USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 34
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The first resident pastor was Father Ambrose Lethert, O. S. B., from 1880 to February, 1883. During this period Spring Hill was afflicted by an epidemic of smallpox which carried off twenty members of the congregation. The pastor with his own hands nursed the sick, brought them food supplies, manufactured coffins and buried the dead. His heroism and self-sacrifice will not be forgotten for many a day. His successor was Father Louis Sal- zeder, O. S. B., from February, 1883, to February 12, 1885; Father Maurus Bader, O. S. B., who died here as pastor, August 15, 1886; Father Paul Retten- maier, O. S. B., from August 22, 1886, to September 7, 1890; and Father George Scheffold, O. S. B., to June 22, 1891, when the Benedictines withdrew and a secular priest was appointed.
The first secular priest in charge was the late Rev. Charles A. Gunkel who was succeeded in December, 1896, by Rev. John Gratz, under whose pastorate the church and parsonage were destroyed by fire October 31, 1899, and were rebuilt at a cost of about $32,000. His successor, October, 1901, to June, 1902, was Rev. John Brender, who in the course of eight months paid off $5,000 of the church debt His successors were Rev. Isidore Hengarten, from June, 1902, to May 1, 1903; Rev. Francis Britscher, to August, 1910. The present pastor, since August, 1910, is Rev. Charles Pfeiffer.
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The first child born in Spring Hill was Mary Och (Mrs. Joseph Metzger), in July, 1860; the first couple married were Frank Aigner and Anna Petre.
The cornerstone of the new church was laid June 27, 1900; the building was finished in 1902 and dedicated October 6, 1903, by Bishop Trobec. Right Rev. Frederick Eis, Bishop of Marquette, who had lived at Spring Hill years ago, celebrated the first solemn mass in the church on the latter occasion.
Number of families at present, 87; 602 souls.
Among the church societies are the St. Michael's Benevolent Society, with about 60 members; a society for married women, with about 75 members, and a society for young ladies, 80 members.
WAKEFIELD.
Church of St. James. Although in point of age one of the oldest congre- gations in the western part of the state, circumstances have contrived to keep it small in numbers. Its church stands on section one of the township of Wakefield and on what was popularly known as Jacobs' Prairie, named from one of the earliest settlers. Rev. F. Pierz said mass here in the house of M. Fuchs in 1855. In May, 1856, he organized the congregation and directed the building of the first church, a long cabin; in August of the same year Rev. F. X. Weninger held a mission here and erected a mission cross. At the close of these exercises the Benedictine Fathers, who had just arrived in Minnesota, assumed charge of the church, the first service being held by Father Bruno Riss, O. S. B., on August 16, 1856. He visited the place from St. Joseph. The original church was burnt in 1858 and another was at once built. This was replaced by a frame church, 30 by 60, in 1864. At the same time a little parsonage was built for the visiting priest. An addition was built to the church in 1875. In 1877 a neat frame chapel was built near Cold Spring ; it was called the chapel of Mary Help of Christians. Here mass was to be celebrated every Saturday and a procession was to be held on August 15 every year. Both the church and the chapel were destroyed by the cyclone of June 27, 1894. The chapel was never rebuilt, but the church was replaced in the same fall by a frame structure 35 by 65 and the first services were held in it December 2, 1894, by Father Anthony Capser, O. S. B. There were 48 families in the congregation at the time. The church was finished in the summer of the following year and dedicated by Abbot Peter Engel October 17, 1895. An addition was built to it in 1899, and the entire interior was decorated in 1900.
Before 1877 all the Catholics living at Cold Spring, in the Bavarian settle- ment and at Rockville attended the church on Jacobs' Prairie ; the organization of churches at Cold Spring and Rockville diminished the congregation of St. James considerably. At present the number of families is 40, about 300 souls.
On the feast of St. James, July 25, 1905, the parish celebrated the golden jubilee of its foundation. The congregation was incorporated in 1908, in which year a new parsonage was built, although there is no resident pastor.
Pastors : The Benedictine Fathers-Bruno Riss, August, 1856, to May,
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1857; Clement Staub, to March, 1860; Eberhard Gahr, to December, 1860; Pius Bayer, to July, 1862; Magnus Mayr, to December, 1862; Bruno Riss, 1863; Matthew Stuerenburg (from Richmond), to March, 1865; Anschar Frauendorfer (from Richmond), to 1871; Joseph Vill (from the Abbey), to August, 1873; Vincent Schiffrer, to May 20, 1877; he resided here and visited St. Nicholas in Luxemburg township; Leo Winter, May 20, 1877, to January, 1878; there were no services from January to October, 1878. The following attended from St. John's Abbey: Fathers Bernard Locnikar, October, 1878, to Easter, 1879; Alphonse Kuisle, to October 1, 1880; Stanislaus Preiser, to February 25, 1881; Othmar Erren, to July 2, 1882; John Katzner, to July, 1888; Anthony Capser, to November, 1890; Vincent Schiffrer, January, 1891, to June, 1892; Eugene Bode, June, 1892, to June, 1894. Boniface Moll (from Cold Spring) to September 18, 1898; Anthony Capser, to January, 1898; Ber- nard Kevenhoerster, to August, 1899; Leonard Kapsner, to August, 1900; Anselm Ortmann, to December, 1900; Lawrence Steinkogler, to July 25, 1901 ; Agatho Gehret, to October, 1904; Bonaventure Hansen, to August, 1905; Robert Wewers, August, 1905, to August, 1910; the present pastor, Julius Locnikar, who resides at Cold Spring, since November 8, 1910.
Societies : St. James' Society, organized by Father John Katzner in 1886. President, John Schmitz; secretary, Herman Leither ; treasurer, Peter Taufen. St. Ann Society, St. Rose Society for young ladies, and St. Aloysius So- ciety for young men.
BROOTEN.
This mission is in section 31 of North Fork township in the southwestern part of the county. It was attended first by Rev. Thomas Fassbind, while he was pastor of Padua, 1898. At present it is visited from Padua.
FORMER CHURCHES.
Logering: The settlement of Logering, or Pappelbusch, in section 31 of the township of Luxemburg had a church for 15 years. A congregation was organized in 1877 and Father Leo Winter attended the mission from Cold Spring. Subsequently it was attended by fathers from the abbey and from Richmond and Cold Spring until the church was closed by order of Bishop Zardetti at the end of 1892. Its title was, Church of the Assumption, and its last pastor, who visited it from Richmond, was Father Clement Dimpfl.
Kimball Prairie. Church of St. Ann. Although generally called the Kim- ball (erroneously Kimmel or Himmel) Prairie church it did not stand on the prairie but three miles west of it near the Meeker county line and Watkins. The Catholics in the southwestern part of the township of Maine Prairie were organized into a congregation by Father Valentine Stimmler, O. S. B., in 1873; he continued to visit the settlement as long as he remained at St. Wen- del, which was about 12 miles distant. Later it was visited by the priests from Cold Spring or from St. Nicholas. In 1888 the congregation consisted of about 40 families. The church was destroyed by the cyclone of June 27, 1894. Since that time the people attend the church at St. Nicholas or that at Watkins, Meeker county.
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CHAPTER XVII.
ST. JOHN'S ABBEY.
The Benedictine Order-Colony Founded in Stearns County-The Rothkopp Property-Congregations Established-Privations of the Fathers-Noble Souls Who Have Been in Charge of the Community-Removal to St. Joseph-Establishment at St. Cloud-Permanent Location at Collegeville -Help from the Old World-Erection of the Buildings-Indian Work- Present Status of the Community-By Rev. Alexius Hoffmann, O. S. B.
The Benedictine Order was founded early in the sixth century by St. Benedict, a native of Nursia in Italy, who established the great monastery of Monte Cassino. From this center the order was spread over all the coun- tries of Europe. In 1846 it was introduced into the United States by the late Abbot Boniface Wimmer, who founded a house, now known as St. Vin- cent's Abbey, near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and ten years later sent small col- onies of monks to Minnesota and Kansas.
Probably at the suggestion of the venerable Father Pierz, who visited the Catholic settlements in Stearns county as early as 1854, Bishop Cretin of St. Paul induced Abbot Boniface Wimmer to send several missionaries. The leader of the first Benedictine colony was the late :
Father Demetrius de Marogna, who after twenty years' service as a secu- lar priest in Germany and in the state of Illinois, had entered the order in 1852 and had for a short time been Prior of St. Vincent's Abbey. He was accompanied by two clerics, Fathers Bruno Riss and Cornelius Wittmann, and two lay-brothers, Benno Muckenthaler and Patrick Greil.
On May 2, 1856, they arrived at St. Paul, where the two clerics were or- dained priests on May 17, and three days later they reached their destination, which was Sauk Rapids. Here they lodged for several weeks in the log chapel built by Father Pierz. On May 21 they visited St. Cloud for the first time. Newspapers of that day had advertised St. Cloud as a "city" with 200 in- habitants and brilliant prospects, but there was little that suggested a city- a few rude dwellings and a general merchandise store. As there were but few settlers at Sauk Rapids, and German immigrants from neighboring states were pouring into Stearns county in great numbers, the fathers resolved to abandon Sauk Rapids and make their home among the settlers on the other or western bank of the Mississippi river. Here two elderly men, William and Louis Rothkopp, had offered them their two homesteads if they consented to establish themselves near St. Cloud. They accepted the offer and settled on the Rothkopp claims.
The resources of the fathers were too limited to permit them to erect any imposing buildings at the time; hence they contented themselves with fitting up the two log cabins, and from this point as a centre they began their activity as missionaries.
On May 22, the solemnity of Corpus Christi, Father Demetrius (for the
Left to right-Top row; Roy. Cornelius Witmann; Rt. Rev. Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch, First Abbot of St. John's; Rev. Meinulph Stukenkemper. Second row; Rev. Francis Mershman; Rt. Rev. Alexius Edelbrock, Second Abbot of St. John's; Rt. Rev, Bernard Locnikar, Third Abbot of St. John's; V. Rey. Kilian Heid, Director of the College. Bottom row: V. Rev. Herman Bergmann, Prior; Rt. Rev. Peter Engel, Present Abbot of St. John's; V. Rev. Michael Ott, Subprior.
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sake of brevity, the fathers are always called by their religious names) cele- brated the first mass in the house of Joseph Edelbrock in St. Cloud, and since that time the Benedictines continued to conduct religious services regularly at St. Cloud. Father Pierz now confined himself exclusively to the Indians at Crow Wing and other northern points. While Father Demetrius, who was the prior, or superior, of the Benedictine Fathers, ocupied himself with the general concerns of his little community, Father Cornelius was placed in charge of the church at St. Cloud, and Father Bruno's first field of labor was the settlement on what was then called St. Joseph's Prairie, eight miles west of St. Cloud.
Difficulties soon loomed up. The Fathers were not aware that the donors of the two homesteads had not yet complied with all the provisions of the federal law and were not qualified to convey title. Other parties claimed the same lands, litigation ensued and six years passed before a final decision was made by the Secretary of the Interior. As a result the Rothkopps were entitled to only seventy-five acres out of the three hundred and twenty. Eventually the seventy-five acres passed into the hands of the order. In the meantime the fathers, who deemed it prudent to look for a home elsewhere if the litigation should terminate unfavorably for them, had secured land in the southwest corner of what is now the township of St. Wendel, and in sec- tion one of the present township of Collegeville.
The first missionaries began without delay to form congregations among the settlers scattered over the prairies and throughout the "bush." There was already a small log chapel at St. Joseph, and another was building on Jacobs' Prairie in the town of Wakefield. For the purpose of making a good beginning the fathers invited the celebrated Jesuit missionary Rev. Francis X. Weninger to conduct a series of mission services to revive the religious spirit in the settlers. He arrived in July, 1856, and held services at St. Cloud and at St. Joseph, after which he also paid a brief visit to Jacobs' Prairie, Richmond's Prairie and the settlement of St. Augusta.
A few weeks later grasshoppers devastated this section of the county and for a season blighted the hopes of the settlers. Food supplies were scarce and had to be brought a great distance. A second visitation of the same kind occurred in 1857, but the settlers had learned to trust in Providence and did not lose courage. To show their gratitude for being preserved from further disasters, they annually held a procession on June 5.
In October, 1856, Abbot Boniface personally visited the Fathers in this county, and brought with him an additional missionary, Father Alexins Roet- zer, and four lay-brothers to attend to domestic and farm labor. A large mis- sionary field was assigned to Father Alexius; he was to visit the settlers in Benton, Sherburne, Wright and Meeker counties. As there were no railroads in those days, and the stage-coaches did not pass the places where he was to minister, he was obliged to make most of his trips afoot. His constitution was not equal to the task; in 1859 he suffered an attack of pneumonia which de- veloped into consumption. He left Minnesota in the same year and died Feb- ruary 25, 1860.
The buildings in which the fathers found shelter at the time Abbot Boni-
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face visited them were anything but pretentious or comfortable; not in any particular better than those in which the farmers lived. In his report on the missions conducted here in 1856, Father F. X. Weninger writes: "The Benedictine Fathers have established themselves near St. Cloud. Father De- metrius, from St. Vincent's in Pennsylvania, organized the new priory. This good friend of mine was once known as Count Marogna, and was formerly a secular priest in Illinois. This establishment is a great blessing for St. Cloud and vicinity. Here it will be possible to educate priests for a country sorely in need of them. I found the fathers in a frame hut. What a contrast to the magnificent abbeys of Europe. But even there it was at one time as bad as it is here now, and things here will also improve. The Prior's apartment had not even a door, and the mosquitoes and other vermit had free access."
Father Demetrius made provision for the future by establishing a semi- nary, for which he secured a charter from the Territorial Legislature in Feb- ruary, 1857, through the efforts of the late Hon. John L. Wilson, who at that time represented Stearns county in that body. As yet the seminary did not exist, nor had its exact location been determined. According to the charter it was to be on the Rothkopp claim.
Abbot Boniface, on the occasion of his visit, saw that three priests were not sufficient for the numerous settlements ; moreover, Bishop Cretin had asked him for priests for Scott county. In April, 1857, Fathers Clement Staub and Benedict Haindl, both of whom had seen missionary service in Pennsylvania, were sent to Minnesota. Both were to render memorable services to the western missions for the space of thirty years; they are still remembered although they laid down their burdens a quarter of a century ago. Father Clement was directed to make St. Joseph his headquarters and from that point to visit the settlers in the western part of the county. In the course of his missionary trips he came to Richmond, Gan's Settlement (now Spring Hill), Ley's Settlement (now St. Martin), New Munich, Meier Grove, and St. Wen- del (Luxemburg), at which places he built log chapels. The first services were generally held in a private house and, in many instances the members of the family formed the congregation. Father Clement went from place to place, ministering to souls and to bodies, for he was a skilful physician; in the fourth year he was assigned to St. Mary's church at St. Cloud. Father Benedict was sent to Shakopee, whence he visited the numerous settlements in Scott county.
The litigation over the Rothkopp claims brought Abbot Boniface out to Minnesota for a second time in the fall of 1857. Father Demetrius had lost heart in the face of the disappointments he encountered and begged to be relieved of the office of superior. He was sent to the church of the Assump- tion, at St. Paul, and was appointed pastor of that congregation in the be- ginning of January, 1858. Five years later he retired and was for several years chaplain of the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Paul. He died March 27, 1869. His successor at St. Cloud was :
Father Cornelius Wittmann, who entered upon the office in the beginning of November, 1857, and at once organized St. John's Seminary, for which a charter had been granted in February of that year. Fearing eviction if the
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HISTORY OF STEARNS COUNTY
lawsuit were to be decided against the Rothkopps, Father Cornelius trans- ferred the priory and the seminary to St. Joseph on March 5, 1858, leaving a lay-brother in charge of the farm. At St. Joseph the community was quar- tered in a log building, little better than that at St. Cloud, and Father Cor- nelius had to travel 8 miles to visit his congregation at that place.
When the first General Chapter of the American Congregation of Bene- dictines met at St. Vincent's in September, 1858, Fathers Cornelius and Bene- dict attended as representatives of the Minnesota community. At this Chap- ter it was resolved to declare the houses in Minnesota and Kansas independent. On the same occasion Father Benedict was elected first prior of the inde- pendent Priory of St. Cloud for the term of three years. Fortunately the independence conferred upon the community was little more than nominal; St. Vincent's was called upon for men and means until late in the sixties.
Prior Benedict Haindl (1858-1862). Father Benedict, who has the dis- tinction of being the first person to receive the Benedictine habit and to take the vows of the order in the United States-in 1846 and 1849 respectively- had been for nine years in active service and was conversant with conditions in the West. He arrived at St. Joseph October 16, 1858, and at once assumed direction of the community and of the missions in its charge. Earlier in the same year the number of missionaries had been increased by the arrival of Fathers Anschar Frauendorfer (+ 1882 as pastor of St. Augusta) and Eber- hard Gahr, who is still living and is a member of St. Vincent's Abbey.
Prior Benedict considered the recent removal of the community from St. Cloud to St. Joseph inexpedient. When Bishop Thomas L. Grace of St. Paul for the first time visited St. Cloud, in 1859, he advocated that place for the college and promised to send his students if it were located there. Accord- ingly the college and priory were again removed to St. Cloud in the spring of 1859. About the same time several lay-brothers were sent to clear land for cultivation near what is now Collegeville station on the Great Northern Rail- road line. The locality was known as the Indian Bush, in section 32 of the township of St. Wendel. Here the community lost its first member by death ; it was Brother Benno Muckenthaler, who was found dead in his bed March 27, 1859. During the previous year his relatives had sent him a small tower bell for the use of the priory; it was probably the first bell brought to Stearns county and still hangs in the college turret at St. John's.
Under Prior Benedict's administration Fathers George Scherer (+1884) and Pius Bayer (+1872) arrived at St. Cloud in 1860 and were assigned mission work-the former in Scott county, the latter in Stearns county. In August, 1861, came Father Meinulph Steukenkemper, who was destined to labor in the Minnesota missions for more than half a century. His first position was that of assistant at the church of the Assumption at St. Paul, from which he visited missions and stations in Carver county.
The Civil War slightly embarrassed; two of the lay-brothers were drafted but released upon payment of a specified sum. More serious was the Sioux outbreak in the summer of 1862. Such was the terror of the settlers, even in Stearns county, that palisades and earthworks were constructed at several places, notably at St. Cloud and at Richmond. During the panic the mem-
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bers of the monastic community found refuge in St. Cloud. The Indians did not extend their ravages as far north as St. Cloud, and the settlers felt greatly relieved when they heard that the militia had succeeded in putting an end to the uprising. Father Bruno, the first pastor at St. Joseph, is our authority for the statement that Father Magnus Mayr was commandant at the "fort" at Richmond during those perilous weeks.
Prior Benedict's term of office had expired in the latter part of 1861, but it was impossible to hold an election at the time, and he was authorized to continue in office for another year. On October 16, 1862, a chapter was held at the priory near St. Cloud, Abbot Boniface presiding. This body elected as its second prior :
Prior Othmar Wirz (1862-65), who was at the time prior of St. Vincent's Abbey. He was a Swiss by nativity, a convert from Protestantism, and had entered the Benedictine Order at the suggestion of his countryman, Father Clement Staub, in 1853. He reached St. Cloud on November 17, 1862, and a few weeks later assembled the fathers to regulate the affairs of the priory and of the missions. A contemporary document contains a list of the mis- sions and stations visited by the fathers in Minnesota in the spring of 1863: (1) St. Cloud, with St. Augusta and St. Wendel; (2) St. Joseph, with Jacobs' Prairie, Richmond, Ley's Settlement; (3) St. Paul, church of the Assumption ; (4) St. Anthony (now East Minneapolis), with Crystal Lake, Medicine Lake, Jordan and Lexington; (5) Shakopee, with Marystown, Chaska, Benton, Wa- conia, Victoria, Watertown, Spring Mount, St. Bonifacius, Glencoe, French Set- tlement, Cedar Lake and Young America-five centres from which the mis- sionaries made excursions in all directions.
The contest for the homesteads at St. Cloud finally was brought to a close. The little that remained to the Rothkopps was not enough for a farm to support a community. Moreover, Prior Othmar feared that the city of St. Cloud would extend to the very doors of his monastery and mar the still- ness suitable for such an institution. Therefore he resolved to transfer the priory and the seminary for a third time. The frame building inhabited by the fathers near St. Cloud was about 72 feet long and two stories high, and would have been a valuable possession if it had stood elsewhere. Before making the change, however, Prior Othmar had the charter amended so that he might be at liberty to establish the seminary anywhere in Stearns county. The amend- ment was made February 6, 1864, and the community again moved westward. There was a log house at the old farm in the Indian Bush, but it was too small for the whole colony. A frame house and a small chapel were immediately built. The Prior had now found the retirement he had so ardently coveted, little dreaming that eight years later a railroad line would be built so as to pass almost within a stone's throw of the monastery. But when that came to pass, he was within two years of the end of his mortal career and not in Stearns county.
During his administration the community was increased by Fathers Wolf- gang Northman and Matthew Stueremburg, the former of whom was em- ployed as teacher of music and of other branches, while Father Matthew trav- elled from mission to mission as far as Sauk Centre, where he held the first
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services in 1864. Towards the end of the same year, the late Father Valentine Stimmler (+1908) was sent to St. Vincent's as the first novice of the order from Minnesota. He returned at the end of his year of probation early in January, 1866, and was connected with the seminary in the capacity of dis- ciplinarian and professor until he was sent to take charge of a church. In November, 1865, Fathers Anthony Capser and Joseph Vill arrived. About the same time Prior Othmar retired and was appointed assistant at the church of the Assumption at St. Paul, where he died June 4, 1874.
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