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 21
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 21
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Nearly all of these had come from Ireland and France. They were a good class of people, honest and industrious. They were imbued with the old Faith and left nothing undone to bring the blessings of Religion into their rough and lonely lives. They lived in dugouts, sod houses, log cabins and, finally, in comfortable homes. The land was rich and the pastures extensive. The climate was excellent, though variable. It took years to understand the peculiarities of the new surroundings and to fit themselves to fight the battles of life on the prairies. Some, of course, fell by the wayside, chiefly through their own fault, while the frugal, industrious families and individuals went forward to success and
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affluence.
There is no finer land in the United States, no grander country than eastern Kansas, and this land God gave to our people after generations of cruel tyranny in the old world and after the plague and the famine had passed away. The older people fully appreciated these facts. They were grateful to God and showed it in their generosity to the Ministers of religion and in their zeal for the up-building of the Church in the New World.
"The first priest to visit the settlement was Father Bernard Don- nelly ; he celebrated Mass in the home of John McCarthy in October of the year 1857. Only five or six families were here at the time. The rest came during the following few years. Father Donnelly walked out from Kansas City to attend this little flock ; he did not ride. Father Bruner George walked also; he did all his missionary work on foot and recited his rosary as he walked along," says J. W. McCarthy. Father George's headquarters was at Lawrence.
In 1857 the Catholic families that had settled in this district began the construction of a church. It was built of logs, held together by wooden pins and rendered airtight or wind proof by mortar forced in between the logs. The men of the district hewed and hauled the logs, hacked them into shape, laid the foundations, and built what was, per- haps, one of the first Catholic churches in Kansas for white people ex- clusively; there had been Indian chapels in Kansas since 1837 at Kick- apoo; 1838 at Pottawatomie Creek; 1839 at Sugar Creek; 1847 at Osage Mission and 1849 at St. Mary's. Bishop Miege moved to Leavenworth in 1855 and there built a very modest church.
No white people could own land in Kansas before 1854. After that date, therefore, we must look for the first white settlement (Kickapoo?) and then for the first Catholic settlement or body of people capable of building a church and forming a community or parish. Bull Creek dis- trict (now Edgerton), embracing a part of Miami and Johnson counties, had a regular church, dedicated to God under the patronage of St. Colum- kil, where divine services were held from 1858 onwards. During the next few years, a flourishing community sprang up around the little church, which was only 14x16 feet in dimensions. It was located near the east side of the present cemetery, on land donated by Mr. Murtha Noland. Father McGee came to dedicate the church and to celebrate Mass in it for the first time. This took place in April, 1858, says ven- erable Florence McCarthy. Nothing could have been more primitive. more simple, than this first public Catholic function in these parts, yet, back of it all, was a flood of human sentiment, of sad recollections, and fond memories that nothing but the sky above and the vast plains beneath could encompass. The little church was only a figure, a symbol of the grand old Church of their Native land, and they besought the Patriarch, St. Columkil, to preside over it, as he did over Ancient Iona.
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The little chapel grew dear to the people as the years went by, for it became the center of their social as well as their spiritual life. To this humble chapel came the famous Father Ivo Schacht on his way to Paola and other points south, in 1859; he continued his visitations up to 1862. Father Schacht was a noted preacher and some of his finest sermons were delivered in the church at Bull Creek, for there was no other church, then, anywhere in the vicinity.
Father Bruner George came on foot from Lawrence in 1860, or there- about. Father Sebastion Favre came, also, from Lawrence, on horse- back, during the Civil War period; he was followed by Father Francis J. Wattron, who came from Paola in 1866. In his time the Stone Church was built. It is supposed that he continued to visit this settlement un- til 1874. In 1870 the town of Edgerton was laid out and the railroad built. Henceforth the settlement was known as "Edgerton, Johnson County," but the parish boundary extends far into Miami County on the south side, and that fact is the cause of its inclusion in this volume. It would take a separate work to do justice to this-one of the oldest Catholic Settlements in Kansas. It will be a misfortune if the memory of those heroic men and women should pass into oblivion; they deserve better of posterity. The more we know of the pioneers of Kansas the more are we moved with admiration for their many virtues.
The old stone church was built in the cemetery, about 75 feet south of where the Log Church once stood.
"It was commenced in 1866 and dedicated in 1867."-Florence McCarthy.
Rev. Father Noonen succeeded Father Wattron in 1874. He remained eighteen months and resided in Edgerton. Rev. Father M. J. Casey at- tended Edgerton from Olathe for several years and was succeeded by Rev. M. J. Gleason of Paola in 1885. Rev. Father Pujos became a resident pastor in 1889. Reverend Joseph A. Pompeney, D.D., came from Leaven- worth as resident pastor in 1890. In speaking of this period Doctor Pom- peney remarks : "I succeeded Father Pujos as resident pastor in March, 1890. Father Pujos must have been the first resident pastor. He pur- chased a two-story frame building two blocks south of the location where the new church was erected and used it as the first pastoral residence. I occupied that house between March, 1890, and October, 1893, when I was appointed to Pittsburg. Rev. B. Hudson succeeded me (as a non- resident pastor). He lived at Olathe. He sold the pastoral residence at Edgerton to Martin Kelley. The old stone church was still standing when I left Edgerton in 1893. The new church was built in the town of Edgerton as an accommodation to the priest and to a considerable number of parishioners who lived north and west, and who had to drive through town and a mile and three-fourths beyond the town eastward to the old church." The cost of this new building was about $3,000.
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After Father Hudson, came (between 1893 and 1910) Rev- erend Fathers Lee, Kennedy, Freisberg, McInerney, Galvin, and Herron, all of Olathe. Edgerton was once more a mis- sion station. Reverend Dennis J. Fitzpatrick became resi- dence pastor in January, 1910. He built the present pastoral residence at a cost of $2,646.00. This zealous young priest did ASSUMPTION CHURCH RECTORY. EDGERTON. KANS much for the financial and spiritual welfare of the parish. He lived in the sacristy of the church until the new residence was finished in May, 1910. By the end of the year he was recalled home by his own Bishop in Ireland to the great regret of the people of Edgerton. He was succeeded by Reverend B. F. McGeary as resident pastor.
After Father McGeary, came Reverend Lawrence Kramer in 1913, as resident pastor; he was followed in turn by Reverend David C. Hall, the present worthy pastor who was appointed in April, 1916.
REV. DAVID C. HALL.
During all the years, many good priests came at stated times to minis- ter to the people, while, at other times, priests who were not interested in the place acted as pastors for a time and passed on. The spirit of faith and piety grew cold, some remained away from Mass, while others became pe- nurious and failed to contribute, ac- cording to their means, to the support of religion. Discord and disunion threatened the very life of the parish. This, however, was more apparent than real, for the people were still Roman Catholic to the heart's core and took small account of such bickerings. Fam- ily prayer and the observance of fast and abstinence was strictly maintain- ed, and few, if any, ever missed their
Easter duty.
In writing of the early days, Mr. J. W. McCarthy says: "In the log cabin of Mr. and Mrs. John McCarthy was celebrated the first Mass, which was attended by four or five families only, namely : Mr. and Mrs. Patrick O'Connell and family, Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Gallivan and family, (Santa Fe) John Dwyer and family, (Black) Dennis Dwyer, Mr. and
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EDGERTON
Mrs. John McCarthy and family, Mr. Murtha Noland and family. This was in 1857.
"In this log cabin of Mr. McCarthy were administered all the sacra- ments of the Church except Holy Orders. It was the home of all the priests and Bishops up until 1880. Strange to say, that there were no deaths in the community except one, a sudden death in a saw mill, up until the year of 1870 that were not attended by a priest, for there was never a night too dark or cold for certain young men in the congrega-
CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION
tion to go for the priest or doctor. They would ride one horse and lead another for the priest or doctor to ride on. The round trip would take two days and two nights. They would always have to return with the priest. Those young men were Michael Keating, John Reding, Maurice Buttinore, J. W. and Florence McCarthy, Junior (brothers).
"The land donated for the cemetery was: First, one acre by Mr. Murtha Noland, the Northeast one; the next was given by Mr. Michael McCarthy, the Southeast one; the Northwest one was donated by Mr. Michael Kenneally, and the Southwest one by Mr. Patrick Brickley. The present cemetery now.
"The first to enter Religion was Hannah McCarthy, daughter of
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THE HISTORY OF OUR CRADLE LAND
Mr. and Mrs. John McCarthy, now Sister Felicitas of the Order of St. Vincent De Paul of Leavenworth. Next, Mary Sullivan, a step-daughter of (Black) Dennis Dwyer, Sister Zita. She died shortly after her pro- fession in the Order of St. Vincent De Paul. May Knipscher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Knipscher, Sister Mary Bernard, Order of St. Vincent De Paul. Father John Knipscher, S.J., a brother of Sister Mary Bernard. The next is Mr. J. Leo McCarthy, S.J., a scholastic, teacher of St. Mary's College ; he is a son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. McCarthy, nephew of Sister Felicitas. Margaret Kauffman is now a Novice, if I under- stand right, of the St. Joseph Order of St. Louis, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kauffman, now of Edgerton, but formerly of Louisburg. Do not know her Sister name. Agnes McCarthy is a Postulant of St. Vincent De Paul of Leavenworth.
"The Edgerton people did not only build three churches at Edger- ton but were assessed to help build a residence and to furnish it at Baldwin. They helped to build the second church and residence at Olathe, and to furnish them. The stone church at Edgerton was built in or about the year of 1866-7."
Some of the old family names have disappeared from the district and many new ones have been added to the parish roster. There are now about forty-five families in the parish.
The main altar in the present church as well as many other splendid gifts came from the venerable pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. Florence Mc. Carthy.
The young people have scattered far and wide, filling places of honor in all walks of life-while still retaining much of the old Catholic spirit of their ancestors. The future of the parish is now assured. It is financially and spiritually prosperous.
A parochial school will, some day, crown the work and an increased Catholic population will be attracted to Edgerton district on account of its religious and educational advantages as well as its rich soil and healthful climate.
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IN MEMORIAM.
Thomas Coughlin died at his farm in Richland township, Miami county, Kansas, Saturday, January 10, 1920, at the age of 93 years, five months and fif. teen days. He was a great character, a natural leader of men, who was above the petty dissensions of life, fair minded and just. He was a true Christian and practiced it every day of his life. He was wonderfully devoted to his family, and to him his boys were always his children, and his happiest moments were when he had them all about him. He looked forward each Sunday to the visit of his two sons in Paola, Edward and Robert, and was always solicitous for the welfare of his family, even as the shadows were closing about him. His mental vigor was remarkable, enabling him to di- rect the management of his large business interests as unerringly and successfully as in the earlier years of his life. His death brings sorrow to all the community where he lived and wherever he was known. The heritage of a great life is the most valu- able possession that he could have be- queathed to his family.
Mr. Coughlin ยท was born July 26, 1826, his life reaching far into two centuries. His birthplace was the town of Moate, county of West Meath, Ireland. His father lived on seven acres of rented land, which he farni- ed by the use of a spade. Thomas came to America in 1849, requiring seven weeks and three days to make the voyage. He was sick three months and in quarantine in the city of New York after his arrival. As soon as he was able, he hired to a farm- er in New Jersey and worked for $6.00 a month during the winter and for $15 a month during harvest. In 1852 he went to Crawfordsville, Indiana. The same year he sent for his father and brother to come to THOMAS COUGHLIN. to this country and sent them $40 to pay for their voyage. He came to Kansas, March 10, 1858. He was told at St. Louis that he would not be able to make the trip, because of the border troubles, but said that he was never treated with more courtesy than on this trip, which he made overland, riding a horse. The people where he stopped would not let him even saddle his own horse or pay for his keep. He put in a little ten acre crop of corn, and in June of that year, in company with Peter McCormick and Michael Coughlin, walked to Leaven- worth, making the trip in one day over Indian paths, and worked the remainder of that year and the next on the government farm at Leavenworth. In October, 1859, he returned to Crawfordsville and worked for a Mr. Blair as a packer and butcher until 1865, when he again came to Kansas. His father came to this State in 1865.
Mr. Coughlin was married in Kansas City in 1868, by Rev. Father Donnelly, to Miss Bridget Mclaughlin, his Crawfordsville, Indiana, sweetheart, who faced the hardships of the early days with her husband, uncomplainingly, and who was her husband's best inspiration.
Privations then were many and comforts and necessities few, but there would have been no pioneering, no development of the sturdy pioneer character, if this had not been true. He brought practically nothing with him to Kansas except his determined purpose, his sturdy character and the integrity that illuminated his whole life and which are characteristic of his family. The prairie cabins were few and widely scattered, and when he went away from home at night he hung a lantern at his cabin door to guide his return. He walked to Leavenworth for his provisions and carried them home on his back. Finally he became the
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THE HISTORY OF OUR CRADLE LAND
proud possessor of a pony, and by working an occasional day for the neighbor pioneers, he secured the use of another pony with which to break up his prairie farm and get part of it planted. From this humble beginning, by slow degrees, with what we now regard as the hardships of pioneer life, but which were then considered merely the incidents necessary in the country's development, came the splendid estate of 1,100 acres of the finest land in Kansas, well improved and well stocked, which he leaves to his family. With its accumulation came the development of the splendid citizenship for which Thomas Coughlin stood. His life was in the open, physically and mentally, and because of his well ordered life and regular habits, he was as sturdy as the oak that withstood the storms of ages, and lived far beyond the allotted span. He leaves his widow, one daughter and five sons, his children being among the most useful and respected citizens of Miami county. The daughter is the wife of W. L. Rigney of Paola. Three of the sons assisted their father in the management of his farms, Thomas J., John and Charles F. Coughlin, and two of the sons live in Paola, Edward H. and Rob- ert E. Coughlin, who are leading members of the Miami county bar.
The funeral was held Monday, January 12, at 10:30 o'clock a. m., from As- sumption church at Edgerton. His pallbearers were his five sons and his son- in-law, W. L. Rigney. Solemn High Mass was said by Father D. C. Hall of Ed- gerton, assisted by Father A. J. Domann and Father T. H. Kinsella of Paola. Burial was in the Catholic cemetery at Edgerton.
Thomas Coughlin climbed the rugged pathway of life, conquering and sur- mounting obstacles that seemed almost impassable, and in the fulness of years gazed calmly down from the heights, with the consciousness that he had fulfilled life's best mission and left no duty undone.
PART X THE URSULINE ACADEMY, PAOLA
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THE URSULINE ACADEMY, PAOLA.
From Brescia to Milan, from Milan to Aix, from Aix to Paris, from Paris, indirectly, to Strasburg, from Strasburg across the ocean to Louisville, Kentucky, and from Louisville to Paola, Kansas, Ursuline Academy traces her long line of princely ancestry. This illustrious descent, centuries old, is the precious heritage upon which the fruitful work of the Ursulines in behalf of Christian education for nearly a quarter of a century in the Diocese of Leavenworth has been founded.
On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1894, two Sisters left the train at Paola, Kansas, and made their way toward the Rev. Father Dornseifer's residence. No, they were not charity Sisters begging a pittance for Christ's poor, almost the only Sisters Paola had ever known. On another mission had these Sisters come, a mission that was to fructify a hundred fold beyond the most roseate visions of any citizen of our little village on that December day of '94. Ursulines from Louisville, Kentucky, they were, strangers on the strange soil of Kan- sas. Simply and briefly they told the purpose of their coming to the Reverend Pastor. They had been sent by Bishop Fink to investigate the possibilities of establishing a convent and academy at Paola.
Like a bomb from a clear sky came this message, but the people of Paola rose to the occasion. Father Dornseifer called in some of the prominent parishioners and the mat- ter was discussed with the Sisters. Greatly encouraged by the kindly attitude of the townspeople, Mother Jerome, for it was no other, who had come to lead her little band of Ursulines to Paola, returned to the Bishop with, however, no definite plans made. In the meantime liberal offers were made by other towns to the Sisters for the location of their school. When it was seen in Paola that these openings were be- ing seriously considered, Mr. Jacob Koehler and Mr. Joseph E. Max- SISTER ANGELA MEYER FIRST NOVICE well, a Catholic and a non-Catholic, went to the Bishop and promised in the name of the townspeople of Paola, the plot of ground for the projected building if the Sisters would come to Paola. Bishop Fink favored the Paola offer and finally in May, 1895, the deal was made whereby five acres of the present Academy grounds on East Wea Street were purchased and presented to the Ursu- lines. The first great step was taken with the acceptance of the ground :
1
BOOK
MOTHER JEROME
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and great was the gratitude of the recipients towards the kind donors. But-the Sisters were penniless; moreover, they were strangers, with none to whom they might turn for help. At this critical time there ap- peared the friend, without whose help the present magnificent buildings and extensive grounds of Ursuline Academy could never have been real- ized. Mother Jerome's father, Mr. Andrew Schaub, of Pittsburgh, Pa., came forward and promised financial security to the Sisters. Then, and then only, did the Bishop give his consent for the Ursuline's per- manent establishment in Paola. Through the efforts of Mr. Schaub a loan was secured in the East and plans were begun in earnest for Paola's future convent and academy.
Mr. J. N. D. Clark of Kansas City, Kansas, was secured as architect, and upon the shoulders of our respected parishioner, Mr. Jacob Koehler,
THE ORIGINAL URSULINE ACADEMY, PAOLA, KANSAS.
devolved the self-assumed burden of the superintendency of the building. The contract for the building was let to Mr. John Fordyce of Paola, with sub-contracts for lighting, heating, etc.
In July, Reverend Father Dornseifer was removed from the pas- torate of Paola, and under his successor, Rev. Father Taton, the work for the Academy was continued. All plans were now rapidly perfected and on July 25, 1895, Mr. Koehler turned the first spade of earth that began the excavation for the new building.
Paola was but a village then and East Wea Street was a corn-field. It was a dreary looking spot indeed to Mother Jerome and her Sisters from the East, and only that firm faith in the Divine Providence that was directing them could have sustained them and made them look
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THE HISTORY OF OUR CRADLE LAND
over the stubbles of that corn-field and see the abundant harvest that the future years were to bring.
On September first the corner stone of the new Academy was laid in the presence of two thousand people. Very Rev. John F. Cunning- ham of Leavenworth, Vicar General of the Diocese, laid the stone and Rev. Father Michael, C.P., of the Monastery of Normany, St. Louis, Mo., delivered the sermon. These two eminent clergymen were assisted by Rev. Fathers Redeker of Westphalia, Curren of Emerald, Elias of Scipio, Podgersek of Greeley, Cusson of Nebraska City, Dornseifer of Ottawa and Taton of Paola.
Work on the building progressed rapidly during the fall and winter
URGALINE & ACADEMY
KANSAS
PAOLA
with a few delays caused by the cold weather. By March 1, 1896, the Academy was ready for occupancy, having been completed at a total cost of $12,000.
Then the little Ursuline community came to its new home in Paola. That building is only the minor part of the house as it stands today, but to them, then, it was a palace, with the best heating, lighting and water facilities that Paola could afford. The school was opened at once as a parochial and boarding school.
On June 20th the new building was dedicated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Fink. Rev. Father T. H. Kinsella delivered the dedicatory sermon and the doors of the Academy were thrown open to the people of Paola, who vied with each other in welcoming the new comers into their midst.
School was reopened in September with four boarders and about forty day scholars. One school year succeeded the other in rapid suc- cession now, for in all pioneer work, the years, though hard and fraught
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with trials, pass quickly under the banner of hope that always spurs the pioneer builder on to still greater things.
The closing days of the Nineteenth Century saw the Louisville Ursu- lines firmly established in their new home. The first perilous years of founding their school, of breaking through the reserve of a strange peo- ple and making friends where at first there were none, were safely pass- ed and the new century ushered in an era of firm faith in the possibilities of the years that lay before them. Although still laboring under diffi- culties the school was growing. The first class was graduated from the four years Academic course in 1901. These first graduates were : Miss Ethel Boisvert of Osawatomie; Miss Nellie McCarthy, Osawatomie; and Miss Clara Calhoun, Nevada, Missouri.
In 1902 the St. Patrick parochial school was built and the Academy became exclusively a boarding school with day school accommodations for the Academic grades. The first building was fast becoming too small to accommodate the increasing number of pupils. Three and one-half acres were added to the original five acres and in the summer of 1904 a second building was begun. This building was erected at the cost of $22,000 and consisted of the present chapel, dormitories, dining and rec- reation halls.
But during all these years there was one great hindrance: the Sisters had no chaplain. There was no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Sundays. It was a Catholic boarding school with only the Parish church to administer to the spiritual wants of its pupils, daugh- ters of good Catholic parents who placed religious training first in the education of their children. Through mud and rain, in the heat of sum- mer and the inclemency of Kansas winters the Sisters with their little flock of pupils made their way to Holy Trinity church and there in an already overcrowded auditorium, assisted at the Holy Sacrifice wher- ever kneeling room could be found. Needless to say all of this was a serious obstacle in the way of growth and progress for the school.
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