History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 147

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

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 147

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THE REDEMPTORIST FATHERS, or Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, established a branch of their order in St. Louis in 1861. The order, founded by St. Alphonsus de Liguori in 1732, and approved by Pope Benedict XIV. Feb. 25, 1749, has for one of its principal objects the giving of retreats and the holding of missions for priests, religious communities, and the people, but in this country the members of the order have also charge of parishes and perform the work of secular priests. From Naples, where it originated, the order has spread in every direc- tion, and has attained gigantic proportions. The first Fathers to settle in America came to this country in 1832, and established houses in Baltimore, Roches- ter, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pitts- burgh, Chicago, etc., and in 1861, at the invitation of Archbishop Kenrick, visited St. Louis in order to hold a mission in the Cathedral. The archbishop was so well pleased with their labors that he offered them a foundation in St. Louis and requested them to take temporary charge of the Cathedral, which they did, remaining there until their removal to their own (St. Alphonsus') church. Until 1875 all the houses of

the order in the United States and Canada formed but one province, but in that year the province was divided into the Eastern and Western Provinces, with Baltimore as the residence of the provincial of the Eastern, and St. Louis of the Western Province. To the latter belong St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and Detroit. Very Rev. Nicholas Jaeckel was the first provincial in the West, and has twice been reappointed for terms of three years each. The convent of the order stands in the rear of the church, and is a large building, having twenty-two dwelling-rooms, a library, recreation hall, refectory, kitchen, etc. Its cost was thirty thousand dollars. There are continually from ten to twelve Fathers at- tached to the house, and from five to six lay brothers.

St. Francis de Sales Church, northwest corner of Gravois road and Ohio Avenue, Rev. P. J. Lotz, pastor, was organized in 1867, as an offshoot from SS. Peter and Paul parish, by a number of families resident near the present location, and was for a time without a priest and struggling under the pressure of a heavy debt, which is now being gradually reduced. The property, comprising about one-fourth of the en- tire block, was purchased at the time of the organi- zation of the parish, and the church was erected before a pastor had been appointed. Rev. L. Lay, the first pastor, added the pastoral residence in the rear of the church, and Rev. P. Wigger, his succes- sor, built and organized the parochial school in 1874, which is now taught by one secular teacher and four sisters, and has three hundred scholars. The build- ing stands north of the church, and is a fine brick structure with accommodations for three hundred and fifty pupils. The third and present pastor took charge in 1878. He enlarged the church and added to it a spire and a new slate roof, at a cost of seven thousand dollars. Rev. F. Reuther is his assistant. The parish contains about three hundred and fifty families and seven hundred communicants, and connected with the church are the St. Joseph's Benevolent Society, Society of Christian Mothers, St. Mary's Sodality for Young Men, and Young Ladies' Sodality.

St. Bonaventura's Church, devoted to the use of the Italian Catholics of St. Louis, is situated on the southeast corner of Sixth and Spruce Streets, and the pastor is the Rev. Nazareno Orfei. The building was purchased in 1871 by. Vicar-General Muhlsiepen from the congregation of St. John's Protestant Epis- copal Church, by whom it had been erected in 1853. At the time of its purchase there were about five thou- sand Italian Catholics in St. Louis. The amount paid for it by Vicar-General Muhlsiepen was fifteen thou- sand dollars. It is a handsome structure of brick,

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forty-three by one hundred and ten feet, and after being adapted to the uses of the congregation was blessed by the vicar-general on the 21st of April, 1872. At that time Rev. John B. Salvatelli, of the Black Franciscan Brothers, was the pastor, with Rev. N. Graziani as assistant. The church did not prosper under their charge, and in 1877 the building was closed and trustees made over the property to the archbishop, who called the present pastor from New Orleans to revive the enterprise. Father Orfei arrived in St. Louis July 14, 1877, and by his excrtions soon restored the activity of the church. The sum of twenty thousand dollars (in addition to the pur- chase-money) was expended in preparing the ehureli for Catholie worship. The building is modeled after the Church of St. Lawrence, outside the walls of Rome, and has a seating capacity of eight hun- dred. Father Orfei has organized in connection with his congregation a society known as the Third Order of St. Francis, now composed of sixty members of both sexes, which meets on the last Sunday of every month at four P.M. The congregation is composed of about three thousand persons, and there are two teachers and fifty scholars in the Sunday-school. The present location of the church became unsuitable long since, owing to its remoteness from the centre of residence of the parishioners, and a removal to a more eligible site is contemplated.

Church of the Immaculate Conception .- The original Church of the Immaculate Conception stood at the corner of Eighth and Chestnut Streets. The corner-stone was laid on the 8th of December, 1854, and the church was dedicated by Archbishop Ken- rick in 1855. The work of construction was con- ducted by Fathers Bannon and Duggan, the latter of whom was afterwards Bishop of Chicago, and subse- quently by Fathers Feehan (afterwards Bishop of Nashville), Keilty, Cronin, and O'Reilly. In 1874 the congregation removed to the southeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and Locust Street, where a frame chapel capable of' seating five hundred persons was erected and dedicated on the 7th of June of that year. The parish comprises about two thousand persons, and the Sunday-school is attended by two Sisters of Lo- retto and one hundred and seventy-five scholars.

Church of the Sacred Heart .- In 1871 a briek chapel was ereeted for the use of the then newly-or- ganized Church of the Sacred Heart, at the sontheast corner of University and Twentieth Streets, and was dedicated on the 28th of May, 1871, the sermon being preached by the pastor, Rev. J. J. MeCabe. In 1882 the chapel was enlarged, and it is intended ulti- mately to build a large church of stone. The parochial

residence adjoining the church is an elegant stone structure of Gothie architecture. The parish school is located temporarily in the old Reservoir Market building, on Eighteenth Street, near Warren, and is under the charge of the Sisters of Loretto. There are about one hundred families in the parish, embrac- ing three hundred regular communicants. The pas- tors are Revs. J. J. McCabe and J. M. McCabe.

Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel .- In October, 1872, the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was organized by the present pastor, Rev. D. S. Phelan, for the English-speaking Catholics of the northern portion of the city. The corner-stone of the church, which is situated on the east side of Church Street, near north eity limits, was laid on the 16th of October, 1872, and the building was dedi- cated on the 4th of May, 1873. It is a Gothic brick structure, fifty. by seventy-five feet, and stands upon a lot containing about half an acre, the property being valued at fifteen thousand dollars. The parochial school, organized in September, 1874, is conducted in a briek building thirty-five by fifty fcet, situated near the church, and has two teachers and ninety scholars. There are four societies (religious or be- nevolent) connected with the church, having from thirty to seventy-five members each. The congrega- tion numbers about one hundred families and four teachers, and about one hundred pupils attend the Sunday-school. Rev. William Noonan is assistant pastor, and also chaplain of Calvary Cemetery.

St. Agatha's German Church; northwest corner of Utah and Eighth Streets, Rev. William Hinssen, pastor, was dedieated by Bishop Ryan on the 14th of July, 1872, mass being celebrated by Very Rev. H. Muhlsiepen, S.J. It is a brick structure forty by one hundred feet, with two stories and basement, the first story being used as the parish school, which is conducted by four Sisters of the Precious Blood and one secular teacher, and numbers about four hundred scholars. The main auditorium on the second floor will seat about four hundred and fifty persons, and is filled every Sunday beyond its seating eapaeity. There are about seven hundred communicants in the parish. The church lot comprises about one-fourth of the block, and its northeastern extremity is occu- pied by a substantial parochial residence.

Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor .- The congregation of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor (Fourteenth Strect and Linton Avenue, North St. Louis, Rev. A. Schilling, pastor) was organized in 1873 by forty familics from Holy Trinity parish. The corner-stone of the present building was laid Oct. 6, 1873, and the church was dedicated May 17,

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HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

1874. It is a brick building, of Romanesque archi- tecture, eighty by forty fect, with four basement-rooms, in which. the parochial school is conducted by five Sisters of Notre Dame. The school was established Sept. 1, 1873, and has now two hundred and twenty- five pupils. The church has a seating capacity of five hundred, and, with the pastoral residence, is valued at thirty thousand dollars. The congregation is growing so rapidly that it is proposed to erect in a few years a second building, with a front of two hundred and sixty-three feet and a depth of one hundred and thirty- eight and a half fcet, at a cost of not less than fifty thousand dollars. There are several social and benev- olent societies connected with the congregation, which has increased from the original forty to one hundred and sixty families.

· St. Augustine's Church (southeast corner of Twenty-sccond and Hebert Streets, Rev. H. V. Kalmer, pastor) is a German congregation, and was organized in 1874. The corner-stone of the building was laid Oct. 4, 1874, and the church was dedicated June 6, 1875. It is of brick, forty-seven by eighty- five feet, with two stories and a basement, the latter being used as a play-room for the pupils of the paro- chial school, which is conducted in four class-rooms on the first floor. The school was organized in Septem- ber, 1875, with seventy-five pupils, and now numbers two hundred pupils, under the charge of three Sisters of the Precious Blood and one secular teacher. A two-story brick parsonage, eighteen by thirty-two feet, was built in 1875. The church property measures three hundred and seventy-five feet on the south side of Hebert Street. The first pastor was Rev. H. Jaegering, who was succeeded by Father Kalmer June 15, 1881. Connected with the congregation, which numbers about six hundred persons, are the St. Augustinc's Benevolent Society (organized 1880), Orphan Association (organized 1882), St. Aloysius Society (organized 1875), Ladies' Altar Association (organized 1876), Young Men's Sodality (organized 1876), and Ladies' Sodality (organized 1876). There is no Sunday-school conducted by the church.

St. Kevin's Church .- The congregation of St. Kevin's Church, Compton Avenue and Sarah Street, Rev. Edward J. Shea, pastor, was organized in Janu- ary, 1876, by Rev. P. L. McEvoy, its first pastor, who was succceded by the present incumbent, Aug. 1, 1879. The church owns five lots, with a total front of one hundred and twenty-five feet by one hundred and twenty-five feet in depth. The church building is eighty by forty feet, and has a seating capacity of three hundred and twenty. The parochial school building is a two-story structure, has five large class-

rooms, and can seat three hundred and fifty scholars. The school, established at the organization of the parish, is under the care of the Sisters of Loretto, and has four teachers and one hundred and sixty pupils. The Sunday-school is attended by seven teachers and two hundred scholars. The value of the entire church property is estimated at twelve thousand dollars. There are one hundred and fifty families, or about six hundred persons, in the parish, and five hundred communicants.

The Church of the Holy Name, Grand Avenue near Fourteenth Street, Rev. Thomas Bonacum, pas- tor, was established about 1876 by Rev. P. J. Gleason, its first pastor, mainly with a congregation that had some years before been organized by the Jesuits as St. Thomas' Church, and had had a house of worship on O'Fallon Avenue, but had dispersed. The church is a Gothic brick structure, sixty by one hundred and thirty feet, and will seat one thousand persons. The church lot is two hundred by one hundred and fifty feet, and on it is situated a commodious parochial residence of two stories and basement, comprising eight rooms. The total cost of the ground and buildings was about twenty-seven thousand dollars. About three hundred families are connected with the congregation, and two hundred and twenty-five chil- dren attend the Sunday-school. No parish school has yet been organized. Rev. George A. Watson is assistant pastor.

St. Stanislaus Kostka (Polish) Church, Twenty- third Street, between Cass Avenue and O'Fallon Streets, is the first Polish congregation in the city. It was organized in St. Joseph's Church in 1879, and worshiped in the basement of St. Patrick's School until the erection of the present building, which was consecrated by Bishop Ryan on Sunday, Nov. 12, 1882. It cost thirteen thousand dollars, and has a front of seventy-five feet. The first floor is occupied by school-rooms, the church services being held on the second floor. Adjoining the church is the parochial residence. The congregation numbers one hundred and forty families, besides a number of unmarried persons.

St. Thomas Aquinas is a new parish, the forty- fifth organized by Catholics in St. Louis. The con- gregation worshiped for some time in St. Joseph's Chapel, Alexian Brothers' Hospital, but on Sunday, Oct. 8, 1882, the corner-stone of a church was laid at the northwest corner of Osage Street and Iowa Avenue, in the presence of an immense assemblage. The building is of Gothic architecture, and its dimen- tions are forty-two by seventy-five fect.

St. Boniface (German) Church, Carondelet .-

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The corner-stone of St. Boniface (German) Church, on Fourth Strect near Schirmer, Carondelet, was laid on the first Sunday in September, 1860, by the Bishop of Minnesota, attended by Father Ryan, of the Cathe- dral, and Vicar-General Muhlsiepen. There were also present Rev. J. Gamber, pastor, Rev. T. Hendericx, pastor of the English congregation of Carondelet, Father Smarius, S.J., Rev. F. Bruhl, S.J., Rev. F. Tobin, and Father Meester, S.J. Addresses were de- livered by Fathers Smarius and Bruhl. The church is in the Romanesque style of architecture, one hun- dred and twenty-five by twenty-six fect, with two towers each one hundred feet high, and its estimated cost was sixteen thousand dollars. The architect was Thomas W. Brady. About three hundred and fifty families (seventeen hundred and fifty persons) are connected with the church.

St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Church is situated on Third Street near Kansas, Carondelet, and the pastor is Rev. Thomas G. Daley, his assistant being Rev. W. T. Stackasst. The corner-stone was laid on the 29th of May, 1859, and the sermon was preached by Father (afterwards bishop) Ryan, of the Cathe- dral. There are about two hundred families in the parish, and the parochial schools, numbering about three hundred and fifty pupils, are conducted by the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph.

St. Columbkille's Church was organized in 1872, at Fourth and Davis Streets. The corner-stone was laid June 23, 1872, and the church was dedicated in February, 1873. Rev. M. O'Reilly has had charge of the church since its organization.

There are a number of suburban Roman Catholic Churches in the vicinity of St. Louis, the principal being St. James', Cheltenham, Rev. T. A. Butler, pastor ; Holy Cross, near Calvary Cemetery, Rev. Hermann Wigger, pastor ; Holy Ghost, Elleardsville, Rev. M. Busch, pastor ; St. Bernard's, Tesson near Sarpy Avenue, Rev. Henry Willenbrink, pastor; Our Lady of the Visitation, southwest corner St. Charles Rock road and Taylor Avenuc ; and St. Gornan's, at the junction of the Manchester and Chouteau Avenue Rock road.

In addition to the parish churches enumerated there are a number of chapels, which arc attended as fol- lows: Christian Brothers, attended from the Cathe- dral; Sisters of Charity, Father Wachter, chaplain ; St. Joseph's Chapel, Alexian Brothers Hospital, Rev. George A. Watson; Ursuline Convent, Very Rev. H. Muhlsicpen, V. G .; Sacred Heart Convent, Fifth Street, from Annunciation Church; Convent of the Visitation, from St. Bridget's Church ; Loretto Con- vent, from St. John's; Good Shepherd Convent, by

the Jesuit Fathers ; Male Orphan Asylum, from Holy Angels' Church ; German Orphan Asylum, from St. Joseph's ; Carmelite Convent, from Mount Carmel; Notre Dame Convent, from SS. Peter and Paul ; St. Joseph's Convent, from St. Columbkille's ; Sacred Heart Convent, Maryville, by Franciscan · Fathers; Widows' Home, from St. Lawrence O'Toole ; Female Orphan Asylum, by Jesuit Fathers ; Little Sisters of the Poor, from the Church of the Sacred Heart; St. Vincent's Institute, by the Lazarist Fa- thers ; Half-Orphan Asylum, by Jesuit Fathers ; House of the Angel Guardian, by Lazarist Fathers ; Sisters of Mercy, by Jesuit Fathers.

BAPTIST CHURCHES.

The First Protestant Congregation .- To the Baptists belongs the credit of having organized the first Protestant society and of having built the first Protestant house of worship west of the Mississippi River. The first Baptist minister who preached in Missouri appears to have been the Rev. John Clark. This pioncer preacher was born in the parish of Petty, near the city of Inverness, Scotland, Nov. 29, 1758. His father worked a small farm, which, later in life, having become intempcrate, he neglected. In 1778 John Clark went to sea in a transport ship, and sub- sequently served in American privateers. He rose to the rank of mate, was taken prisoner, and exchanged after nineteen months' duress, was twice impressed into the British naval service, and finally escaped. After having suffercd almost incredible hardships, he succeeded in passing the British lines and obtained the protection of Gen. Francis Marion, the famous Revolutionary leader in South Carolina. Hc again went to sea, but in 1785 abandoned this calling and engaged in teaching school in the back settlements of South Carolina. In 1786 he became a member of the Methodist denomination in Georgia, where he again taught school and became a class-leader. In 1788 he visited his birthplace in Scotland, and found all the family except one sister dead. He then studied under Weslcy, returned to Georgia in 1789, was re- ccived on trial, and appointed a circuit by the Confer- ence of 1791, and in 1793 was fully ordained. In 1795 he was ordained elder, and in 1796 dissolved his connection with the Conference and started on foot for Kentucky, and thence, always on foot, for Illinois, where he finally settled. In 1807-8 he went down the Mississippi alone in a small canoe, camping in the woods at night, on a mission to the territory now known as Louisiana, and returned home, still alone and on foot, through a country infested by hostile In- dians and white marauders. During this journey he

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preached wherever he found a settlement. Mr. Clark continued to labor as a missionary until his death, making during the last ten years of his life a monthly circuit of two hundred and forty miles, always on foot, though his friends made several unsuccessful at- tempts to induce him to accept and use a horse. He died in 1833, at the age of seventy-five, and was buried in the Cold Water neighborhood, the scene of his first missionary efforts in Missouri, where a mod- est gravestone marks his resting-place. . Mr. Clark organized a number of Baptist congregations in St. Louis County, Mo., and in St. Clair, Madison, and Greene Counties, Ill.

Mr. Clark arrived in Missouri in 1798, and estab- lished himself near Bridgetown, St. Louis County. He became a Baptist, and a Methodist named Tal- bot having adopted the same opinions, they im- mersed each other. Mr. Clark presided and taught school in the " American Bottom," Illinois, about 1796, but afterwards removed to New Design, situ- ated on an elevated plateau, about thirty miles above Kaskaskia. When he first came to Missouri the country west of the Mississippi was under the con- trol of the Spanish authorities, who did not tolerate the Protestant religion. It was his custom to ascend the castern shore to nearly opposite what was called " Wood River," and wait there until night, when a man from the western shore would cross the river in a canoe, and transport Mr. Clark to the opposite side. During the night meetings would be held at one or another of the small settlements, and Mr. Clark would return in the same manner to the eastern bank before daylight. In the latter days of Spanish rule, however, less caution was needed. Commandant Tru- deau was a man of liberal mind, and while the laws required every new settler to be " un bon Catholique," would content himself with catechising new-comers as to their belief in the main tenets of Christianity, and these satisfactorily answered, would pronounce them " good Catholics," and admit them to citizen- ship. It is stated that he would pay no attention to Clark's visiting and preaching in the province until his tour for the occasion was nearly completed, when he would send him a message to the effect that if he did not leave the Spanish territory within three days he would be imprisoned, and this message, always in the same or similar language, is said to have been re- peated so often that it became a pleasant jest with Clark and his friends. On one occasion Abraham Musick, a Baptist, who was well acquainted with the commandant, asked permission to have meetings held at his house by Clark. The commandant replied that his petition was contrary to the laws, and could not

be granted. " That is, I mean," said he, " you must not put a bell on your house and call it a church, nor suffer anybody to christen your children except the parish priest, but if your friends choose to meet at your house, to sing, pray, and talk about religion, you will not be molested, provided you continue, as of course you are, 'a good Catholic.'"

In 1801 the Rev. Thomas R. Musick, of Kentucky, visited his relatives in Missouri and preached a series of sermons. He was born Oct. 17, 1756, and spent his early life in North Carolina. In 1803, after the acquisition of the country from France, he came to Missouri with his family and took up his residence in St. Louis County. In 1807 he organized the Fee Fee Church in St. Louis County, among the constit- uent members of which were Adam Martin and his wife Mary, Richard and Jane Sullens, Thomas R. Musick and his wife Sarah. Elder Brown, from Ken- tucky, and John Clark labored with Mr. Musick, who died in 1842. He is buried in the church grounds at Fee Fee, and the old people who remember him still cherish his memory. Fee Fee is now the oldest Protestant Church in Missouri. Cold Water, the next church in the county, was organized by Musick in 1809.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BUILDING IN MISSOURI.

During 1807 an organization of Baptists was per- fected near Jackson, Cape Girardeau Co., and a church was built through the instrumentality of David Greene. The building was a one-story log cabin, the corner log of which had been laid in 1806.

Zion Church, in Howard County, was formed about 1810, near Loutre Island, Montgomery Co., but the inhabitants moved farther west in 1815, and it was reorganized. The Indians were very troublesome during the war of 1812, and no others were formed for some years. In 1818, five churches with five ministers were constituted into Mount Pleasant Asso- ciation, in what was called " Boone's Lick country." Several of the leading men in this region had re-

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moved from Kentucky. Col. Benjamin Cooper, afterwards a member of the Territorial Council, and chosen commander-in-chief to fight the hostile In- dians, Capt. Callaway, a grandson of Daniel Boone, and Stephen and William T. Cole, in memory of whom Cooper, Callaway, and Cole Counties were named, were active and influential members of the community. A brother of Col. Cooper and Callaway and Cole, together with many other persons, were afterwards slaughtered by the Indians. In June, 1816, Bethel Association was organized at the Bethel Church, near the present site of Jackson. It com- prised six churches and seven ministers. Most of the members had removed from the Carolinas, and had been several years in the country. The churches were located in Perry, Cape Girardeau, Washington, and Wayne Counties.

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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 147

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