USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Marquette > History Of The Diocese Of Sault Ste, Marie And Marquette; Containing A Full And Accurate Account Of The Development Of The Catholic Church In Upper Michigan, With Portraits Of Bishops, Priests And Illustrations Of Churches Old And New, Volume 1 > Part 13
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On the feast of the Immaculate Con- ception ( 1856) Baraga celebrated a Pon- tifical High Mass with Father Kohler. S. J. from Garden River, as deacon and Brother Lacoste as subdeacon. This Jesuit brother, whose daily occupation was teaching school, was drawn into ser- vice of this kind whenever scarcity of priests made itself felt on solemn occa- sions.
The new year of 1857 came in with a new lot of troubles. If not the most seri- ous, yet most annoying, was the deafness which seemed to befall Baraga from time to time. The relation between the priest and people of Mackinac and St. Ignace were not of a friendly nature. After the holidays four Canadians arrived at the Sault requesting the bishop for the settlement of the difficulty. What would he do? In the dead of the winter, Janu- ary 12th, he accompanied them on snow shoes. to St. Ignace. It took three days to make the journey, staying over night at Sobrero's and Bellanger's. On Macki- nac he preached, Sunday, January 18th, on reconciliation; equilibrium was re- stored at the cost of Father Carie's re- tirement. Père Carie withdrew to Chi-
12 Diary. December 12, 1856.
cago and Father Jahan succeeded him. On the return trip the Bishop associated himself with six Canadians who were on their way to the Sault and one night,21- 22d of January, he camped with them in the woods at a temperature of 40 degrees below zero. In face of such terrible or- deals this fearless Apostle quotes to him- self the following beautiful verse:
"With peaceful mind thy race of duty run; God nothing does or suffers to be done But what thou wouldst thyself, if thou couldst see
Through all events of things as well as He." 13
The report which Bishop Baraga sent to Rome of his three years' administra- tion did not contain numerically many missions, but it showed that they were of a permanent character with indefinite possibilities of development as well as of increase in number. The Holy Father, pleased with the prospects of the new Vi- cariate, raised it, on the 9th of January 1857, to the dignity of a Diocese and gave Baraga the title of Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie.
The Brief erecting the new Diocese reads thus :
"For a future remembrance. Exercis- ing, by the will of God, the supreme office of Apostleship, We strive to provide for the good of the Catholic Religion every- where as circumstances and times de- mand. Since, We have at other times es- tablished a Vicariate Apostolic in the Upper Peninsula in the State of Michigan within the ecclesiastical Province of Cin- cinnati in the United States of North America, the Archbishop and Bishops of said Province, assembled in Synod, well
13 Diary, March 7, 1857.
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Holy Roman Church, in charge of the in spirituals as in temporals, by your Propaganda Fide, We turned Our at- tention to you, who have merited great praise in holding the office of the Vicar Apostolic in that same region. There- fore, Venerable Brother by virtue of the fullness of Apostolic power, We absolve you from the bond by which you were held to the church of Amyzonia as well as from any excommunications, interdict and other ecclesiastical censures, sen- tences or anything like it, or for whatso- ever reason, if perchance you have in- curred any, and as absolved shall in fu- ture consider, by virtue of these presents with the advice of the same Brothers, We, by Our Apostolic authority, transfer you to the aforesaid church of Sainte Marie and appoint you its bishop and pastor, fully committing to you the care, rule, and administration of said church of Sainte Marie, in spirituals and temporals trusting in Him, who bestoweth graces V. CARDINAL MACCHI. These Bulls reached Bishop Baraga April 23, 1857. and gifts, that said church, the Lord guiding your actions, will prosper, as well
watchful diligence and studiousness that it will be directed unto prosperity and that the orthodox religion will increase. Accepting with prompt devotion the bur- den placed upon your shoulders you will faithfully undertake the care and admin- istration and with prudence exercise them, that the aforesaid church may be truly entrusted to a prudent ruler and ad- ministrator and that besides the eternal retribution, you henceforth fully merit Our favor and blessing and that of the Apostolic See. Notwithstanding the Apostolic, Universal, Provincial and Synodal Councils, general or special con- stitutions and ordinances and any others whatsoever to the contrary. Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, under the ring of the Fisherman, the ninth day of January 1857, the eleventh year of our Pontifi- cate.
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Chapter V.
Bishop Baraga's labors and the growth of the Missions from 1857 to 1861.
The diocese proper was only the Upper ary life with the present one, as bishop, Peninsular with the adjacent islands. full of agitation, his soul yearned after the peace of the past, and that thoughts of resignation commenced to run through his mind. Only two days before starting out for a visit to his Lower Michigan charges he wrote in his diary: "All this day, in particular, I entertained firm plans of resignation and of returning to the Indian missions. Fiat voluntas Tua, Domine Deus !" The Indian missions scattered along the northern shore of Lower Michigan, which he had established himself, were still close to his heart. The Apostolic ad- ministrator of Detroit, Bishop Lefevere, had therefore no difficulty to persuade Baraga to take charge of them. Like- wise Bishops Henni of Milwaukee and Cretin of St. Paul had ceded to him juris- diction over the missions on the shore of May 26th, he set out from the Sault and arrived in Mackinac the same day. Here the unpleasantness of a year ago still echoed in his soul and in St. Ignace he encountered fresh troubles in con- nection with the diocesan lands. What these disorders were we are not told; at any rate they had no tendency to raise the ebbing spirits of the Bishop. He con- tinued his journey to Cross Village and visited, in their turn, Garden Island. Middle Village, Little Traverse and Grand Traverse. Here, on the 17th of June he entered in his diary : "I firmly re- solved to resign either the whole or at least this cumbersome appendix." This was not to be during his time. His suc- cessor, Bishop Mrak, got rid of this 'cumbersome appendix' under peculiar stress, in 1870. Lake Superior in Wisconsin and in the territory of Minnesota, respectively. These missions entailed much care ; Bara- ga not only provided them with suitable missionaries, but visited them from time to time and watched over their interest as much as if they had been originally in- corporated to his diocese. Hence, when the episcopal burden pressed heavily on his shoulders he felt that he could, at least, spare himself the trouble of those missions. As Indian missionary he had troubles of his own, that is true, but now as the bishop he partook of those of others. Then annoyances arose and al- layed themselves, now they persistently continued to irritate his otherwise placid disposition. He envied his own former tranquillity of soul! No wonder then that, when contrasting his calm mission-
We cannot wonder that Baraga, a man
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schooled in hardships, should call his to be released from them. He did not lower Michigan charge 'cumbersome'. He even comply with a single duty, that a good priest respects. He has violated all the statutes of the Church in this country, and all propriety. If such conduct is to be tolerated it will be difficult to govern the Church in this country. He built a church, for which he collected money in Chicago, and I am told, that he got mon- ies, for this purpose, from the religious societies in Europe. This church he now retains and offers for sale, as private personal property. He has it locked up. I have withdrawn it from the use of re- ligion. This is a large congregation with- out any other place of worship. This conduct we cannot allow, and I am sure, Right Rev. Bishop, that you will not countenance this priest until he restores this property to its legitimate use and until he has in his favor the commenda- tion of his ecclesiastical superior." 1 had accepted it from the Administrator of Detroit, more from compassion for the Indian and of love for his first field of missionary activity than any other mo- tive, at the time when his own diocesan territory was but sparsely settled. But now he realized that it not only demanded personal sacrifice, but also entailed much monetary expenditures which might have been profitably invested for the upbuild- ing and maintenance of schools and churches within his own domain. Mis- sionaries, too, ordained titulo missionis for his own Vicariate, might have been cleaning his primeval forest of heathen- ism, instead of making arable the neigh- bor's homestead. Besides, frequently the priest's troubles became his own. An in- stance of this is Father Weikamp's em- broilment with his former bishop of Chi- cago. The former had built a frame Bishop Baraga duly brought this un- pleasant matter to the notice of Father Weikamp and now, on his pastoral visita- tion, personally expostulated with him. But the fact, that Father Weikamp viewed the object of contention with as much sense of justice as the good Bishop of Chicago considered it a plain steal, did not cease to irritate the usual good humor of Frederic Baraga. June Ist he wrote in his diary: "Arrived in Cross Village. Sadness on account of Weikamp." If it required a good deal to depress his spirits, but little was sufficient to make them buoyant again. In Garden Island, he found the school master O'Doussan "as good as a missionary particularly against drunkenness" and in Jaboigaming the teacher "an honest and contented fellow". church, St. Francis Assisium, 90x45, on the west side in Chicago, for the use and benefit, as he claimed, of the Franciscan community, of which he was a member and superior. Upon withdrawing from Chicago he offered the property for sale and finding no purchasers he closed it and departed for Cross Village, where he opened a new establishment. To this rather brusque procedure Bishop O'Regan objected. Under date of January 23, 1856, he wrote to Bishop Baraga: "I am told that Rev. Weikamp, for many years a priest of this diocese, has been received into your diocese. You must be aware that he had no letter, no dimis- soriales, from me, his legitimate bishop. I have not released him from the obliga- tions he owes me. He did not even ask
1 Letter in the diocesan Archives of Marquette.
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Forgetting troubles and expenditures he bought for the latter, a school house for thirty dollars for which he was wont to pay an annual rental of fifteen, thus add- ing another property to the 'appendix.'
Schools were always close to Baraga's heart. With each mission church had to be a school house, at times one building answering for both purposes. These schools received an annuity from the gov- ernment, for the reason that they were chiefly attended by Indian children. On account of the frequent changes of Agents, Baraga found it difficult to get this allowance. To collect the arrears of 1856, he went, July 3rd, on the Adriatic, to Detroit, where, after much office run- ning, he collected the three hundred dol- lars coming to him. While in Detroit, he blessed a bell, Sunday July 5th, for the St. Philip's German church. Returning to the Soo, July 14th he brought along a new cleric, John Paul Steuger, to whom he conferred the four minor orders on the 19th, but dismissed him four weeks later on account of mental incompetency for higher orders.
On the 20th of July, Baraga started out for a visit to his western part of the dio- cese. Marquette, La Pointe, Ontonagon, and Eagle Harbor receiving in turn his pastoral attention. On this occasion he had brought to La Pointe Mr. D. O'Brien and his family, where that gentleman had accepted the position of teacher. August 13th found him again in the Sault. He found at home Mr. Louis Sifferath, a can- didate for holy Orders. The following Sunday, the feast of Assumption, he gave him subdeaconship, on the 20th, deacon- ship and on the 24th ordained him unto priesthood and sent him the following
day to Mackinac Island. Another ordina- tion took place end of October, Patrick Bernard Murray was ordained subdeacon, on the 27th, deacon on the 28th, and presbyter on the 31st of October. He said his first Mass in the Sault, November 7th (1857).
In February, 1858, Bishop Baraga pre- pared for a trip to Cincinnati, in order to attend the second Provincial Council and to have some of his new books printed. He planned to reach, overland, Toronto and thence, by rail, Cincinnati. What ob- ject he had in view selecting this round- about way is not apparent. Evidently he must have been acquainted with the terri- tory, he expected to traverse, because he had laid out his route before starting. He crossed on ice the St. Marys River on the morning of February 12th, with Mr. Sayer. They drove all day till the night overtook them at the Bruce Mine and they found comfortable lodging at Plante's. They were met here by Mr. Sayer's two sons, George and Edward, and Messrs. Simpson and McTavish. The second day Missisagi was reached and they were all housed at Mr. Sayer's. The third day being a Sunday, at Baraga's request, the journey was not continued. As the Bishop had no opportunity to cele- brate Mass, services, consisting of pray- ers and sermons, were held. The fourth day, accompanied by Messrs. Simpson. McTavish and Edward Sayer, he drove to LaCloche. From here he continued his journey en carriole drawn by three dogs in charge of Edward Sayer. In the eve- ning they reached Jibaonaning. Post- master Johnson gave them comfortable quarters, and Baraga said prayer in com- mon and preached in the village chapel.
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Gallipolis, Ohio, and solemnly laid the two impassionate sermons corroborating corner stone of a new church on St. John's Hill, Covington, Ky., to which ceremony he ironically refers 'that it will never happen in his diocese,' probably, be- cause all his churches were only wooden structures. But in this he did not prophesy well; even in his time more than one corner stone was laid and by himself, too.
After the second Provincial Council which opened May 2nd and lasted one week, he did not tarry much longer in the city. Richer in experience, pecuniary do- nations, and well stocked with Indian prayer books, he returned to his diocese, arriving at Sault, May 29th.
He did not stay at home long. June 7th finds him out on his way to visit his Lower Michigan missions. On the 13th he blessed Father Weikamp's church and cemetery at Cross Village. In Garden Island he spent two days preaching to the Indians, as he says in the bitterness of his heart, on the vice of drunkenness into which they had lapsed. . Middle Village and Little Traverse were visited and in Shaboigan he heard confession two con- secutive days at such degree of heat that the candles on the altar melted. For Sun- day he returned to Little Traverse, the Arbre Croche of old. Father Sifferath had succeeded Rev. Lawrence Lautižar in this mission, because the latter had fol- lowed his former pastor, Francis Pierz, to Minnesota. Sifferath not being as yet ac- quainted with the Indian dialect the zealous Bishop gave his old parishioners an opportunity to approach the holy sacraments. All Saturday afternoon and till eleven o'clock at night he heard con- fessions. Sunday he delivered to them
them in the faith. In the afternoon he again took to the confessional where he remained until midnight. The following day, being the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, he took the boat for Grand Trav- erse, where, after landing, he spent the night out doors 'without being bothered by mosquitoes' as he remarks. June 30th he came to Eagletown. Double in- terest drew him there. Besides the cus- tomary mission visit, he had with Father Ignatius Mrak, the pastor, a stu- dent Gerhard Terhorst, in whom he placed much hope. With them he spent a whole week, and confirmed twenty persons Sun- day, July 4th. Next, he spent six days in Northport, where he made the acquain- tance of the cleric, Patrick Venantius Moyce. Their acquaintance ripened into an invitation to Mr. Moyce to join the Bishop's diocese. He subsequently-on the 17th-followed the Bishop to Macki- nac and was by him adopted. July 11th Bishop Baraga celebrated Mass in Cat- head and preached in French and Indian, twice in each language. On the same day he left on the Steamer Troy for Mackinac. A week was spent between the two mis- sions, Mackinac and St. Ignace, confirm- ing at the latter place, July 14th, four, and in the former, four days later, forty- five persons. Accompanied by Mr. Moyce, the Bishop returned to the Sault.
Rev. P. V. Moyce was ordained on the 24th of July having received the two higher orders on the two days previous. He was intended for one of the northern missions. Anxious to place him with the people who had no priest and, likely, prompted by the opportunity they took the Propeller Northern Light, which was in
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port on her upward trip, the same after- noon of the ordination. But before they reached the head of the canal, the Bishop regretted his action on account of it being the last day of the week. They got off again and Father Moyce said his first Mass in the Cathedral, the following morning July 25th. Four days later they sailed on the City of Cleveland for La Pointe, Wisconsin. An unexpected delay of two days was caused at Ontonagon, on account of the boat not going any farther. The Iron City helped them out of this difficulty, only to inconvenience them a little more by stopping at La Pointe only on her return trip from Superior. The inevitable had to be met. The Bishop consoled himself with the expectation of being able to visit Father Van Paemel's station, but upon arriving in Superior found him absent. Finally, La Pointe was reached. The isolated place did not appeal to Father Moyce and he refused to stay there. They proceeded to Ontona- gon where Father Moyce was at last dis- posed of, upon a guaranteed salary of two hundred dollars a year. The Bishop re- turned to Superior on the North Star. There he preached, Sunday, August 15th, in English, French and Indian and con- firmed twenty-six persons. He also had there reprinted two pages of his recent Indian books because they contained too many typographical mistakes. From Superior he sailed directly to the Sault.
On September Ist, the Bishop was again passenger on the North Star. She landed in the Entry late in the afternoon of the second of September, but did not go into L'Anse. Bishop Baraga there- fore walked to the Mission. Although he had arrived late in the night, he was out
next morning on his way to Portage Lake, the Houghton of today. Father Jacker, who looked after the spiritual wants of these people, accompanied him. They found a hospitable home at Michael Finnegan's. Next day, being Sunday, September 5th, services were held in the school house which stood diagonally across from the old, at that time to be built, St. Ignatius Church. The Bishop addressed the assembled people in Eng- lish, French and German. Twelve persons whom Father Jacker had instructed, were confirmed. After the services a general meeting was held. The Bishop expounded upon the necessity of a church, and to en- courage them in the enterprise he started the subscription list with twenty dollars. Mr. Michael Finnegan was appointed chief collector. The facsimile of the docu- ment drawn to this effect is to be seen elsewhere in this history.
From Portage Lake Baraga went back to L'Anse. It seemed like home. Recol- lections of the past made him live the life of his former activity over again. This brought him happiness. Concerning this visit he writes: "Some of my most con- soling reminiscences are connected with this mission. When I enter the small, un- pretentious room, which the zealous mis- sionary, Edward Jacker, now occupies, I remember the many consolations and spiritual emotions I enjoyed here, when I saw how a band of Indians, steeped in the vice of drunkenness, had been changed into a congregation of fervent Chris- tians through the powerful and beneficent influence of the holy word of the cross, which God in His unfathomable mercy caused to be preached to them in their own expressive language. In this little
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Flannigans opened its hospitable door to him. It was only a small log cabin but the people who lived in it ennobled it far above residences of modern demand. James Flannigan and his wife, Ellen, to- gether with their children, lived in the small log house blessed with true Chris- tian happiness. Whenever the bent and withered form of the saintly Bishop ap- peared in their door his visit only in- creased their happiness. She, like a Martha of old, hastened to serve to the small and few wants of the exalted guest, while from under the heavy brows of the sturdy captain gleamed a kindlier light than usual. We regret not being able to give the good lady's photo, none having ever been taken.
On the lot adjoining Flannigan's home stood the church the same as it stands there today. There Bishop Baraga preached in several languages and con- firmed, Sunday, October 3rd, fifteen persons.
From Greenland Baraga returned by stage to Ontonangon and the same day, October 5th, took passage on the North- ern Light for Eagle Harbor. Father Thiele's missions were numerous, two weeks were profitably spent among them. In Cliff a contract was given to Nicholas Grasser for the erection of the new church for a consideration of one thousand eight hundred and sixty dollars. Referring to this trip Baraga writes: "I next (after leaving Maplegrove) visited another min- ing station, where another German priest, Rev. Louis Thiele, labors with unflagg- ing zeal in word and deed. He has several missions to attend, of which the most important are called Cliff Mine and Eagle Harbor. He always preached in
three languages, English, French, and German, because the people of his mission belong to those three nationalities. Father Thiele is busily engaged erecting two churches. The first one at Eagle Harbor is large and very beautiful, and as an ad- dition to the church, a fine and comfort- able house for the missionary is being built. He had great trouble building such a beautiful and large church with the scanty means at his disposal. May God reward him in eternity! Father Thiele also exerts himself very much in con- verting Protestants. When I was at his place he baptized four more Protestants, English-speaking persons, whom he had previously instructed properly, and sol- emnly received into the Church of God. 3
Just about this time the affairs of the Ontonagon parish were not running as smoothly as might be desired. Sufficient support for the missionary was not forth- coming, so that the Bishop was com- pelled to reach into his own pocket for the deficiency. More so, as he had stationed Father Moyce upon an agreed salary. Besides the reverend gentleman did not conceal his apathy towards the place. These things caused the Bishop great worry. Instead of taking a boat from Eagle Harbor for the Sault, as he had in- tended, led by intuition, he went back to Ontonagon. His surmise proved true. Father Moyce had left his post with bag and baggage! Naturally this desertion of his last-ordained wounded the feelings of the Bishop. Extending a call of a few hours to Father Duroc in Marquette, on his way home, he arrived in the Sault on the 21st of October. Father Moyce was there. His unperturbed mien still more 3 Verwyst.
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pledges than signed la traite which con- veyed him the money, God alone knows! Even this material consolation was not permitted to remain unalloyed. On Feb- ruary Ist, the postman brought him a letter from Father Pierz in which the latter announced the untimely demise of, his companion, Father Lautižar. In the night of the foregoing December 3rd, the good priest had frozen to death on the Red Lake, Minnesota. Lautižar was one of the six priests who had come to this country with Bishop Baraga in the sum- mer of 1854. He was an exemplary priest and most dear to Baraga, and per- haps more so because he had espoused the conversion of the Indian so fervently. His tragic end was, therefore, sincerely bewailed by his countryman and bishop.
February 17th Bishop Baraga received a draft for four hundred and twenty florins; three hundred were from his sis- ter Amelia, and Canon Novak, a long time friend, had added one hundred and twenty.
This life is all checker'd with pleasures and woes,
That chase one another like waves of the deep,- Each brightly or darkly, as onward it flows, Reflecting our eyes, as they sparkle or weep. So closely our whims on our miseries tread, That the laugh is awakened ere that tears can be dried.5
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