USA > Maine > The Catholic church in Maine > Part 10
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The first of the cluster of churches built under the direction of the Jesuits was started by Father Moore shortly after he arrived, late in August, in Oldtown. He found the Catholics there anxious to have a church and within a week of his arrival he had Bishop Fitzpatrick's permission to go ahead. Construc- tion was slow and St. Joseph's was not opened for services until 1853, but Father Moore must be credited with opening the building program that was a salient feature of these eleven years. It was, however, Bapst who directed the completion of the building, for Moore had been recalled and was getting ready to return to Maine by the time the church was opened.
2. BAPST AT INDIAN ISLAND
Father Bapst resided with the Indians for three years and one month, from August 7, 1848 to September 2, 1851, when he moved to and made Eastport his headquarters. These months were his novitiate as a missionary: learning the English language which he really never mastered and which was a source of embarrassment in the presence of Yankees, becoming acquainted with the ways and the wiles of the American Indian, appreciating the temper of the New England mind, adjusting himself to the solitudes of a missionary. Care of the Indians was not his sole occupation during these months, as some have said. At the beginning he did, no doubt, give much of his time to them, but soon Indian Island became his head- quarters for an expansive district that included many Catholics. In the summer of 1850, about two years after his arrival, he told a friend:
The Indians of Old Town are but the smallest part of our mission; our glory and consolation are the stations among the Irish and Can- adians, scattered over the whole extent of the State of Maine, with whose care we are charged.
And we should note here that his work among the Indians cannot be counted as a success. Not that he did not do good work, for he did. But a state of affairs beyond his control pre- vented him from doing the work of a resident priest. The
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bishop had gone out of his way to obtain a resident priest for them and when they, or better a faction of them, persisted in obstructing the work of Bapst, Bishop Fitzpatrick decided to reprimand them by assigning the priest to a place where he would be appreciated and where he could better fulfill his growing talents as a missionary.
Bapst's work at Indian Oldtown allows us to recall how the Penobscot tribe had fared since Father Romagné returned to France in 1818, the situation when Bapst arrived, and the reason why he was transferred to Eastport.
When Bapst arrived in August 1848, the Indian village was a cluster of about thirty wooden houses, some of them neatly built, on the southern shore, with several more scattered over the island where the five hundred Indians were quartered. A schoolhouse, a town hall, and a church with a residence attached completed the village. The chapel, a rather good looking building with a steeple and bell and a choir gallery, had been built by Father Virgil Barber twenty years before to replace the one constructed by Father Cheverus.
The Indians had changed since Barber's departure. It was not apparent at first, for the Indians were on their good be- havior and Bapst was ignorant of Indian ways; he thought they were all "little saints." He soon discovered that many were chronic drunkards and had lost their faith. "How greatly was I deceived," he admitted later; he traced this sad condition to the absence of a resident priest for twenty years. But on this point he was in error, for they had not been neglected for two decades. Indeed, they had more priestly attention than many groups of Catholics in New England during these years and, considering the circumstances, had been the object of extra- ordinary care on the part of Bishop Fenwick. And it was only a group of the Indians that had deceived him; half of the tribe still remained "excellent Catholics," and they were his con- solation during his stay there. A bitter, nigh irreconcilable dispute had broken out and had divided the tribe into two factions. It had undermined much of the good work of Father
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Virgil Barber and other missionaries and eventually forced Bapst's retirement from the island when his efforts to heal the breach failed.
Strictly, Virgil Barber had restored the Jesuit Indian mis- sions in Maine. A friend of Bishop Fenwick, he had been loaned to the Boston diocese and spent two years, 1828-1830, at Indian Oldtown before he was recalled by the Jesuit Pro- vincial. With funds granted by the state legislature he had built the "handsome and commodious" chapel whose steeple dominated the village. The state legislature had also granted, at Bishop Fenwick's request, five hundred dollars for a school and a storehouse, and Barber, a born teacher, had conducted a school with considerable success. Father Eugene Vetromile, the next resident priest after Bapst and the author of The Abenakis and Their History (1866), pays tribute to the lasting work of Virgil Barber. Vetromile on his arrival found:
Indians who know how to read well, and some capable of writing. But the credit of it is due to the late Virgil Barber, - a missionary who resided amongst them for ten [sic] years, and whose memory remains in benediction amongst them.
During his brief stay with the Penobscots, two years and not ten, Barber also managed to make important strides in per- suading them to exchange the wigwam and hunting for the house and farm life. Had his stay been longer the record of the Penobscots would have been better; it would have been better, too, if Barber's legitimate requests for state aid had been granted. The requests resulted in many trips to Port- land, then the state capital, and in controversies with the State agent for the tribe.
Between the departure of Barber and the arrival of Bapst four priests resided at Indian Island. Father James Conway succeeded Barber. We have already been introduced to him in the section on Benedicta. He was Bishop Fenwick's companion in search for a suitable site for the colony and discovered the township eventually selected; later he was pastor at Benedicta. He spent four years (September 1831-October 1835) with the Penobscots. The bishop intended to replace him as soon as he
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could get two French missionaries for the two Indian missions. In 1833 he was loaned two Picpus Fathers, Louis-Edmond Demillier and Auguste Petithomme. He sent both of them to Pleasant Point to help each other get acquainted with Indian life. Then, because Father Conway was doing such fine work with the Penobscots, the bishop decided to leave him there and send Petithomme to Burlington, Vermont, where the French- Canadians needed the care of a priest badly. The Superior of the two missionaries, however, wanted them nearer to each other, and so the bishop sent Petithomme to Indian Oldtown. This would have been good enough if he had remained there, but after a year (October 1835-1836) he moved to New Bruns- wick. His companion, Demillier, gave a decade of devoted service to the Quoddy Indians, dying on the reservation in July 1843; his death was a severe loss, for he had mastered the Abenaki language, had composed a new prayerbook, improv- ing on Romagné's which had been printed by Bishop Fenwick in 1834, and had the spirit of heroism that characterized the French missionaries among the Indians.
Now Bishop Fenwick had to find another priest for the Pen- obscots. Conway was not free to return, but in December 1836 Father Patrick Rattigan was available and went there. His stay was brief, only six months. Life with the Indians, one must remember, was far from pleasant, and since Maine authorities were reluctant to appropriate money from the Indian fund to support a priest, the problem of survival was not easily solved. In 1838 the bishop succeeded in getting an appropriation ($260 a year) for a resident priest, and Father Edward Murphy, a young and energetic priest, was assigned to Indian Oldtown. Full of enthusiasm, he besieged the state authorities with de- mands for school equipment, and they must have been relieved to learn that after eighteen months the bishop was compelled to recall the young priest to meet the pressing demands on him from other quarters of New England. Father Murphy said goodbye to his Indians in December 1839. Bapst was the next resident missionary.
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The Indians had no resident priest for nearly nine years, but they were not completely neglected. The pastor of St. Michael's in Bangor watched over them as well as he could. But Father Murphy did leave at a crucial time. For in 1838, the year he arrived, came the trouble which nearly ruined the tribe. A dispute over the position of the chief of the tribe arose, and soon two bitter factions, the Old and the New Parties, were disturbing the village. A resident priest during these nine years probably would have restored peace, but it was allowed to continue, and when Bapst arrived it was festering. All were on guard when he arrived, watching and waiting for him to de- clare himself.
In the spring of 1850, a year and eight months after his first contact with the Indians, Bapst told a friend: "I have been subjected to very severe trials." These trials derived from the "Old Party," followers of the chief who had been deposed by other members of the tribe for scandalous conduct. This dis- missal had caused the rift. We cannot give the details of this dreary and saddening rift, except to note that Bapst nearly healed the breach in the summer of 1850 and that the repudia- tion of this agreement by the Old Party persuaded Bishop Fitzpatrick to reprimand the Indians by assigning Bapst to Eastport.
In July 1850 Bapst thought he had healed the breach. He had persuaded the New Party, the faction loyal to him, to accept the deposed chief with the understanding that on his death an election of a new chief would follow and that the school on the island would be under Bapst's supervision. This latter point was important, for the Old Party had been in- triguing with Protestants interested in the Indians. Bapst went to Boston to get a school teacher, found one who was suitable "in every respect," and returned with him only to find that the leaders of the Old Party had changed their minds and now insisted on a Protestant school master. The New Party would have nothing of this, nor would Bapst. Another attempt was made to end the dispute by appealing to the council of the
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confederate tribes; the council suggested the resignation of both claimants and the election of a new chief. The solution was accepted, arrangements were made to have Bishop Fitz- patrick attend the burying of the hatchet, and then at the last hour the Old Party rejected the solution. That was enough for the bishop; there were too many Catholics in his diocese clamoring for a priest to waste on the childish wranglings of the Indians. Now the Old Party made life on the island unbearable. To protect the faith of the faithful Indians Bapst advised them to move to Caughnawaga, Canada, and many of them did. As Bapst was leaving the Island for Eastport, the Indians gave him another startling lesson in the makeup of the Indian. The whole tribe saw him to the boat, manifested "deep sadness and sincere regret" at his departure, and sought some memento of him. He did not think them capable "of such deli- cate sentiments." Between the brilliant reception given him on his arrival and the delicate sentiments manifested on his de- parture, John Bapst had learned to be a missionary.
By the summer of 1850, as has been noted, the Indians had become the smallest part of Bapst's work. He had been carry- ing on alone for the past months. Father Moore had been recalled (as closely as can be figured) late in 1849 or early in the new year. Bapst had requested another companion and "at last" (indicating the request had been entered more than once) one had been promised by April 27. In the meanwhile, he had been attending to the Indians and "a mission of many thousand Catholics, scattered over an immense extent of terri- tory." That kept him busy, but these Catholics were his "consolation," compensating for the troubles and worries the Indians were giving him. Moore and Bapst had started the circuit of stations - a circuit that quickly developed into an astounding range of territory - shortly after their arrival. At the beginning the circuit covered the towns on the Penobscot below Bangor: Frankfort and Winterport (then a part of the former town), Bucksport, Thomaston, and Rockport (then West Thomaston ), and extended eastward to Cherryfield, west-
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ward to Waterville and Skowhegan, and northward to Bene- dicta.
Waterville and Skowhegan became Bapst's favorite towns. Here his talents as a missionary became apparent. From the start he got along well with the town authorities and monitors, despite his faulty English, a point worth underscoring in view of what happened later in another town. He visited Waterville early in 1849 and established a temperance society for Cath- olics. He makes it clear such a society was needed. Within a year a wonderful change had taken place; the greater number of those who had taken the pledge had faithfully observed it. This made such an impression on the temperance minded Protestants of the town that he found they were making "every possible effort to effect my permanent residence in their midst," had persuaded "the Canadians to set about building a church," promising substantial aid for the fund, and had asked him to lecture to the townsfolk. Bapst did not identify the topic of the lecture, but the assumption is in favor of temperance. He had to decline the flattering invitation. The reason: "I have not yet mastered the English tongue." The church, however, was started and opened for services in 1851. And the Indians were not alone in seeking tokens of remembrances of this man. In Dinand Library of Holy Cross College is a well preserved pic- ture of Father Bapst; it was the treasured possession of a young married Irish couple (John and Susan Fogarty) who had moved to Waterville in 1853 and there first met the man who nourished their faith. His rare visits were big days in their lives, although one visit, the day he related to them his Ells- worth ordeal, was sad. The little picture of him was handed down, along with their faith, to their children. Such was the devotion he inspired.
In Skowhegan, as in Waterville, he found the Catholics an earnest group and the Protestants cooperative. The town hall was offered to him for his talks and his evening instructions attracted many Protestants; half of the audience were Protes- tans, he said. The chief of police became extremely interested
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in his temperance work, promising him full cooperation; and after one of his departures the chief, in an excellent position to know, wrote him that "all had gone well with the Canadi- ans." Bapst was well aware that much of this good will derived from his support of temperance, but it was good will. And it was really a by-product of his missionary work, for he was not promoting temperance to please the townfolks of Skowhegan.
The work, however, was far too much for one man, and Bapst had been alone for some months. The Catholic Directory for the years 1849, 1850, and 1851 lists two lay brothers with Bapst and Moore, but it is doubtful if they were ever in Maine. And if they were, they had gone by the spring of 1850. His mission, he tells us in April 27, 1850, extended "over an im- mense extent of country" where "many thousand Catholics" lived. He was counting those who had lost their faith as well as practicing Catholics, for he adds: "to convert them and to preserve them in the faith I can only count on myself."
By June 1850 Bapst had a new companion. His name was John Force, or we should say that he was known in Maine as John Force. At Holy Cross, where he was a member of the faculty for the school year 1847-1848, he was Mr. John Voors, S.J., instructor of the rudiments and mathematics. Not much is known of him; he was a Hanoverian and presumably one of the many exiles of this decade. He is not mentioned in James Healy's Diary and so we may safely assume he was not at Holy Cross during the 1848-1849 school year. Suddenly he appears in Maine as Bapst's companion and with his name anglicized out of respect for the Yankee preference for Anglo-Saxon names. We suspect that Bapst, sensitive to the prevailing preju- dice against foreigners, suggested the change. Why a Jesuit seminarian should be assigned to the Maine mission has not been discovered, but John Force may be the teacher that Bapst acquired in Boston about this time to conduct the Indian school. He found one "who suited me in every respect" but he does not identify him. If not Force, who was this adventur- ous soul who was willing to face a classroom of young Indians?
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In any case, John Force has the distinction of being the only scholastic to labor on the Maine missions, and Bapst was happy to have him, for he was a hard worker and became extremely popular.
Shortly after Bapst and Force met, Bapst told a friend:
Happily I have with me Mr. Force, who, with the exception of the priestly character, which he has not yet received, has all that is necessary for success in this mission. If Rev. Fr. Provincial will leave him with me, I shall not despair of overcoming, with God's aid, all these difficulties.
By November of the next year Force had been ordained and this, of course, increased his worth. And he continued to please Bapst with his zeal:
Fr. Force has enjoyed and still continues to enjoy great popularity in Maine; there is no doubt that he has labored with great zeal since he has been with me, and has accomplished much good.
In the fall of 1852 Force left Bapst and Maine for Frederick, Maryland, to make his third year of probation, or tertianship, the period of spiritual training that follows the years of aca- demic studies. He never returned to Maine. When classes opened in September 1853 he was the new prefect of discipline at Georgetown College, a post that should have been relatively easy after his experiences with the Maine Indians. We next find him in the diocese of Covington, Kentucky, no longer a Jesuit, and then he disappears as suddenly as he first appeared. But he had given two good years to the success of the Maine Mission. When Force left Maine for Maryland in the fall of 1852, Eastport had been the headquarters of the mission for a year, the missionary work had greatly expanded, and Bapst himself was wondering whether he would be allowed to remain in Maine.
3. BAPST AT EASTPORT AND THE RISING MISSION OF MAINE
John Bapst left Indian Oldtown for Eastport on September 2, 1851. Both Bishop Fitzpatrick and Father Brocard, the Pro-
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vincial, had agreed on the move; it was a reprimand to the Indians known as the Old Party who had become trouble makers and had formed a species of schism. Bapst, however, had not abandoned the Penobscots, for they still remained his "parishioners;" the move had in fact increased the Indians under his care, for now those at Pleasant Point required his attention. Eastport had been without a resident priest since the previous April and, as we know, the bishop was anxious to have a priest in this town. In Eastport Bapst found a "pretty little church and a handsome pastoral residence" awaiting him, and this remained his headquarters until January 1853.
After he had inspected and established himself in the hand- some pastoral residence, Bapst took a vacation. He deserved one, for except for a few trips to Boston and Worcester, he had no rest from the daily demands of the squabbling Indians and the hard pressed Irish and Canadians. But we mention the vacation for another reason; the trip broadened and educated the man and he returned to Maine with some new ideas about America. As yet he had little contact with the American clergy, including the Jesuits, and he honestly admits that he had not brought with him from Europe any high esteem of them. Travel broadens a man with an open mind, and Bapst's mind was open as he started a three weeks' trip that took him to Washington and back, visiting the Jesuit houses and colleges in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Frederick, and Worces- ter. He was received at every stop with "much cordiality," in nearly every house he visited he found one or more of his friends in exile and all, "with very few exceptions," were happy in their new work in America. "This visit," he confessed, "has dispelled all my prejudices." The Maryland Province was as good as any in Europe. Bapst was becoming Americanized.
On his way back to New England he paid a visit to Holy Cross. A few months after his arrival at Oldtown, on his first visit to Boston, he had seen the college with his friend, Father Eck, but had not remained over night. Now, in the fall of 1851 when the colored foliage gave beauty to Mount St. James, he
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had an opportunity to see "the second boarding-school of the province" and to get acquainted with the members of the com- munity. He found a thriving college, 125 scholars, a good size building, and a faculty of nine Jesuit priests and six other pro- fessors, either lay men or scholastics. Father Anthony F. Ciampi was there to greet him in true Roman style as President of the College, a remarkable man who would thrice be presi- dent of the institution. Father George Fenwick, brother of the founder of the college, was dean. Bapst would get to know three of the Jesuits of the college exceedingly well, for they would later be assigned to Maine. Father Ciampi spent the interval between his first and second terms in Maine, adding, as Bapst remarked, prestige to the Maine mission. Kenneth A. Kennedy, professor of natural philosophy and chemistry, was the first American born Jesuit sent to Maine and the only one to die there. John McGuigan, professor of rhetoric and French, was the third. For a while it looked as if Bishop Fenwick's wish to have a college that would also care for the Maine missions would be realized. Bapst returned to Eastport refreshed, en- couraged, free of some of his native prejudices, with great plans for a widely expanded mission circuit and church building program. Among the plans was a college in Maine. The visit to Holy Cross must have put ideas into his head, and before another year had passed he was talking about starting a college, until his Superior advised him to confine his dreams to his sleeping hours. At the time the Jesuits were wondering if Holy Cross, destroyed by fire in the summer of 1852, would be rebuilt.
The expanded missionary field covered, in the fall of 1851, "a territory more than one hundred and forty miles in circum- ference," and scattered throughout this area were "about 9000 Catholics," not counting the Indians. This seems an excessively high figure, but they are Bapst's estimate and he and his com- panions were the only ones qualified to make an estimate. There were only four diocesan priests in the state, residing in towns where there were growing Catholic parishes: Bangor,
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Augusta, Whitefield, and Portland, and attending, of course, to neighboring Catholics. The rest of the state, north of Port- land, was the mission. There were thirty-three towns or stations on the circuit, but only a few of these towns had churches (Eastport, Benedicta, Houlton) or chapels (Indian Island and Pleasant Point). They found on their arrival churches under construction in Machias, Calais, and Trescott and pushed these through to completion. Already three new churches had been started.
Bapst had two companions by now. Father Hippolyte DeNeckere, a Belgian, had joined him and Force in the fall of 1851, probably before Bapst started on his vacation. DeNeckere had been recently ordained, having arrived in this country in 1846 as a seminarian. Bapst had high praise for these two co- workers; both were "full of youthful vigor, and possessed of much talents," excellent missionaries and popular with the people. All three were conducting "jubilee missions" this November, and had reclaimed a "very large number of bad Catholics," had converted about thirty Protestants, and had seen much prejudice against Catholics disappear. The three churches now under construction (at Oldtown, Waterville, and Ellsworth ) would be completed by next fall. Two more would be started next spring.
The spring of 1852, however, was a disturbing one. Father Brocard, the Provincial who had accepted the mission for the Jesuits, died in March; the next Provincial, Father Charles Stonestreet, a native of Charles County, Maryland, and the grandson of a veteran of the American Revolution, was not ap- pointed until August 15. Father Joseph Aschwanden, acting Provincial in the interval, was not an ardent supporter of the Maine mission. He opposed plans for a college and for further expansion of the mission, and wisely, one would say. Bapst agreed to forget his plans, regretting, however, that Father Aschwanden's "views relative to the mission of Maine are entirely different from those of the late Rev. Fr. Brocard."
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