History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 143

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

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sions and congregations formed, and churches and residences built and paid for, which were then trans- ferred to the ordinary having jurisdiction over the district in which they were situated. From the little

of ardent zeal and patient devotion. His progress among the Pottawatomies was particularly gratifying. A little chapel twenty-four feet square, with a steeple, was soon erected, and near by log huts were built for the residences of the mission- aries. A school was opened, and the building, which could only accommodate thirty pupils, was soon thronged with Indians. In the first three months one hundred and eighteen were bap- tized. During his expedition to the Rocky Mountains he ac- companied Gen. Harney on an expedition to the Flathead and Shoshone Indians on the Columbia River. The Indians had been committing depredations, and Gen. Harney's expedition was sent out with the expectation that war would ensue. Through the mediation of Father De Smet, however, the In- dians were placated and peace was assured.

His journey to the Rocky Mountains in 1840 was made in connection with the annual expedition of the American Fur Company, which started from Westernport, Mo., and from this time until within a ycar of his death he continued to labor among the savage tribes, including among others the Shoshones, Blackfeet, Pawnees, Mandans, Pottawatomies, and Sampeetches. In Oregon, among the Flatheads, his mission was conspicuously successful. In the camp of Peter Vallcy sixteen hundred Flat- heads and Ponderas assembled to receive him, and at the close of the day two thousand Indians congregated before the mis- sionary's tent to recite an evening prayer and chant a hymn. On the second day of his sojourn among them, De Smet, with the assistance of an interpreter, translated the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Commandments, and in two weeks the Flat- heads had all learned to recite the prayer. Within two months six hundred of the tribe were baptized. On his return to St. Louis the dauntless missionary passed through the country of the Blackfeet, Gros Ventres, and Sioux, allof whom were hostile to the Flatheads. Upon one occasion he and his party were surrounded by a fierce band of Blackfect, who, however, on seeing his crucifix and gown, expressed their joy at beholding a missionary, and carried him in state to their village. He was treated with great kindness, and permitted to resume his jour- ney unmolested. In the spring of 1841, Father De Smet re- turned to Oregon, accompanied by two other priests and three lay brothers, and established the mission of St. Mary's among the Flatheads. He then labored among the Cœur d'Alenes, Kalispels, and Koctenays, baptizing one hundred and ninety persons, twenty-six of whom were adults. . His work at the Flathead mission was then resumed with encouraging results, and when he started on the return to St. Louis sixteen hundred and fifty-four savages had been baptized. On reaching St. Louis, De Smet was instructed by his Superior to proceed to Europe in order to obtain assistance in the work of civilizing and Christianizing the Indian tribes. His success in Europe was unequivocal, and on the 12th of December, 1843, he sailed from Antwerp, accompanied by several priests and six Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady, who had volunteered to assist him in his missionary work, and arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1844. The Oregon mission expanded rapidly, and De Smet transferred his labors to the water-shed of the Saskatchewan and Columbia, and obtained many converts among the far North- western tribes. Father De Smet made five journeys to the Rocky Mountains in the course of his eventful career, and crossed the ocean seven times to obtain in Europe assistance for his missionary work. On his last trip to Belgium he was cre-

1649

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

band of 1823, numbering twelve persons, the Jesuits in the Missouri province have increased to three hun- dred and thirty-five, of whom seventy-six are members of the community near Florissant.1

St. Louis Cathedral .- The first church erected by the Catholics of St. Louis was evidently built soon after the arrival of Laclede and his companions, and probably at an early period of Father Meurin's pas- torate, which extended from 1764 (irregularly) to February, 1769. Father Gibault, the successor of Father Meurin, records that on the 24th of June, 1770, the feast of St. John the Baptist, he blessed " the church, built of wood," and in 1774 Father Valentin made an entry in the register, of which the following is a translation :

" In the year 1774, the 24th of December, I, the undersigned, have baptized with the ordinary ceremonies of the church & new bell, which was named Pierre Joseph Felicité, and the godfather of which was the honorahle Pierre Joseph de Pier- nas, captain in the Louisiana battalion and Lieutenant-Gov- ernor of the Illinois, and the godmother, Lady Felicité de Piernas de Portneuf, who have signed with me, the day and year as above.

" PEDRO PIERNAS, FELICITÉ PORTNEUF PIERNAS, BAROY, BENITO BASQUEZ.

" FR. VALENTIN, Priest."

Prior to this time the congregation had been called to their devotions by means of a large iron mortar, which was beaten with a heavy iron pestle, producing a sound loud enough to be heard by most of the parishioners.

In the contract for the construction of the presby-

ated a knight of the Order of Leopold as a recognition of his great merits, the decoration of the order being bestowed by King Leopold the Second. For some years, and up to the time of his death, he held the position of treasurer of the province, which included all the Jesuit houses from the Alleghenies to the Rocky Mountains.

Father De Smet was a graceful and vigorous writer, and his letters giving an account of his adventures and labors among the savages are marked by great simplicity of style and force of expression. He published several works on the subject of In- dian missions, the principal of which are "Western Missions and Missionaries," " Oregon Missions," and " Letters and Sketches." He was familiar with science and a proficient in botany, having classified the plants of St. Louis many years ago. He was also an excellent draughtsman and topographical engineer, and executed a number of maps and surveys of the Oregon and Rocky Mountain regions. While returning home from Europe in 1872, Father Do Smet fell on shipboard and was injured internally, three of his ribs also being broken. He succeeded in reaching St. Louis, and lingered for more than a year, dying at the St. Louis University on tho 23d of May, 1873.

1 The author is indebted to the " Historical Sketch of the St. Louis University," by Rev. Walter H. Hill, S.J., for valuable information concerning the labors of the Jesuit missionaries in Missouri.

tery, or priest's house, which it was determined at a meeting of the congregation held Sept. 1, 1776, to erect, it was provided that the materials of the old house should be used in building the new one, show- ing that there was a parochial residence and, pre- sumably, a church. Tradition asserts that the first church was a small wooden chapel, with a presbytery attached.

On the 26th of December, 1774, the inhabitants of St. Louis assembled in the government chamber, in the presence of Don Pedro Piernas, the Lieutenant- Governor, Father Valentin, pastor, and Mr. Sarpy, church warden, and determined upon the erection of a new church. It was decided that the dimensions of the building were to be sixty by thirty feet, and that it was to be constructed of white-ash posts eighteen feet long, and hewed on both sides above ground, to the width of six inches. The inhabitants were to furnish all the wood and materials " according to an assessment to be made on each white and black per- son of the age of fourteen years and upwards, ex- cepting widows and persons of sixty years of age, who shall be exempt as to their persons only." Pierre Baron, who was present, accepted the position of " superintendent of the building and of the assess- ment," and promised " to do his duty." Associated with him in the direction of the work were Réné Kier- cereaux, Antoine Rivière, dit Bacanet, Joseph Taillon and Jacques Noise, " who must be present at the as- sessment and at the furnishing of the materials."

The proceedings of the meeting were signed by Réné Kiercereaux, Cotte, Jean Tardif, Amable Guion, Laclede L. Liguest, Lardoise, Becquet, Du Breuil, Sarpy, Baron, Benito Basquez, Labuscière, Sans Soucy,2 Bagnete,2 Bizet,2 Bacaliot,2 Gamscha, Jacques Noisc,2 Duffand,2 Joseph? Taillon, Francis2 Bissonet, Ride,2 Louis Chancelier, Jacob2 Marechal, Laurant,2 Hunan,2 Picart,2 Fr. Valentine (curé), Pedro Piernas.

Nothing further appcars to have been done during that winter beyond maturing the plans for the con- struction of the building, but on the 19th of April, 1775, the contract for the work was awarded, as the following translation of the original document attests :

" Agreement of the inhabitants of St. Louis to build a church, and the contract and specifications therefor. April 19, 1775, the third festival of Easter.

" Before me, Don Pedro Piernas, Lieutenant-Governor of the establishments of the Illinois and its dependencies, belonging to His Catholic Majesty, in presence of the Reverend Father Valentin, Capuchin missionary, curate of the parish of St. Louis, and of Messrs. Sarpy and Benito Basquez, wardens of said parish of St. Louis, at the conclusion of the parochial mass of said place, all the artisans and inhabitants composing the said

2 " His mark."

1650

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

parish assembled to award to the lowest bidder the contract for the workmanship on the projected church at this post. Said in- habitants and artisans being all assembled, and having unaturely deliberated among themselves, agreed that said church should he constructed as follows, to wit :

" The church to be sixty feet long, of posts planted three feet in the ground, and to be tbirty feet wide, with a gallery or porch six feet wide all around, with a pent-house ten feet wide the length of the gable end, two church doors, and two windows to the pent-house, with shutters, and sash of four lights high and three wide.

" The church to have fourteen windows of twenty-eight lights, arched three inches at the top, seven lights high by four wide, with their shutters, the contractor to put in all the iron-work. At the other gable, in the inside of the church, a lobby or gallery ten feet wide, the length of the gable, with stairs and a door to the lobby. The front entrance door to the church to he twelve feet high, arched, and six wide, the floors above and below to be well jointed, the sanctuary to be raised six inches above the floor, the two doors of the sanctuary to be dovetailed, and that of the lobby plain, the large door pan- eled. Tbe belfry to he a St. Andrew's cross, shingled, the church to be shingled in six-inch courses. Windows four feet above the floor, the two front ones eight feet high. Tbe rafters on the girders at ten feet apart, with ridge-pieces above and below, a bracket at each of the four corners and cross-pieces to support the gables. The joists from five to six feet apart.

" All the materials to be delivered to the contractor on the ground of the above church, who is to furnish all the labor only. The inhabitants are to furnish, also, the iron-work, nails, and mud-walling, and to assist the contractor in raising the heavy wood-work and timbers, the foregoing work to be subject to an examination by skilled persons.

" The aforesaid church is to be completely finished for ser- vice by the month of of tbis present year, under the penalty of forfciting all pay for the work he may have done if not completed in the time specified, nor will it be re- ceived from him until completely finished.

" The inhabitants to supply him the materials as fast as needed, so as not to delay him in the work, under the penalty of paying him for the time he may have lost through their delay, the contractor to engage himself all the workinen he may find necessary, who are to be paid first out of the contract price.

" And after the above specified conditions were read and proclaimed in a loud and intelligible voice, and elearly ex- plained to the assembled people, the above work was awarded to Pierre Lupien, alias Baron, carpenter and joiner, at the price of twelve hundred livres, in deer-skins at the current value.

"This bid having been cried out at several different times, and no one proposing to underbid him, after waiting until sundown, the same Lupien demanded his right, and that the work he awarded him for the said sum of twelve hundred livres, according to the above specificd conditions, which was granted him hy Don Pedro Piernas, in the presence of as he- fore stated witnesses, and with the approval of all the inhabi- tants, said contractor binding himself to execute all the stipu- lations of the contract, and, as security for the same, mortgaging all his property now and in future.

" Done and executed at the room of the presbytery the 19th day of April, third feast of Easter, in the year seventeen hun- dred and seventy-five, which we have all signed, those not knowing how to write having made their crosses after being read to them, hefore me, the Lieutenant-Governor.

" PEDRO PIERNAS."

The signers of the agreement to build the church included nearly all the householders in St. Louis at that day ; they numbered seventy-nine, all told, and it will be observed that only thirty-five signed their names, all the rest (those incloscd in parenthesis) affixing their marks,-fifty-five per cent. of these best citizens being illiterate. The names are

Antoine Béreda, Alexis Cotté, John B. Becquet, (Jacques Labbe), (Chausel), Amable Guion, Pothier, (Kierq Desnoyer), (Amable Brunet), (Jean B. Deschamps), (François Liberge), Réné Kiercereaux, (Joseph Fayon), (Toussaint Hunot), (Fran- çois Bissonet), (Langevin, dit Baguette), (Francis Delén), (Jo- seph Dechenes), (Pepin Lachance), Louis Chancellier, Larche, (John B. Savoie), (John B. Gamacbe), (August Karcelet), John Baptiste Tardif, Louis Dubreuil, Rouqueer, Antoine Be- rard, (Daniel), (Antoine Rivière), (Jacques Marechal), (John B. Dufaux), (Joseph Moreau), (Nicholas Guion), Joseph Segond, Cottin, Benito Basquez, Josepb Labrosse, Petil, Michel Rollet de Laderout, J. J. A. Motard, (Simon Cou- sotte), (Nicholas Beaugenou), (Pierre Caillon), Gilles Che- min, (Pierre Roy), Belisle, (François Henrion), (Louis Ride), S. S. Martigny, (John B. Provercher), François De- noyers, (Joseph St. François), (Charles Routier), (Louis Bis- sonnet), (Alexis Picart), (Antoine Roussel), John Baptiste Ortes, Joseph Chancellier, G. R. Gemme, (Ignace Laroche), (Francis Hebert), (Falardeau), Michel Lamq, Louis Vaclard, A. A. Condé, (Pierre Lapointe), (Nicholas Royer), (Antoine Ladouceur), (Joseph Chartrand), (Paul Getard), (Joseph Calvé), J. B. Sarpy, Alexis Marie, Laclede Liguest, Jacques Chauvin, Antoine Reehle, Laville, Pedro Piernas.

Pierre Baron, the contractor, died on the 10th of October following, and as there was no one to repre- sent him in the continuation of the work, the inhab- itants assembled at the Government Hall, by order of the Lieutenant-Governor, Francisco Cruzat, on the 28th of January, 1776, to award the contract. At this meeting it was unanimously agreed that the work already begun should proceed, and that it should be let out to the lowest bidder, who was to be bound by the original specifications. Juan or Jean Cambas proved to be the lowest bidder, at the sum of fourteen hundred and eighty livres, in shaved deer-skins, with the condition that the building should be completed by the end of the month of May of the current year. The contract was signed by - Tardif, J. B. Ortes, A. Bernard, Sarpy, Condé, Dubreuil, Benito Peril, Amable Guion, Réné Kierccreaux, Ene. Barre Lajoy, William Duralde, Cambas, J. Motard, Francisco Cruzat.

Exactly at what time the work was finished does not appear, but the building was evidently occupied not long after the date set for its completion. It stood very near the site of the present Cathedral, on what was then " the north half of the church block (No. 59)," and attached to it was a cemetery. Speak- ing of the old church and parsonage, Judge Wilson

1651

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.

Primm, in an address before the Missouri Historical Society, said, -·

" My recollection of these buildings is very distinet. The gallery around the church, supported by cedar posts, notched and whittled by the village urchins, the swallow's nest under the eaves, the little belfry and its bell, always rung by old Alexis Lalande (the bedeau), bell-ringer, at morning, noon, and sunset, all these are at this moment as present to mne as they were nearly half a century ago.

" When that old church was demolished in 1820, I think its bell was sent to Carondclet, for the use of the church there, and is still to be found there in the belfry of the school-house of the Christian Brothers. In St. Mary's Church at Carondelet ean still be found the remains of the pews and benehes which were used in the old chureh at St. Louis."

In the summer of 1776 a project for the erection of a parochial residence was set on foot, and on the 1st of September of that year a meeting of the inhab- itants was held for the purpose of deciding on the character of the structure, its cost, etc. The official record of this mecting, translated from the Spanish archives, is as follows :

" Agreement of the inhabitants of St. Louis to build a per- manent residence for the curate of the parish, Sept. 1, 1776.

"On this day, the first of the month of September, one thou- sand seven hundred and seventy-six, at the elose of the high mass at this parish of St. Louis, the inhabitants thereof assem- bled in the old parsonage house, in the presence of the Lieu- tenant-Governor Don Frans. Cruzat, to consider the expediency of building a new residence for the occupation of the reverend father officiating in this parish.

" Being assembled, they agreed unanimously that said new residence should be built of stone, of the dimensions of forty- five feet in length by twenty-seven feet in widthi, to be eom- menced in the coming spring and earried on without interrup- tion to its completion, the Reverend Father Bernard, the present ineumbent of the parish, offering to contribute the sum of four hundred and thirty-seven livres in peltries to aid in its eon- struction, which sum had been furnished him at New Orleans in the payment of his passage from that place to St. Louis. Jean Cambas and John Ortes, carpenters, were appointed as trustees to receive the materials and make such equitable as- sessments upon each person according to his ability to pay, and to give to each individual a receipt for his assessment, which he must produce to avoid being ealled upon a second time; said house to be built with mortar made of elay, and all the timbers in the old house shall be used in the construction of the new one so far as they are suitable for the purpose.

"The assessment to be made, as in the casc of the church, upon all persons exceeding the age of fourteen, without any exception.

" It is so understood and ordered. St. Louis, this Ist day of September, 1776. L. Chevalier, Labuscière, S. Labbadie, Tayon, A. Condé, Peret, Motard, Barada, Benito, Terraute, J. Conaud, Becquet, Hebert, Poure, A. Berard, Joseph Labrosse, Dubreuil, Pieote de Belestre, Pothier, Chauvin, Law Gagner,1 Sans Souey,1 Rondeau,1 Baccaunet,1 Jaeques Labbc,1 François Bissonnet,1 Am. Guion, Laelede Liguest, Father Bernard, eurate.

" FRANCISCO CRUZAT.

" Specifications in the Contract .- The house, thirty-eight feet long by twenty-seven wide and thirteen high, to be built of stone with earth mortar, one and a half feet in the ground; a pent-house or shed at end of ten feet wide and of the length of the gable end, twenty-seven feet, to be six and one-half feet high ; the floor to be four feet above ground, and the upper floor eight and one-half feet above the lower, with a partition wall, to make a parlor and a chamber ; the walls of the house to be two feet thiek below the floor, and eightcen inches above, the par- tition wall one foot thick ; a front and rear door to the parlor and two windows, two doors between the parlor and chamber, and three windows in the chamber, one front, rear, and end ; two cellar doors and a small window in the loft; a double chim- ney between the parlor and shed, and a flue in the partition wall ; a door and two windows to the pent-house ; square gables with a small window. After the floors are laid the house to be rough-cast and whitewashed, and the hearth laid by the eon- traetor for the stone-work, who will furnish his own help and deliver it ready to receive the roof by the 8th day of Septem- ber next, under the penalty of forfeiting two hundred livres of his compensation; and if before the expiration of the said term he should abandon the contract, he will forfeit all his labor done to that period, except in case of sickness, to be certified by the surgeon. The contractor is also to furnish himself with every- thing necessary, his own tools, scaffolding, ropes, barrels, mor- tar, picks and shovels, in a word, all he may require to complete his job. Payment will be made in the course of the next spring (1778), in peltries at the current rate, and will also receive from the Reverend Father Bernard one hundred livres in peltries at the completion of his work, part of the amount he is to eon- tribute."

According to the eustom of the day, the letting of the work was proelaimed at the ehureh door, after high mass at noon, for three successive Sundays, June 15, 22, and 29, 1777, and on this last day was awarded to the following parties as the lowest bid- ders for the same :

" The stone-work as described in the specifications, to Benito Basquez for. 1400 livres. "The carpenters' work, including the timber and lumber, joists, rafters, shingled roof with iron nails, frames for eight doors, eight windows, ete., to François Delan for 550

" The joiners' work, laying floors, two board parti- tions, doors, windows with sashes and shutters, putting on fastenings, ete., to Joseph Verdan for . 299

Total 2249

" In presenee of

FRANCISCO CRUZAT.

" ANTOINE CUTIAN,

" ROQUES JACINTO, Corporals.

" COTLIN, Constable."

It will be noticed that the name of Chouteau does not appear in the list of signers to the agreements for erecting the church, nor in that for building the par- sonage. He was probably away among the Indians.

On the arrival of Bishop Dubourg at St. Louis in 1818, he found the wooden church in a dilapidated condition, or, to quote the language of Father De Andreis, one of the pricsts who accompanied him, " falling into ruins." He determined at once to begin the construction of a new church of brick, the first Cathedral of St. Louis, and on the 29th of

1 " His mark."

1652

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

March, 1818, less than three months after the bishop's arrival, the first stone was laid by Bishop Dubourg. This stone is described as having been " hollowed in the form of a chest to contain and pre- serve to the latest generations the names of benefac- tors, coins of various descriptions, and some memoirs of the present time." Notice had previously been given (March 6th) to stone-masons, bricklayers, and carpenters that the work was about to be begun, and the construction of the edifice proceeded until its comple- tion in the spring of 1820, announcement being made on the 15th of March of that year that the Cathedral would be opened for divine service in April, probably at Easter. On the 27th of August, 1823, an ad- vertisement appeared in the Missouri Republican, in which it was stated that John K. Walker had been appointed trustee to conduct the sale of so much of that part of the ground on which the Catholic Church stood, situated south of the church and south of the graveyard appurtenant thereto, as would be needed to raise the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars, for the purpose of repaying to Auguste Chouteau and others, commissioners of the Catholic Church, money which they had advanced on account of the church.

The new church was located south of the present Cathedral, and had considerable pretensions to archi- tectural effect. It was first used for service on Christ- mas-day, 1819, though not then finished. During his European tour in 1815, Bishop Dubourg had been presented by generous Catholics with many rich and rare gifts, among which are mentioned a large painting of St. Louis, the tutelary saint of the Ca- thedral, a gift from Louis XVIII. of France; ancient and precious gold embroideries, and a large and hand- some organ, sent to the church by the Baroness Le Caudcle de Ghysegheru, a Flemish lady.

The present Cathedral, situated on the north side of Walnut Strcet, between Second and Third Strects, Rev. Miles W. Tobyn, pastor, was erected at the sug- gestion and mainly through the efforts of Bishop Rosatti, who, on Sunday, March 28, 1830, requested from the pulpit that the congregation should hold a meeting at an early day and adopt measures for build- ing a new church. Accordingly, on the 4th of April, 1830, a meeting was held, at which the bishop pre- sided, and Marie Philip Leduc acted as secretary. Among those present were Judge Wilson Primm, Capt. Elihu H. Shepard, and Hon. John F. Darby. A subscription was immediately raised, Bishop Ro- satti contributing eight thousand dollars. The dead having been removed from the old cemetery in order to provide a site for the building, the corner-stone was

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History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 143

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358