USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri Volume I > Part 16
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Thus year by year, this little congregation of believers in the near ad- vent of God's Son from heaven slowly yet certainly grew. the membership being largely in the country, however. In February, 1876, at a regular church meeting held in Maryville, when their strength was recorded as one hundred members, they had just completed a church building costing about one thous- and two hundred dollars. The erection of this had been fraught with many a disappointment. Twice the building suffered much by storm, having been blown from its foundation of brick piers nine feet up hill. Then the grass- hopper raid tied up the purse strings-for it seemed as though everyone was going to starve to death-so the subscription list failed, leaving the church about three hundred dollars in debt and the house unfinished. but fortunately a few brave men came to the rescue and the debt was raised.
Many of the members removed from the county and many died, leaving the society enfeebled. In 1882, the record made shows that there were still left fifty members.
ST. PAUL'S PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first regular services of this denomination in Nodaway county were held by the Rev. George Turner. in the Davis school house, in White Cloud township, in 1864. This clergyman preached at the point named once a month for some time. In the summer of 1872. the Rev. S. C. Blackiston was appointed missionary of the church for northwestern Missouri. August 18. 1872, he held services in the old Union Hall at Maryville, and on the follow- ing day organized the mission at the residence of John Edwards, giving it the name of "St. Paul's." and appointed Dr. H. Estes warden and John Ed- wards treasurer. The number of communicants at time of first organization was five, but soon thereafter a class of six was confirmed by Bishop C. F. Robertson.
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Early in the month of November, 1873, a small hall connected with Union Hall was fitted up for regular services, and there worship was had until the resignation of Rev. Blackiston, in April, 1874. Then services were occasionally held until the summer of 1875, when the Rev. John Bennett at- tempted to revive the work by holding services at the Presbyterian church, but this house having been unroofed by a gale, and there being no other place in which to meet, the efforts were for the time being abandoned. Nothing further was done until the reorganization of the church took place, January 31, 1877, at the Christian church edifice, when G. W. Turner was nominated to the Bishop as warden, Charles Duncan as secretary and Edward Hull as treasurer.
Then the Methodist Episcopal church South allowed them to occupy their building, the second and fourth Sundays of each month, and services were regularly kept up until the resignation of Rev. John Bennett, in July, 1877. A month later Rev. E. Victor Beales was appointed missionary and came to Maryville. August 30, 1877. he organized a society, called the Ladies' Guild, of which Mrs. C. Duncan was made president; Mrs. A. P. Moorhouse, vice-president : Mrs. Cranor, secretary. The prime object of this society was to raise a fund with which to purchase a lot and to furnish a church when one should be built. In September, 1877, a lot was procured from John Walker for two hundred dollars, and soon thereafter money was subscribed for the purpose of constructing a church. After seeing to the pay- ing for the lot, they raised one thousand and sixty dollars, subscribed toward the building fund. On March 1. 1878, the church building was completed, the mission was organized as a parish, and the following officers were chosen : G. W. Turner, senior warden; L. H. Case, junior warden ; Edward Hull, W. Dowdeswell, R. W. Nimmo, John Jones, yestrymen.
On May 17. 1878. Bishop Robertson held services in the new church for the first time, but the building was not entirely completed until August Ist of that year. The parish remained vacant until July, 1879, when Rev. W. C. Sherman became rector, continuing until October, 1880. Next came Rev. William A. Hatch. In 1882. the records show that there were twenty-seven communicants. The value of church property was then estimated at one thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.
In 1888 and on to 1890 Rev. Lawrence Guerin was rector of the church. In 1891-92 Rev. S. T. Brewster served; Rev. Franklin Smith, 1893; from 1893 to 1895 served Rev. S. W. Wilson. Next came Rev. Lewis M. Wilkins, 1898-1900. In 1906-07 Rev. B. J. Baxter was rector ; the late lamented Rev.
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Jay C. Hathaway took charge of the parish October 18, 1908, and attended to three other missions, Stanberry, St. Oswald's and Amazonia. He came to a sad. tragic death on the morning of November 17, 1909, at Maryville. by taking his own life by hanging. while laboring under a deep-seated depres- sion of spirits that had hovered over his mentality for several months, on ac- count of the failure of the church and community to recognize his claims and furnish the means whereby he might carry out the plans of the bishop who had entrusted this church to his care. His wife was in Ohio at the time of his suicide and with him lived his very aged father. His death caused a great sensation in the community and was the subject of many sermons and ed- itorials.
SWAN CHAPEL.
Swan Chapel was organized in Hughes township in 1866 by the follow- ing persons : William Perden and three others. The church was built in 1879, a frame structure costing one thousand five hundred dollars, and it was dedicated by Elder Waymen. Among the pastors who served were S. H. En- yeart and J. A. Shewatles. The society had three acres of land including its cemetery.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
The Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ have a small membership at different parts of Nodaway county, but especially in and near Guilford they have quite a following.
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCII.
The work of the Christian Science people was first started in Maryville in 1892, and for a year or two services were held at private houses, but later public meetings were held in the old Calumet Club rooms in what is now known as the Roseberry building, southwest corner of the Square. After worshipping there for a number of years, the society held its meetings at the Empire Theatre building on Main street. For a number of years they have worshipped on Buchanan street, at the Musical Conservatory rooms. A public reading room was established in March, 1908, and still maintains in the Michaur block, on Main street.
The first "reader" of this society was Charles Q. Smith, while the present "first reader" is Ralph W. Ebersole and the "second reader" is Mrs. Mary
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W. Moore, who is also a regular practicing "healer." Mrs. Anna Snyder has charge of the reading rooms, which are open each afternoon during the week.
The society now numbers about twenty members, and a building fund is being laid aside from contributions made by friends of this religious faith.
What is known as the "Workman Chapel" was erected about six or seven years ago-about 1903-by Pioneer William Workman and given free use of to all denominations. It is a neat. frame chapel and serves well for a meet- ing house for the various denominations, not otherwise provided with a church edifice. It is located about six miles to the west and north of Pickering. No sect has ever been denied its free use, except the Mormon people, who were refused its use after Mr. Workman moved to Maryville, by those in charge of it in Union township, where it is situated.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCHI IN NODAWAY COUNTY.
By the Pastor of the Im. Conception Parish, Conception, Missouri.
INTRODUCTION.
History tells us that the Catholic church was established nineteen hundred years ago by Jesus Christ, who by his words, deeds and miracles proved that he was the Son of God. The church has continued to fulfill her mission up to this very day, according to the promise of her divine founder that His church should last till the end of time, in order to bring all men of good will into heaven. His apostles and their lawful successors propagated the church even to the farthest ends of the globe, and when Columbus discovered the New World, Catholic monks of the Order of St. Benedict were with him to preach the old faith on this side of the ocean. In due time it found its way into Nod- away county, Missouri, where its history is interwoven with the same monas- tic order which, since its organization in Italy by St. Benedict (A. D. 543). has ever been foremost in propagating religion and civilization.
CON CEPTION-PARISH AND ABBEY.
Divine providence made use of the Rev. James D. Power to establish the Catholic religion in Nodaway county, and Conception is the place from where it spread and took root in the county. Rev. James D. Power was born May 30. 1815. at Ballykahane, in the parish of Portlaw. Waterford county.
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Ireland, of respectable parents. After having made the usual studies in his native country, he emigrated to America in 1845, and was ordained priest at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 1846. For ten years he held various positions in the state of Pennsylvania. His last station there was Reading. from which place he came to Nodaway county in the fall of 1856. He was ac- companied by Owen O'Reilly and Anthony Felix, and the three represented a body of fifty-eight men, mostly Irish emigrants, who on account of want of employment were forced to seek a home elsewhere. They took up a sub- scription in order to purchase a tract of government land in some of the western states, agreeing that each subscriber should get land in proportion to the amount of his subscription, at the rate of one dollar an acre. The total sum contributed was twenty thousand dollars.
After looking over various counties in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri, the above named committee finally applied to the land office at Plattsburg. Clinton county, Missouri, for the twenty thousand acres which now constitute the best portion of Conception parish. But the land commis- sioner at Plattsburg informed them that the office was closed for business, and they were compelled to return to Reading empty-handed. Then they con- cluded to go to Washington and enter the lands before the commissioner gen- eral. But whilst this was being done, the commissioner of the land office in Plattsburg, which, it seems, had in fact never been closed, sold the land in question to more welcome parties. This gave rise to a controversy about the title of the lands. The case was at last taken before the committee of public lands in the United States Senate which, early in 1858, decided it in favor of our colonists. The printed acts of this decision, and perhaps the only copy in existence, are preserved in the archives of Conception Abbey.
In March. 1858, the colonists left their old home in Pennsylvania and reached St. Joseph. Missouri, at the beginning of April. Here the majority of them remained, influenced by the uncultivated state of the country. On April 16, 1858, on a Friday morning, the courageous minority. headed by William Brady. left St. Joseph and started for their new home. The other members of the party were Philip Growney. John McCarty and Michael Fa- gan, each accompanied by his wife: Jeremias Sullivan, with his wife and two children, and the brothers Thomas and Edward Reilly. Their journey was made with teams of oxen. through a pathless prairie, without either guide or knowledge of the country. On the third day (Sunday) they crossed the Platte river, in which they came near drowning. On the following Tuesday they arrived at Conception.
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The new comers were kindly received by Silas Best, then one of the few settlers of Jefferson township, who owned a shanty situated on section 23. township 63, range 34, where the immigrants stayed two weeks. During that time Messrs. Brady, Growney and McCarty erected a log house twelve by fifteen on section 3, township 63, range 34, in which the three families lived peacefully together, whilst Messrs. Fagan, Reilly and Sullivan each built a small dwelling for himself. This done, they started to cultivate their farms.
In June, 1858, Rev. Power visited the colonists, whom he found in a rather dissatisfied mood, and at times warmly discussing the propriety of re- turning to St. Joseph. To encourage them, he remained several days. During this visit a mass was celebrated at Conception, which, as far as can be ascer- tained, was the first mass ever said in the county. The celebration took place at the log house of Messrs. Brady, Growney and McCarty. After this, Father Power made periodical visits to the new settlement, which he named "Conception," in honor of Mary conceived without sin.
In 1860 the present town was laid out by Rev. Power and William Brady. on section 24, township 63. range 34, and a colony house, or chapel with pastoral residence, was built on the same section. The chapel was dedicated on June 9, 1860, to St. Columbia. It was the first house of worship set apart for the service of God in Nodaway county, though St. Mary's church, Mary- ville, Missouri, was a close second. From now on the Reverend Father lived in the settlement as much as possible. From here he attended the missions in Maryville, Grandriver and Island City, which he had established shortly be- fore. In 1865 Miss Josephine Protzman, afterwards the wife of the county recorder. Lawrence Growney, opened the first school in the colony house.
From this time on the new foundation made rapid progress. In 1866 the first German families located in Conception, among whom John Wirth be- came especially prominent. In 1867 the chapel was replaced by a small church (twenty-four by forty) built in the center of the town.
Up to the present, Conception with the surrounding missions had be- longed to the diocese of St. Louis. On March 3, 1868, Pope Pius IX estab- lished the diocese of St. Joseph, with the Rt. Rev. J. J. Hogan as its first bishop. In the following year His Lordship received a call to Rome to assist at the Vatican Council. During his absence Rev. Power was appointed rector of the cathedral at St. Joseph, and the Rev. George Tuerk became his sub- stitute at Conception. In April, 1871, Father Power returned to his old post. and remained there until September, 1873.
In the spring of 1873, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Hogan invited the Benedic- tines of the Swiss abbey of Engelberg, canton Unterwalden, to establish a
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monastery in his diocese. The invitation was accepted and Rev. Frowin Con- rad. O. S. B., and Rev. Adelhelm Odermatt, O. S. B., were entrusted by their abbot with the new mission. They arrived at St. Joseph, Missouri, in Septem- ber. 1873. and urged by continued and fervent entreaties of Rev. Power. the bishop gave them charge of the Catholic missions in Nodaway and the sur- rounding counties. Father Adelhelm was made pastor at Maryville, Missouri. and Father Frowin became the head of the parish and the monastery at Con- ception. Conception, at that time, numbered ninety-five families. Mon- astery and congregation were henceforth inseparably united.
The Rev. Frowin Conrad was born on November 2. 1833, at AAuw, can- ton Argau. Switzerland, of pious parents, who gave the church five priests and to their country a statesman of national reputation. Having concluded his studies at various places in his native country, he joined the Benedictines of the abbey Engelberg, made his monastic vows on August 15. 1853, and was ordained priest on September 14. 1856. He held various honorable positions in his monastery until he was called to the United States.
The first care of Father Frowin at Conception, where he arrived on September 18, 1873. was to erect a suitable dwelling for the monastic family. It was a two-story frame building ( twenty-five by fifty) which he dedicated on December 8. 1873. On Christmas night of the same year he began the recitation of the divine office, and on New Year's day, 1874, seven candidates from Europe were invested with the holy habit. Two years later. December 7. 1875. three Benedictine Sisters from Rickenbach in Switzerland opened a novitiate for nuns in a building close to the church, and took charge of the parish schools. In 1879 Conception was blessed with the Wabash railway. The station was located two and one-half miles northeast of the monastery, and a town called Clyde built there.
With the increase of the monastic family, the want of house-room was felt more keenly every day. Finally, in 1880, the west wing of the present stone and brick building was erected. On April 5. 1881. Pope Leo XIII crowned the monastic foundation by raising it to the dignity of an abbey, with the Rt. Rev. Frowin Conrad as its first abbot. The solemn benediction and installation of the new abbot occurred on June 29. 1881. His place in the parish was taken in November, 1881, by the present pastor, the Rev. Placid Schmid, O. S. B. On May 12, 1882, the monastery was incorporated under the laws of the state of Missouri, and the name of "New Engelberg Abbey." which later on was changed into "Conception Abbey." The same year, 1882. saw the construction of a substantial convent and of an academy for young
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ladies. In 1883 the college for boys was built ; in 1890 the girls' orphanage ; in 1899 the parish hall; in 1902 a new boys' college, a new sisters' convent and sisters' chapel, one of the finest in the United States. In 1903 a small cemetery chapel was erected on the very spot where the high altar of the old church had stood. Since then also two more wings were added to the abbey.
Meanwhile also the parishioners clamored for a more worthy temple of worship. The church which Father Power had erected had been enlarged by Father Frowin in 1874. The Wabash railway had created Stanberry, and the new church there tore from Conception parish at least fifteen families. In 1886 a chapel was built also at Clyde. to which Conception contributed over sixty families. Yet a much larger house of worship became an absolute necessity in order to accommodate the one thousand five hundred members of which Conception parish now consisted. It was built on the north side of the monastery in 1889 and 1890, and consecrated with unusual pomp and in the presence of a great many bishops, abbots and priests on May 19. 1891. The style of the church is Roman, simple, yet elegant, massive and sublime. In length it measures two hundred and six feet. in height fifty-seven feet. and the width in the transept is one hundred and four feet. The interior space is divided into a center aisle and two side aisles. Nine altars adorn the sanctuary. But what attracts the eve in particular is the fine frescoe work, and above all. the wall paintings executed by some of the members of the Community who had received their training in Europe, which make the church second to none in the entire Northwest. The church and the adjoin- ing abbey, which is three stories high, not counting the basement and the attic, form a square eight hundred forty-seven feet in perimeter. The build- ings stand on section 25. township 63, range 34. which is cultivated by the lay brothers of the abbey. Others of these are occupied in the shops : car- penter, printing or bookbinder, or in the extensive gardens, orchards and vine- yards of the monastery.
If its fine buildings give witness to the material growth of Conception. her spiritual growth is tellingly illustrated by the six priests she has sent into the vineyard of the Lord and the forty-seven young ladies whom she has given to different religious orders to devote their lives to works of charity and re- ligion. The first of these priests was the Rev. James Brady. the son of William Brady, the leader of the original settlers. He was ordained at Con- ception on May 30. 1807, and his first mass on June 2nd was graced by the presence of the Rev. James D. Power. It was the venerable founder's last visit to the scene of his early labors. He died full of merits on May 5. 1899. at St. Joseph, Missouri.
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The many missions which it attends make Conception a truly Catholic center. Outside of Nodaway county, the Benedictines of Conception Abbey have a priory with four parishes in Idaho, six Indian missions in Dakota, and twelve parishes or missions in different parts of Missouri. In Nodaway county they provide for the spiritual wants of all the Catholics in the county with the sole exception of those of St. Patrick's parish. Maryville, Missouri. The institutions in Nodaway county which are under the spiritual direction of the Conception Fathers are: Conception College: the Benedictine Sisters with their pupils and orphans at Conception; the parish at Clyde, Missouri ; St. Mary's parish with St. Francis Hospital, Maryville, Missouri ; the mis- sions at Parnell City and Burlington Junction. Of each of these a short sketch is added.
CONCEPTION COLLEGE.
In January, 1874. the Rt. Rev. Frowin Conrad established at Conception a school for the education of the younger members of his monastery. This was enlarged into a seminary in the fall of 1880, and transformed into a regular college in September, 1883. Conception College is a boarding school with high school and collegiate departments for Catholic boys. Either of the two courses pursued at the college is completed in four years, or both in eight years and both comprise the Latin, Greek, English and German languages and their literature, the doctrines and evidences of religion, logic, metaphysics. ethics, astronomy. natural philosophy and mathematics. The entire course gives a thorough scientific and literary education, and opens the way to the study of theology, law or medicine. The academic department prepares the student for the successful pursuance of a commercial course. For pupils not sufficiently advanced to enter the high school department, but who may be pre- pared for it within one year, a preparatory class is maintained at the college. The optional studies consist of vocal and instrumental music, drawing and painting, shorthand and typewriting. After the regular eight-year college course follows the ecclesiastical or divinity course of four years, limited to the students who have joined the Benedictine Order. The faculty of Con- ception College. under the presidency of the Rt. Rev. Frowin Conrad, num- bers eighteen priests, all members of Conception Abbey. The yearly number of students averages one hundred. They publish a bi-monthly magazine called The Morning Star, for the purpose of encouraging practical literary work. The Star is also the official chronicle of the college and serves to in- form former students and alumni of important or interesting events in their Alma Mater.
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CONVENT, ACADEMY AND ORPHANAGE.
We saw above how three Benedictine Sisters from the Swiss convent of Rickenbach arrived at Conception on December 7, 1875, and opened a novitiate for nuns in a small structure close to the church and monastery. They re- mained there until 1882, when they moved into a building which they had erected between Conception and Clyde, now used as an academy. Then they commenced an advanced school for young ladies. In 1890 they built near Conception an orphanage for girls, added a number of outbuildings to their main establishment near Clyde, Missouri, and finally completed their new con- vent dwelling and chapel. At present the one hundred and five Sisters, who are incorporated under the name of "Benedictine Convent of the Perpetual Adoration," conduct an academy, an orphanage, an extensive printing estab- lishment and bookbindery, and run the large farm on which their buildings are situated ; but they are especially famous for their artistic church embroidery. In all these arts they instruct such of their pupils as show aptitude and inclina- tion. For the last twenty-six years the convent is under the guidance of Mother Mary John Schrader. Among the other Sisters special mention is here due to Sr. Mary Maura, who for fifteen years has been teaching seventy or more children in a district school over two miles distant, and who, in spite of ice and snow, never misses her daily trips to the school house. And not- withstanding the large number of her pupils, her school is a model school, second to none in the county.
ST. MARY'S CHURCH AND ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL, MARYVILLE.
St. Mary's parish in Maryville was organized by Rev. James D. Power at about the same time as that of Conception. A small church-the first in Maryville-was erected there in 1860 and dedicated on the second Sunday of October, in honor of "Mary conceived without sin." It was twenty-five by thirty feet and eighteen feet high. Father Power visited the congregation periodically from Conception, where, since June, 1860, he resided. When in 1869 the Reverend Father was called as rector to the cathedral of St. Joseph. Rev. Constantin Hergenroether took charge of Maryville. He added to the small brick church a dwelling, mostly used for school purposes, but also bur- dened the parish with a debt of one thousand five hundred dollars. On July 10, 1870, Rev. Joseph Seybold became the successor of Rev. Hergenroether. He remained just one year, and was replaced by Rev. Philip, who built a par- sonage and presided over the parish till June 7, 1873.
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