USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume I > Part 17
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After the mass, Archbishop Elder made a strong but brief address, congratulating the congregation upon the fortunate choice of their bishop, and saying that, while all this ceremony was emi- nently fitting, yet each individual who seeks salvation must be the great factor of his or her own salvation. The archbishop was fol- lowed by Bishop Rademacher, who said he had to repeat the sentiment uttered by him last night and again thank his many friends for their warm welcome. After the congregation had been dismissed, the clergymen attended a banquet served in Library hall in their honor.
The following distinguished divines were present: Archbishop Katzer, of Milwaukee; Archbishop Elder, of Cincinnati; Bishops Maes, of Covington, Ky .; Watterson, of Columbus; Foley, of Detroit; Horstmann, of Cleveland; McClosky, of Louisville; Rich- ter, of Grand Rapids; Janssens, of Belleville, Ill .; Mgrs. Thorpe, V. G., and Joos, V. G., of Detroit, and Windhorst, of Chillicothe, Ohio; V. G. Scheideler, of Indianapolis; J. C. Albrinck, of Cincin- nati; G. F. Houck, chancelor of the diocese of Cleveland; Peter Alstotaetter, provincial of the Franciscian order; W. Corby, pro- vincial of the Holy Cross; Henry Brees, provincial of the order of Precious Blood; Rev. Father Abelen, of Milwaukee; Frank Reilly, of Milwaukee; Constantine Maujay, of Ellsworth, Kas .; Frank O'Brien, of Kalamazoo; Patrick Gleason, of Nashville, Tenn., administrator of the diocese which Bishop Rademacher had just left.
Other priests were Rev. Fathers F. C. Weichmann, W. C. Miller, J. H. Guendling, John B. Morris, A. E. N. Ellering (Colum- bia City, Ind.), Charles Lempers, J. Gillen, P. Johannes, C. S. C .; (185)
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Frank J. Baumgartner, Thomas Buyse, B. J. Spillard, A. Morris- sey, N. J. Stoffel, J. W. Clark, S. Czyzewski, Joseph H. Kroll, John Crawley, J. J. Voght, H. Koehne, C. V. Stetter, D. D .; F. Lordemann, L. M. Miller, Lucas Gottleschoed, William Berg, B. Biegel, J. B. Berg, Joseph Flach, M. Zumbuelte, A. J. Kroeger, W. J. McGaskey, John R. Dinnen, P. F. Roche, M. E. Campion, J. C. Abbott, George D. Murphy, M. J. Clifford, P. Louis Haas, Robert Vizwiz, A. M. Quatmann, H. Meissner, John Bleckmann, E. Gazzo, J. M. Toohey, A. B. Oechtering, F. Koerdt, L. A. Moench, J. Kemper, Thomas Vagnier, J. Jessing, T. R. Thayer, D. Duehmig, F. Ege, G. N. Kelly, John H. Bathe. John Crogan, E. Boccard, D. J. Mulcahy, R. J. Crosson, E. P. Walters, John Dempsey, A. Henneberger, W. J. Decker, Stephan Trout, K. Kobylinski, Charles Becker and F. Reilly.
All over the world the responsibilities of Catholic bishops are very great, and, therefore, the best gifted men are required for the position. This is much more the case in a country of the highest civilization; in a country whose people consist of the various ele- ments of all nations; in a country comparatively new, where new churches, schools, pastoral residences, hospitals and asylums have to be erected, and where there are no permanent funds, established centuries ago, for the support of the bishops, priests and teachers of parochial schools.
If the bishops, John Henry Luers and Joseph Dwenger, nobly have laid the foundation for building up the diocese of Fort Wayne under circumstances which called for the most energetic zeal and practical talent, Rt. Rev. Joseph Rademacher is just the right man to finish the work so skilfully commenced and to bring it to such a perfection that his successors will have a comparatively easy task to keep it in good condition.
To summarize: Bishop Rademacher has been in practical serv- ice for nearly a quarter of a century. As the saying goes: " He went through the mill" and is thoroughly acquainted with the spiritual and temporal affairs of parishes and missions.
Bishop Luers knew his sterling qualities and confided to the newly ordained priest thirteen missions at once, and later on, in
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recognition of his extraordinary and onerous labors, promoted him to an easier parish in Columbia City.
Bishop Dwenger, who had been his fellow-student in Cincin- nati, remembering his zeal, charity and modesty, felt it to be his duty to give him in succession the then largest parishes of the diocese-St. Mary's, Fort Wayne, and LaFayette; and, deeming him worthy of the dignity of a bishop, recommended him to the vacant see at Nashville, Tenn.
When Bishop Dwenger went to his reward, both the bishops of the Cincinnati province and the clergy of the Fort Wayne dio- cese felt® anxious to have him appointed bishop oyer that diocese where his labors in the Lord's vineyard had been so successful and where thousands of people carried his beloved name in their heart. Vox populi, vox Dei: the voice of the people proved to be the voice of God. During the famous world's fair he was sent north to Fort Wayne. Nashville's loss became Fort Wayne's gain.
In this northern diocese of Indiana great changes just then had taken place. ' The discovery of natural gas in the south of the diocese and the growth of Chicago south almost into Lake county, had created new cities and brought new elements of numerous different people into these sections of the state. New problems had forced themselves on the new bishop, but he fully proved him- self to be master of the situation and selected the right men for the right places, filling the vacancies also with the proper persons. No place has been neglected. All over the diocese the very smallest missions have received their necessary aid. The bishop never spares himself; he visits every parish, every school, nay, even when utterly fatigued, sacrifices himself to attend literary, musical and dramatic exercises of the children or students, in order to encour- age them in all the branches of a solid, universal and perfect edu- cation. His aim is to bring children and people to the highest standard of civilization here on earth, in the country of which he is a native and to which he seeks to endear all the various elements under his jurisdiction, and, by good government, kind words and edifying example, to lead the souls under his paternal care to the everlasting happiness of heaven. He is charity and meekness per- sonified.
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To secure the assistance of his priests in his noble undertak- ings, he treats them with the greatest impartiality as well as with exceedingly great kindness, acting more like a father than a ruler. When the enormous amount of his diocesan labor is considered, such as holy confirmation given to over one hundred parishes within every two years, the ordination of priests, the dedication of churches and cemeteries, etc., it appears like heroism for the bishop to spend whole hours in succession in the confessional as a common priest when occasions present themselves, or to hasten to parishes of sick priests, and, in order that their people may not have to forego the fruits of the Holy Sacrifice, render himself their substitute by performing the parish services.
His zeal for the honor and glory of God knows no bounds. He has succeeded in remodeling the cathedral most beautifully, at the expense of $75,000. And as the God-Man, who triumphantly entered the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday vouchsafed to dwell in the poor stable of Bethlehem, so the bishop urges all his par- ishes, even the very poorest ones, to provide for such altars and vestments, and other religious articles, as are becoming the majesty of the Savior. To unite the faithful under his charge in the bond of genuine piety and charity, he has recommended and favored the establishment and increase of the various sodalities and societies approved by the church. Hospitals and orphanages enjoy his tender care. No branch of human ailment, be it corporal or spiritual, has been overlooked. He has become all to all.
As all love him, all, undoubtedly, will pray for a long, long preservation of his beautiful life.
Bishop Rademacher is a man of superior education, not only well versed in Biblical but also in secular history. His charity and benevolence have frequently brought needed help to the poor and distressed, and among all classes of people and all denominations he is highly regarded.
In his own church, the piety erudition and innate spirituality of Bishop Rademacher have been the occasion of many of the advanced clergy selecting him as their personal spiritual guide, director and counselor, and all these, or nearly all, owe to his judi- cious advice their ability for the accomplishment of the progress
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CATHEDRAL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, FT. WAYNE, IND.
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BISHOP'S RESIDENCE, FT. WAYE, IND.
IN THE STATE OF INDIANA.
they have made in the purification of their own minds and hearts and the reflex condition which has enabled them to bear up against worldly temptations and the trials and asperities of the flesh, and to sacrifice their own comfort to the welfare of the flocks over whom they have been called upon to preside, and to the good work of the church, in the erection of school-houses and temples of worship, the gathering together of the young in the parochial schools and the cure of souls in missions barren of sanctified influ- ences, the holding together of those who have tempted to wan- der from the true faith, and to fortify themselves by abstinence and lives of austerity for the holy offices to which they have devoted their lives. All this and more, Bishop Rademacher has done, and all this and more he will do; but, of all his good and arduous work, this may be considered the chief.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE DECEASED VICARS-GENERAL OF FORT WAYNE DIOCESE-JULIAN BENOIT-JOSEPH HENRY BRAMMER.
THE Right Rev. Monsignor Julian Benoit, V. G., was born at Septmoncel, in France, on the 17th of October, 1808. At an early age he was sent to St. Claude, the episcopal city, to enter college. He remained there from his eighth to his sixteenth year, when he began to study philosophy in the seminary of Vaud. Scarce seventeen years old, he began the study of theology in the seminary of Orgelet. Having completed his theological course and not as yet having attained the required age for ordination, he taught for one year in the preparatory seminary of Nozeroy. Thence he went to Lyons, where he taught for four years and wrote for a leading journal of that city. There he also received the sacred orders of subdeacon and deacon.
About the close of his fourth year as college professor, the Right Rev. Simon Gabriel Bruté, bishop of Vincennes, Ind., came to Lyons in the interest of his diocese and made the acquaintance of the young deacon, Benoit. The latter was greatly impressed with the American bishop's saintly life and offered himself to serve in his diocese. . He was accepted, and after the necessary permis- sion was obtained from his own bishop, he was soon on his way westward. He sailed on the Ist of June, 1836. After a long and tedious voyage of fifty-two days he reached New York, and pro- ceeded thence to St. Mary's seminary, Baltimore. He was ordained priest by Bishop Bruté in the seminary of Mount St. Mary's, Emmittsburg, Md.
On the day after his ordination the new church at Frederick, Md., was dedicated. There were a great many distinguished prel- ates and other notable ecclesiastics present on that occasion, with (190)
RT. REV. JULIAN BENOIT, V. G. (DECEAS ED.)
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all of whom the young priest became acquainted. After the dedi- catory services had been performed with the usual ceremonies, Bishops Bruté, Purcell, Father Reynolds, then pastor of the church in Louisville, and later bishop of Charleston, S. C., and Father Benoit started on their journey over the mountains by stage to Wheeling, where they embarked on the Ohio river for Cincinnati. After a sojourn there of three days, the journey was continued to Vincennes, which was Bishop Bruté's residence.
Father Benoit was at once appointed pastor of the village of Leopold, near Evansville, and as the Wabash & Erie canal was then being constructed, he was also to look after the spiritual wants of the laborers on these public works. After a time on this mission, he was sent to Rome, on the Ohio river, where he re- mained one year, after which he was sent to Chicago, Ill., as assistant to the pastor, Father O'Meara. From Chicago he attended Lock- port, Joliet, and several other canal towns. Then he was recalled and sent to his first mission, Leopold. After three and one-half years of labor in these missions, for which time he had received the munificent salary of sixty-three dollars, he was sent to Fort Wayne, where he arrived April 16, 1840.
The remnants of the old fort, Wayne, still stood when Father Benoit arrived in the town of that name. The old council house of the Miami Indians remained; it stood on East Main street, a lit- tle west of the fort. The place was frequented by the Miamis, who lived in northern Indiana, about Fort. Wayne, Huntington, and Peru. They had a war-chief and a peace-chief. The name of the first was Godfrey, who died in 1840, just previous to Father Benoit's arrival in Fort Wayne. The name of the peace-chief was John B. de Richardville. He died in the fall of 1841. He was noted for his shrewdness, both among his own people and the' whites.
At Fort Wayne Father Benoit found a frame church, rudely built, not plastered, with rough boards for benches. The dimen- sions of the building were 35 x 65 feet, and a debt rested on it of $4,367. Half the present cathedral square had been purchased for the church, but had not been paid for. In the course of time, under the management of Father Benoit, the other half of the
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square was secured, and the whole block paid for. During the first six months of his residence in Fort Wayne, Father Benoit boarded with Francis Comparet, after which time he rented a small frame building and began his own housekeeping.
At this time his missionary work extended from Fort Wayne and vicinity to Academy, Besancon, Hesse Cassel, New Haven, Decatur, LaGro, Huntington, Columbia City, Warsaw, Rome City, Lima, Girardot and Avilla, with sick calls as far as Muncie. It should be borne in mind that the only way then to reach these places, except a few canal towns, was on horseback. Help was sent him, as the labor was too great for one priest, and his first assistant was Father Hamion, who died in 1842. The next was Father Rudolph, who came with Father Benoit from Europe in the fall of the same year. Father Benoit had started for France in 1841.
Father Rudolph remained with Father Benoit at Fort Wayne about three years. Then he was sent to the southern part of Indi- ana, where he became the founder of the famous Sisters' convent and church-buildings in Oldenburg, Franklin county.
The canal between Fort Wayne and LaFayette was begun in 1835. In 1840 it was continued to the Ohio boundary. Fever was prevalent among the laborers, and calls were frequent for the cler- gy, who endured many hardships on these visits. Father Benoit was twice asked by Bishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, to attend to the spiritual wants of the Catholics at Defiance, in northern Ohio. He represented to the bishop the great burden already upon him, but on the request of Bishop Brute, to whom Bishop Purcell had ap- plied, he cheerfully added the new charge to his already numerous duties.
In 1845, Father Benoit brought the Sisters of Providence from St. Mary's of the Woods, Vigo county, to Fort Wayne, to open a school. . Their humble beginning in the work which their benefac- tor so happily planted has since grown to great magnitude. He furnished their house completely, and helped them when it was 'en- larged by a donation of $5,000. He also opened a school for boys, in a shop on the corner of Clinton and Jefferson streets, where he afterward built the present brick structure, as also the old episcopal (194)
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residence on Calhoun street, which afterward gave way to Library hall-all out of his own funds. He also erected the present episcopal dwelling, toward which the diocese contributed about $2,000, whilst he expended about $14,000 upon it.
Father Benoit had made some prudent, and, in some instances, rather venturesome investments and speculations in real estate about the opening of the late Civil war. From these invest- - ments grew his handsome fortune, all of which he disposed of before his death. To few only is it known what a large amount he gave in secret charities. In one year he distributed nearly $2,000 to deserving poor people who had made known their wants to him. A short time before his death he gave to St. Joseph's hospital the sum of $2,000, and five days before his demise he entrusted $400 to Father Brammer, to be expended by the St. Vincent de Paul society for the poor of Fort Wayne.
In 1848 the Indians received orders from the government to leave their reservations about Fort Wayne and to go to the territory of Kansas. They numbered about 800 and were led by Chief Lafon- taine, whom, together with his wife and children, Father Benoit had received into the church. The Indians, however, refused to leave unless Father Benoit would go with them. But Bishop de la Hail- andiere of Vincennes, then governing the diocese, refused to consent, desiring that Father Benoit should not leave his congregation. Fin- ally the government sent on some troops. The captain called on Father Benoit and begged him to lead the Indians away peacefully; " for, unless you go with them, " he said, " they will not go, and I will be obliged to hunt them down like wild beasts and kill them." Upon these representations Father Benoit secured the services of Father Neyron, the only other survivor of twenty- two priests who came to Indiana when Father Benoit came, and started for the west with the Indians. The tribe started overland, in the summer of 1849, and Father Benoit went by canal-boat to Cincinnati, thence on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to St. Louis, where he took stage for what is now Kansas City. He finally reached the reservation marked out for the Indians by the government, and stayed in the encampment about two weeks. He returned home by stage the entire route, traveling day and
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night for nine days in one continuous trip. Out of six persons in the group he was the only one to endure the hardships of the jour- ney without interrupting it.
Some time after his return to Fort Wayne Father Benoit was visited by Father Badin, who remained with him for six months. In 1853, Father Benoit obtained permission to go to New Orleans, but returned after a short time. In 1860 he visited that city again, and this time remained about seven months. On both occasions he preached the lenten sermons in the cathedral in his native tongue. His visit on this last occasion was to solicit funds for the building of the Fort Wayne cathedral. Just before leaving Fort Wayne, he left $1,000 with the building committee, Henry Baker, Michael Hedekin, Morris Cody and Jacob Kintz, who, under his directions, laid the foundations of the present cathedral. Together with these gentlemen, Father Benoit, after his return from New Orleans, began gathering a subscription for the new building. Dur- , ing the several months devoted to this work they raised a list of $18,000, of which the sum of $4,000 was never paid. About the . time the building was completed, a fair was held which netted $2,600. The building was begun in 1860. The corner-stone was was laid on Trinity Sunday by Right Rev. Bishop Luers, the ser- mon being preached by Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati. The first brick was laid on July 10th. In the autumn of 1861 the stately edifice was finished and dedicated. The architects were Father Benoit and Thomas Lau, the latter also contracting for the car- penter work. The brick work was done by James Silver. The cost of the church, exclusive of pews, organ and altars, was $54,000. From these statements can be gathered what credit is due to Father Benoit in building the cathedral.
Father Benoit's first appointment as vicar-general was in 1852, for the diocese of Vincennes. After the erection of the diocese of Fort Wayne, Bishop Luers appointed him his vicar-general. Dur- ing Bishop Luers' visit to Europe, in 1865, Father Benoit was administrator of the diocese.
In the autumn of 1865, Father Benoit started on his second visit to Europe, and was absent thirteen months, of which he spent four and one-half months in Rome. He was a frequent vis- (196)
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itor at the office of Cardinal Barnabo, with whom he transacted business for different parts of France and America. Twice he was received in private audience by His Holiness, Pope Pius IX. Dur- ing this visit, while sojourning in France, he was offered the posi- tion of vicar-general of his native diocese of St. Claude. but he preferred to return to the people whose language he had labored to acquire and whose customs he had made his own in order to lead souls to God.
In 1866, at the second plenary council of Baltimore, Father Benoit acted as theologian of Bishop Luers. At- this bishop's death, he again became administrator of the diocese until the con- secration of the new bishop, Right Rev. Joseph Dwenger, April 14, 1872. In 1874, he went to Europe as a member of the first American pilgrimage, and was absent from May till September. Rome, with her celebrated shrines and hallowed spots, was the objective point of these pilgrims from the United States. On this occasion, Father Benoit again visited the mountain home of his boyhood days, but his father and mother were no longer among the living. They died in 1852, ten years after his first visit to Europe.
Bishop Dwenger confirmed him in the office of vicar-general, and in 1883, when the bishop made his official visit to Rome, appointed him administrator of the diocese. Just previous to his departure, Bishop Dwenger was waited on by the clergy of his diocese, and asked to convey to the Holy Father their desire to see Father Benoit invested with the purple and with the honors and title of monsignor. The bishop told his clergy that such had already been his own plan, heartily concurred in their wishes, and stated that he would cheerfully present them to the Holy Father. In accordance with this, a telegram from Rome to Father Benoit, dated June 12, 1883, informed him of the honor bestowed on him, and the papal brief was received shortly afterward. Translated from the Latin, the brief reads as follows:
To our beloved son in Christ, Julian Benoit, Vicar-General of the diocese of Fort Wayne: Beloved son, health and apostolic benediction. It is our custoni to honor ecclesiastics who seek not their own, but seek the things that are of Jesus Christ, and to signify with a willing heart marks of pontifical benevolence to men that fill their important and grave office in the church with zeal and prudence. It is made known to us that you excel in these praiseworthy labors. Therefore, we
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have concluded to honor you with our particular good will, absolving you from any ex-communication, interdict, or any other ecclesiastical censures in whatever man- ner, or from whatever cause, incurred, if perchance such have been incurred.
In testimony whereof we, by our apostolic authority, hereby constitute you a chaplain to ourself, or prelate of the papal household, and we place you on the roll and among the number of such prelates. We grant you, therefore, beloved son, permission to wear the purple and mantelletta, and to enjoy all the honors and privileges, and indults, that are customarily enjoyed either from prescribed right or from custom and use.
Given at St. Peter's, Rome, under the seal of the Fisherman's Ring, this 12th day of June, 1883, in the sixth year of our pontificate. £ LEO XIII, Pope.
It may be well to state here that it is an old formula of law in the church, that no personal favor can be granted to any one by the church, if that person should chance to be under censures. Hence the expression of absolution from censures which invariably precedes the grant of any honors, titles or dignity.
The ceremony of the now Right Rev. Monsignor Benoit's investiture with the insignia of his new dignity took place in the cathedral at Fort Wayne on the 16th of August, 1883. The fol- lowing account taken from the Fort Wayne Sentinel of the date just mentioned relates to this ceremony: -
The very interesting ceremony of investing Very Rev. Father Benoit with the purple, and conferring on him the title and dignity of Monsignor and prelate of the papal household, took place at the cathedral this forenoon. The ceremonies began at 9:30 and ended shortly after 11 A. M. The procession moved into the the sanctuary in the following order: Cross bearers, acolytes, visiting clergy, . officers of the mass, Father Benoit, Right Rev. Bishop Rademacher, and the cele- brant, Right Rev. Bishop Dwenger.
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