History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume II, Part 22

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Logansport, Ind., A. W. Bowen & co.
Number of Pages: 1476

USA > Indiana > History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume II > Part 22

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The family of Patrick and Julia Colbert consists of four sons and two daughters; John; Mary, married to Thomas Rule; Thomas, Dennis J., William and Margaret, the last two unmarried. Thomas is ex-superintendent of the Indianapolis police force; William is claim agent for the Habach Bottling company, and John is a mechanic in Indianapolis. The Colberts are all noted for extraor- dinary physical vigor, the different members of the family ranging from 190 to 230 pounds in weight, and correspondingly tall and well formed. They are splendid specimens of manhood and womanhood, and morally they all stand high in their respective communities.

Dennis J. Colbert, a brief epitome of whose life is herewith presented, began working, when quite young, in the Indianapolis Rolling mils, and later received a clerical appointment in the post- office of the city, in which capacity he served until entering the railway mail service in August, 1886. The year following, he was- (356)

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

promoted to a more responsible position with a correspondingly increased salary, and June 13, 1890, was again honored with one of the most important promotions in the gift of the service, which place he has since filled.

Mr. Colbert's first run was between Chicago and Cincinnati, where he spent eight years, and on the twenty-fourth of June, 1895, he was transferred to the run between Cleveland and St. Louis, where he is now employed. His first salary was $800 per annum, but he now receives the most liberal remuneration paid any one in the service for the duties he perforins.

Mr. Colbert was married in Indianapolis May 4, 1887, to Miss Catherine Cecelia Delaney, the ceremony being solemnized by Very Rev. D. O'Donaghue. Mrs. Colbert is a native of New Jersey, but came to Indianapolis with her parents in early youth and grew to womanhood in this city; she is the daughter of Will- iam and Maria (Cassin) Delaney, both born in Queen's county, Ireland.

Mr. and Mrs. Colbert have had born to them an interesting family of five children, two sons and three daughters, as follows: Helen, Julia, Marie, Raymond and Francis; the last named died December, 16, 1897. The surviving children, with their parents, belong to St. Patrick's parish. Mr. Colbert is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Y. M. I., being active in the deliberations of both fraternities.

Mrs. Colbert has two brothers and four sisters, viz: Michael, a resident of San Francisco, Cal. ; William, who resides in Denver, Colo., Annie, wife of Michael White, of Denver; Alice, wife of Daniel O'Connell, of Indianapolis; Mary also resides in Denver, Colo., and Maggie resides with her parents in this city. The last two are unmarried.

D AVID DENNIS COFFEE .- The ancestors of the gentleman whose brief biographical sketch is herewith presented, were natives of Ireland, and the family history is traceable back through several generations.

His paternal grandparents, Humphrey and Bridget Coffee, left

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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,

their ancestral home in the Emerald isle about the year 1823,. bringing with them to the United States their children-Daniel, Timothy, Patrick, Humphrey, Bridget and Johanna-and locating at Wilmington, Del. Near that city the elder Humphrey found employment in a powder factory, but by reason of the danger inci- dent to such work he abandoned the same at the end of one year, and engaged with a company operating a stone quarry at Quarry- ville, not far from the city of Wilmington. In 1826 he removed to Lancaster, Pa., where he was similarly employed for three years, and then moved to Indiana, locating on Buck creek, about ten miles from Indianapolis. Here the family resided until 1837, when they moved to Decatur-Humphrey, the elder, having in the meantime, 1833, died at Buck creek. He was born in 1776. and his wife in the year 1781; she departed this life at Decatur, Ind., in 1855.

A daughter of Humphrey Coffee, Johanna, married Thomas O'Connell, who died at Danville, Ill., in 1837, after which she joined the family at Decatur. Subsequently she married David Fitzgerald, by whom she had eleven children, viz: Joseph, Mrs. Bridget Haefling, Patrick, Humphrey, John, Thomas, William, Ellen (wife of Joseph L. Daly), Julia, Kate and Anna, the last three deceased. By her previous marriage with Mr. O'Connell the mother had two children; John and Daniel O'Connell, the former of whom is living; David Fitzgerald died in 1881, aged eighty-one years; his widow still survives. Of the other children of Humphrey and Bridget Coffee, Humphrey died at the age of thirty, Timothy died at Decatur, Patrick died at Elgin, Ill., and Bridget is a Sister at Notre Dame, Ind., being known as Sister Mary Basil.

The eldest son, Daniel Coffee, father of David Dennis, was born in parish Killarney, county Kerry, Ireland, in 1805, and was eighteen years of age when the family came to the United States. On coming to Adams county, Ind., in 1837, he entered a tract of government land about two miles from Decatur, upon which he passed the remaining years of his life. He was married in Deca- tur, in 1845, to Margaret Brandaberry, who became the mother of the following children: Humphrey, killed in the Civil war;

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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

Timothy, a farmer of Adams county; Patrick, deceased; James, deceased; Daniel, deceased; Michael, deceased; Jerry, resides at Decatur; Hannah, wife of George Brown; David D .; Mary, deceased; William, of St. Mary's, Ohio; and Edward, a lawyer at Decatur. The father of these children, a most consistent and devoted member of the Holy Catholic church, died March 3, 1870.

David Dennis Coffee was born on the home place near Deca- tur, April 20, 1861, and attended in his youth the public schools taught in his neighborhood. He remained on the place until 1883, at which time he went to Aurora, Ill., but returned to Indiana two years later, locating at Decatur, where he has since been engaged in business, being at this time proprietor of one of the leading notion stores of the city. He was married October 16, 1890, to Miss Ann Hesler, Father Wilken solemnizing the union, and has a family of fonr children: Francis, Claude, Jerome and Mildred. He and family are members of St. Mary's parish. His father, who was one of the pioneer Catholics of Decatur, did much toward establishing the first church in the city.

P ATRICK COLEMAN, a well-known merchant at No. 604 West Maryland street, Indianapolis, was born in county Lim- erick, Ireland, in 1829, a son of David and Honorah (Dwyer) Cole- man, natives of the same county.

Patrick Coleman received a fair education in his native county, and in 1849 came with his parents to America, landing in New Orleans in November, from which port he went to Ohio, where he learned the cooper's trade and was for several years engaged in the business in the city of Urbana. About 1871 he came to Indian- apolis and for ten years was employed in Kingan's packing-house as inspector of cooperage supplies and at cooperage work, and some five or six years ago engaged in the grocery and saloon business at No. 59 Beacon street, but soon afterward sold out the latter branch of his trade and located at his present place.

Mr. Coleman has been thrice married. His first wife was Miss Johanna Reerdon, whom he married in St. Louis, Mo., and

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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,

who died three years after the wedding, the mother of one child. His second marriage was to Miss Mary Costigan, who survived fourteen years, and died in Indianapolis, the mother of six chil- dren. His present wife bore the maiden name of Bridget Fallon, was born in Ireland, and was a babe one year old when brought to America by her parents, Andrew and Mary Fallon, natives of county Galway. The father of the present Mrs. Coleman died in Indianapolis and the mother in Louisville, Ky., both devout Cath- olics. The children of Mr. Coleman, still living, are Fannie and William Andrew; the deceased were John, Annie, Walter, and an infant who died unnamed. The father of Mr. Coleman, who was a farmer, died in Piqua, Ohio, and the mother in Woodstock, same .state. One sister of Mr. Coleman, now Mrs. Mary Higby, is still a resident of Urbana.

Mr. Coleman has been a patriotic citizen, and next to his own native land loves America the best. He enlisted, during the Civil war, in the three months' service, to defend the flag of the Union, but was not mustered into the service, the quota having been filled. His brother Michael, however, served in an Ohio regiment through- out the entire war, but his fate is a matter of uncertainty. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are members of St. John's church, and Mr. Coleman is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In politics Mr. Coleman is a democrat.

R EV. H. F. JOSEPH KROLL, pastor of St. Paul's church,

Fort Wayne, Ind., was born in Baltimore, Md., October 4, 1855, a son of Henry and Theressa (Freimuth) Kroll, natives of Germany, the former of whom was by trade a cabinetmaker, but later became a successful merchant.

Rev. Kroll received his preliminary education in St. James parochial school, Baltimore, which he attended until May 1, 1868, and this was supplemented by a two-year course in a Baltimore college, after which he attended St. Vincent's college in Westmore- land county, Pa., for two years, but here his health gave way under his devotedness to his studies, and for awhile he was com- (360)

REV. H. F. JOSEPH KROLL.

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, FORT WAYNE, IND.

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

pelled to relinquish mental exertion. In September, 1874, how- ever, he was able to resume his studies and entered St. Francis seminary at Milwaukee, Wis., where he completed his classical, philosophical and theological studies, and June 21, 1879, was ordained to the priesthood, by Bishop Dwenger, for the diocese of Fort Wayne, having previously received the minor orders, sub- deaconship and deaconship, from Archbishop Heiss, of Milwaukee, in March, 1879.

After ordination, Father Kroll said his first mass at St. James church, in Baltimore, June 29, 1879, and was then appointed to the pastorate of St. Patrick's, at Chesterton, Porter county, Ind. Here the duties of the reverend father were most onerous, but he nerved himself for the task and successfully overcame every obstacle. He found his congregation incumbered with a debt of $1,620, with an unfinished church-edifice on its hands, and demoralization and discouragement prevailing throughout the flock. But Father Kroll was equal to the task and succeeded, during his pastorate of nine- teen years, in paying off the debt, building a parochial residence, enlarging and completing the church-building, purchasing ground and house for school purposes, furnishing two large school-rooms and Sisters' house, the improvements costing, in all, $38,000, and leaving a surplus of $3,000 in the church treasury. During the execution of this immense amount of work, the reverend father also officiated, until 1892, at the missions in Walkerton, St. Joseph county, where he made many improvements and enlarged the church to double its former size; also at Westville, in Laporte county, Suman, Porter county, and Lake Station (where he furnished a depleted mission church and made a number of improvements); Miller and Edgemoor in Lake county, in which county, also, he organized the parish of Whiting, bought the ground on which the present church improvements stand, and, besides all this vast labor, attended to the spiritual welfare of the unfortunate Catholic inmates of the state northern prison at Michigan City. These great services have been appreciated by Father Kroll's superiors, and February 5, 1898, he was appointed pastor of St. Paul's church, Fort Wayne, of which he assumed charge Feb- ruary 23.

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Father Kroll is one of the most able pulpit orators within the fold of the church, is one of the most learned, pious and devoted. and his labors have been excelled by no other clergyman in the faith within so short a period of the priesthood.

W X TILLIAM J. COGAN, deceased, was born in county Cork,

Ireland, September 15, 1848, a son of Richard and Ellen Cogan, the former of whom died when subject was but three years of age-the latter surviving until 1887. They were the parents of nine children, and of this family the subject and brother, John, were the only boys who came to the United States. The latter died in Kansas at the age of fifty years, and his remains were interred in consecrated ground in St. Louis, Mo.

William J. Cogan, at the age of nineteen years, came to America and for a year lived in Boston, Mass. He then came to Indiana, and at Seymour married Miss Sarah Grant, to which union were born four children, of whom Richard and Edna died in childhood, and Mary Agnes and William Joseph still survive. About 1874 Mr. Cogan came to Vincennes, and here, August 10, 1887, buried his first wife. April 26, 1892, he married Mrs. Lizzie McCarthy, a native of Lexington, Ky., and a daughter of James and Bridget Kehoe, of Irish birth. From Kentucky the Kehoe family removed to Daviess county, Ind., when their daughter, Lizzie, was but two years old, and there Mr. Kehoe died August 27, 1887. Of a family of two sons and six daughters, Lizzie was the eldest, and November 29, 1876, she was married to James B. McCarthy, a dealer in and trainer of fast horses, who died of pneumonia February 24, 1888, the father of five children- Annie, Mary, James, Leah and Helen Claire. Mrs. Lizzie McCarthy then became Mrs. Cogan, at the date already mentioned, and to this marriage were born two children-John Bernard and Helen-all the seven children still making their home with their mother.

William J. Cogan was by calling a railroad engineer, and for twenty-one years was in the employ of the O. & M. (now B. & O.) (366%)

CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

railroad company. For some years he ran a freight train between Vincennes and Cincinnati, but later became engineer on a pas- senger train between Vincennes and St. Louis, and it was while holding the latter position that he met with an untimely end.

The 27th day of May, 1896, will long be remembered by many mourning families as the date of the great St. Louis cyclone, and not the least among these is the family of William J. Cogan. This gentleman was waiting his "turn" in a barber shop in St. Louis when the furious blast struck the building, inflicting the fatal injuries from which Mr. Cogan died eight days later. Mrs. Cogan quickly arrived on the scene, and with wifely devotion attended the injured husband until the sorrowful end. She caused the remains to be brought to Vincennes, to be buried from St. Francis Xavier cathedral, of which congregation the family are all devoted members, and of which Mrs. Cogan is a member of the ladies' Altar society. Mr. Cogan, also a devout Catholic, fortu- nately held membership in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- neers, carrying a life insurance which, since his lamented death, has been of considerable benefit to his bereaved family. In connection with her home on Fairground avenue and Elm street, Mrs, Cogan has a small farm of twenty acres, which serves to give employ- ment to those of her sons who are not otherwise engaged. Mrs. Cogan is a highly respected lady, and is rearing her children in the way they should go. With the exception of the first and third of these, they are all attending St. Rose academy, and all have had excellent educational advantages.

OHN CONRAD DEWENTER, the fashionable hatter and J dealer in gents' furnishing goods, and, in fact, the originator of this line of trade in Logansport, was born in LaFayette, Tip- pecanoe county, Ind., November 5, 1857, a son of Anthony and Mary (Johening) Dewenter, natives of Germany, who came to America before their marriage.

Anthony Dewenter, father of John Conrad, was born at Rotha, Westphalia, Germany, was the first of the family to come

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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,

to America and arrived at Fort Wayne, Ind., in 1850, whence he moved to LaFayette in or about 1852, and soon thereafter sent to Germany for his parents. Caspar Dewenter, grandfather of John C., having brought his family to this country in 1853 in response to this invitation, settled in LaFayette, where he followed his trade of bricklayer and contractor until his death, February 15, 1873, he being a member of St. Boniface church, of which his wife was also a communicant. Her death occurred November 27, 1860.

Anthony Dewenter, father of John C., was a mere boy when he came to the United States, and here learned bricklaying and contracting, erecting many substantial buildings in LaFayette, and acquiring a competency. September 18, 1855, he married Miss Mary Josephine Johening, of LaFayette, but a native of Bur- holtz, Westphalia, who in 1851 came to America, and this union was blessed with eight children, of whom John C. is the eldest, the remaining seven having been born in the following order: Theressa; Frank, a hatter of Bloomington, Ill., who married Miss Lucy Ryan,. of Bloomington, Ill., August 8, 1898; Mary; Herman, of Logansport; William, of LaFayette; Carrie, who died aged three years, and Laura, who died at the age of nineteen years.

The father, Anthony Dewenter, died November 9, 1890, after a short illness, and was buried from St. Boniface church, of which he was a devoted member, and his widow is yet a resident of LaFayette-being a faithful member of St. Boniface church.

John C. Dewenter was educated in St. Boniface parochial school of LaFayette, and at the age of thirteen years began his business life as a clerk in the store of Levering & Co., with whom he remained until coming to Logansport, where, in March, 1882, he established his present business. His store, at No. 303 Fourth street, is the emporium of fashion for hats, caps, furs, gents' furnishing goods, gloves, etc., and is stocked with a complete assortment of every article known to the trade, and although he commenced with the small savings from his salary as a clerk, he has now the finest establishment devoted to this line of trade in Logansport, and is the acknowledged leader in gents' fashions out- side of the merchant-tailoring business.

The marriage of Mr. Dewenter took place August 10, 1896,

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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

to Miss Louise Murphy, who was born April 25, 1872, in Cass county, near the city of Logansport, and is a daughter of Augus- tus and Mary Murphy, well-known residents of the county, and to this union one child, Laura Louise, was born March 4, 1898. The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Dewenter is at No. 200 Eel River avenue, and their church membership is with St. Joseph's, to the support of which they liberally contribute.

Mr. Dewenter has one-third interest in the Columbia hotel, has been a director in the Logansport State bank ever since its organization, and is vice-president of the Cass County Building & Loan association, of which he was one of the founders. As a business man his name stands without a stain, and in social circles he and his wife are among the most popular of the elite of the city of Logansport.

V VERY REV. JOHN DEMPSEY, pastor of St. Paul's church, at Valparaiso, Porter county, Ind., was born in county Limerick, Ireland, in 1845, was educated in the Jesuit college in the city of Limerick, and at St. John's college in Waterford-at the latter place under the present archbishop of Kingston, Canada, the Most Rev. James Vincent Cleary, D. D. He was ordained priest at Fort Wayne, Ind., July 18, 1873, by Bishop Dwenger, and his first pastorate was in Fulton and Cass counties, Ind .; his second, at Fowler, Benton county; his third, at Lebanon, Boone county; and his fourth, at LaFayette, Tippecanoe county. He was then, in 1887, appointed to his present very important pastorate of St. Paul's, at Valparaiso, with a congregation of 160 families of Irish, German and French nationality, or descent. That his administra- tion here has been of the utmost value is shown by the fact that, when he assumed the pastorate, the church debt was $42,000, and this he reduced to $17,000, and is still earnestly engaged in the good work, with a fair prospect for the early extinguishment of the remainder.

Father Dempsey is a most able clergyman and a gentleman of unusual attainments. Generous and self-sacrificing to a fault, the welfare of his large congregation is his constant care and theme of

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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,

thought, and he not only ministers to its spiritual welfare, but gives much attention the young, his school being largely attended and being placed in the charge of the Sisters of Providence, but he maintains a careful supervision over the course of study, and well sees to it, that nothing is lacking to add to its constant progress. Eloquent as a preacher, he is also logical and convincing, and his pulpit orations are devoured with avidity by his eager listeners. His piety and humility make him beloved of all, while his profun- dity of thought and unostentatious erudition equally make him the constant object of admiration.

F RANK DENVER, a prosperous young business man, is a native of Washington, Daviess county, Ind., is a son of James and Esther (Cahill) Denver, and was born May II, 1867.

James Denver was born in Ireland, and while yet a single man came to America. He was a cooper by trade and lived for some years in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he married Esther Cahill, and in 1865 came to Indiana, settled in Daviess county, and here passed the remainder of his life, dying in the faith of the Catholic church in 1870 and leaving four children, viz: William, of St. Joseph, Mo. ; Rose, wife of H. McKernan; Jennie, wife of J. W. McCarty, and Frank, the subject of this biography.

Frank Denver received a good education in his parochial school, attending until seventeen years of age, and then served an apprenticeship of four years in a machine shop and foundry, or until 1889. He then worked in machine shops in St. Louis, Mo., about eighteen months, returning to Washington, Ind., in 1891, and here started a machine shop and foundry, on a small scale, on his own account. In 1896, his brother-in-law, Hugh McKernan, formed a partnership, erected a planing-mill and a sash, door and blind factory, and established a lumber-yard, and these, in con- junction with the machine shop and foundry, now constitute one of the most important industries of the city. In the foundry, a specialty is made of architectural iron castings, but job work of all kinds receives careful attention.

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CATHOLIC CHURCH OF INDIANA.

Mr. Denver is a democrat in politics and is earnest in his sup- port of that party. A true Catholic of St. Simon's parish, he is liberal in his contributions to the church, and he is also a member of the Young Men's institute.

REV. JOSEPH DICKMANN, pastor of St. Mary's church, Evansville, was born in Franklin county, Ind., December 26, 1849, son of Frederick and Elizabeth Dickmann.

Frederick Dickmann was a native of Germany, born July 25, 1809, in the kingdom of Hanover, and when twenty years of age came to the United States, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided until his removal, in 1845, to the town of Oldenburg, Franklin county, Ind. He was married in Trinity church, Cin- cinnati, October 20, 1830, to Elizabeth Fisher, daughter of Chris- topher and Mary A. (Geise) Fisher, and reared a family of ten children, of whom the following are living: Sister Petrina, of Indianapolis; John; Sister Melania, O. S. F .; Joseph, Clements, Louis; the other members of the family are deceased. Frederick Dickmann was engaged in the manufacture of lumber at Olden- burg, Ind., a number of years previous to his death, which occurred in the year 1881; his wife survived him until 1895, in July of which year she was called from the scene of her earthly labors; they were devoted Christians and members of Holy Family parish, Franklin county.

Rev. Joseph Dickmann received his primary education in the parochial schools of Oldenburg, which he attended until his four- teenth year, and then entered St. Meinrad's Benedictine abbey, where he pursued his studies from September, 1863, until 1868, in June of which year he became a student at Bardstown, Ky., where he remained one year. Returning to St. Meinrad's, he completed his course and was there ordained priest September 21, 1872, by Bishop Maurice de St. Palais, and immediately thereafter entered upon the active work of the ministry at St. Joseph's Hill, Clark county, where he continued from May 29, 1873, until January 31, 1892, at which time he was transferred to St. Mary's parish, Evans-

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THE CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS,

ville, his present field of labor. The parish to which Father Dick- mann ministers is a large one, consisting of 375 families, and he is assisted in his work by Rev. Andrew Schaaf-also by Prof. Stein- hauer, who has charge of the parochial school, which at this time has an average attendance of 250 pupils; there are three depart- ments of this school, one being taught by the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg.

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History of the Catholic church in Indiana, Volume II, Part 22

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Logansport, Ind., A. W. Bowen & co. Number of Pages: 1476

Author: Blanchard, Charles, fl. 1882-1900, ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Logansport, Ind., A. W. Bowen & co.
Number of Pages: 1476