the old St. Alexis' Chapel across the street, with the Rev. Peter Lanth as their pastor; and Father Sorin bought the block on which St. Joseph's hos- pital now stands for a new church. Beyond the fact that the insurance money for the old church was used, and that five thousand was paid to William Neddo for the block now purchased. no one ever knew what the new church cost. Father Sorin drew the plan : Brother Charles superintended the work; and Brother Edward, treasurer of Notre Dame, paid the bills.
Several pastors succeeded one another in "the church on the hill." until the year 1880, when the Rev. Michael Ph. Fallize became pastor. Under his pastorate the present beautiful church at the corner of La Salle avenue and Hill street was erected. It was on September 22, 1886, that the stained glass windows on the north side of this church were destroyed by the hail storm. as already related." Father Fallize also built for a school and parish hall the brick building on the south side of the church lots, which has however. until the year 1907, been chiefly used as a pastoral residence.
In the fall of 1888, Father Fallize took his departure for East Bengal. India, where he has sinee remained as a devoted mission- ary. The succeeding pastors have been the Rev. James Gleeson, the Rev. Nicholas J. Stoffel, and the present zealous pastor. the Rev. Peter Lauth. During the pastorate of Father Lauth the parish has greatly flour- a. Chap. 7, Subd. 7, Sec. 2.
ished. In 1907 the fine parochial residenee was ereeted.
The most noted civic and religious demon- stration in which St. Joseph's parish ever took part was the commemoration of the discovery of America on the afternoon of Sunday, October 16, 1892. In the parade through the city it required forty-five min- utes to pass a given point; and it is esti- mated that five thousand persons participated.
The pastors of St. Patrick's Church, after the Rev. Thomas Carroll, the founder of the parish, were the Rev. Peter Paul Cooney. who became a famous chaplain during the Civil war: the Rev. Louis Neyron, a veteran of Napoleon's wars, who was on the retreat from Moscow and at the battle of Waterloo; the Rev. Paul Gillen, the Rev. Joseph C. Carrier and the Rev. William Corby, all chap- lains in the Civil war; the Rev. Peter Lauth, now pastor of St. Joseph's; the Rev. Father ('Mahoney, a distinguished pulpit orator ; the Rev. Daniel J. Spillard; the Rev. Den- nis J. Hagerty ; the Rev. Father Clark; and the Rev. John F. De Groote, the present pastor.
Under the pastorate of the Rev. Father Hagerty the new church on Taylor street. near the head of Wayne, was built. Under the pastorate of the Rev. Father Clark, the parish hall and school on Scott street was erected. These two buildings the church and the hall, have established St. Patrick's parish on a substantial basis: they are both modern and elegant, as well as convenient and useful, structures.
As St. Patrick's is the child of St. Jo- seph's: so St. Mary's, St. Hedwige's, St. Ste- phen's and the Church of the Sacred Heart bear the same filial relation to St. Patrick's. having gone forth from the latter; while St. Casimir's and St. Stanislaus' have devel- oped from St. Hedwige's. All the congrega- tions are large, and the parishes prosperous. The pastor of St. Hedwige's is the veteran Rev. Valentine Czyzewski: the pastor of St. Mary's is the Rev. Joseph Scherer;
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the pastor of St. Casimir's. the Rev. Anthony Zubowicz; the pastor of St. Stanislans', the Rev. R. A. Marciniak : the pastor of St. Ste- phen's, the Rev. Michael J. Biro: and the late pastor of the Sacred Heart Church. the Rev. Peter Klein, deceased. his successor not yet being appointed.
Each of the Catholic churches has a flour- ishing parochial school with teachers under the direction of the pastor. There are. be- sides, two academic schools of a high order .- the Assumption school, already mentioned, at- tached to St. Joseph's Church: and St. Jo- seph's Academy, attached to St. Patrick's
Rev. Peter Johannes, the good priest who founded and built up during the last twenty years of his life the church and school of St. Mary's parish.
Sec. 5 .- THE BAPTIST CHURCH .- The first Baptist Church in South Bend was organ- ized September 14. 1836, with the Rev. James M. Johnson as pastor." Mr. Johnson served as pastor for about six months. and was suc- ceeded for a time by the Rev. M. Price, of Cassopolis, Michigan. There was a revival of the organization in March. 1842, when the Rev. Alexander Hastings was chosen pastor. The following reverend pastors have served
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