USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 35
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Abbot Boniface Wimmer, the superior of the American Congregation of Benedictines, was in Rome at the time, and instructed the former prior, Father Benedict Haindl, to administer the affairs of the monastery pending the elec- tion of a new superior. Through the Abbot's efforts, the St. Cloud Priory was created an abbey in July, 1866. On December 12, of the same year the fathers constituting the community met at the priory and under the presidency of Abbot Boniface elected as their first abbot the prior of St. Vincent's Abbey, Very Rev. Rupert Seidenbusch. While the erection of the abbey was discussed in Rome, the administrator began to build an abbey about one mile south of the priory. The site had been selected several years before; it was on the shores of a beautiful lake surrounded by a primeval forest-a most romantic spot-in section 1 of the township of Collegeville.
The material used for the building was granite boulders found on the spot and along the shores of the lake. It was not a very imposing building either in point of dimensions or of style, but it was a beginning and was to grow by additions as circumstances demanded and means allowed. It was 46 by 50 feet. with a basement, two stories and an attic suitable for a dormitory. The roof was surmounted by a turret in which was hung the bell which we have already mentioned. Bishop Grace came in July, 1866, to bless the corner stone; the structure was under roof towards the end of fall and on February 1, 1867, the community left the old farm to install themselves in their new home, the Abbey of St. Louis-on-the-Lake, as it was named in honor of King Louis I, of Bavaria, a great benefactor of the order in this country. The two frame buildings were also transferred to the new site and set up a few yards from the stone house. One of them served as a chapel, the other contained workshops and lodgings for the lay-brothers and laborers. The furniture of the house was extremely simple; most of it was home-made.
Thus the old Priory of St. Cloud disappeared after a troubled life of ten years; on February 20, 1866, the buildings on the Rothkopp farm were de- stroyed and the last temptation removed to make another transfer.
Abbot Rupert Seidenbusch (1867-1875). The first abbot of St. Louis-on- the-Lake was invested with the insignia of his office at St. Vincent's Abbey on May 30, 1867, and set his eyes upon his western abbey for the first time on June 13 of that year. The community at that time consisted of twelve priests, most of whom were engaged in missionary work; a cleric preparing for the priesthood, and eight lay-brothers, four of whom were stationed at the abbey. With such small number it was impossible to celebrate the divine offices with much solemnity, yet from that day to this the regular monastic choir services have been held without interruption.
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The college was conducted in connection with the Abbey and in the same building. The missionary and teaching staff was increased by the arrival, in July, 1867, of Father Augustine Burns, a native of Ireland, and for several years a secular priest in the diocese of Pittsburg, and a member of the Bene- dictine Order since 1866; he was accompanied by Fr. Alexius Edelbrock, who was ordained a priest in September following. Father Augustine, or Father Burns, as he was generally called, devoted himself to missionary labor; he was generally stationed at St. Cloud, whence he visited Sauk Rapids, localities in Meeker county, and Melrose, Sank Centre and Rooney's Settlement in Stearns county. After six years of faithful and successful service in these missions, he was authorized in 1873, to establish a monastery at Creston, Iowa, but was carried off by an apoplectic stroke before he could complete his undertaking, August 12, 1874. His companion, Father Alexius, was not a stranger to the county. His father, Anthony Edelbrock, had been the owner of a store in St. Cloud in the earliest days and was the proprietor of the Mis- sissippi ferry which in 1856 was operated by his son Anthony. The latter had left home contrary to the will of his father in 1859, had studied at St. Vincent's, taken the habit of the Benedictine Order and had now come back as Father Alexius to assist in the educational work conducted at the Abbey.
The new abbot studied the resources of the establishment and found that they were insufficient to meet current expenses and to pay the debts contracted in erecting the stone building. Foreign mission societies, such as the Ludwigs Missions Verein of Munich and the Lyons Association for the Propagation of the Faith had already sent thousands of dollars to the struggling missions of the New World. To these the abbot resolved to turn and for this purpose he departed for Europe late in August, 1867. He spent seven months abroad, returning in April, 1868, with five students, several chests of books and altar furniture for the missions. The students formed a most desirable acquisition ; they were all, without exception, far advanced in their studies and able to lend some assistance in teaching at the college.
The distance of the abbey from a railroad station and from the nearest city, which was twelve miles away, induced the abbot to build a sawmill on the north fork of the Watab river, about a quarter of a mile north of the buildings. The forest furnished an abundance and variety of timber for building purposes.
The first extension to the stone house was begun in 1868 and finished dur- ing the following year. It was connected with the older building and was 100 by 40 feet in dimensions. The cyclone of 1894 carried off its roof and part of the second floor; it was rebuilt, however, and a third story added. An extension placed at a right angle to this brick building was begun in 1870 and was ready for use in the following year; it forms the main or central building to this day, and is 150 feet long, 55 wide, and five stories high, includ- ing the basement and attic. The third floor was designed for a chapel but was never used for that purpose. The growth of the community and of the number of students soon made another building necessary. It was an exten- sion of 100 by 50 feet made in 1873-74 and intended as quarters for the monas- tic community. The buildings now presented a continuous front of 305 feet,
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all of stone and brick, and furnished with all the accommodations the circum- stances permitted.
The monastic body received an average increase of five members annually from 1869-1875. This enabled the fathers to extend the college courses and to provide priests for the missions. In March, 1869, Father Corbinian Gast- bihl of St. Vincent's Abbey came to lend temporary assistance in the mnis- sion as pastor in a congregation in the western part of the county. With him came Father Ulric Northman, a brother of Father Wolfgang Northman, of whom we have already made mention. Father Ulric was connected with the institution for a little more than twenty years and was well known in the older settlements of the county. Death removed him at the early age of 44 years in 1890. Abbot Rupert confined his attention chiefly to the missions of Stearns county. There were resident priests at St. Cloud, St. Joseph, Jacobs' Prairie, Richmond, New Munich and Meier's Grove. St. Augusta and St. Wendel (Luxemburg), were attended from St. Cloud; St. Nicholas from Jacobs' Prairie ; St. Martin and Spring Hill from Richmond; Avon, Albany, Melrose, Sauk Centre and Krain from the abbey. Outside of the county, the fathers had charge of the church of the Assumption at St. Paul, St. Mark's Church at Shakopee and St. Boniface Church, Hastings; Sauk Rapids, Benton county, was visited from the abbey.
In 1873 the sawmill was destroyed by fire; it was soon replaced by a saw and gristmill, which also became the prey of flames ten years later and was never rebuilt. During the same year (1873) the St. Vincent division of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ran its first train from St. Cloud to Melrose and the monastery was brought several miles closer to the outer world. Still the nearest station was four miles away and there was a hilly road between it and the abbey. One result of the extension of the railroad line was the arrival of a number of new settlers and a demand for additional missionaries.
After presiding over the community for eight years, Abbot Rupert was called by the Holy See to be the first Vicar Apostolic of the newly created Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Minnesota in 1875. He resigned his abbatial office in May of that year and took up his official residence at St. Cloud. For his services in this new position, the reader is referred to the history of the Diocese of St. Cloud.
The community at the time of promotion of Abbot Rupert consisted of 24 priests, most of whom were engaged in parochial work, 2 deacons, 10 clerics and about 20 lay-brothers.
Abbot Alexius Edelbrock (1875-1889). The second abbot of St. Louis-on- the-Lake was born at Duelmen, Westphalia, September 12, 1843, had come to the United States with his parents at an early age, studied with the Benedic- tines at their college near St. Cloud and at St. Vincent's, Pennsylvania, taken the habit of the order in 1863 and returned to Minnesota, as we have said, in 1867. The election for a successor to Abbot Rupert was held at the abbey on June 2, 1875, under the presidency of Abbot Boniface Wimmer. Father Alexius was declared elected and was confirmed by the Holy See on August 15 of the same year. A month previous to his elevation he had been ap- pointed prior, and in that capacity he continued to direct the community
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until he was formally installed on October 24 of the same year. The cere- monies of his induction into office and the investiture with the abbatial in- signia took place at the church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Cloud, as there was no church suitable for the purpose at the abbey. The officiating prelate was Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch. A few days later the new abbot appointed Father Clement Staub prior and Father Bernard Locnikar superior of the monastery. Prior Clement in December, 1875, organized the congre- gation in the township of Collegeville; it consisted of a few families of farm- ers living in the environs of the abbey. After holding office for one year he was again, at his own request, assigned parish work outside of the monastery; he became parish priest of St. Joseph, the village nearest the abbey, and re- mained there until he closed his eyes in death on April 23, 1886. He was succeeded in the office of prior by Father Bernard Locnikar, and Father Norbert Hofbauer was at the same time appointed subprior. Poor health compelled Prior Bernard to resign in 1877; he was succeeded by Father Nor- bert Hofbauer, and Father Peter Engel, the present abbot, was appointed subprior.
Within a few years the new abbot had succeeded in placing the institu- tion on a secure financial basis ; he also replaced by brick structures a number of the out-buildings, such as shops and stables, constructed a reservoir and installed waterworks in the buildings. The utility of the last mentioned im- provement was demonstrated on March 22, 1877, when the buildings were threatened with destruction by a fire that broke out in the stone house during the night.
Twenty years earlier, Rev. Francis X. Pierz had requested the Benedic- tines to send him some help. They had not been able to accommodate him at the time, because all their forces were required to attend to the Stearns county settlements. Bishop Rupert Seidenbusch now invited his successor in the abbey to take charge of the Chippewa Indians on White Earth Reserva- tion, Becker county, Minnesota. The abbot was convinced, that by accepting the invitation to open a mission among the Indians he would be acting in accord with the most ancient and venerable traditions of the order, and he resolved to make the experiment. Father Aloysius Hermanutz, then a young professor at the abbey, offered his services and was sent to White Earth No- vember 4, 1878. When he arrived at his destination, deep snow covered the ground, the thermometer registered many degrees below zero and the diminu- tive stove in the log-cabin which was to serve as a residence, failed to keep the place comfortable. The log chapel stood in need of repairs, and the school- house was not fit for use during the winter. After three years of privation. Father Aloysius saw better days ahead. Abbot Alexius personally visited the mission in 1881 and assured the missionary that the order was about to build a brick church for White Earth, to cost about $10,000, and also a suitable home for the clergy. Work was begun upon the church in the spring of 1881 under the direction of the abbot, who repeatedly visited the reservation and noted the progress of the undertaking. On July 11, 1882, it was dedicated and called St. Benedict's church. The basement was temporarily fitted up for a school, of which Benedictine Sisters from St. Joseph took charge.
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The success of the White Earth Mission indueed the abbot to organize an Industrial school for Chippewa Indian Boys and Girls-for the former at Collegeville, and for the latter at St. Joseph, Minn. Through the influence of Hon. K. Nelson, then a member of congress, the abbot mnade contraets with the federal government for the support of these schools. The sekool at Col- legeville was organized January 1, 1885, and was eondueted until 1896 when the allowance made by the government reached such a low figure that the institution could no longer maintain it.
In November, 1888, the abbot sent two priests-Fathers Thomas Borger- ding and Simon Lampe-as missionaries to the Red Lake Reservation in Belt- rami county, about 75 miles from the northern boundary of the state. Both clergymen have been working in the Indian missions ever since. Father Thomas is still at Red Lake, while Father Simon has for several years been in charge of the mission at Cloquet.
To return to the Abbey, in the summer of 1879 the first steps were taken to ereet a suitable church. The foundation was laid in the course of the sum- mer and the corner stone blessed September 20. It is a neat edifiee in tlie Romanesque style, built of red briek and of granite from the St. Cloud quar- ries ; it is 144 feet long and 64 feet wide in the transept. The principal en- trance is flanked by two towers with spires. The cost was about $40,000. It was solemnly eonseerated October 24, 1882, and called St. John's Church, as the name of the abbey had been changed from St. Louis-on-the-Lake to St. John's in the year 1881.
Collegeville railroad station and postoffice were established in 1879, with the late Henry Broker, a pioneer resident of the county as the first agent and postmaster. This station, which is two miles west of St. Joseph, proved a great convenience while the church and other buildings were in course of construction.
One of the abbot's ambitions was to have a large farm which would sup- ply cereals, produce of every kind and cattle for the institution. For this purpose he purchased a section of land near West Union, Todd county, about 40 miles from the abbey, in 1881. Here he built a spacious briek building, which was called St. Alexins Priory, and placed in it several lay-brothers under the direction of a priest who at the same time served as pastor for the Catholics of the vieinity, as there was no church at Osakis at the time. The farm was operated for about twenty years and then disposed of. One of the large rooms of the priory had served as a chapel, at which the Catholic farmers assembled for Sunday services. In a few years the chapel proved too small and a frame chnreh was built near by; it was also ealled St. Alexius Church, and was, in 1899, moved into the village of West Union.
Between 1883 and 1886 the three large wings that form the college and seminary buildings at the present day were ereeted. The whole length of these additions was 370 feet, the average width 55 feet, and their height five stories, including the basement and attie. The briek for all these structures, also for the church, were made on the premises.
The growth of the community enabled it to extend its missionary activity. We have already mentioned the Indian mission. Several missions in Stearns
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county received resident priests : Avon, Albany, Melrose, Lake Henry, and Cold Spring; St. Boniface Church in East Minneapolis, which had been served by a Benedictine Father as early as 1859, but had been in charge of secular priests, was again entrusted to the order in 1875; one of the fathers was sent to St. Mary's Church, Stillwater, 1880; another to Moorhead, in 1883; St. Clement's Church was founded in Duluth in 1885, and a church and rectory built at the expense of the abbey. Outside of Minnesota: A father took charge of St. Mary's Church in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, in 1881; for several years priests from the abbey were stationed at the cathedral, La Crosse, and at St. Gabriel's Church, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Early in the eigh- ties the abbot was requested to send priests to the Pacific coast, principally to take charge of the Indian missions of Oregon. He made a journey to the far West late in 1881 but had come too late.
He visited Europe three times during his term of office, the first time in 1877, the second time in 1880, to assist at the fourteenth centennial celebra- tion of the birth of St. Benedict, which was held at Monte Cassino in Italy, and the third and last time in the summer of 1889, when he also visited Egypt and the Holy Land, accompanied by Father Chrysostom Schreiner, then Vice President of St. John's University. Upon his return to Rome, he resigned . his office as abbot of St. John's in December, 1889. After his return to this country in the following year and after spending several months in the South, he was authorized by the archbishop of New York to organize St. Anselm's Church in the northern part of the city of New York. Here he built a fine rectory and a basement for a large church and was pastor of a large and flourishing congregation until the time of his death, May 20, 1908. His remains were brought to Minnesota and interred by the side of those of his predecessor, Bishop Seidenbusch, in the monastic cemetery at St. John's Abbey. A granite shaft, surmounted by a cross, marks his grave. His memory is kept alive by scores of monuments of his energy and enterprise throughout Minnesota and North Dakota.
At the time of his resignation, the community consisted of 52 priests, 13 clerics preparing for the priesthood and about 40 lay brothers.
During the vacancy of the abbatial chair, the Abbey was administered by Very Rev. Father Peter Engel, who had been appointed by Archbishop Ireland of St. Paul in his quality of Administrator Apostolic, since the see of St. Cloud was also vacant at the time. In April, 1890, the fathers elected Father Bernard Locnikar Vicar Capitular; in this capacity the latter convoked a chapter to meet May 7, 1890, for the purpose of electing a new abbot. The vicar capitular was the choice of the chapter.
Abbot Bernard Locnikar (1890-1894). The third abbot was born at Bitnje, in the province of Krain, Austria, September 28, 1848; came to the United States in 1868; entered the Benedictinc Order the same year; was or- dained a priest December 22, 1872, and had been for a short time prior in the abbey. At the time of his promotion he was pastor of the church of the Assumption in St. Paul, Minn. His election was approved by Pope Leo XIII on July 6, 1890, and he was solemnly installed in office on August 27 of the same year by Bishop Otto Zardetti. Shortly after his accession he selected
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Father Severin Gross, who for a number of years had been pastor of the church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Cloud, for the office of prior, and reappointed Father Peter Engel to the office of subprior.
The new abbot devoted his attention chiefly to the internal concerns of the community, the development of religious life, solemn celebration of the divine offices and the efficient care of souls. The monastery church was fur- nished with costly vestments, altar furniture, and, in 1891, with a large pipe organ, the latter costing about $3,500.
Upon invitation of the late Bishop Junger of Nesqually, Washington, he visited the West in 1891 to examine the field offered him. A few months later, Father William Eversmann, at present pastor at Hasting, Minn., was sent to organize the Holy Rosary parish in Tacoma. Father William subse- quently secured land near Olympia, in Thurston county, where St. Martin's College was organized in 1895.
In 1893, during a visit to Rome, he effected the establishment of the Con- fraternity of St. Benedict for the relief of the Poor Souls; the seat of the arch-confraternity is at Collegeville. The organization is purely of a devo- tional character and has members in many states.
One of the important events of his short administration was the defini- tive adjustment of the relations between the See of St. Cloud and the Bene- dietine Order. The latter had organized a great number of parishes in the Vicariate of Northern Minnesota and wished to have some assurance that it might continue to administer them after the organization of the Diocese. An arrangement was made with Bishop Zardetti and approved by the ecclesi- astical authorities in Rome, June 23, 1893, in virtue of which the order was allowed to retain permanent charge of the churches at St. Martin, Cold Spring, Albany, Farming, Freeport, New Munich, Meier Grove, Richmond, St. Joseph and the church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Cloud. The other places which had been served by the Benedictines ever since the day of their organi- zation-St. Augusta, St. Wendel (Luxemburg), St. Nicholas, Melrose, Spring Hill and Lake Henry-were to be supplied with secular priests. One result of this arrangement was, that the abbot was able to meet the demand for priests elsewhere. Freeport received a resident priest in 1890; mission churches were organized at Red Lake Falls and at Thief River Falls; in Janu- ary, 1891, Father Chrysostom Schreiner took charge of the mission of St. Francis Xavier at Nassau, Bahama Islands (under ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the archbishop of New Work) ; Barnesville and Farming received resident pastors in 1894, and in the same year two additional missionaries left for the Bahamas.
Late in 1893 the abbot and the community deplored the loss of Prior Severin, who died after a protracted illness on December 3. He was a native of the province of Krain in Austria, where he was born January 13, 1892; he was ordained a priest July 31, 1853. After serving for fifteen years as a curate and parish priest, and for six years as vice-rector of the diocesan semi- nary at Laybach in his native land, he came to the United States and became a member of the Benedictine Order at St. John's.
During the administration of Abbot Bernard no extensive buildings were
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undertaken; the new reservoir, or water tank, was constructed in 1890, and an astronomical observatory fitted up on the roof; in 1894 the present observa- tory building was begun. A meteorological observatory was installed in the turret of the main building and was in charge of Father Peter, the present abbot, from 1892 until he was promoted to the abbatial office. Telegraphic connection with St. Joseph was established in June, 1894. One of the first messages carried over this wire was the news of the calamity that had befallen the institution in consequence of the great cyclone of June 27. It had struck the house in the evening, carried off part of the south wing, slightly dam- aged the main building, unroofed and partly destroyed all the outbuildings, such as the new barn, the power house, the shops, etc., and uprooted thousands of trees. The premises presented a distressing picture on the following morn- ing, but all were thankful that no life had been lost. The damage was esti- mated at about $20,000. The buildings were at once repaired and everything was in shape when the next scholastic year opened.
The good abbot, who was at St. John's at the time of the cyclone, did not long survive the shock this catastrophe gave his feeble system. In the fall he set out upon an official visitation of the Indian missions. The exer- tions of travel made it necessary for him to rest for several weeks. For this purpose he retired to Stillwater, where his final illness befell him and he closed his short but edifying career at the parsonage of St. Mary's Church in that city on November 7, 1894. His remains were taken to St. John's for interment.
Three weeks later the abbatial chair was once more filled; the chapter had, on November 28, elected as fourth abbot the subprior, Peter Engel.
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