USA > New York > Niagara County > History of the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels : Niagara University, Niagara County, N.Y., 1856-1906 > Part 16
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reproduce a summary written twenty-seven years ago by one of the Index editors:
" From its foundation in 1856 up to about the time when Father Rice assumed control, the Seminary of Our Lady of Angels, owing to a variety of circumstances, did not meet with that success which had been anticipated. The buildings were old and unsuitable, the accom- modations meager and the faculties few in number. Yet old students of Niagara's early days look back with peculiar enthusiasm to the epoch wherein the dilapidated wayside inn was transformed into a seat of learning. Immediately on assuming control Father Rice began to labor with commendable activity. The work of building a suitable structure, one that would do honor to ' Our Lady of Angels,' became to Father Rice a veritable labor of love. One by one the old land- marks disappeared until as early as 1864 a noble edifice crowned the summit of Mont Eagle ridge.
" As if by some peculiar species of magnetism, Father Rice soon gathered around him a body of students whose increasing numbers pointed out the necessity of greater accommodations. Prosperity smiled upon the efforts of the Vincentian Fathers. In the near future they perceived the completion of their work, and glancing further on through the years they fondly imagined that Niagara College would speedily take its place with the best educational institutions of the land. On December 5th, however, 1864, Niagara was destroyed by fire. This was Father Rice's first great disappointment, but undaunted and undismayed he set at work with the rest of his brethren to build immediately. In the following September the seminary again threw open its doors to seekers after knowledge, although the new building was not completed until the spring of 1869.
" Encouraging every project that might tend to the improvement or amusement of the students, Father Rice sanctioned the formation of literary and dramatic associations, of religious societies and athletic clubs. In 1867 he founded the Niagara Cecilian Association, a musi- cal organization which still flourishes. All the societies now existing at the seminary were founded during Father Rice's presidency. As time advanced the number of students increased, and in order to pro- vide for existing necessities the erection of a new chapel was contem- plated. To-day the house of worship is almost finished, and when completed it will stand a lasting monument to the memory of Niagara's fourth president."
It would not, of course, be supposed that in the herculean labors
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which Father Rice performed during his sixteen years he stood alone in the field, his brethren looking idly on. It is only in fable that Atlas supports the world. "During Father Rice's time,"-a phrase which comes so naturally to the lips of old students,-strong men and true labored with him in the accomplishment of those designs which had for their object the furtherance of Niagara's interests. Each of these confreres associated at one time or other with "Niagara's second Founder " deserves far more extensive notice than we can give. If we are brief in some cases it is primarily because exact details are want- ing concerning the brethren mentioned, especially after the severance of their relations with this institution. Some of them "erierunt a nobis," but Niagara remembers with gratitude the good which they performed in her behalf while they were yet among our Vincentian brethren.
Among the names mentioned " before the fire " is that of the Rev. Edward M. Hennessy, C. M., a priest whose eloquence as a missionary won for him in subsequent years a national reputation. In 1865 he was assistant to Father Rice, Director of Seminarians, professor of Dogmatic and Moral Theology, besides teaching no less than five " handmaids," a proof at once of his versatility and his capacity for hard work. After leaving Niagara he was engaged on the missions with occasional interruptions until the early '80's, when declining health obliged him to desist from such exacting labors. He left the United States for our Mother House in Paris shortly after his retire- ment from our missionary field, but on account of his vast experience in that line he was induced by the Superior General to undertake the giving of missions in England. It was while engaged in preparation for this new field of labor that he contracted his last illness, dying in 1887. Requiescat!
Father Martin Dyer, C. M., descended from Kentucky's stock, was only a subdeacon when he came to Niagara in September of 1863 as professor of "Geography, Arithmetic, and Geometry." In 1864 Mental Philosophy is added to his list of subjects after his ordination at Niagara. No further record appears of him until 1870, when he is again numbered among the Faculty of Niagara, working here for several years with those occasional interruptions which come to nearly every member of our Community, liable as we are to be sent from place to place, for " we have not here a lasting habitation." The keen, well-informed mind of Father Dyer won for him the respect of all with whom he came in contact. His knowledge was extensive and
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accurate. His demeanor, while somewhat reserved with adults, was strangely gentle with children. He was procurator and professor in Saint John's College, Brooklyn, for a number of years, and was afterwards missioned to Los Angeles, where he died in 1903, at the age of 64 years. Requiescat.
Father Henry J. Anen is perhaps best known to the students of his day as prefect of the boys. His stay at Niagara extended over a period of four years, after which he severed his connection with us, going first to Germantown and then westward, dying in St. Louis. "As a professor he could not be surpassed both for care in preparing his classes and his success in the classroom. His pupils appreciated his worth, and before he departed gave him in token of their gratitude a magnificent watch. May he soon return to the object of his fondest love,- Our Lady of Angels." (House records, December 29, 1868.) Requiescat.
The Rev. George V. Burns came to Niagara on the 6th of Sep- tember, 1868, from Germantown shortly after his ordination, and was installed as second prefect of the boys, which exalted office he held for one scholastic year. He remained here until about 1873, teaching among other classes that of the higher mathematics. About 1874 he is found at Cape Girardeau, shortly after which date he came East, laboring until his death, in 1886, in the Buffalo diocese. His admirers among priests and students were many and strong because of his qualities of mind and heart. Requiescat.
Tributes similar to those just mentioned may with all sincerity be paid to Rev. M. Flynn and Rev. J. V. Brennan, both of whom gave useful services to Niagara during their connection with our institution. The former appears in the Faculty list for January, 1868, becoming treasurer the following year, and resigning, May 6, 1870, to as- sume that office in our house at Los Angeles, California. He died only a few years ago. Father Brennan was one of the chron- iclers from whose records many of the facts given in this book were taken. He is mentioned among the Faculty in the year 1867, and during his stay here he contributed towards the formation of socie- ties now among the chief attractions at Niagara. At present Father Brennan is chaplain to the Sisters of Saint Joseph on Edward Street, Buffalo.
When we come to the name of Landry we feel that we are striking a reminiscent chord which will awaken in many a heart sentiments of the most tender nature. There were two of the name, yet not rela-
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tions, Rev. John T. Landry, C. M., and Rev. Louis Philippe Landry, C. M., the latter of whom first appears in Niagara's history (at least from the records now at hand) in our catalogne for the scholastic year of 1872-73, teaching such branches as chemistry, natural his- tory and the higher mathematics. In 1875 he is succeeded in these classes by Rev. Martin Dyer, C. M., and disappears henceforth from our local history but not from our grateful remembrance. Students of those olden days, some of whom are now on our Faculty, recall Father Louis Philippe Landry as a man of great amiability of charac- ter, in whose breast a conflict would often arise when he was called upon to enforce the first part of the " strict though mild discipline" mentioned in our prospectus.
His adventures with a Montreal boy who would hunt owls at midnight in the depths of our eastern grove, or those with a St. Louis boy who once hung a " flag of distress " on the lightning rod over the main cupola will be recalled and appreciated, no doubt, by students of those days. The many friends of Father L. P. Landry, C. M., will be pleased to learn that he is yet in active service as assist- ant of the Church of Our Lady, Whittier, Cal.
Father John T. Landry, C. M., a native of Louisiana, " was here before the fire," a distinction which in our local history carries with it marks of honor like those that veterans bear after they have sus- tained the brunt of battles for some glorious cause. He was elected to the Board of Trustees, October 19, 1864, made professor of dogmatic theology, and after the resumption of studies in September, 1865, he is numbered among the Faculty as professor of French and mathematics. He became assistant to Father Rice in September, remaining in that office until 1870.
Father J. V. Kelly, C. M., professor of mental philosophy on the staff of this year became so ill from lung trouble that he was obliged to desist from the work of teaching. On advice of his physician that he should seek a change of climate he was sent by the Visitor, Father S. V. Ryan, to New Orleans, where he died a few months later. The class of moral philosophy was given to Father Landry, who continued to teach it until his departure for Brooklyn in 1870. In 1866 Father Landry was made Director of Seminarians while continuing to teach, besides the above-mentioned branch, those of natural philosophy, chemistry, globes, first mathematics, first algebra, second German and first catechism. There were only ten priests on the Faculty of this scholastic year, not counting Father J. Dwyer, C. M., who was
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parish priest of the church at Suspension Bridge, so that many classes for each professor became the rule in those days.
A half dozen seminarians taught minor classes in the study hall, and as their names were recorded by the chronicler of those times we take pleasure in reproducing them here as the names of alumni who co-operated thus early in Niagara's educational progress. They were: Messrs. P. Daly, Edw. Kelly, James O'Hare, John Talley, M. Santry, and Wm. McGinnis. From the beginning of our institution seminarians had been employed to teach " an hour or so during the day," and even now a few of them are thus engaged, although the present Faculty is double that which Niagara possessed in the days of which we are writing. The seniors thus employed feel honored at their selection, nor is there any danger that an industrious semi- narian will suffer in his own studies because he is engaged " an hour or so " in teaching the lighter classes of the study hall. The experi- ence which they thus obtain proves of no small advantage to them on the missions where they are often obliged to superintend schools of their own.
In 1870 Father Landry is missing from Niagara, having gone to Brooklyn as superior of the new college of Saint John the Baptist, just then opened in that city. After an absence of seven years he returns as prefect of studies and professor of mental philosophy, leaving again in the vacation of 1886, to return once more after an absence of six years. His hitherto robust health beginning to fail, he was obliged to discontinue teaching and seek a change of climate. After long and patient suffering from tuberculosis he died at Saint Agnes' Sanitarium, Baltimore, Md., on the 25th of May, 1899.
When the sorrowful message of his death reached Niagara many who were then on the Faculty and had studied under Father Landry felt that they had lost not only a confrere but a friend of their boy- hood days. For Father Landry was particularly fond of youth, and was never so happy as when he was surrounded by a merry crowd of youngsters into whose sports he would enter with as much vivacity as their own. His magnetic ways in spite of his dark visage and official severity attracted to him nearly every student that had deal- ings with him. He was foremost in promoting the organization and efficiency of whatever societies he considered beneficial to the student body, notably of musical and similar associations, so that the success of the Cecilian society with its kindred branches was in a very large measure due to his energetic personality.
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With such an associate as this it was only natural that Father Rice's chief object of interest, the true happiness of Niagara's stu- dents, should have been promoted to a degree which makes intelligible to later comers " the legend oft repeated " by old admirers that " Father Rice's time " was the halcyon time of Niagara's history.
The following memorial sonnet was written by Father Grace, who was one of the first students under Father Landry's presidency in Brooklyn, 1870:
Far into past but not forgotten years,
Again amid the dreams of youth to glide,
Thought hurries on, caught up by Mem'ry's tide.
Hope glimmers faintly thro' a mist of tears ; Each heart long still, illumin'd as it nears
Responsive heart, grows dull again, and wide Love stretcheth forth its hands ; it cannot bide Another separation, and it fears Night's closing in, when Grief sad vigil keeps.
Delay, young dreams! delay your swift return!
Reply not yet to one who knows and weeps; Yet linger ere you deck the funeral urn,-
Come softly back, and whisper that he sleeps Mid friends of God, where Life's own planets burn!
In 1866 Father Rice's assistant was the Rev. S. Lavizeri, C. M., a priest whose learning and piety left their impress on all Niagara students brought under his influence during the time of his connection with our institution. His stay here as a professor was comparatively short, extending over a period of about two years, but it is most favor- ably remembered by the students of that time for the lasting benefits derived through contact with this exemplary Vincentian.
At present Father Lavizeri is attached to the Mother House in Germantown, Philadelphia, still comparatively vigorous in spite of his advanced age and arduous labors. To this venerable professor of the '60's, the last of the old Italian guard in the ranks of American Vincentians, Niagara gives fondest greeting. Ad multos annos!
Father Landry's successor as teacher of mental philosophy was the Rev. J. H. Koop, C. M., who joined Niagara's Faculty in the autumn of 1870, and remained a member until September, 1878, when he was called to Germantown to labor on the missions. After a year's absence he returned as professor of moral theology (with a liberal
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share of "handmaids " included) and remained until the close of studies in 1876. He was a man of extraordinary intellectual power especially in the domain of philosophy, the many recondite problems of which seemed to be only child's play to his comprehensive mind. His marvelous grasp of subjects the most abstruse was such as to win the admiration and friendship of no less a personage than the great Orestes A. Brownson, to whose review Father Koop contributed some of the most learned articles in that celebrated publication.
In spite of his intellectual gifts (or, perhaps, because of them) he was a most simple, unassuming man, pleased even with light amuse- ments, tender of heart as a child, fond of music, playing his clarionet in the college band with all the gusto of youth. Such charming quali- ties in a professor as great as Father Koop could not fail to make him endeared to the students of his time, or to have his memory em- balmed as one of sweetness in the annals of Our Lady of Angels. After his final departure from Niagara Father Koop was employed in mis- sionary work, parish work, and those kindred occupations which fall to the lot of the average Vincentian in this country. He died in Saint Louis in 1889. Requiescat.
" A great friend of the boys; lively and learned," is an epitome of character, given by one who knew him well, of the Rev. John J. Lamey, C. M. He went as a boy in 1856 to our institution when it was first opened in Buffalo. His membership on the Faculty of his Alma Mater began with the scholastic year which opened in Septem- ber of 1867 as professor of Greek, mathematics, and English. He remained here until about 1874, when he was called to Germantown to teach mental philosophy to the scholastics of the Community. In the summer of 1877 he was missioned to New Orleans for parish work at our church of Saint Joseph in that city. The following year yellow fever raged in the South, and among the victims of the dreaded scourge was generous, whole-souled Father Lamey. It may be said that he died a martyr, for it was while in the discharge of his priestly duties towards those stricken with the fever that he contracted the disease which terminated his life at the early age of 34 years. He was not the only Vincentian to give his life that year for the suffering neighbor. Father Doyle, '60, a native of Rochester, and Father Becherer, mentioned elsewhere, were two other priestly heroes who died on the field while succoring the afflicted in the Crescent City during the ravages of yellow fever in the summer of 1878.
Father Lamey was censor of Saint Vincent's Society, organized
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primarily for the benefit of the " little fellows," censor of the B. L. A. and the Philharmonic and Dramatic Association, the famous P. D. A.'s, who did so much to lighten the burden of studies by their stage pro- ductions until they were " silenced " in 1879.
The Rev. Michael J. Richardson, C. M., now stationed at Saint Vincent's College in Chicago, in the western province, was second pre- fect here in 1868-'69 and first prefect in 1870-'71. He was noted for his mild and gentle rule, thus co-operating in a very difficult position with the efforts of his Superior, Father Rice, to have paternal govern- ment prevail and a homelike atmosphere pervade the study hall. The work of such men as Father Richardson cannot be justly estimated merely by what they accomplished while at Niagara, for in many cases their stay here was altogether too short and their sphere too restricted to gauge their capacity for larger responsibilities. After his depart- ure from Niagara Father Richardson held some of the highest offices in the Community, but was forced through declining health after very meritorious service to seek retirement.
Another Niagara professor whose mild and gentlemanly ways left more than a transient effect upon the students of his time was the Rev. Sylvester V. Haire, C. M. He appears as second prefect in 1870-"71 under Father Richardson, and the next year he is profes- sor of Latin, Greek, mathematics, and English, having resigned his office in favor of the robust Mr. Murphy. It need not be inferred from this that physical force became a necessity that year on the "local police force " even though Father "P. V." while vice-presi- dent assumed the badge of prefect.
For the want of a better explanation it may be remarked that even in our largest cities whole platoons of police are shaken up " for the good of the cause." Moreover, prefectship when properly discharged is no sinecure. Physical endurance is an important item in summing up a man's fitness for that office, for a prefect is supposed to be able to cover the greater part of our three hundred acres at a moment's notice, besides possessing the knack of getting from the cellar to the top dormitory without fatigue and without an elevator.
Father Haire was called to Germantown in September, 1872, and was made provincial procurator. His business ability is shown best by the improvements which marked his tenure of office at the Mother House. During his time the costly and beautiful chapel of the Im- maculate Conception was built, and although its present loveliness may not be owing to Father Haire, it stands nevertheless a monument
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to the memory of its inceptors, Fathers Rolando, C. M., Fitzgerald, C. M., and himself.
About 1891 Father Haire was selected by our Superior General to become Director of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, succeeding the Very Rev. Father Mandine, C. M. He held this posi- tion for two years when ill health, that bane of so many zealous men, forced him to retire from its arduous duties. Always the gentleman " usque ad unguem," considerate for the comfort of others, his fatherly administration while director of the Sisters had endeared his memory to not a few of those consecrated daughters of the Church who, like the rest of our Catholic sisterhood, are not deprived of all feeling as soon as they don the religious habit. At present Father Haire is one of the faculty at the Mother House in Germantown, where our young members of the Community are trained for just such work as he and the confreres of his day performed as associates with Father Rice.
It is evident no doubt to our readers who are acquainted with Niagara's history that if extended notice were given of all the priests, community and secular, constituting our Faculties for the past fifty years, a volume much larger than the present one would be needed for the purpose. Moreover, a species of monotony creeps into pages of this kind notwithstanding the interest which may attach to the individuals mentioned, since the subject matter itself must of necessity be the same for men spending their days in what is after all the nar- rowed, uneventful sphere of college life.
The Faculty lists in Father Rice's time include besides those already mentioned the names of Fathers Madden, John Tracy, C. M. L. Pieper, C. M., P. Callahan, J. Cooney, T. O'Leary, L. Miller, to- gether with the names of many assistant teachers from the seminary department. Extended notice would be most gratifying to us but for all of these the story would run in the same groove, that they combined as best they knew with their Superior, Father Rice, in promoting the interests of this institution.
The recent death of the Rev. Patrick Cronin, LL. D., brought to mind the name of a professor who was stationed here in the middle years of Father Rice's presidency, and who even then was remarkable for his ability as a teacher, speaker, and writer.
Father Cronin, who had not made his vows in our Community, was taken in the early '70's by Bishop Ryan to be editor of the Catholic Union. How wise was the choice of Buffalo's second Bishop was shown
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by the almost national testimony of the secular and the religious press when Father Cronin, after holding the position of editor for thirty years, was recently called to his eternal reward. The love which he always manifested for Niagara, his interest in all that concerned her welfare, the tender way in which by tongue or pen he spoke of her departed professors or alumni when the hand of death had come upon them, make this tribute which we pay him in our memorial pages a melancholy pleasure now that his literary genius is extinguished for- ever. So highly were his labors in behalf of Catholic letters esteemed by Bishop Colton that the latter obtained from Rome for the gifted editor of the Union and Times the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, conferring that dignity upon Father Cronin in the latter's church at Tonawanda about a year ago amid the congratulations of priests and people assembled for the occasion.
Another professor who must be mentioned before we resume our narrative is the Rev. Edward J. Lefevre, C. M. His advent to Niag- ara dates from September, 1869, when he was assigned to the office of Second Prefect, besides professing Latin and Algebra. Later on he became Director of Seminarians and when he severed his connec- tion with Our Lady of Angels it was to labor in the missionary field, for which he was most qualified by reason of his oratorical powers, his culture of mind, and his priestly zeal. After varied experience in the works which fall to the lot of the Vincentian in this country, Father Lafevre was assigned to parochial duties at Saint Joseph's Church, Emmittsburg, Md., his native town, where he died, all too prematurely it would seem, in 1898.
We have purposely reserved the name of Father Thomas A. Shaw, C. M., for last but most honorable mention before we proceed to nar- rate the melancholy details leading up to the departure of Father Rice from Niagara. The latter is one whose magnetism after the lapse of nearly thirty years is as strong to-day as in the days when he walked among Niagara's students as a father, friend, and com- panion. The former exhibits perhaps more than anyone else now living, that tender sentiment, that affection for Father Rice and Niag- ara which may be said to concrete what is known as the Niagara spirit. He seems never to grow old in this respect, never to lose that sense of hopefulness for Niagara's future; but he can lapse into reminiscence amid the most jovial surroundings of the present, and make his " Niagara audience " realize what the poet Moore experi- enced :
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