USA > Minnesota > Rice County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 32
USA > Minnesota > Steele County > History of Rice and Steele counties, Minnesota, Vol. I > Part 32
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the Duke of Argyle, Sir Henry Holland and others of like mind and gifts, with whom he came into intimate relations. He was particularly fitted by temperament and endowment to thor- oughly enjoy the intellectual stimulus of men who have made the glory of England's and America's best social life in the last fifty years. The rare blending of geniality, magnanimity, and nobility of nature, drew men irresistibly to him.
It is the voice of a man's contemporaries which gives, per- haps, the most adequate estimate of the place he has filled in the hearts of his fellow men. The coming generation, to whom Bishop Whipple will be but a hallowed name, must receive its impression of the rare character of the man by the effect which it produced upon contemporary master-minds. In the broadest sense, he was a great man-great in character, in influence and in achievement. He won men by his broad wisdom, his persuasive powers, his rare magnetism, his high courage, and his noble citizenship. His name will stand as one of the greatest Christian patriots and bishops America has produced.
Dr. Lyman Abbott spoke truly when he said, "Bishop Whip- ple is a genuine statesman in his grasp of fundamental princi- ples and their application to special circumstances. He stood for the most practical methods of dealing with present day con- ditions, and for applied Christianity as the molding force of civilization. He was a soldier in his courage and resolute devo- tion to duty. He had nothing less than genius for bringing things to pass. Substantially all the conclusions which modern statesmanship has reached, respecting the true solution of the Indian problem, were directly formulated by Bishop Whipple over forty years ago." One of America's best known thinkers and writers said: "America has never bred a higher type of man than Bishop Whipple of Minnesota. He won not only the esteem, but the personal affection of almost every great per- sonality in the English-speaking world of the last half cen- tury." A distinguished prelate of England said: "I so well remember the Bishop of Minnesota as a comparatively young man at the college in Oxford, of which I was a Fellow, and where he was held in high honor, and was a great favorite for that mixture of wisdom, piety and charming humor which so greatly distinguished him. His name will be remembered by generations to come."
Another of England's great bishops said: "In the Bishop of Minnesota we bishops felt that we had in very truth a father in God. His splendid life has left its inspiration on the whole Church, and his valiant work, its influence upon his country and ours, where he was enthroned in the hearts of the people."
The Hon. Andrew D. White, American Minister to Russia,
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said, when he was President of Cornell University: "Take the sermons we had last Sunday, the two discourses preached by the great apostle to the Indians, discourses not only noble in themselves but preached in such a way that you felt that behind the sermon there stood a man-a very great man-a man who has made his mark on the history of his country ; a man to whose honor statues will be erected; a man who has stood between the helpless Indian and the wild greed of the whole Northwest; a man who has fought scoundrelism and lust and avarice in low places and in high; who has pursued it to the national capital and driven it hence ; who has taken hold of governors of states, and has told them, 'If you don't cut loose from these things, I will denounce you to the world.' And he has done it. It was something to even sit in the presence of such a man. And his closing words in the afternoon regarding the future of the coun- try and your own part in it-who can forget them? Certainly none of us ever will."
The king of England said: "Bishop, it is an honor to shake hands with you. Your name is a household word all over Eng- land, where it is honored and beloved." An old colored man in the South said: "When our Bishop leaves us, it seems like the birds had stopped singing." The Duke of Argyle said: "If all churchmen were like the Bishop of Minnesota, we should all be Episcopalians." The great Bishop of Durham, Dr. West- cott, said: "In my whole life I have never been brought so near to the unseen world as when in the presence of the saintly Bishop of Minnesota." Gladstone said: "He is spiritually and intellectually great." The Rt. Rev. William Croswell Doane said : "All the years of his untiring and devoted work have only served to emphasize what I have always believed, that never in any Episcopal election in the American church has the finger of God been more plainly seen, or the voice of God more plainly heard than in the choice that Minnesota made for its first bishop." Hon. Robert C. Winthrop said: "My beloved friend, Bishop Whipple, is one of the greatest bishops that has ever graced the Anglican communion." The full-blooded Indian said: "Our Bishop was all love! He taught us from the begin- ning love, love, love! My children, love the Great Spirit ; love one another ; love all other tribes! He was the greatest friend the Indians ever had." It would take volumes to portray the life of Bishop Whipple as it lived in the hearts of men through- out the broad land and over the seas. A man less great would have been more or less affected by the honors that were laid at his feet, but he was ever the same, whether environed by the traditions of ancient University or stately Church; whether in log cabin or Indian tipi; whether mingling with the greatest
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statesmen and scholars of his day or in audience with kings and queens, his charming native simplicity remained untouched ; everywhere and always he was the straightforward, dignified man of God, with the heart of that child to which the kingdom of heaven is likened. As the years go on, the great qualities of this man, though recognized from the beginning, will gather more and more lustre, and the world will realize how great a share he added to the noblest part of the history of the twentieth century.
Just before the General Convention of the Episcopal church, which met in California in 1901, in the midst of his prepara- tions as acting presiding bishop of the Convention, he was sud- denly prostrated by an attack of pneumonia, an unsuspected heart trouble revealing itself in complication. Two weeks later, on the morning of the sixteenth of September, the summons came. The country was in mourning over the tragic death of President Mckinley, but this did not lessen the effect of the message which quickly rang through two continents of the fallen prince in Israel. The effect was paralyzing, so impossible did it seem to grasp the thought that this great maker of history would no more be seen-thiat his voice would no longer be heard in passionate appeals for justice and right. From around the world came tributes of honor, bearing witness to the triumphant life of the great apostle.
By order of the mayor of the See City, the public buildings were draped in mourning, and all places of business were closed during the time of the funeral. The majestic figure lay in the vestments of his office, in the private oratory of the Bishop's house, suggesting but a momentary closing of the eyes-the noble face lighted by a grand expression of triumph ; the Indians, who had traveled long distances to look once more on the beloved face, came silently in, and as they looked, their sobs were hushed and in awe-struck voices they whispered, "He lives. In a minute he will speak to his red children." Later the body lay in state in the Cathedral, guarded by the Vestry, the active pallbearers, and the senior Presbyter of the Diocese hold- ing the Bishop's staff, a surging mass of people passing through the Cathedral, which was triumphal in purple and white and heavy wreaths of oak. Among the pallbearers were two clergy- men belonging to the Sioux and Ojibway tribes, which had been at war with each other when the Bishop first knew them. The long procession of robed and vested bishops and priests, with laymen of Cathedral and Diocesan committees, and clergymen of other denominations, added to the impressive scene as it passed the line of Shattuck cadets drawn up in order in front of the Cathedral. After the music of the Cathedral choir, while
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the body was being lowered to its lasting resting place beneath the Altar of the Cathedral, a favorite hymn of the Bishop was touchingly sung, in their own tongue, by the Sioux Indians from the Birch Coulie Mission. Later in the service, as the procession moved down the aisle, there was a pause, while the Ojibways from the Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth reservations sang in their musical language another favorite hymn, after which the people within and the vast concourse withont joined in the grand old hymn, "For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest."
The tower of the Cathedral, left for many years unfinished, owing to lack of funds, was in process of completion before the bishop's death, as a tribute of love and honor to him, under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Charles Lewis Slattery, Dean of the Cathedral. It was afterward finished as a memorial of love, by the Bishop's friends in Europe and America, at which time the beautiful chime of bells was placed in the tower as a memorial by one who loved him. And, today, as the "Bishop's Tower" stands guard over the sacred mausoleum, men go to and fro, and in reverent silence stand and read the inscription cut into the stone of its walls :
"This tower is the thanksgiving of many people for Henry Benjamin Whipple, first Bishop of Minnesota, and is the symbol before men of the supreme value of a righteous man."
(Note-Two steel engravings of the Bishop appear in this work. One photograph was taken in 1864, in the early days of his Episcopate, while the other was taken after the years had crowned his life with the fruition of his hopes.)
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SEABURY DIVINITY SCHOOL, 1.58
CHAPTER XIII.
BISHOP SEABURY MISSION.
Bishop Whipple's Influence-Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, Rev. Solon W. Manney, Rev. E. Steele Peake and Hon. R. A. Mott-Site Selected for Schools-Associate Mission-St. Columba Mis- sion-Plans for Educational Work-Beginning of the Work -Parish of the Good Shepherd-Work Among the Indians- Peace Between Sioux and Chippewas-Coming of Bishop Whipple-Episcopal Sea City of Minnesota-Seabury Divin- ity School-Growth of Episcopalian Influence-Mrs. Shum- way's Bequest-Officers of the Mission and Professors of the Divinity School-Endowments and Scholarships-Gifts of Hon. H. T. Welles, Hon. Isaac Atwater, Dr. E. C. Bill, Mrs. Augusta M. (Shumway) Huntington and Junius Mor- gan-Recapitulation and Authorities Quoted-By Rev. George C. Tanner, D. D .- Shattuck School-By Rev. James Dobbin, D. D .- St. Mary's Hall-St. James' School.
The Bishop Seabury Mission, as a corporate body, dates from May 22, 1860. Friday, the fourth, Bishop Henry B. Whipple arrived with his family to make Faribault his home. For over forty-one years the great bishop went in and out among the citizens of Faribault, a central figure, alike beloved and honored, until he entered into his rest, September 16, 1901. During all this period, exceptionally long and filled with useful deeds, the bishop was the leading figure in the corporation, guiding its deliberations by his wise and statesmanlike counsels, until he saw his work crowned with success, and the schools of the Bishop Seabury Mission became known throughout the length and breadth of the land as "Bishop Whipple's schools." But for his presence and labors these schools could not have attained their present success, even if they had existed at all.
The bishop found a school consisting of three grades-pri- mary, intermediate and grammar-with a theological depart- ment. In September, 1857, the Rev. J. Lloyd Breck, the Rev. Solon W. Manney, and the Rev. E. Steele Peake visited Fari- bault with a view to select a site for a church school. The Hon. R. A. Mott accompanied the party from point to point, and from the bluff where St. Mary's Hall now stands they saw before them in its autumnal beauty the valley of the two streams which
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unite to form one river. The beauty of the landscape was irre- sistible, and with the combined advantages of wood, water and stone for building, the decision was probably made on the spot to choose Faribault as the center for church and educational work in Minnesota. The same day, September 25, the clergy formed an associate mission, to be known by the name of "Saint Columba Mission." The scope of country to which the clergy were to minister included Faribault, Northfield, Owatonna and Waterville, with hall a dozen intervening villages.
The work of the associate mission included both the white and the Indian fields. The latter was to be in charge of the Rev. Mr. Peake, with headquarters at St. Columba, a few miles from the present city of Brainerd, on Gull lake, where Mr. Breck had planted a mission to the Chippewas in 1852. The Rev. Mr. Manney was appointed by Bishop Kemper missionary of the domestic board at Faribault and parts adjacent, retaining for the time his position as chaplain at Fort Ripley.
Soon after selecting Faribault as the center of Diocesan church and educational work, Mr. Breck went east, where he spent the winter, visiting the many friends who had contributed to his work. In the spring he returned to Minnesota, landing at Hastings on the first day of May, 1858. He was accompanied by the Rev. David P. Sanford, sometime a presbyter of the dio- cese of Connecticut. He also brought with him as teacher Mary J. Mills, sister of Mrs. Breck, afterwards Mrs. George B. Whip- ple. A little later Mary J. Leigh also joined the mission as a teacher. Three young men came from the East with Messrs. Breck and Sanford to prepare for the ministry.
Soon after his return, Mr. Breck visited Faribault to arrange definite plans for his future work. Suitable locations for insti- tutions were examined, and citizens conferred with. A public meeting was held Saturday evening., the fifteenth, at which A. J. Tanner was appointed chairman and O. F. Perkins secretary. At this meeting Mr. Breck set forth his plans, of which we give a brief summary. The work contemplated a "university" in charge of the "Associate Mission of Minnesota," incorporated under a charter from the legislature, with a male and a female de- partment, occupying distinct locations. The male department was to have in view the education of youth from abroad. with a "boarding establishment," in primary, academical and collegiate courses. The female department was to have in view the "edu- cation of young children of either sex, and of young ladies." which, it was hoped, "would grow into a seminary for those from abroad." The liberality of the citizens in offering lands is com- mended "as creditable to the public spirit of them all."
Speaking of the location of the schools, Mr. Breck says: "I
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have decided for the collegiate buildings of the male department in favor of the upper town, and of the female in favor of a loca- tion in the lower town on this side (west) of the river. The college buildings on the lands of Messrs. Faribault and Fowler, the female seminary on a block in the lower town, not yet ulti- mately decided upon. We have also chosen the latter as the site for the church we intend building in this place.
"I desire to state to you that there are associated with me clergymen of finished education and experience in teaching ; also ladies of high character and qualifications for both young chil- dren and young ladies are secured.
"The primary school will be opened in a few days for such boys and girls as may be entrusted to our care."
The grounds finally selected for the primary department were on the block west of the park, on which the present high school building now stands, two lots on the northeast corner of the block and a third on the south side of the block, cornering on the other two. Of these, one was the generous gift of Mr. Alexander Faribault, who, though a member of the Roman Catholic church, was always a warm friend of the mission; and the other two the purchase of friends abroad, at a cost of $700. Of the site for the future college, where Shattuck School stands, two and a half acres were the gift of P. N. Paquin, two and one-half acres the gift of D. F. Faribault, the same amount the gift of Felix Paquin. This was further enlarged by means of the generous gift of $1,000 from the Misses Edwards of New Haven, Conn. Farther south on the bluff was the site selected for the female seminary, containing fifteen acres, now occupied by Seabury Hall. Of this, five acres was the generous gift of Alexander Fari- bault, Esq. Here Mr. Breck erected a modest dwelling for him- self and the mission family, which included the first teachers and the young men who had come with him from the east with the ministry in view. In the spring of 1859 a plain building of wood was erected for a dormitory for the young men, which may still be seen on the edge of the bluff. A residence was also built for the Rev. Mr. Sanford in the summer of 1858 on the lot referred to in the same block with the Primary school.
We may remark, in passing, that the title, "The Associate Mission for Minnesota," had been given to the work by Mr. Breck in 1850. His associates at that time were Messrs. Wilcox- son and Merrick. It included educational work in St. Paul as a center, and church work at outlying stations. In 1852 Mr. Breck began work in the Chippeway county, to which the name St. Columba was given. The name St. Columba thus associated with the Indian work, was liable to be misunderstood by friends abroad. Accordingly, at the instance of the Rev. Mr. Sanford,
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the name was changed to "Bishop Seabury Mission," from Bishop Seabury of Connecticut, the first bishop of this church in the United States.
The Primary school for both sexes was opened June 3, 1858, in a vacant store building in the south part of the town on Front street, between Central avenue and Willow, facing the present park. Fifteen pupils were present at the opening. This was the beginning of what was to be the "Bishop Seabury University." The three young men who were looking forward to the ministry, carried on their preparatory studies at the same time with Mr. Sanford and Miss Mills.
Arrangements were made at once to crect a building on the block west of the park, on the corner of Sixth street and Third avenue, to be used during the week for a school, and for a chapel on Sundays. Its dimensions, including the chancel taken off the cast end, were 50 x 21 feet. The building was of wood, one story, with upright boarding, the joinings covered with battens, and in the "carly Minnesota pointed style." The building, the first of the "Bishop Seabury University," was opened with appro- priate religious services on Sunday, August 22, at which a dis- course was delivered by the Rev. Ezra Jones of St. Peter, on the "Connection of Sound Learning and True Religion." The Rev. Mr. Breck also made a brief address, in the course of which he said that this first house of the Episcopal university had been erected by the mutual liberality of citizens here and friends abroad. "Last night," said the speaker, "consummated another important part of this foundation in the conveyance and complete title by gift and purchase on the part of the citizens here and friends abroad of the college location, at once beautiful, com- manding, and central to Faribault." "This university. the child of Faribault, will yet prove the honored instrument of Faribault's fame throughout the length and breadth of our land. The presence of this institution has already made Faribault known to thousands abroad, who would otherwise have had no special interest in her."
The following announcement was made at the same time: "The present school house is to be enlarged at once by an addi- tion of thirty fect to its length, to comprise recitation rooms principally. The school itself will re-open on Thursday, the 9th of September."
Later, the building was enlarged by a transept to the north, and, after the coming of Bishop Whipple, of another to the south for sittings on Sundays for the growing congregation. The entire academical work of the mission was carried on in this first building until the erection of Seabury hall on the present grounds
THE V
FORMENZIO COLISÃO.
SEABURY DIVINITY SCHOOL
LAST LOG HOUSE IN FARIBAULT
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of Shattuck school, and was used for divine worship until the completion of the cathedral in 1869.
The school rapidly grew in favor; and, until our present high school system was organized, many young people of both sexes enjoyed its advantages. A considerable number of children of parents of moderate means were educated gratuitously, and during the war Bishop Whipple placed the children of the soldiers on the free list. We may add here that a goodly number of teachers of the rural schools were prepared for their work in this first school of the "Bishop Seabury Mission."
The staff of teachers was further increased in the fall term by the coming of George C. Tanner as head master, and S. D. Hinman as a teacher. These, with George Barnhart, constituted the first class in the theological department under the Rev. D. P. Sanford.
During the fall term, 1858, sixty-seven pupils were enrolled, and at the close of the school year, 1858-59, one hundred and two. The entire enrollment from the first, at the close of this, the fifth term in the history of the school, had been one hundred and sixty- seven. Of this number, one hundred and thirty-four were present at the first anniversary which took place August 17, on the grounds of the present Seabury hall. The Rev. E. G. Gear made the opening prayer, and the Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker, of Minne- apolis, the address. Two divinity students, candidates for holy orders, and three members of the high school with the ministry in view, were matriculated as members of the mission. These were addressed by the Rev. Solon W. Manney; and the entire school, by the Rev. Mark L. Olds, of Minneapolis. The educa- tional staff for the first year, or up to this time, consisted of two clergymen, two male, and two female teachers, and four pupil assistants. The character of the school was thus to be normal, and to prepare young people to become teachers, as well as for other fields of usefulness.
In the fall of 1858 a division of the work was made, and the parish of "The Church of the Good Shepherd" was organized October 26, with the Rev. David P. Sanford in charge as rector. He continued to instruct the students in divinity until he with- drew from the mission. His final service was March 10, 1859. He was followed by the Rev. Solon W. Manney, who arrived witlı his family May 23, the same year. Meanwhile, the Rev. Mr. Breck had been invited by the vestry to take charge of the parish, a relation which continued until his removal to California in 1867. Though legally separate, the parish was connected with the mission, since it was not self-sustaining. Mr. Breck was thus the head or dean of the entire work of the church in Faribault,
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having the oversight of the young men and of the missionary field, and the correspondence of the mission.
The support of the associate mission came from friends abroad through the daily mail. This had been the case at Nashotah in Wisconsin, at St. Paul, and in the Indian country.
In the spring of 1859 Mr. Breck brought several Chippeway children to Faribault to be educated under the influences of the church. For this purpose he erected a cottage the following year, adjoining his own residence, which, in honor of the first missionary to the Five Nations, he named Andrews' hall. Some Dakota children were afterwards received, and the children of these two tribes, who had been at deadly feud from time immemo- rail, were educated together. As a precautionary measure, the Chippeway children were at first carefully watched over, and were not allowed to go out after nightfall. After two or three years, the Indian department was discontinued.
In the summer of 1859 occurred the ordination of J. Johnson Enmegahbowh, a full-blood Chippeway, as deacon. In 1852, when Mr. Breck began work in the Indian country, Enmegahbowh became his interpreter, and a member of the mission at St. Columba. Immediately after the convention of 1859, Enmegah- bowh came to Faribault, where he was ordained by Bishop Kemper, Sunday, July 3.
The importance of the event requires further notice. Up to this time a Chippeway could not enter the territory of the Sioux except at the risk of losing his scalp, if not his life. Sunday was a day long to be remembered. Within the chancel is the vener- able Bishop Kemper and the Rev. Mr. Peake. Outside the chancel is the Chippeway candidate, on either side the Rev. Mr. Breck and Mr. Manney, and near these, the Chippeway, Mani- towab, who had come to be present at the ordination, while in close proximity, many Sioux Indians from their tepees were lookers-on of this strange scene. Later in the day, after divine service, a council was held at which the Chippeway chief, taking the hand of the chief man of the Sioux, addressed them through an interpreter as follows: "Once I followed the war path and thought it led to glory, but I am long since of a different mind. I have become a Christian, and this makes me love you as brothers. I wish you all to become Christians and live as do the whites and we shall love one another. It is our blindness and ignorance which occasion our going to war together. We must do so no more, and then the Great Spirit will receive us all into one family and we shall prosper and live."
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