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 15
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commodations could be had for a station- ary priest. The church was almost com- . plete, and Mr. Henry M. Rice started upon the house immediately, upon the as- surance that the priest will move there as soon as the buildings are ready. In Bad River the Bishop superintended the in- stalling of pews in the enlarged chapel and went, by way of La Pointe, on the Lady Elgin, to the Entry and walked from there to L'Anse. Here, among all other missions, Baraga found much grat- ification in the exemplary life of the In- dians. The attendance at Mass, notwith- standing the disagreeable weather, taxed the capacity of the church, without any- body being present from the east shore of the bay. Commending their zeal, he promised his former parishioners to en- large their church with the advent of spring. On a tug the Bishop and Father Jacker left for Houghton. On Sunday, August 20th the usual services and the sermons by the Bishop were held, but on Monday they went across the Portage Lake to select a location for the building of a new church; they secured for that purpose two lots. The collection, how- ever, taken up on the occasion among residents proved to be very poor. Then, to find a contractor for the new church the Bishop went by way of Entry, to Eagle Harbor. He remained with Father Thiele from the 22d to the 29th of August. On the 27th Father Thiele was sent out with a letter to locate John Burns, a contractor, who usually resided at Eagle River, but otherwise followed his trade all over the county. He was found and promised to meet the Bish- op at the Cliff. Accordingly, we find the Bishop and Father Thiele, August
30th, on the road to the Cliff Mine. At noon, they stopped at Eagle River at John Kerry's for a light repast and upon reach- ing their destination, Mr. Burns agreed to the propositions of the Bishop and prom- ised to build the church in Hancock the same fall. On Sunday September 2nd, the Bishop officiated at the Cliff and con- firmed nine persons, and on the following day took, in Eagle Harbor, the Lady El- gin, for Marquette. This trip proved to be of some consequence. Bishop Baraga met among the passengers Mr. Casper Schulte. The man impressed him great- ly ; possessed of some education yet with no ambition soaring: beyond his attain- ments. Providence seemed to have thrown the master and the servant in each other's way. Upon his return to the Sault, the Bishop would need a servant, a sacristan, a general manager of his house-hold, but centered all in one person, and Mr. Schulte appeared to have all these quali- ties. He had sufficient Latin knowledge to be of great usefulness around the church and altar, his culinary education could be perfected by practice and above all he was willing humbly to serve an humble Bishop for the rest of his natural life, for the simple necessaries of life and, upon the demise of the Bishop, a small sum of money, in case that his successor would not continue to keep him in service. As the Bishop could not make this contract binding upon his successor in office, he readily agreed to the last named stipu- lation and the compact was closed. Ar- rived in Marquette, Bishop Baraga went ashore while Caspar, as he is hereafter known, continued his journey to the Sault.
The last transaction of acquiring a lot
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in Negaunee had not proved as satisfac- tory as the Bishop desired, so he went there again, and paid the agent, Spilman, twenty-five dollars on account for lot three (3), of block two (2) It was Sep- tember 10th. Having tarried around Marquette a week, the Bishop decided to return to the Sault. But no boat came. The Lady Elgin was forty hours over due. On Friday, August 14th, the Illinois came to port and brought the sad news that the Lady Elgin had foundered in a severe storm on Lake Superior and sunk with three hundred people on board.
Under date of September 15th Bishop Baraga makes the following entry in his journal : "At four p. m. arrived in the Sault; saw the devastation-Gerhard Terhorst is of much consolation to me. I hope he will prove a good missionary and Caspar Schulte a good servant." Père Menet had departed, in the small block house behind the church only scat- tered papers lay around, witnesses of re- cent packing. No familiar face around the time honored premises to greet the venerable Prelate! Everything looked disconsolate. But Baraga was not the man to lose much time in this sad medita- tion. He took charge of the parish, Mr. Terhorst of the school, and to Caspar were alloted the offices of sexton, servant and cook. Next morning, it being Sun- day, the Bishop performed all the work common to a parish priest and "so it will go on ail winter for I have little hope of finding this winter a suitable priest for the Sault." 18
With the departure of the Jesuits, two schools, that of girls and boys, remained without a teacher. The Ursuline Nuns,
who had conducted an Academy and taught the girls school, had closed their institution and returned to Chatham, Can- ada. As no suitable lady-teacher could be provided the two rooms had to be joined. The partition was taken out and one class room, for boys and girls, formed. Here Gerard Terhorst became sole preceptor. But the Chatham nuns seemed to have be- thought themselves. Early in October they communicated to the Bishop a desire to return. To this the Bishop answered in the negative. "The Ursulines desire to come back. They may stay where they are. I do not care for subjects who are not under my control, who come and go when they please.19 We doubt not but his answer to those ladies contained a good deal of the above essence. And they did not return. Knowing that Mr. Ter- horst's frail constitution could not long hold out in so numerous a class the Bishop wrote to Detroit in quest of a school- teacher. In response to this Mr. Seymour came. His baggage was of so extraor- dinary proportion that it caused the Bishi- op to exclaim : "What baggage this man has!" But notwithstanding his multiple luggage he was installed in his new posi- tion. Gerhard Terhorst being relieved of teaching took up again the reading of the- ology under the direction of the Bishop himself. Thus between teaching theology and attending to parochial duties, the au- tumn days advanced, with small varia- tions. October 19th, Fathers Jacker and Thiele called at the Sault and furnished no little amusement to the Bishop, with
1º Die Ursulinerinen wollen wieder kommen. Sie sollen bleiben wo sie sind. Je n'aime pas avoir des sujets qui ne sont pas sous ma con- trole, et qui s'en vont quand ils veulent. Diary, October 9, 1860.
18 Diary.
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to be fitted for the missions. In the mean- while Gerhard Terhorst was studiously preparing for the priesthood. On De- cember 2nd he received the tonsure and the four minor orders. He devoted the most of his time to the study of the ru- brics. With the feast of the Immaculate Conception he commenced the recitation of the office and the Bishop good natured- ly adds in his journal : "Today Mr. Ter- horst commenced to recite the breviary and he will cease only when he stops to breathe." He did! During the first Mass, December 9th, being the patron-feast of the Cathedral and of the diocese, he re- ceived Sub-deaconship. He exercised his new office at the ten o'clock Pontifical Mass, being the only assistant to the bishop. On the 16th he was ordained Deacon.
Here is an entry worth notice: Decem-
ber 18. Again windy and cold. This afternoon came the first over-land-mail; it brought altogether sier letters; three for me and three for the rest of the citizens of the Sault. 20
The bitter days of 1860 were running out ! As it were to sweeten their memory, the Bishop had reserved the ordination of Gerhard Terhorst almost for the last. On the 23d day of December he conferred holy priesthood upon him. And on Christmas morning the first 'Gloria in ex- celsis' of the neo-presbyter resounded in the small cathedral to the joyous heart- throbbing of the venerable bishop on the throne.
Thus ended the 30th year of Bishop Baraga's missionary life in America.
20 Diary.
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Chapter VI.
Bishop Baraga's labors from 1861 to 1865.
1861
On January 4th Father Terhorst was granted his first usual faculties. The Bishop felt relieved, as it were of a great burden. Since his first appointment to Arbre Croche he had never felt tied down to one place as in the preceding three months. During his missionary days he could move at will from place to place, and as Bishop he could go, stay and re- turn at his own good pleasure. But when he had to assume the pastorate of his own Cathedral parish, there being no one to re- place him, it must have seemed to him as though he had been robbed of his liberty. We did not see him go out in the winter season except in extreme necessity, or as in a few instances, to undertake a long journey. This winter, however, not- withstanding that he had a journey be- fore him, entrusting the young priest with the charge of his congregation, he starts out on a trip down the St. Mary's River. It was more a missionary tour than an episcopal visitation. He went down as far as Detour, visiting every settlement white or Indian, on either shore. On his way he baptized, confirmed, heard con- fessions, blessed marriages and in general administered the holy sacraments as ne- cessity required. In Perrault's landing he made arrangement for a new church.
After an absence of twenty-two days he . returned home to attend to his corre- spondence which necessarily had accumu- lated. In the mail there was a draft for four thousand eight hundred and seventy five francs from Lyons. Kind Providence had again provided for the just incurred expenditures. With these means on hand, he worked out with pleasure the plans for the new edifice. Though only a small building, thirty by twenty feet, it needed a design for the carpenter to go by. Such architectural designs were al- ways supplied by the Bishop himself. Then he thought of so many churches without bells, and he ordered, February 2Ist, eight bells from M. C. Chadwick, presumably of Detroit, Mich. They were of different sizes and prices, according to the importance of the mission for which they were intended. For Bayfield, Indian Reserve, Superior and Beaver Island each a three hundrd pound bell; for Payment one of two hundred pounds; Hancock and Negaunee each one of four hundred and sixty pounds; and a small one of eighty pounds for Bad River. All for the sum of two hundred and seventy five dol- lars. Pew rent was also a source of income to the Bishop; at least for the sustenance of a local priest and other current ex- penses. "I am compelled to speak often
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about pew rent, which is very unpleas- ant," the Bishop remarks. (On February 25th) He sent out a man to collect the outstanding rental; many parties were not at home, and his only trustee refused to pay because he was not given the con- tract for the Sugar Island church. Some of these very bad tendencies seems to have come down to our own days. The boasted civilization of the 20th century has not been able to cast them off.
Early in the fall the Bishop became convinced that his new teacher, Mr. Sey- mour, was a failure at the teaching pro- fession, therefore he concluded to keep him only for the winter. Examinations, periodically conducted by the Bishop him- self, plainly showed that the school was retrogressing. This only hastened the dismissal of Mr. Seymour; no one else being available, Father Terhorst was asked to take the school again. This he did though "very reluctantly, indeed." For this sacrifice the Bishop presented him with a pair of makisinan (mocca- sins).
The third Provincial Council was con- voked in Cincinnati on the Fourth Sun- day after Easter, April 28th. After the close of the paschal solemnities, Bishop Baraga prepared for the journey. As navigation had not opened yet, he had to make use of his usual mode of winter traveling to reach the nearest port. This trip was as eventful, as it was memorable in the old Bishop's life. Few Bishops of today would venture to make it. Beraga did. We give the full entries from his diary and leave the gentle reader to judge for himself.
"April, I. The day of departure; at IO o'clock rode as far as Sobrero's. Then
walked, partly on snow-shoes partly with- out them, about twelve miles, and then camped. A good night, not very cold.
"April, 2. Broke camp at six. With much hardship and fatigue marched all day till about five o'clock in the evening. Then camped in Fridette's hunting-lodge.
"April, 3. Started out at half past five. Walked with great fatigue, without snow-shoes, which were hurting me, till one o'clock. In the afternoon we reached the ice at Pine River. When half way across the Traverse, Bellanger met me with his horse. I staid with him over night.
"April, 4. Rode away from Bellang- er's at six o'clock and arrived at Macki- nac at 7:30 a. m.
"April, 5. Drove with Theodore Wen- dell from Mackinac at eight o'clock and arrived at noon in Sheboygan, where we stayed over night at the house of Joseph Allair, whose wife was a Burke.
"April, 6. Rode fourteen miles with Lavigne's horse which on its way back fell into a crack in the ice and perished. Camped comfortably for the night.
"April, 7. Sunday. Unfortunately we could not observe this Sunday; we marched many miles on good and bad roads till we reached a poor, abandoned shanty where we camped. The smoke in this old hut was terrible; I said there the whole, long office de Dominica in Albis.
"April, 8. Walked again on good and bad roads-more bad than good-till we arrived in the evening at Grand Lake and camped passably well for the night.
"April, 9. Today we started out early to reach, if possible, Thunder Bay before night-fall. The roads were bad and much
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lection was taken up in St. Mary's church for Bishop Baraga's missions with a net result of seventy-seven dollars.
On his way home Baraga met Father Angelus Van Paemel, who was returning from Europe, in Detroit. They took the City of Detroit for the Sault. The ac- cumulated mail contained much of a disa- greeable character. There were com- plaints from priests and people; clamors for pastors and teachers. Who could satisfy them all! The best solution might be a personal visit to the missions, the Bishop thought and accordingly he sailed, the day after his arrival at home, on the Illinois. He visited Marquette, Eagle Harbor, Ontonagon, La Pointe, Minne- sota Mine, Eagle River and Copper Har- bor. He deemed only few changes advis- able; that of Father Thiele to Mackinac, Father Murray to Beaver Island and Father Andolshek to Eagle Harbor.
Upon his return to the Sault, the Bish- op found James Sweeney there; he was now released from all obligations to the Jesuit Society. The new arrival was a welcome subject. At once he was made to relieve Father Terhorst in the school, on whom the daily teaching had left a traceable mark. He had lost his youthful vivacity, natural humor and wit and lik- ened more to a moving shadow than his former self. Appreciating the good ser- vices which Father Terhorst had rend- ered him in time of need, the Bishop ap- pointed him to the pastorate of L'Anse and restricted Father Jacker's missionary work to that of Houghton and Hancock.
Father Van Paemel was retained in the Sault in place of Father Terhorst. The clerical changes having been disposed of, Baraga turned his attention to pro-
curing teachers. He needed two of them immediately. Just then, as luck would have it, Mr. William Donovan came, and was installed at the Sault, while James Sweeney was sent to Father Jacker to commence his studies for the priesthood.
To obtain a teacher for Garden Island, the Bishop went in person to Detroit, not because he could not obtain one by corre- spondence, but because the appointment had to be secured through the Indian agent, to insure the teacher's salary. Ba- raga experienced considerable red-tapism but finally succeeded with his application. Mr. Dewitt C. Leitch valued the inestima- ble services of the venerable Bishop in civilizing and educating the children of the red-skins, and, therefore, readily fav- ored his request. Dennis Harrington was duly appointed teacher of the school in Garden Island. The new appointee and his protector sailed for Mackinac. From there they made their way to Beaver Is- land and lastly to Garden Island. Lo! who could picture the dismay of the Bish- op the Indians refused to accept the teacher. Baraga returned to Beaver Is- land and located his teacher there.
On account of this disappointment, the Bishop was anxious to get away, the very surroundings became odious to him. He waited in vain all day for a boat. None came; neither going down nor up. "If a Chicago-going boat had come along I would have malheuresement taken it." So great was his disgust. As still no boat was in sight the Bishop hired a man, Goudreau, for twelve dollars to take him in a small sail-boat to Detour. It re- quired two days to make the trip. Even- ings they would not even land but take a short sleep in the boat anchored to the
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saw mill for two hundred and eighty four dollars, with the intention of moving it on the lot where the church was built. The church lot was permitted to pass into his possession for the twenty-five dollars which he had paid the preceding summer.
From Marquette the Bishop extended his pastoral visitation to the Lake Su- perior missions. First he stopped off at Portage Lake, to see how the new church at Hancock was progressing. John Burns, the contractor, had not com- menced the church in the fall as the Bish- op desired, but only in the spring, and now was hustling the job to completion. When Baraga arrived the building was so far advanced that he could set the day for dedication. Meanwhile he went to Eagle Harbor, Cliff, Bayfield, La Pointe, Bad River, Ontonagon, Minnesota Mine and Maple Grove. In Rockland he conse- crated the cemetery on Sunday, July 21st. The same day he also adopted Frederick Eis, a student for the diocese. By way of Ontonagon he returned to Portage and gave confirmation in Houghton. At the Masses the dedication of the new church across the Portage was duly announced for the coming Sunday. There was a week's time ahead of it; Baraga embraced the opportunity to spend it in his first mis- sion at L'Anse. He loved that place, the field of his first labors within the territory of his now diocese; he loved the people, for most of that generation he had chris- tianized himself; he loved the pastor not Jess, his last ordained, who had proven himself worthy of all the paternal favors. Gratified by the healthy growth of the mission which he had started almost twenty years ago, he returned light- hearted to bless the new church of Han-
cock. Another happy day! Amidst a great concourse of people of all creeds and nationalities, surrounded by priests and clerics, he dedicated the edifice to the patroness, St. Anne, Sunday, the 4th of August. At the Pontifical Highmass he was assisted by Father Fox, Jacker, and Terhorst, and the clerics Flannigan and Sweeney.
The tour through the southern mis- sions did not develop anything extraor- dinary. It proved to be more satisfactory than at the visit of a year ago. Baraga writes: "It is now three months since I made my last report to the Leopoldine Society. Since then many things pleasing to a Christian have occurred in this dio- cese. I visited the southern part of this diocese, where our most important In- dian missions are located. The popula- tion keeps constantly growing. Especially has the mission in Cross Village increased rapidly, so that its church is much too small. We therefore resolved, the last time I was there, to enlarge it consider- ably. I encouraged the Indians to work at it themselves, in order not to be obliged to hire high-priced carpenters. The In- dians of this mission, who were converted a long time ago, can work well. They build their own houses and make their own boats.
"In the neighboring village, Middle Village, they are also under the pleasing and consoling necessity of enlarging their church. The Indians belonging to this mission have shown themselves will- ing to do so. This coming winter they will make all necessary preparation for the work."2 Father Thiele, of Mackinac,
2 Letter to Leopoldine Society, Nov. 11, 1861. Verwyst.
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expressed his great desire to be returned to Eagle Harbor; as his wishes fortu- nately coincided with those of the Bishop. he was allowed to take his old parish. From Eagle Harbor Father Andolshek came to the Sault with the intention of joining the Redemptorist Fathers. He left September, 17th. September 19th, the Bishop records in his journal. "Paras- ceve for the mission of St. Joseph, Indian Reserve." It was a Parasceve, and not only that day but ever since last spring when the Bishop had resolved to build the church. We have found much detailed account of other churches, but not since his elevation to the episcopate has the Bishop shown so much enthusiasm and taken personal interest in the construction of any church. This church is located on the east shore of Sugar Island, some twenty miles from the Sault. There was only a handful of Indians, but precisely on ac- count of their isolation, the Bishop thought that they should have a small church where they could gather for their devotions in common, and where the mis- sionary could occasionally say Mass for them. On the 20th of September Baraga went down to Payment-eight miles from the Sault-most likely in a small sail boat. and from there drove along the shore, over miserable roads, in pouring rain, to his idolized little church. He vis- ited personally every hut, Christian or Pagan, and asked the latter whether or not they would be willing to accept Chris- tianity. The result was most pleasing. The small church was thronged with Christians and heathens, eager to listen and to learn from the lips of their much beloved Kitchi-Mekatewekwenaie. The
scene awoke in the heart of the old Bishop memories of the past and with them the youthful, untiring zeal for the Indian. As the church was still bare and devoid of any ornament, upon his return to the Sault the Bishop set to work on a taber- nacle, baptismal font, and a book stand: he framed for the altar a set of canon- cards, a set of stations and many other useful things. With his own hands he labored on this furniture, day after day, for three weeks. Transporting it with great care to the mission, he set each piece in its place. As the crowning act of his labors he dedicated the church on Sunday the 27th day of October, celebrated Mass, performed the stations of the Way of the Cross in the afternoon, and gave a long instruction in the evening. Another whole week he spent there preparing children and adults for their first holy commun- ion. Thus Baraga celebrated his 8th an- niversary of consecration among his In- dians !
Father Van Paemel, the only priest at the Sault. on account of his ailments, had requested the Bishop to be relieved of his position in order to return again to his native Belgium, for the restoration of his health. The request was granted, and he left on the 7th of November, to the great regret of his Bishop. Another priest was not in sight, and alone, he could not af- ford to be over the long winter. He called his seminarian Honoratus Bourion from Cincinnati to prepare him for ordi- nation. Young Bourion arrived October 30th, received minor orders November 15th, Subdeaconship, Sunday, November 17th, Diaconate on the 24th, and the Presbyterate during the first Mass, on Sunday the first of December. On the
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heathens. The fact that they were known to resist all Christian persuasion, stimulated the Bishop's zeal all the more. Under great hardships he made his way thither. Even the promise of a chapel was no inducement to them. The chief openly declared that he would never em- brace Christianity. The Goulais Bay In- dians were rewarded for their docility with a promise of a new chapel. Upon his arrival at the Sault he made arrange- ments for the transportation of the neces- sary material, hired two carpenters. James Prior and Fabian Lendreville, who finished the small chapel in seventeen days. By the time the Bishop extricated him- self from the surrounding Indian mis- sion, it got to be mid-summer and highest time for his annual visitations. He de- layed no longer. June 12th he went on the Traveller to Portage Lake. In a brief interview Father Jacker urged the ordi- nation of Mr. Sweeney. In view of his short study the Bishop took the case under advisement, and continued his journey to Ontonagon and from thence to Minne- sota Mine. Father Fox was out on mis- sion and the Bishop held all usual services the following day, it being Trinity Sun- day. In the afternoon Father Fox came home and the two walked to Maplegrove, where they remained over night at Flan- nigan's. As there was to be a first holy Communion at the Minnesota Mine, and at Ontonagon, the Bishop was persauded to remain and give Confirmation at the same time. On Corpus Christi he con- firmed in St. Patrick's church at Ontona- gon a class of seventeen, and the follow- ing Sunday, second after Pentecost, a class of forty in St. Mary's church at Rockland. That same Sunday Mr. P.
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