History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records, Part 55

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308

USA > Missouri > Scotland County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 55
USA > Missouri > Lewis County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 55
USA > Missouri > Clark County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 55
USA > Missouri > Knox County > History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records > Part 55

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CASE No. 1733.

STATE OF MISSOURI, {. s. Circuit Court, November term, A. D. 1865.

COUNTY OF KNOX.

The Grand Jurors for the State of Missouri, empaneled, sworn and charged to enquire in and for the body of the County of Knox, aforesaid, upon their oath present, that heretofore, to wit: On the 6th day of September, A. D. 1865, and at the County of Knox aforesaid, one Bernard P. McManamy, as a priest of a certain religious sect and denomination, commonly called the Roman Catholic Church, then and there unlawfully did solemnize a marriage, between one, Mac M. Berry, and one, Malinda Taylor, according to the rites and ceremonies of said religious sect and denomination aforesaid, without then and there first having taken, subscribed and filed the oath of Loyalty in the office of the Clerk of the County Court of the County, of the residence of the said Bernard P. Mc-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

Manamy, as required by the Constitution of the State of Missouri, to wit, the County of Knox, to authorize him so to do, which said oath of Loyalty is in the words and figures following, to wit: I. , do solemnly swear that I am well acquainted with the terms of the third section of the second Article of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, adopted in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and have carefully considered the same, that I have never directly or indirectly done any of the acts in said section specified; that I have always been truly and loyally on the side of the United States against all enemies thereof, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States, and will support the Constitution and laws thereof as the supreme law of the land, any law or ordinance of any State to the contrary notwithstanding; that I will to the best of my ability protect and defend the Union of the United States and not allow the same to be broken up and dissolved, or the Government thereof to be de- stroyed or overthrown under any circumstances, if in my power to prevent it; that I will support the Constitution of the State of Missouri, and that I make this oath without any mental reservation or evasion and hold it binding on me; contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the State of Missouri, in such cases, made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State.

WM. C. HILLIS, Circuit Attorney.

ENTRIES ON BACK OF INDICTMENT.

State of Missouri 08. B. P. McManamy

Indictment for solemnizing marriages without taking the oath of Loyalty.

A TRUE BILL.

Enoch Rinehart foreman Grand Jury. Filed in open court this 11th day of November, 1865.

Witnesses:

S. M. WIRT, Clerk.

BERRY, BERRY,

CHARLES BLY, JAMES C. AGNEW.

Know all men by these presents, I, Burnard P. McManomy, of the County of Knox, and State of Missouri, as principal, and John Dougherty and James A. Reid, of the same County and State, as securities, are held and firmly bound unto the State of Missouri, in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, the payment of which, well and truly made, we bind ourselves, our heirs and executors and ad- ministrators, signed with our seal, this the 27th day of April, A. D. 1866.

The conditions of this bond are such that whereas the said Bernard P. McManamy, having been indicted by the grand jury of the said County of Knox, for exercising the functions of a priest without taking and filing the oath of Loy- alty. Now, if the said Bernard P. McManamy shall be at our Circuit Court, at the next regular term thereof, to begin and be held in the town of Edina, in the aforesaid County of Knox, and State of Missouri, on the first Monday in June next, and answer said indictment, and shall not depart the Court without leave, then the above obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue in law.

B. P. McMENOMY, JOHN DOUGHERTY, JAMES A. REID.

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

To the Sheriff of Knox County, Greeting:

We command you to take the body of Bernard B. McManomy, and him safely keep, so that you have him to be and appear before our Circuit Court, . of Knox County, on the first day of the next regular term thereof, to be held at the Court House, in the town of Edina, within and for the County of Knox, on the first Monday in June next, to answer an indictment preferred against him by the Grand Jury, sworn and empaneled for the State of Missouri, to inquire into and for the body of the County of Knox aforesaid, at the November term of said court, A. D. 1865, for exercising the functions of a Priest, without taking and filing the oath of Loyalty, and have you then and there this writ.

Witness, Samuel M. Wirt, Clerk of our said Court, with the seal thereof hereto affixed, at office in the town of Edina, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord, Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-five.

[L. s.]

SAMUEL M. WIRT, Clerk.

This writ came to hand November 20, A. D. 1865. George W. Fulton, Sheriff, executed the within writ as I am commanded by taking the bond of Rev. B. P. McManomy, for his appearance before the Judge of our Circuit Court, on the first Monday in June next, to be begun and held at the Court House, in the town of Edina, Knox Co., Mo., to answer said indictment, this the 27th day of April, A. D. 1866.

Sheriff's fees, $2.75.

GEORGE W. FULTON, Sheriff, Knox County, Mo.

STATE OF MISSOURI,

Bernard P. McManomy. vs. Record Vol. III.

Indictment for preaching without first taking the oath of Loyalty.

Now at this day comes the plaintiff, by her circuit attorney, who prosecutes herein, and the defendant, in his own proper person, and by agreement. It is ordered by the court that this cause be continued until the next term of this court.

It will be noticed that this case was continued, with the understanding that a test case was made up from Pike County, Mo., commonly known as the Cummings case. Father Cum- mings, at Louisiana, Pike Co., Mo., refused to give bond, and went to jail, and his case was finally settled in the supreme court of the United States by a decision against the test oath, and thus ended all such cases in Missouri.

Rev. McMenomy, being a very ardent Republican, and yet disgusted with the laws of his State, withdrew from the archdio- cese, and went to Iowa, and is now residing at Council Bluffs. Father Walch was sent as the successor to Rev. McMenomy, but as the zealous and efficient local officials were about to arrest him and bind him over to answer to an indictment under the

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

Drake constitution, he skipped out to St. Louis. The archbishop then sent a Rev. Gleason, a thin, weazen-faced man, who got into a quarrel with several of the congregation, and finally left Knox County in May, 1866.

By this time the archbishop found Edina to be a hard and troublesome charge on his hands, so he searched the diocese as with a lamp to find a priest to come here and hold the fort, so to speak, and found at old "Swinkeytown," in Monroe County, the young tow-headed Rev. David Samuel Phelan, now editor of the Western Watchman (a most learned and able weekly Roman Catholic newspaper, published at the southeast corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets, St. Louis). Although this last named priest was born in Nova Scotia, yet when a mere child his parents moved to St. Louis, and educated young David S. in Catholic schools. His father, being a cooper by trade, had two or three large shops, with the common average cooper to work for him. Young Phelan, destined to be a priest of the holy Roman Catholic Church, ran the course of the average St. Louis lad; he saw the coopers fight, he saw the negroes "scrap," he saw the river "rats" "scrap," as they call fighting, he was present to see Gen. Lyon take Camp Jackson; in a word, he was a live youth of St. Louis of those days, so far as seeing the street fights and wrangles, and in 1864 was ordained and sent up to " Swin- key," in Monroe, among the old hazel brush ranges of that place. He got a couple of years' good drill for meeting the rough times awaiting him at Edina.

He arrived at the county seat of Knox, in the month of May, 1866. There was one paper in the county called the Knox County Gazette. The first move this hot-blooded young priest made was to secure this one paper. He got on the soft side of one of his congregation, a Mr. Alfred Cooney, and took him in as a partner to pay for the press and furnish all the money to pay running expenses, and so he got out a paper called the Missouri Watchman. It was a red-hot paper. He kept all the friends of the Drake constitution fighting-mad all the time he ran the paper.

The records show that case No. 1903 was entitled "State vs. David S. Phelan." He took a change of venue to Macon County, Mo., and the cases were all dismissed at the cost of the

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

prosecutors. Rev. Phelan was young, bright and full of spark- ling fun. He gathered Maj. H. McGonigle and Capt. Joseph H. Cell to him as fast friends, and a lot of old veteran soldiers, so that he bade defiance to the cornstalk militia followers of the Charles D. Drake constitution. He had the Catholic men solidly united for him, but those good old women who wished to go to confession every time they stole a pin found a vast deal of trouble to find the Rev. David Samuel Phelan, he was busy ar- guing with the radical circuit judge about the "blue laws " of Drake. Finally, when the archbishop thought the young priest had sufficiently chastised the followers of C. D. Drake, he called him off to St. Louis, and appointed him as pastor of one of the finest churches in the city. Young Rev. Phelan could not be contented without a newspaper. The Missouri Watchman he had left at Edina. He placed the editorial department under the control of a young lawyer from St. Joseph, Mo., who is a brother of Bishop Hennessey of Iowa. This man did not last long, and William Clancy, then a young lawyer of Edina, succeeded him and continued as its editor until the paper was moved off to - St. Louis.

The successor of the Rev. David S. Phelan was the Rev. John Fitzgerald, a blue-eyed, light-haired, demure little man- the direct opposite of his predecessor. The Cummings case had just been decided and the test oath had been abrogated, and the Knox County Circuit Court dismissed the case against the Rev. McMenomy and also the following cases:

State of Missouri, plaintiff, vs. Sister Dosetheus, defendant: Indictment for teaching without taking the oath of loyalty.

State of Missouri, plaintiff, vs. Sister Patricia, defendant: Indictment for teaching without taking the oath of loyalty.

State of Missouri, plaintiff, vs. Mother Eleanora, defendant: Indictment for teaching without taking the oath of loyalty.

The Missouri Watchman was now moved off, and all the cases dismissed, and the present much beloved pastor set about to build up the church in Knox County. The religious old man Early was yet living; he talked with him and advised and planned with him to his satisfaction. Being fully alive to the value of Catholic education, since so plainly declared in the plenary coun-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

cil at Baltimore, the Rev. John Fitzgerald labored to build up the convent school.

In 1860 Mr. Early, out of his own means, built the present convent building as a priest's residence, but, the war coming on, he did not finish it. In the year 1864 he made an arrange- ment with the congregation that if they would build the present pastoral residence on Main Street, he would deed the other house to the Sisters of Loretto. But the present pastor, who came to Edina in the latter part of September, 1868, found the priest's residence without any fence around it, and the sleepers under the church floor rotten and the floor falling down on the ground. He at once set about, in a quiet and business-like way, to put in order all church property. He soon showed a knowledge of how to or- ganize forces, and to give out work for suitable ones to perform. When he came here, and saw the beautiful outlying prairies and timber lands being daily settled up, he realized the great im- portance of having Roman Catholics occupy the land. He cared nothing about nationalities. A good Catholic was all he wanted. He was truly broad and Catholic in his ideas, so he went to the office of young Lawyer Clancy, and enlisted him in writing up Knox County. This man wrote several letters to the Boston Pilot, Irish World, Cincinnati Telegraph, Irish American, and other Eastern Catholic journals, and the same writer prepared several letters for, and got a German Lutheran, by the name of Bloomer, to translate the letters into German, for certain Cath- olic papers. All this attracted a large Catholic immigration to Knox County. Letters were received from all the States and Territories, as well as from Canada and Europe. Those large Catholic families came with from three to fifteen thousand dollars. It is said that when Clancy would get lazy and slothful, his saga- cious and far-seeing little pastor would rally him on to the work, and show him what a great good work he was doing for the peo- ple he was bringing here, and also for Knox County. He would say: " My dear sir, you don't know how much wealth you have added to Knox County during the last year. Let me show you." And then he would draw out a list, and, commencing at the top, would say: "Here is this old man and his wife-even at the old slavery nigger prices-would be worth $500 each, which is

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

$1,000; his four sons, stout young men, are worth $4,000; his three daughters are easily worth $3,000; then we know he has brought $7,000 worth of property with him, and so the total valuation is at least $15,000." Rev. Fitzgerald would say: "Now, William, that is on the lowest basis any infidel could figure it; but when you get a good Catholic family like that into Knox County, it is like the yeast or leaven to the baker. You know it is written that 'a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.' Your work, sir, is like the dew from heaven; it falls on all and blesses all." In this way he kept Clancy writing up glossy, inviting let- ters, calling in Roman Catholics, until nearly one-fourth of the population was Roman Catholic. The old brick church was more than crowded full. The devout Catholics attended church in ox- carts, in two-horse wagons, on wild, unbroken colts, and on foot. The little priest now saw a new trouble staring him in the face. He had enough work for three hard working priests. Catholics from all the States of Europe, such as England, Wales, Scotland, France, Austria, Belgium and Germany came. The letters of Bloomer called in several good German families with means- each with from $8,000 to $20,000. As a class, the Germans were second to none, if not the best. They were splendid farm- ers and most devout Catholics. Some of the older ones could not understand English well, and Rev. Fitzgerald went to St. Louis and reported the situation in Knox, and secured a Ger- man assistant priest, which he has generally had ever since. Those assistants are generally brilliant young Germans, who can speak both English and German, and do not remain long. Gen- erally a year or two is the longest time they are left, when they are taken away and other young priests sent to take their places.

The Catholic numbers continued to increase, and every Sun- day the devout members flocked to St. Joseph's Church from all parts of Knox County. The congregation on the outside was twice or thrice as large as that on the inside. The aged and more pious knelt down outside of the front door on the walk, clear onto the street, and in summer, about the win- dows, and read their mass prayers from their prayer-books; while the more thoughtless, off in the yard, played at harmless sports. All this distressed the zealous young priest. About February, 1871, he thought he saw relief.

.614

HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

At Millport, the non-Catholic people there, without regard to creed, became very anxious to have a Catholic Church, with the hope of settling up their vacant land, and building up their town. Charles McQuoid and his brother, James McQuoid, were the leading men, and donated three acres of land for a church site and graveyard. John Mauck, a Free-thinker, subscribed $50, and many others came in with small subscriptions, from $10 to $20, so that a very neat small frame church, 30x50 feet, was erected at Millport in the fall of 1871. The principal Catholics who worship at the Millport Church are the Stinsons, John Drowey and family, James Drowey and family, Patrick Long and family, Patrick Goggin and family, John Toohey and family, Thomas McGrath and family, Michael Breiner, Bernard Minkey, Charley Weber, Charley Baker, Hinrey Tinker, Henry Recus, with their families, and others. They have divine services once a month at the Millport Church, by the Rev. Francis A. Straubinger, from Edina.

While this church gave some relief to the labors of Father Fitzgerald, it was altogether insufficient. A large family of Catholics from Ohio settled in Myrtle Township, about eight miles northeast from Edina. The head of this family was Will- iam H. McFarland, a brother of the late Catholic Bishop Mc- Farland, of Hartford, Conn. The family were William H. Mc- Farland and wife, John D. McFarland and family, William S. McFarland and family, Jacob I. McFarland and family, David McEvoy (son-in-law) and family, Joseph Zink (another son-in- law) and family, and John Pulis who married a granddaughter of the senior McFarland. They also became anxious to build a church in their settlement, and got permission from Bishop Ryan, of St. Louis, when here confirming children. In this settlement, in addition to those above named, are Thomas Carr and family, Andrew O'Brien and family, William J. Pulis and family, Garret Kehoe and family, Jacob Reice and family, and Peter Ryan. The church building is 26x36 feet, and accommodates that settle- ment. They have mass every fourth Sunday, by a priest from Edina, and they have a catechism class every Sunday, taught by the adult members of the congregation.' A burying ground is attached to the church yard. While these small churches had

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

good congregations, yet they gave practically no relief from the great throng at the old St. Joseph's Church in Edina. The present rector of St. Joseph's Church, seeing the imperative de- mand for a new church, set about, in 1873, to burn brick, and in that fall laid the foundation for the present new St. Joseph's Church, which is 137 feet in length by 67 feet in width; the spire to be, when completed, 195 feet high; slate roof; greenish sandstone trimmings, from the Warsaw quarries; blue ash floor; and all of the interior finished in hard wood; burnt glass win- dows of the most costly style, etc. The interior is very happily proportioned, with a large gallery and a $2,000 pipe organ. When this church is completed it will cost $60,000, besides the work and labor donated to it, and is by far the finest church to be seen in this State, outside of the city of St. Louis. Its finan- cial worth is more than that of all the other church property in the county. All the money for the erection of this fine structure was raised in the congregation, and not a dollar solicited outside of Knox County. The church stands as a great proof of the true faith and zeal of the Roman Catholics of Knox County.

The Rev. John Fitzgerald has always taken a deep interest in education, and often urges on his congregation, from the pulpit, the great value of a good Catholic education.

St. Joseph's Academy .- This convent is controlled and man- aged by the Sisters of Loretto, and has been established since September 1, 1865. It is reasonably well patronized, and gives ample educational advantages to all the young ladies of the parish, as well as non-Catholic young ladies who may see proper to attend. It is a first-class boarding school for young ladies. Its annual term is ten months-commencing on the 1st of Septem- ber, and closing in June of each year. The young ladies who graduate from this school are much admired for their refined and lady-like address.

St. Joseph's College .- Along with the other great wants of the Catholic people of Knox County, the exemplary priest, John Fitzgerald, saw the great want of a Catholic College, where the young men of his congregation could get a finished education, in the sciences, mathematics and the languages, as well as sound, religious instruction. His hope and ambition have been to secure

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

the religious order known as Christian Brothers, to take charge of this college, but thus far has been unsuccessful, because of such very great demand for those teachers all over the Catholic world.

The building stands on the west side of Main Street in the north part of the city, on a most delightful location. It was built in 1883. The college is incorporated under the laws of Missouri, and is controlled by a board of officers, as directed by a constitution and by-laws, providing that the rector of St. Joseph's Church shall always be the president of the college. Being unable for the present to secure the Christian Brothers as teachers, lay professors have been employed, who have been giving very good satisfaction. This college is eighty-five feet long by thirty feet wide, the basement story is of rock, and the two other stories brick, with slate roof, and all appointments of the building very good for young men who wish to attend this college from a distance, and as it is not conducted alone as a money making institution, its rates are so reasonable that the poorest can obtain an education here, while the accommodations are good enough for the richest. The rooms are all large, with fifteen foot ceilings, and everything arranged with an eye to the health and comfort of the students. This good priest looks for- ward to the growth and patronage of this college with much interest. This college was built in the midst of hard times, and the Catholics of Edina, and Knox County, here, too, show a keen appreciation of a Catholic education. From their scanty means and hard earnings they built this college. The reader can now see that the Catholic Church is in a flourishing condition; its people, all united and harmonious, at peace with each other and the world. Their church property will stand for and serve the future generations. The old brick church was taken down about five years ago, and the lot on which it stood sold to the Sisters of Loretto. Aside from the finishing touches to the church, all the church property improvements in Knox County are made and nearly paid for. This is truly a grand history of the work and labors of one priest. Father Fitzgerald may justly look with pride at his nineteen years of labor in the wilds of Missouri. He has gathered around him a congregation of which

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STATE OF MISSOURI.

he is justly proud. They cheerfully and readily second all of his labors; if not, how could he so succeed? If there was one drone bee in the Catholic hive, all this could not be built up in these few years by a poor frontier people. When the present temperate, industrious and intelligent generation of Catholics have passed away, and the zealous little priest, Rev. John Fitz- gerald, the unborn generations will wonder how so much was accomplished in so few years.

SECRET ORDERS.

Edina Lodge, A. F. & A. M .- The first Masonic lodge formed at Edina was created under dispensation granted by D. W. Campbell, deputy of the Fifteenth District, May 2, 1853. The names signed to the petition for the dispensation were Elias V. Wilson, James W. Baker, Washington Minter, E. Butler, Joseph Huston, Joseph Downey and H. F. Simill. The officers named in the dispensation were Elias V. Wilson, Master; James W. Baker, Senior Warden, and Washington Minter, Junior Warden The dispensation was continued by S. W. B. Carnegy, deputy of the Seventh District, on the 13th of September, 1854, to run until the Grand Lodge might order otherwise. The lodge was granted a charter May 29, 1856, signed by L. S. Cornwell, Grand Master, and attested by Anthony O'Sullivan, Grand Secretary, with Elias V. Wilson, Master; James W. Baker, Senior Warden, and Granville D. Turner, Junior Warden. By an act of the Gen- eral Assembly of the State, approved March 3, 1857, it was incor- porated under the name of "Edina Lodge, No. 160, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons." Simeon Connelly, James W. Baker, Granville D. Turner, Joseph J. Downey, Charles G. Shoot, S. M. Wirt, T. C. Moore, Jesse Long, William G. Bryant, Philip B. Linville and their associated members of the lodge, and their suc- cessors, were created a body politic with power to buy, sell, or hold real estate, to make contracts, to sue or be sued, and to make laws and regulations necessary for their government. In 1861 the charter was surrendered, and the lodge was dormant until after the war. The charter was restored in 1865, and an effort made to revive the work, but the arrest of the charter in June, 1866, proves that the lodge had lost its usefulness.

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History of Lewis, Clark, Knox, and Scotland counties, Missouri. From the earliest time to the present, together with sundry personal, business and professional sketches and mumerous family records, Part 55

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.) Publication date: 1887 Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co. Number of Pages: 1308

Author: Goodspeed, firm, publishers, Chicago (1886-1891, Goodspeed Publishing Co.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: St. Louis, Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1308