USA > Kansas > Linn County > A centenary of Catholicity in Kansas, 1822-1922 ; the history of our cradle land (Miami and Linn Counties) ; Catholic Indian missions and missionaries of Kansas ; The pioneers on the prairies : notes on St. Mary's Mission, Sugar Creek, Linn County; Holy Trinity Church, Paola, Miami County; Holy Rosary Church, Wea; Immaculate Conception, B.V.M., Louisburg; St. Philip's Church, Osawatomie; Church of the Assumption, Edgerton, Johnson County; to which is added a short sketch of the Ursuline Academy at Paola; the diary of Father Hoecken, and old Indian records > Part 19
USA > Kansas > Miami County > A centenary of Catholicity in Kansas, 1822-1922 ; the history of our cradle land (Miami and Linn Counties) ; Catholic Indian missions and missionaries of Kansas ; The pioneers on the prairies : notes on St. Mary's Mission, Sugar Creek, Linn County; Holy Trinity Church, Paola, Miami County; Holy Rosary Church, Wea; Immaculate Conception, B.V.M., Louisburg; St. Philip's Church, Osawatomie; Church of the Assumption, Edgerton, Johnson County; to which is added a short sketch of the Ursuline Academy at Paola; the diary of Father Hoecken, and old Indian records > Part 19
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sacred vessels and many beautiful and useful altar equipments have been added until the church now is well supplied in its needs both as to beauty and utility. In writing this chapter on Louisburg it has been quite impossible to get the names of all the Catholic people that have, at different times, lived in or around Louisburg, and, to have woven all their names and activities into this narrative would have been an utter impossibility because of needed information.
A vast number of Catholic people have come and gone from the vi- cinity of Louisburg, both before it had a church and since. Some would stay but a short time and never in a particular way leave any lasting memory. Others stayed longer and became distinctly identified as per- manent citizens only later to move to other locations where business and schools held out inducements to attract them away. It is not un- common in talking to some of those who have drifted to other places to hear them say they cherish in fondest memory the days spent in and around Louisburg, and it is said many of them wander back here from time to time purely for the purpose of satisfying that yearning to see the old town and have a kindly word with friends of former days.
There is pathos found in the retrospective view of Louisburg. The place as a town of business has seen better days. It at one time sup- ported a population of more than one thousand people, well employed, and gave promise of growth, but there came a change in railroad build- ing in adjacent territory and a change in her own railroad accommoda- tions that checked the tide of the town's advancement, and as the town suffered so did the church in the loss of many of its most active mem- bers who moved away to places of better or more attractive opportuni- ties. In this thought we are reminded of the sentiment as expressed by the poet when he said: "Those that go are happier than those that are left behind !"
The congregation is holding its own notwithstanding its handicaps. As some go away, others take their places and it is to be hoped it will increase in number and flourish in the coming years.
Louisburg and vicinity always was attended from Paola until Father John Redecker became the resident priest at Wea in 1881. From 1881 to September, 1887, he attended Louisburg as a mission. Father Wieners, who succeeded Father Redeker, attended Louisburg from Wea until November, 1897. Rev. Joseph Hohe succeeded Father Wieners from November, 1897, to April, 1912 Father Heuberger became resident pastor at Louisburg and remained six years and three months. Father Sylvester Mechan became resident pastor June, 1911, to September, 1913. Father Patrick MeNamara took charge of the parish September, 1913, and remained until April, 1918, when he was succeeded by Father Pottgiesser, who remained in charge until April 14th, 1919, when he in turn was succeeded by Father John Bollweg, who is resident at this time.
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MRS. ELLEN MeGUIRK. A Story of Human Interest.
The history of Catholicity in Miami County, Kansas, would not be complete without the special mention of a small Catholic community located on the north side of South Wea Creek, seven miles east and three miles north of Paola.
This immediate settlement was founded in the early spring of 1866, and centered around the person of Mrs. Ellen McGuirk. Her children were: Mary, Catherine, Margaret, Anna and Patrick H. The MeGuirk children were all born in Ireland in the county of Monaghan, Province of Ulster, and though young at the time, they all remember the suffer- ing and the horrors of the famine of 1848.
Terrance MeGuirk, the husband and father of this family, witness- ing the seeming hopelessness of a successful future in their oppressed native land, resolved to seek a home in the land of opportunity in far away America, and in obedience to his family obligations, and with the heroism always characteristic of his race, in 1851 he gave an affection- ate goodby to his wife and children with the promise he would find a home in America and send for them, and with a sorrowful farewell to the land of his birth he sailed for the New World. Landing in America he caught the spirit as expressed by Horace Greeley: "Go West and grow up with the county, " and following the impulse, he pressed west- ward and finally located in Jackson County, Missouri, not far from In- dependence.
He found employment at once and was soon prepared with means to send for his family, which, except Margaret, followed him in the early spring of 1852. They arrived at New Orleans May 3rd, and after a week spent in quarantine and a river boat voyage up the Mississippi and Mis- souri rivers, they met the anxious husband and father at Wayne's Landing, three miles out from Independence, Missouri. They at once took up their new home on the farm between Independence and West- port. Margaret, who remained behind in Ireland along with other rela- tives, joined the family in 1854.
The Catholic faith was naturally deep seated with the family, and no doubt strengthened by persecution in Ireland, as they lived in Ulster Province, where Orangeism dominated. All of them remember seeing the orange walks and witnessed to their chagrin and humiliation the stamping under foot the shamrock which to them was held in sacred memory in the beautiful tradition as St. Patrick's symbol of the triune God.
The home of this family always was a welcome place for the priest, and from which he never left empty handed. Father Donnelly on his rounds among his scattered people at once became a welcome guest, and the McGuirk home became a local center where the faithful of the vicin- ity gathered to hear Mass and receive instructions.
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Mary, the eldest daughter, was married to W. H. Burns, March 11th, 1855, and they at once set up a home of their own. Their after-lives are nicely commented on in their obituaries later on in this narrative.
Catherine, the second daughter, was married to Patrick Rigney, April 5th, 1858, and their subsequent life is touched upon later in the obituary of Patrick Rigney. Mrs. Rigney still survives and lives in Louis- burg, Kansas.
In 1858 a shocking sorrow came to the McGuirk family by Mr. Mc- Guirk being killed, supposedly by a horse he was riding, some distance from home on a mission in behalf of the family, and the fact that his dead body lay on the ground all night uncared for until found the next day, lent tragedy to the affair that intensified the grief of the stricken family. Sad is the thought that a faithful husband and a devoted father, who had the fortitude and courage to do for his family what he had done up to this time, that cruel fate should cut short his life with but six years' effort in behalf of his family in the new land of opportunity. The brave wife, who with four of her five children, some yet quite young, when she faced the perilous Atlantic Ocean on a slow going sail- ing vessel to join her husband in a far off land, was equal to the task that fell to her lot on being left a widow. She maintained her home with her three younger children, making out the best she could, and then, in 1861, came the Civil War with the added troublesome border strife.
On January 6th, 1863, Anna, the fourth daughter, was married to Peter Miller. Soon afterwards Mr. Miller and his young wife moved to Kansas to what afterwards became Wea Parish. Besides their obituaries in this narrative their names are also mentioned elsewhere in this book on the notes of that parish.
The Civil War, with all the strife of theft and murder, so common in that part of Missouri, during the war, had sorely borne down on these people and the call of the prairies of Kansas in the late fall of 1864 found the families of W. H. Burns and Patrick Rigney living on the Colonel Polk farm, four miles northwest of what is now Louisburg, Kan- sas. The spring of 1866 found Mrs. Ellen McGuirk and her daughter, Margaret, and son, Patrick H., along with the Patrick Rigney family, establishing the center of the little Community on South Wea Creek. W. H. Burns' family joined them in 1869. This same year a sister of Mrs. McGuirk, Mrs. Catherine Murphy, also a widow, along with her daughter, Mary, and son, Patrick, joined the community. The Murphy family all have gone to their reward. This same year, 1869, Margaret McGuirk, the third daughter, was married to Max Miller and moved to Paola, where they lived for a few years, when they moved to a farm ten miles southeast of Paola, near Block. In March, 1878, Mr. Miller died. In 1881 Mrs. Miller moved to Louisburg, where she still lives. Having no family responsibilities of her own, she became a benefactor to the newly organized parish and contributed liberally of her means and untiring personal efforts to build up and maintain the parish. Among
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her bequests is the splendid bell in the belfry of the church.
The little colony on South Wea Creek became the social center for people far and near and the open door hospitality extended by those people soon made their homes known to be places where strangers seek- ing shelter and food would not be turned from their doors. The families grew in number until the Ellen McGuirk family tree numbered more than twenty.
These people realized they had gone far afield as regards location to church, but their faith, by inheritance and made strong by persecu- tion, found enchantment and inspiration rather than despair in overcom- ing their handicaps and difficulties. The old custom practiced back in Missouri when Father Donnelly would come to their home and say Mass and gather the children around him for instruction soon came to be the established custom in the new community. In those days Paola was the only place of a resident priest in this county, and Father Wattron for a time looked after their needs. Later on came Father Abel. Wea was then a mission out of Paola. This community being midway be- tween those two places, a distance of twenty miles, it became a stop- over-night place at regular intervals for the priest. The faithful of the community, along with the Mccarthys and Sheridans, who lived to the southwest a few miles, knew when to look for the priest, so all would gather to hear Mass and have the children instructed. Thus the place really became a mission. This was the practice during Father Abel's time and continued during Father Hurley's years in Paola. When Father Hurley left Paola Wea ceased to be a mission from Paola, and Father Redeker became the resident priest at Wea and with that change the half-way mission ceased and the community became distinctly as be- longing to the Paola Parish, until the church was built at Louisburg in 1887, when they became members of that parish.
P. H. McGuirk, the fifth child of Ellen and Terrance McGuirk, their only son, was married to Mary McCluskey, November 26, 1876, at Paola, Kansas. He and his wife continued to live on the farm a few years, when they moved to Louisburg, but later returned to the farm, where they both are living today. Their children are: Terrance, John, Ed- ward, Theresa, Mary, Henry and Margaret, all of whom are married and have homes of their own, except Mary and Henry, who are with the par- ents on the farm.
Ellen McGuirk in her declining days in 1881 went with her daugh- ter, Margaret, to live in Louisburg, where she died August 5th, 1886, being seventy-two years old at the time of her death. The writer would fail to do justice to this noble woman if no special or further comment was made of her. She came from a parental lineage of people recognized in her country as not having suffered so keenly the pressure imposed on the common peasantry of that unfortunate land. Though not es- pecially educated, she bore the distinct marks of culture and refinement that made her a noticeable character, and thus she commanded the
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highest esteem and respect of all who came in contact with her. Her advice and counsel was always considered worth while. Her children were obedient to her in youth, and as their mother, when they were grown, she never surrendered her parental right to advise them to the extent of chastisement. She exercised the parental right to correct and even to chastise her grandchildren. She stood for honesty and fair play in all things, and while she was not contentious, she would not condone wrongdoing from anyone for the sake of personal popularity. She stood above the petty things of life, and with those high conceptions she taught her children the way they should go. She especially idolized her only son, Patrick, until the day of her death. That only can be explained by the fact that because he was a man he typified to her the faithful hus- band who had been so good to her and whose memory she cherished so keenly that the anniversary each year afterwards of his untimely death was a funeral day to her. The encomiast would find it difficult to over- rate the influence for good in the world of the somewhat obscure indi- viduals of her kind, and it is a sad commentary that such worthy char- acters are so easily lost sight of after they pass out of life. She fought the good fight to the highest degree in all the duties she owed to her family and friends and in matters of faith, as taught by Holy Mother Church, she carried from Ireland the faith of her fathers and nurtured it in her own family, and at least by good example, planted it in Amer- ica, and in faith we believe she will receive her reward on the morning of the resurrection. Well might all her grandchildren, especially, cherish her memory and often recall in solemn reflection the faith, fortitude and sacrifice of this noble grandmother in the hope of bringing to them- selves a merited benediction. Fleeting time since her death has called two of her daughters and three of the sons-in-law to their eternal reward. The following obituaries of the deceased, taken from the local papers at the time of their death, shed some light on the type of her children and those who, later, by marriage, became members of the Ellen McGuirk family.
THE DEATH OF WM. H. BURNS, HUSBAND OF MARY E. McGUIRK.
William H. Burns died at his home in Kansas City, August 8, 1894, of Bright's disease. He was born November 15, 1818, aged 75 years, 8 months and 24 days. Mr. Burns was born in Dublin, Ireland, and spent most of his youth in, traveling in foreign countries, where he gained a knowledge of manners and customs of the different nations. Having an unusual retentive memory, he was an interest- ing conversationalist, especially on the cradle lands of the Bible and also of the peculiarities of China and India, where he had spent several years. He came to this country in 1848, and was married to Miss Mary E. McGuirk March 11, 1855, at Westport, Mo. He was at that time employed by the Shawnee and Delaware Indians as a stonemason. He immediately moved with his wife to the newly opened territory of Kansas and settled at what was known as the Delaware cross- ing on the Kaw river, where he had charge of a ferryboat and had the honor of crossing the first legislative body that met in Kansas. He moved back to West- port in 1856, lived there until the spring of 1857, when he moved to the Hayes settlement near Westport. He returned to Westport again in 1859, where he was employed by William Bernard & Co., wholesale merchants, for the Mexican trade
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and remained in their service until 1864, when he removed with his family to Miami County, Kansas, where as one of the pioneer settlers he endured the hard- ships and privations that are always experienced in frontier life. He improved and lived upon his farm there for a number of years, but his health failing he left the farm in the spring of 1884. He purchased a home in Louisburg, Kansas, and lived there until November, 1892, when he moved to Kansas City, Mo., where he died. He was a kind and devoted husband and a loving father. He was the father of eight children, five daughters and three sons, of which he leaves four daughters and two sons to mourn his loss. The remains were brought to Stillwell, Kansas, where they were met by sorrowing relatives and a host of friends. From there he was taken to the Catholic church at Wea, where the funeral services were conducted by Rev. Father Wieners. This is the second time at the same place within three weeks that this bereaved family have been called upon to stand beside the open grave to see a loved form laid away; first little Leo Kelley, and now the aged grandfather. They have the heartfelt sympathy of the community.
DEATH OF PETER MILLER, HUSBAND OF ANNA McGUIRK.
Peter Miller, one of the first settlers of the north part of Wea township, a man high'y respected by all who knew him, had a stroke of apoplexy on Friday afternoon, October 11. about 3 o'clock. He, with his son, Peter, Jr., was returning from Kansas City, Mo., riding on a lumber wagon. When two miles west of Belton, Mo., he suddenly spoke to his son, saying that he felt rather queer, had a sensation of heat and fullness in chest and head, and in a very few minutes he leaned over the spring seat and became unconscious. He was carried into the house of David Roberts and Dr. Strether of Belton was summoned. The doctor remained the entire night with Mr. Miller and Dr. G. A. Boyle of Louisburg was called Saturday morning. The doctors pronounced his case as hopeless. Mr. Miller never regained consciousness and died at 5 p. m. Saturday.
The funeral was held at the Wea church Tuesday at 10 o'clock, the Requiem Mass being said by Rev. Father Hohe, and interment in the Catholic cemetery.
Peter Miller was born in the Dukedom of Nassau, now a province of Germany, in 1831. Came to America in 1852 and settled in Pennsylvania, where he spent about three years as a wholesale grocer. He then came west and worked a year for the Delaware Indians and after that worked at the wagon making trade in Westport. In 1861 he enlisted in Company "I" Second Kansas and served three years.
Mr. Miller was married to Miss Anna McGuirk in Westport, January 6, 1863. He was a foreman for a time in the Great Western wagon shops and from there in 1864 he moved to his late home in Wea township. Nine sons were born to them, of whom two died in childhood and one, A. E. Miller, died in 1899. His wife and six sons survive him. Two sons reside in St. Louis, one in Greenwood county and three at home.
DEATH OF PATRICK RIGNEY, HUSBAND OF KATHERINE McGUIRK.
Another pioneer has gone. Patrick Rigney died at his home, ten miles east of Paola, and four miles southwest of Louisburg, on June 12, 1911, aged 80 years, 2 months and 25 days. Mrs. Rigney survives, and so do the following named sons and daughters: Mrs. Mary Thompson, wife of John Thompson, who lives in Sugar Creek township, this county; Mrs. Lena Barnes. wife of C. W. Barnes, of Richland township, this county; John Rigney and W. L. Rigney, of this county; Maurice F. Rigney of Kansas City, Mo .; Maggie Rigney, Charles and Harry Rigney at home.
There was a large funeral at Louisburg last Wednesday, the 14th inst., where Reverend Father Meehan conducted the burial service from the Catholic church. Interment was in the cemetery near there.
It was the 17th of March, 1831, in King's County, Ireland. that. Patrick Rigney was born. When 16 years of age he reached America. From the Atlantic coast he came with the regular and ever-increasing hosts seeking homes in the west. Rugged of build, and with the strength of youth, he was a power among his as-
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sociates. In fact, his was to lead and command. From Michigan he came to Kansas City and there he was married, in April, 1858, to Miss Katherine McGuirk. The couple went back to Michigan in a wagon and returned to Kansas City in 1861. Then Mr. Rigney crossed the plains to New Mexico. Upon his return in 1866 he moved to Miami County, and located on one of the Col. O. H. P. Polk farms in what is now Ten Mile township. Two years later he bought the home- stead where he lived until the end, on the north side of what is known as "Little Wea," nearly directly east of Somerset, this county.
With his good wife all the hardships of early days were met and mastered. The hewn log house was Rigney's castle. It was good and stout because he reared it with his own hands. The next work to his own home building was the rearing of a school house and helping to build the little stone Catholic church in Paola. He held back from no task and shirked no hardships. When past sixty years of age he was still a man of powerful mold and it was easy for him to do two days' work in one. His honesty was of the early pioneer stamp that never needed re-enforcing in any manner whatever. In labor he saw dignity and a future competence. Homes he made, both for himself and his children and to each he gave liberally in property.
To his faithful wife, whose unselfish labors helped him to subdue the wilds of the west, and keep a roof o'er head and plenty beneath, is due in part the suc- cess and the good example Patrick Rigney gave to the world. To her in her sorrow, every old settler's heart goes out today.
MRS. ANNA E. MILLER DEAD.
Mrs. Anna Miller, one of the first settlers of North Wea township, a woman highly respected by all who knew her, died Sunday morning, June 28th, at 8:45 a. m.
The funeral was held at the Wea church Tuesday, at 9 o'clock, the Requiem Mass being by Rev. Father Hohe, and interment in the Catholic cemetery.
Anna E. McGuirk was born in Monaghan, Ireland, 1846. When a girl of six, with her parents she crossed the Atlantic and came to America. They settled in Kansas in 1852, living on a farm south of Westport, known as the Ward place. Here she lived until the breaking out of the Civil War, when with her mother moved to Westport, her father, Terrance McGuirk, having been killed by a horse, March 3, 1859.
Miss Anna E. McGuirk was united in marriage to Peter Miller, January 5, 1863. Nine sons were born to them, of whom two died in childhood and one, A. E. Miller, died in 1899. She leaves six sons, William, Jacob and Barnard, who are at St. Louis in business, Peter and Anthony are prosperous farmers, living in the northern part of this township, and Lawrence is on the homestead, where his mother died.
A Catholic funeral ceremony is very impressive. A large body of people were present at the funeral of Anna Miller last Tuesday, yet they were all subdued and thoughtful. There was no crowding into the church. No looking back at late comers. As the casket was being carried from the church to the cemetery no one attempted to precede it, but all with bowed head and measured tread, silently followed all that was mortal of Anna Miller to its last resting place. And consistency is also found here, in that no elaborate monuments appear, it being held that only fleeting mortality which must soon return to dust lies buried there, that the living must not think of their loved ones as having returned to earth, but rather to hope and pray that their immortal spirits shall enter into eternal rest.
A GOOD MOTHER CALLED HOME.
Mrs. Mary E. Burns died at her home in Louisburg, June 9, 1914, at the age of 74 years, one month and three days. With the passing of this remarkable woman is closed the last chapter in a life whose full years were beautifully rounded out in service to others. No person knew Mrs. Burns who did not admire her, and none knew her intimately without loving her. She was possessed of a
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bright mind and remarkable memory which with her sunny disposition and her rare gift of entertaining conversation made her a most companionable woman. She was ever hopeful and helpful to others in all afflictions. Though her days were full of her own strenuous duties, yet, she was never too busy, nor too tired to serve her neighbor in sickness or distress. Her ready sympathy went out to those in trouble and she rejoiced in the joy of others. Her optimistic theory of life never failed to shed its roses on those with whom she came in contact.
Mary E. McGuirk was born in Monaghan, Ireland, May 5, 1840, and came to America with her parents in 1852, where they located at Westport, Mo. March 11, 1855, she was married to William H. Burns, also a native of Ireland, and a man of education and travel, who at that time was employed as a stonemason for the Shawnee and Delaware Indians. Soon after this she removed with her husband to the newly opened territory of Kansas, where they settled at what was known as Delaware Crossing of the Kaw river. It was here that her husband, while in charge of a ferryboat, carried across the Kaw river, the members of the first legislative body that met in Kansas.
They moved back to Westport in 1856, then to Hayes Settlement in 1857, back again to Westport in 1859, where they lived until 1864. During these years Mrs. Burns passed through many interesting and perilous experiences attendant upon the Civil War. Her husband, then employed by the Bernard Co., wholesale dealers for the Mexican trade, was gone for many days at a time: and she, filled with anxiety for his safety, remained at home with her small children. The border troubles were every-day happenings with her, and the battle of Westport, and Quantrell's raid were at her very doors.
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