History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 28

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 964

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O. M. I .; Fort Totten, Rev. L. Bonin. The churches at Bismarck and James- town were occasionally visited by the priest stationed at Duluth.

In Minnesota there were three religious houses: The Abbey of St. Louis- on-the-Lake (now called St. John's), to which belonged 27 priests, most of whom were employed in missionary work; St. Benedict's Convent at St. Joseph ; a house of Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, at Belle Prairie. In Dakota there was a house of Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns), who con- ducted a school for the Indians at Devil's Lake Agency, Fort Totten.

A report sent to the Catholic Directory for the year 1876 gives the fol- lowing statistics : Secular priests, 8; priests of religious orders, 21; total number of priests, 29; churches, 42; stations, 36; religious orders of men, 2; religious orders of women, 3; college, 1; Catholic population, white, 14,000; Indians and half-breeds, 2,500; total population, 16,500.

Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch, O. S. B. The first Vicar Apostolic who pre- sider over the Vicariate of Northern Minnesota was Right Rev. Rupert Seiden- busch, O. S. B. He was born in the city of Munich, Bavaria, October 13, 1830; came to the United States; became a member of the Benedictine abbey of St. Vincent in Pennsylvania and was ordained a priest June 22, 1853. For several years he served as a parish priest in Pennsylvania; from 1857- 1862 he was pastor in Newark, N. J., where he built St. Mary's church ; from 1862-1865 he was Prior of St. Vincent's Abbey. On December 12, 1866, the Benedictine Fathers in Minnesota who had formed what was commonly known as the St. Cloud Priory, elected him as their first Abbot. He received the abbatial benediction at the hands of Bishop Carrel of Covington at St. Vin- cent's Abbey on May 30, 1867, and at once left for the West.

In the eighth year of his abbotship he was summoned to shoulder the burden of the Apostolic Vicariate, being then in the forty-fifth year of his age. He was appointed by Pope Pius IX on February 12, 1875; was conse- crated in St. Mary's church, at St. Cloud, on May 30, 1875-the consecrating prelate being Rt. Rev. Michael Heiss, Bishop of La Crosse, assisted by Rt. Rev. Joseph Dwenger, Bishop of Fort Wayne, and Rt. Rev. Louis Fink, O. S. B., titular bishop of Eucarpia and Vicar Apostolic, of Kansas. An apostolic vicariate is a temporary arrangement only, analogous to a territory in the Union ; its chief administrative authority is appointed by the Pope and is directly subject to him. Bishop Seidenbusch was officially styled the Bishop of Halia (or Aila) in Lesser Armenia and retained the title to the day of his death.

Shortly before his consecration he had resigned the office of abbot and had taken up his residence in St. Cloud. From 1875-1876 he resided at the parsonage of St. Mary's church, and used that church temporarily as a pro- cathedral. In 1876 he purchased the fine brick residence of Joseph Broker near the corner of Sixth avenue and Third street North, which he occupied together with his secretary, and which is to this day the residence of the rector of the pro-cathedral. He publicly administered confirmation for the first time at St. Mary's church, in St. Cloud, on June 13, 1875, to 194 candi-

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dates, and on July 4 of the same year dedicated the church of St. Wendelin in the town of St. Augusta. On August 10 of the same year he conferred the holy order of priesthood for the first time; the candidates being: Revs. Ignatius Wesseling, O. S. B., Bonaventure Schloeter, O. S. B., E. P. Schneider and Patrick J. Lynch. These ordinations took place at St. John's College.

His first confirmation tour carried him into parts of Minnesota, where the sacrament had never been administered. He was at Duluth, Brainerd, White Earth, Moorhead and Pembina near the international boundary in August, 1875; at Fort Totten, Jamestown and Wahpeton, Dakota territory, in September. The month of October found him at Washington, D. C., in the interest of the Indians; at the end of the same month he was administer- ing confirmation at Bismarck on the banks of the Missouri. After spending the summer of 1877 in Europe, he resumed the visitation of the vicariate in Stearns and adjacent counties; in September, 1878, he was again at Bismarck and Fort Totten, selected a site for a church at Fargo, was in Duluth on November 1 and again at Bismarck two weeks later.

A part of his burden was taken from him when the Vicariate Apostolic of Dakota, including the entire territory, was created in 1879 and Rt. Rev. Martin Marty, O. S. B., who was to be the second bishop of St. Cloud, was en- trusted with the government of this vast district on February 1, 1880. Bishop Seidenbusch now devoted himself to the development of northern Minnesota. At his accession there were as many as 50 missions and stations: the 24 mis- sions had churches or chapels, but no resident priest. In some instances, as in the case of Bismarck, the priest came all the way from Duluth, a distance of 400 miles. It was important for the bishop to provide clergy for the Vicari- ate, not only to minister to the white settlers but also to the Indians. The Benedictine Fathers assumed charge of the White Earth reservation in No- vember, 1878, and the Father first in charge is there still-Rev. Aloysius Her- manutz, O. S. B.

In 1884 he built the Pro-cathedral of the Holy Angels, at St. Cloud, and shortly after, the parochial school, which stands opposite the church. In the same year (1884) he attended the Third Plenary council at Baltimore. Year for year the bishop continued to make the rounds of the young parishes in the upper part of the state, from the lakes to the Red river of the north, con- fining himself strictly to his episcopal duties. About 1885 his health began to fail and physicians advised him to spend the winters of 1885-1886 and 1886-1887 in the mild climate of southern California. After another visit to Europe in 1887-1888, he set out on an official tour of the northeastern extremity of the Vicariate, the north shore of Lake Superior, where he vis- ited the Indian settlements at Grand Marais and Grand Portage.

On October 19, 1888, he submitted his resignation, which was accepted by the Holy See, November 15, of the same year. After his withdrawal he spent a short time at St. John's Abbey; but the winters proved too severe and he preferred the southern climate during the cold season, always return- ing to Minnesota for the summer. The last winter of his life was spent at Savannah, Georgia, where he occupied apartments at St. Joseph's infirmary during the winter of 1894-1895. About the middle of May he proposed to re-

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turn to Minnesota ; while making a brief stay at Richmond, Virginia, he was overcome by the heat on Pentecost Sunday, June 2, and died early the next morning. His remains were taken to St. John's Abbey, at Collegeville, the first scene of his labors in the West, and interred in the cemetery of the monastery. A granite column marks his resting place.

Bishop Seidenbusch had received an excellent education which, supple- mented by experience as pastor of a church in a large Eastern city and as superior, during a very trying period, of one of the largest religious communi- ties of the country-St. Vincent's Abbey, in Pennsylvania-thoroughly equipped him for the work which was assigned to him in Minnesota. He was modest, and unassuming; had no desire to be prominent, and was seldom seen at any gathering, but those of a religious character. Beneath his occasionally brusque and blunt manner was a soul full of kindliness and good nature.

The late Bishop Marty, who delivered the funeral oration at the burial of Bishop Seidenbusch and had known him for years, paid this tribute to his character and work: "I never saw a man more unselfish, more loving, more humble, more patient, more forgiving and more like Him, who has said of Himself : 'Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart,' than the late lamented Bishop. He was the very model of that charity which is so beanti- fully described by St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians. No man possessed those attributes of charity in a more intense degree than Bishop Seidenbusch. And therefore young men from all parts of the country gath- ered around him at his cathedral, which he built himself, and from their number he chose missionaries, instruments for the salvation of the people of the Northwest, whose numbers were increasing from year to year. The Bishop was the chief instrument in the hands of Divine Providence to bring about the progress of Catholicity in northern Minnesota, to lay the foundation for an edifice which is to endure. He was assisted by the priests, by his brethren (the Benedictines), by the people, but he led with that spirit with which he was inspired, that charity without which there can be no success ; and therefore our hearts are filled with gratitude towards our common bene- factor."

Statistics for 1889. After his resignation, Bishop Seidenbusch continued to exercise episcopal functions in the Vicariate until its status was changed by its erection into a Diocese in September, 1889.

The following figures will show the value of his services to religion in the northern part of the state during the thirteen years of his administration :

Churches, 96; with resident pastors, 58; priests, 75; secular, 37; regular, 38; stations, 18; chapels, 15; college and seminary, 1; academy, 1; parochial schools, 10; school children, 1,200; orphan asylums, 2; population, 54,200; white, 52,000; Indian, 2,200.

Three Benedictine Fathers labored on the White Earth and Red Lake Indian reservations; and the Indians along the north shore of Lake Superior and at Fond du Lac were in charge of the Jesuit Fathers from Fort William, Canada, and of the Franciscan Fathers of Superior, Wis.

Three religious orders were represented : the Benedictines (St. John's Abbey, at Collegeville, and St. Benedict's convent, at St. Joseph) ; the Fran-

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ciscan sisters had a house at Belle Prairie and the Sisters of Mercy, at Mor- ris. The sisters of these communities devoted themselves to religious, educa- tional and charitable work. The Benedictine sisters conducted an orphan asy- lum at St. Joseph, and hospitals at St. Cloud and at Duluth. Industrial schools for Indian boys and girls were located at Collegeville and at St. Joseph.

Stearns county at this time had eighteen churches with resident pastors: the Pro-cathedral and St. Mary's, in St. Cloud; Albany, Cold Spring, Col- legeville, Lake Henry, St. Martin, Luxemburg, Meire Grove, Melrose, New Munich, Richmond, Sauk Centre (2), Spring Hill, St. Augusta, St. Joseph and St. Nicholas. The missions were : Avon, St. Anne, Farming, Freeport, Hold- ingford, Kimball Prairie, Krain, Logering, Maples, Pearl Lake, Raymond, St. James and Brockway.

Bishop Otto Zardetti. Very Rev. Dr. Otto Zardetti, who had been chosen to be the first bishop of St. Cloud, was born at Rorschach, in the canton of St. Gall in Switzerland, January 24, 1847, educated in the famous Jesuit college of Stella Matutina, at Feldkirch, and at the university of Innsbruck, in Tyrol, where he spent five years. During one of the vacations he made a visit to the home of his ancestors in Milan, Italy. His name and his paternal ancestors were Italian, but there was nothing in his features to suggest the presence of Lombard blood. While still in deacon's orders, in 1869, he ac- companied Bishop Greith, of St. Gall, to the Vatican council and was pres- ent at two public sessions of that body. Here, too, he met for the first time the Benedictine Father, who was to be his successor in the see of St. Cloud -- the Rev. Martin Marty, O. S. B.

After Easter, 1870, he returned to Innsbruck and successfully passed the examinations for degrees. On August 21, of the same year, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Greith, of St. Gall. (Note-These data are taken from an autobiographical sketch of Dr. Zardetti in his publication "The Diocese of St. Cloud," January, 1892. Reuss, in his cyclopedia of the Catholic Hier- archiy, p. 111, says that Dr. Zardetti was ordained August 21, 1870, by Bishop Riccabona, and claims to have all the data from the Bishop himself. As a matter of fact, he was ordained deacon and sub-deacon by the aforesaid pre- late at Trent during the "pentecostal holidays," 1867, and received the or- der of priesthood from Bishop Greith .- A. H.) On December 21 of the same year, the degree of doctor of divinity was conferred upon him by the Univer- sity of Innsbruck, "he being the first native of Switzerland to receive this honor there." (Diocese of St. Cloud, January, 1892.) In 1871 he was ap- pointed professor of rhetoric in the seminary of St. George, near St. Gall, and his fame as a pulpit orator gave him access to every pulpit of his native land. Bishop Greith, in the spring of 1874, appointed him librarian of- the cele- brated cathedral library of St. Gall, "hoping thus to bind him more tightly to his native land and diocese." But the American fever (as he calls it) had already taken its hold on his mind and it was strengthened by Dr. Mess- mer's departure for America-and by his eager study of American history and current English literature. "While librarian at St. Gall's, he traveled for several months in England, visiting, among other places, the universities

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of Cambridge and Oxford. In 1873 he was created an honorary canon of St. Maurice's, and at the age of twenty-nine, canon of St. Gall's. But all of these honors and his growing reputation could not keep him from following the call of the West and, accordingly, in May, 1880, he came for a visit to this land of his dreams." Four months later he was again in Switzerland, unde- cided whether he should devote the rest of his life to the service of the church in the United States, or continue in the splendid career upon which he had entered.

An invitation from the archbishop of Milwaukee, to fill the chair of dog- matic theology at St. Francis seminary induced him to cut short his delibera- tions and to accept the offer. In November, 1881, he entered upon his duties as a professor at Milwaukee. Five years later, Bishop Marty, then Vicar Apostolic of Dakota, invited him to accept the office of Vicar General, a posi- tion which he filled from the summer of 1887 to the time of his appointment to the episcopal see of St. Cloud. He was traveling in Europe when he was appointed, October 3, 1889.

He received episcopal consecration on October 20, 1889, at the ancient abbey of Einsiedeln in Switzerland, the consecrating prelate was the late Archbishop William Hickley Gross, of Oregon, who was assisted by Bishops Augustine Egger, of St. Gall, and Leonard Haas, of Basle. Shortly after, he crossed the Atlantic and made his entrance into his episcopal city November 21, 1889.

His administration, which lasted a little over four years, was one of un- ceasing activity in every direction. He found that the number of priests was far from adequate to minister to the wants of the rapidly growing Catho- lic population. A number of young secular priests entered the diocese and were assigned positions as pastors at churches that had hitherto been with- out a resident priest. At the end of 1889 thirty-four churches had resident priests; there were 70 priests in the diocese (including those engaged in teaching at St. John's university) ; about 40 stations without churches, 6 chapels, 2 hospitals, and an orphan asylum. The Catholic population was estimated at 30,000. He at once appointed a vicar general in the person of the late Manager Joseph P. Bauer, a board of five consultors, examiners, deans and such other officers as constitute a bishop's official staff or family. The rectory aside of the pro-cathedral was too small for the Bishop and his clergy. He personally drew the plans for a more spacious and suitable resi- dence, a brick structure two stories high, with a mansard roof. Work was begun in the summer of 1890 and on the first anniversary of his consecration he took possession of his new quarters. The building is joined with the rec- tory of the pro-cathredral and faces Seventh avenue. In the same year he ordered the decoration of the pro-cathedral.

Anxious to keep in touch with all the priests of the diocese he estab- lished an official organ, "The Diocese of St. Cloud," a four-page sheet, which was published at St. Cloud every month from January, 1891, to March, 1894. It contained communications and instructions to the clergy, a short record of diocesan events, ecclesiastical documents and valuable historical notes re- ferring to the early history of the diocese.

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Bishop Zardetti was a warm defender of the parochial school and rec- ommended the establishment of such institutions wherever it was possible. His attitude towards the educational question drew him into the public prints on several occasions.

He was renowned as a pulpit orator and was on numerous occasions invited to grace festivals and conventions with the elegance of his oratory. His discourse at the opening of the congress of German Catholic societies at Buffalo, in September, 1891, has become historic.

Late in March, 1894, he was notified of his election to the archiepiscopal see of Bucharest, in Roumania. He accepted the appointment; on April 10 he ceased to be bishop of St. Cloud, but continued to administer the affairs of the diocese. Several weeks later lie resigned the administratorship, which was entrusted to Manager Bauer. On May 16, 1894, the late Bishop left St. Cloud never to see it again.

Archbishop Zardetti took possession of his Roumanian see on November 21, 1894, after having received the pallium, which is the badge of the archi- episcopal office, in Rome on October 10 of the same year. In his new diocese he labored with as much energy as at St. Cloud, but had to contend with so many adverse circumstances that he resigned in the following year. He re- turned to Rome in the fall of 1896. Pope Leo XII, who had already appointed him titular archbishop of Mocissus, also made him a canon of the basilica of St. John Lateran and a consultor of two Roman congregations, that for the affairs of bishops and regulars, and that of extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs. His excellent services merited for him the appointment of assistant at the Papal throne in 1899. About this time his health, which had never been robust, was in a very precarious condition and he seemed to realize that his days were numbered. He had hoped to see America and, particularly, St. Cloud once more, but death put an end to all such hopes on May 10, 1902, in the city of Rome. His remains were interred in the Cistercian Abbey of Mehrerau, near Bregenz, Vorarlberg.

Bishop Zardetti was not only a distinguished pulpit orator, but he also wielded a refined and scholarly pen. He is the author of the following works: (1) Zehn Bilder aus Sued England, 1877; (2) Pius der Grosse, 1878; (3) Restauration der Wallfahrtskirche zum hl. Kreuz, 1879; (4) Leben der Ehrw. Sophie Magdalena Barat, 1880; (5) Requies S. Galli, 1881; (6) Special Devo- tion to the Holy Ghost, 1888; (7) Die Bischofsweihe, 1889; (8) Die Priester- weihe, 1889; (9) Westlich, 1897. (This book was written and published after Dr. Zardetti had resigned the see of Bucharest, and contains a description of a journey across the American continent, including the National Park.)

Bishop Martin Marty. After the departure of Archbishop Zardetti the see of St. Cloud remained vacant for nine months, until it was given its sec- ond bishop in the person of the Right Rev. Martin Marty, who came to his work equipped with the experience of a bishop and of a missionary, but suf- fering from the effects of overwork and of hardships endured in his former fields of labor.

Bishop Marty was born at Schwyz in Switzerland, January 12, 1834. He became a monk of the Benedictine Order at Einsiedeln in his native land

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and pronounced the final vows as a religious May 20, 1855. His ordination to the priesthood took place at Einsiedeln September 14, 1856.

The monks of this famous monastery had been invited by the late Bishop de St. Palais, of Vincennes, Indiana, to establish a house in his diocese. A small colony arrived in this country in 1854; a second followed in 1860, led by Father Martin Marty. When St. Meinrad's Priory was organized in Indi- ana, May 1, 1865, he was appointed its first prior. Five years later the monas- tery was raised to the rank of an abbey and Prior Martin was chosen as its first abbot. He was solemnly blessed and installed in office on May 21, 1871, by Bishop St. Palais. A year later he began to build a new monastery and a church for St. Meinrad's.

About this time his attention was directed to the needs of the Indians in Dakota territory. He visited the Indian settlements in person, learned the language and grew so deeply attached to this work that he resigned his office as abbot and devoted himself exclusively to the Indian missions. "It was a line of work fraught with countless difficulties, but the kindliness of his disposition qualified him as a preacher of the Gospel and, what was of no small importance, as a peacemaker, when the Indians brooding over real or imaginary wrongs showed themselves hostile to the United States Govern- ment. On his return to St. Meinrad's, he compiled a Sionx grammar and dictionary, by means of which he taught several priests and twelve Sisters of Charity to speak the language. He soon attained great influence over the savages; he was trusted by them so thoroughly that he went twice into the camp of Chief Sitting Bull at a time when the Indians had sworn death to every white man, and he did much towards protecting settlers. He acted thus under the authority of the United States Government. It was in 1877 that

Abbot Marty, with eight Indians and two interpreters, left Standing Rock agency and journeyed to Canada, whither Sitting Bull, whose hostilities were causing much annoyance to the Government, had fled. It was important that his friendship be gained. The Abbot caused his presence to be announced and shortly the dreaded chief appeared at the head of a hundred mounted savages and welcomed him. "You come, indeed (said the chief), from Amer- ica, but you are a priest, and therefore we bid you welcome. The priest wrongs no one, and therefore we will grant him meat and shelter and listen to his words." He eventually succeeded in inducing the fugitives to return to the reservation and to conduct themselves more peacefully. (From obituary by the writer of the present article.)

In 1879 the territory of Dakota was created a vicariate apostolic and Abbot Marty was appointed first vicar apostolic. He received episcopal con- secration as titular bishop of Tiberias at Ferdinand, Indiana, February 1, 1880, the consecrating prelate being Bishop Francis Silas Chatard, of Vin- cennes, assisted by Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch, Vicar Apostolic, of northern Minnesota, and Abbot Innocent Wolf, O. S, B., of St. Benedict's Abbey, Atchi- son, Kansas. During the next few years he had no church, no fixed residence ; sometimes he was at Yankton; sometimes at Standing Rock or Jamestown. In 1884 he made Yankton his headquarters and remained there until the diocese of Sioux Falls was created and he was elected its first bishop Decem-

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ber 16, 1889. He had governed this diocese five years, when he was trans- ferred to St. Cloud.

When he was installed in office at St. Cloud on March 12, 1895, by Most Rev. John Ireland, archbishop of St. Paul, in the presence of all the bishops of the province of St. Paul-to which the diocese of St. Cloud belongs, he found a well organized diocese, a devoted clergy and loyal people. During the twenty months of his government of this see he impressed and edified all by his simplicity, devotion to duty and charity. In June, 1895, he delivered a feeling oration at the burial of his predecessor in the northern mission field, Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch. In spite of his poor health he performed all the burdensome duties incident to the episcopal office, visiting the congrega- tions to administer confirmation, to bless corner-stones for churches, preside at ecclesiastical celebrations, etc. He confirmed for the last time at St. Wendelin's church, Luxemburg, September 15, 1896, when he broke down completely. On September 19, 1896, the diocese was bereaved for a second time. The obsequies took place September 23 and the remains were temporarily interred in Calvary cemetery, at St. Cloud.

In his earlier days, the deceased had displayed literary activity of no mean order, but his missionary work subsequently engrossed his attention to the exclusion of all other activities. Besides the aids for the study of the Sioux language mentioned above, he wrote : (1) Cantuarium Romanum. (The Ordinary of the Mass, with organ accompaniment by the author), 1869; (2) Dr. Johann Martin Henni, Erster Bischof und Erzbischof von Milwaukee, 1888; (3) Der hl. Benedikt und sein Orden (published anonymously), 1874.

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History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I, Part 28

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper Number of Pages: 964

Author: Mitchell, William Bell, 1843-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : H. S. Cooper
Number of Pages: 964