USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > A history of Catholicity in northern Ohio and in the diocese of Cleveland from 1749 to December 31, 1900, Volume II, pt1 > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
Father Healy was born September 26, 1823, near the town of Ardfert in the county of Kerry, Ireland. His early training attended to, he was sent, May, 1841, to Tralee, in his native
THE REV. MICHAEL HEALY
191
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
county, where he entered a classical school, remaining seven years. Having finished his course he spent one year additional in All Hallows College, near Dublin. He then came to this country, and was received as a student for the Diocese of Cleveland by its first bishop, the Rt. Rev. Amadeus Rappe. He at once entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary, and was ordained priest April 2, 1851. The places and times of his ministry thus far in the diocese are as follows :
From April, 1851, until the following October, he was assist- ant at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Wooster, Ohio. From the latter date until June, 1852, he was pastor at Wooster, with charge also of the church at Doylestown. At his own request he was then transferred to St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, where he remained one year. During that time he assisted at the Cathedral each Saturday and Sunday. His next appointment was to Elyria, LaPorte, and Wellington. He built St. Mary's Church at Elyria, in 1834, and St. Patrick's Church at Wellington, in 1857. February, 1859, he was made pastor of his present church, St. Mary's, Tiffin, the parish at that time having a debt of $6,000. He paid off the debt, and, in 18,62, had the church consecrated, and very appropriately, too, on the Sunday within the octave of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Assisted by the late Rev. J. L. Bihn, he was instrumental in bringing the Ursuline Sisters to Tiffin. In 1864, he opened a parochial school in which they were teachers. He built St. Mary's pastoral residence in 1870, and, in 1878, he purchased five acres of ground for cemetery pur- poses. In 1884, he purchased the present St. Mary's school from the Tiffin school board, and, in 1885, he renovated and improved the church.
Now in the fiftieth year of his priesthood, the Rev. Father Healy is regarded as a Nestor among the priests of the Diocese of Cleveland. He has labored long and faithfully. He was never known to be indifferent or inattentive in his mission. It has been his choice to pursue the quieter way, claiming little but working much. In this, his seventy-eighth year, which advances him well in the evening of life, plain Father Healy can say that he has thus far fought the good fight and kept the faith. He will, in God's own good time, finish his course. Wept, honored, and sung, he will pass to his reward, prayerfully anticipating the welcome: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
192
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
MR. JAMES HICKEY.
Mr. James Hickey, of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, one of the oldest settlers and Catholic pioneers in that section, is the son of Michael and Mary (Burns) Hickey of the county of Kildare, Ireland. He was born in that county, October 15, 1826, and came with his parents to this country in 1843. For several years there- after the family lived in Brooklyn, New York. Shortly after their arrival young Hickey, who had nearly completed his apprentice- ship as a stone cutter and mason in Ireland, found employment at his trade on the New York and Erie Railroad.
He came West, in 1849, and located at Olmsted Falls, a suburb of Cleveland. He was the second Catholic to settle in the place, the first was Mr. John Reynolds. Being at the time a first-class mechanic and a faithful, sturdy young fellow, he got work in the bridge department of what is now the Big Four Railroad. In less than a year thereafter, being then about twenty-four years of age, he was made foreman on the big bridge contract on the west branch of Rocky river. After the completion of the structure he engaged in contract work for himself and built several bridges and did other work for both the Big Four and the Lake Shore Rail- road Companies, and also for Cuyahoga and other counties.
In 1850 Mr. James Hickey was married to Miss Mary E. Fitch, a native of Cuyahoga county. Her deportment and excel- lent character commanded the respect and admiration of the com- munity. Being a non-Catholic, she was happily baptized and married on the same day, the Rev. Father Peudeprat, then residing at St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, performing the rites. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hickey. Of these, three have been called to their reward. The nine who yet live and rejoice the hearts of their parents are named : Michael J., Mary A., Catherine S., James E., Esther J., Teresa V., Francis P., Gertrude E., and Vincent P. Not only on account of their par- ents' record, but also because of their own merits, are they well thought of by their neighbors and associates.
About the year 1860 he began to invest his earnings in farm lands in the vicinity of Olmsted Falls. He owned at one time as many as one thousand acres. As prices advanced and opportunity
MR. JAMES HICKEY
193
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
offered he disposed of some of the land, and yet has over three hundred acres in his vicinity. For over fifty years he has resided in his present abode, his neighbors without distinction of creed or class always finding him deserving of their confidence and friend- ship. His warm Irish nature reciprocated every kindly recogni- tion, until today ties of neighborly feeling and esteem bind the hearts of the community to his. The fact is he is beloved by all as an honest Christian man, whose record for two generations is pointed to as a character test by many.
Mr. Hickey, when twelve years old, took the total absti- nence pledge from Father Matthew in Ireland. He has faithfully kept the obligation for the past sixty-two years. In this, as in other respects, is seen his faithfulness and fixedness of purpose. He was beloved by the first bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. Amadeus Rappe, who would go out of his way to greet Mr. Hickey. A bond of the sincerest friendship united them, and the zealous mis- sionary bishop of northern Ohio was accustomed to say that it did him good to shake the hand of honest. sober James Hickey. In truth it did the bishop much good, for he recognized in Mr. Hickey numerous sterling qualities which he knew would be force- ful in impressing others, not only with the excellence of the virtue of sobriety, but also with the beauty and consistency of Catholic practice. This friendship of Bishop Rappe also had a good effect on the subject of this sketch, for he felt it to be not only an honor, but also an encouragement to persevere in the practice of his reli- gion, and to be faithful to his obligation as a total abstainer. For a plain mechanic to be thus held in esteem by his bishop, and to have his humble qualities and station utilized for the advancement of high and holy causes, could not but have had an inspiring effect on James Hickey. Even now, in his old age, he looks back with great satisfaction to those days, and he confesses that whatever of merit has in any way been his was owing to the good influence of Bishop Rappe's example, and his warm and sincere friendship for him and for his wife and family.
YOL. II
194
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE VERY REV. JOHN AUSTIN HILL.
One hundred and twenty-three years ago, 1777, was born in England the reverend gentleman who, in 1824, became the first resident pastor of St. John's, the only Catholic church at that time in Canton, Ohio. Not on account of these things alone is he written of here, nor because of the unusual fact that he was married before he became a priest, but more particularly in recognition of his many good qualities and rather uncommon career both as a man and as an ecclesiastic.
The parents of John Austin Hill were of distinction and wealth in their locality in England, and were members of the Established or Anglican denomination. He was reared and trained according to the tenets of that sect. In his immediate vicinity in early youth he had few opportunities of learning any- thing about the Catholic Church. This was changed somewhat when he was sent to the college of St. Omer, in France, to com- plete his classical education. He there saw and learned enough to set him to thinking and comparing the empty claims of the sects as against the mother church which is Catholic. It is evident that he had even then made up his mind that the True Church was not the Anglican, nor any one of the other sects.
Having finished his collegiate course he returned to England where he joined the army. Not finding the life of a soldier to his liking he asked for and obtained his release from military service. Shortly thereafter he married an estimable lady and was baptized into the Catholic Church. The old faith, although new to him, brought to his soul the paradoxical blessing of spiritual content- ment coupled with the unrest of a consuming yearning for the ecclesiastical state. Already obligated by marriage the situation was most trying for him. He did not desire to become a priest simply for the honor of filling the lowest office in the hierarchy, or to get rid of a wife. No. It was the care of souls that appeared so admirable to him and that so stirred what might be called his spiritual emotions. In the language of another. he wished "to instruct the little ones, preach the truth to the elders, and remind both of their duties and their last end." He desired to be all things to all men for the sake of Him who loved mankind even unto
-
1
THE VERY REV. JOHN AUSTIN HILL
195
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
death. He wished to become a priest in order to be an instrument in God's hands to free souls from the bonds of sin, and to offer up the August Sacrifice of Calvary.
What was he to do to attain his soul's ambition-to follow his vocation? He sincerely and completely unbosomed himself to his wife and to his father confessor with the happy result that the latter conditionally encouraged his aspirations, while the former nobly seconded his every effort to comply with the spirit that moved him in the direction of a more perfect state, to which state she was convinced he was called. She herself, in proof of her honesty of intention and her zeal for religion, entered a convent in Belgium where she spent the remainder of her life as a nun.
Mr. Hill completed all arrangements for entering a theolog- ical seminary in France to fit himself for Holy Orders. Before crossing its threshold, however, he was made a prisoner by the French government, and was held as such during two years. On being released he returned to England and entered the college at Old Hall Green where he remained two years. He then went to Rome and entered the Dominican Convent of the Minerva. In 1821 he received the habit of the Order and was ordained a priest. Having triumphed over the many obstacles which had beset his path he was correspondingly happy.
Consumed with the desire to labor in the American missions, his superior gratified him by sending him, in 1822, to St. Rose's, a house of the Dominican Order in the State of Kentucky. The Rt. Rev: Bishop Fenwick had just been consecrated Bishop of the newly-erected See of Cincinnati and was much in need of priests. To him Father Hill was sent. He remained for some time at Cincinnati. Six months thereafter his worth was recognized by the Bishop who made him Vicar-General of the diocese. In 1824 he was sent to northern Ohio to take charge of the missions and stations in Columbiana and Stark counties, with his residence at the Dominican Convent in Perry county. Ile labored there with great zeal, suffered many hardships, and continued the good work until November, 1824, when he was appointed the first resident pastor of St. John's Church, at Canton. He remained there until his death which took place September 3, 1828, when he was in the eighth year of his priesthood and the fifty-second of his age.
Father Hill was much attached to, and was correspondingly
1
196
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
respected and loved by, the people of Canton, and especially by the congregation of St. John's. It was his wish and also his dying request that his body repose in their midst. Accordingly his mortal remains were given sepulture bencath the eave of the south side of old St. John's Church which was built under his direc- tion. Some years later, when improvements required the change, his ashes were removed to the center of St. John's cemetery which is adjacent to the church, and where a marble tablet was erected to his memory. Lettered on the marble slab was a classic reference in Latin to his life and record by Father Henni who later became the first Bishop, and died as Archbishop, of Milwaukee, September 7, 1881. The following is a liberal poetical transla- tion of Father Henni's tribute :---
"A soldier left the sounding camp, For holy thoughts came o'er him; And gallant men with martial tramp Unenvied marched before him.
Minerva's sacred shade he sought, Then loosed the sword that bound him; And war was hushed. in silent thought And priestly robes were round him.
In Dominic's holy steps he trod, His father's rules he cherished; And raised his suppliant voice to God, To save us e're we perished.
Through him, in woods and deserts wild, For ages undiscovered, The tear was wiped from sorrow's child, The dove of mercy hovered.
In life beloved, his virtues flung A sacred halo o'er us, And thoughts came burning from his tongue And faith walked pure before us.
Oh! hallowed earth, here lightly tread, Till time's last trumpet wake him; Till light from heaven his relics bless, And He that made shall take him."
The Very Rev. John Austin Hill was a man of commanding presence. His early as well as his military training gave him a stately gait and appearance; but withal he was both humble, con-
THE REV. ALOYSIUS I. HOEFFEL
197
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
siderate and tender of heart. His firmness and decision of character were not incompatible with his spiritual fatherhood, or with those qualities which stamped him with the marks of the true Christian gentleman. His soul was enamored of the beauty of the Catholic Church as the mouth-piece of God on earth. He was instant and able in its defence and was credited with being among the keenest of controversialists. He was scholarly and eloquent, and it was happily said of him that as a priest he was "a living example of sacerdotal virtues." His career of less than eight years as a priest was productive of much good for those among whom he labored. The sacrifices he made in preparation for the priest- hood attest the reality of his vocation. He suffered much ; he loved much ; and he deserves to be in continued and prayerful remem- brance among the Catholics of northern Ohio and the Diocese of Cleveland.
THE REV. ALOYSIUS I. HOEFFEL.
In point of continuous years of service, if not in other respects also, the Rev. Aloysius I. Hoeffel is regarded as the good shep- herd of the southwestern section of the Diocese of Cleveland. He is the rector of St. John's Church. Delphos, and was born at Lutzelbourg, Lorraine. Diocese of Nancy, May 14, 1832.
In early life he enjoyed educational advantages. He made his preparatory and some of his more advanced studies at Courtray, Belgium, where his brother, Joseph, who died in 1898, was a college professor for upwards of forty years. Having spent five years in the college, he devoted four years additional to studies in Fenetrange and at Pont-à-Musson, France. Having completed his classical education, he emigrated to the United States, in 1854. and at once set about the carrying out of his resolve to become a priest. January, 1855, he was received into St. Mary's Theologi- cal Seminary, Cleveland, where, after a three and one-half years' course, he was elevated to the priesthood by Bishop Rappe, June 13, 1858.
July 2, 1858, he was appointed to labor in the first church and parish at Defiance, Ohio, with missions in the six adjoining counties. His knowledge of the French language was put to good uses among his people in the missions, especially in Paulding,
198
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
Henry, and Fulton counties. They welcomed him for his accom- plishments in that respect and loved him for his zeal in their behalf. Not a few of the older people of these counties yet recall his visits and his services. At Defiance and in the immediate vicinity he was in great demand as a speaker of German and English. He spent ten years ministering to the Catholics of Defiance, Paulding, Williams, Fulton, Henry, and parts of Lucas and Putnam counties. In visiting his widely scattered flocks he learned to manage horses as well as men. As a horseman, his first experiences, as related by himself, are most amusing. But he profited by them and by the necessity of inuring himself to the many hardships and exposure incident to the performance of his duties in his wide field of labor.
He was appointed pastor of St. John the Evangelist's Church, Delphos, Ohio, January 28, 1868, where he yet continues. His mission work at an end, he had time to devote to the material interests of his new congregation. He built, in 1870, a school which is now devoted to the German department of his educational system. The Sisters' house he caused to be erected, in 1872. A new organ was purchased, in 1875, and the old wooden church was pulled down in 1879, to give place to the present imposing brick structure, the corner stone of which was laid with imposing ceremonies by Bishop Gilmour, June 15th of that year. The parish or high school proper, together with a chime of bells, were subse- quent improvements. The substantial work accomplished since the advent of Father Hoeffel to Delphos exceeds in value the sum of $130,000, every cent of which has been paid, except a little over $3,000.
Father Hoeffel's silver jubilee, followed by a trip to Europe, took place in 1873. This was the only relaxation of any conse- quence he had since he became a priest. For nearly forty-three years he has been most faithful and zealous in his sacred calling. He may well be styled the good shepherd of his section of the diocese. His qualities and life record are such as to inspire in his people a love for religion and education and a keen appreciation of those things that appertain to good citizenship. Possessing an agreeable disposition and manifesting, at all times, the true ecclesiastical spirit, he is deservedly respected by the public and beloved by his own people.
11
---
-
1
THE REV. LOUIS HOFFER
199
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
THE REV. LOUIS HOFFER.
A short outline of the life and character of this learned and good priest might be compassed, as here attempted, in about a dozen sentences; but anything approaching an exhaustive bio- graphy of him would require a good-sized volume.
Father Hoffer was born at Phalsborg, Lorraine (France), November 18, 1824, and he died at Louisville, Stark county, Ohio, November 2, 1897, when he lacked but a few days of completing his seventy-third year. Having from childhood exhibited the marks of a vocation to the ecclesiastical state, his parents sent him when a youth to make his more advanced studies in the diocesan college in his native place. After completing his humanities, in the prosecution of which he evidenced marked talents, he was accepted as a student of divinity by the authorities of the diocesan seminary at Nancy. With his usual energy and ability he finished. the required course, and was ordained priest by the Bishop of that diocese, the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Mengaud, June 3, (Trinity Sunday), 1849. During ten years thereafter he labored both faithfully and effectively in his native France in the exercise of his sacred calling.
In the winter of 1859-60 Father Hoffer met the first Bishop of Cleveland, the Rt. Rev. Amadeus Rappe, who was then in France in the interests of his diocese. The good Bishop's recital of the great needs of his comparatively new diocese, one of which was a scarcity of priests, so touched his great soul that, on invita- tion by the Bishop, he said "Yes!" and resolved to become a laborer in the Diocese of Cleveland.
The following spring-in fact within a couple of months-he set out on his journey to far-away America, and arrived in Cleve- land, Ohio, early in the month of April. He was warmly received and welcomed, and, after a few days of rest, was sent as assistant to the Rev. L. Molon, who, at that time, had charge of St. Joseph's, Fremont, Ohio. From there Father Hoffer attended the missions at Toussaint and Greensburg, now Millersville, in the same county, Sandusky. He continued to labor in that section till August of that year, when he was appointed to fill the chair of dogmatic theology in St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland. He ably discharged his duties as professor from the autumn of 1860 till June, 1861.
200
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
During 1861, for several months, he found time to devote to the spiritual needs of the Catholic people resident at Louisville and vicinity, in Stark county. July of that year he was transferred to that place as pastor, which charge he held for almost thirty-six years, or until his resignation through illness-his last illness- May 1, 1896. He lingered for eighteen months thereafter, showing · great patience in suffering. He purchased the parish property at Louisville, built the present large and beautiful church of St. Louis, the pastoral residence, and also, 1863-64, the diocesan college there, the funds for the erection of which he collected largely in France. He was greatly saddened when adversity overtook the institution, which was dear to the heart of Bishop Rappe, but this was in part compensated for and he was correspondingly glad- dened when the building was turned to use as an asylum for orphan boys, whose spiritual father he was, and to whose interests he devoted his best endeavors.
Father Hoffer was a learned man. In many departments of knowledge he had few superiors. He was a profound theologian, an excellent Latinist, and a finished French scholar. His zeal during the forty-eight years of his priestly life was most pro- nounced. He was charity personified, not only in its active sense, but also in its higher sense of love for God and for all human kind. Whatever he had he was willing and ready to give, and this nearly always without the asking. ] Hence, when he passed away, his worldly possessions, after all his years in the ministry, did not exceed in value the sum of six hundred dollars. Of this amount he provided that half go to paying all his personal debts and the remainder, as was his wont all his life, to charity.
This good priest had a consuming compassion for the poor and the afflicted, and for those whose burdens were heavy to bear. Among these latter were those of the saddened heart and the dark- ened life -- the widow, the orphan, the despised, and the calum- niated. He was the friend of all such who came within his sphere, and from both his charity and his priestly ministrations, his kind acts and words, and his beautiful example, they were enabled to drink in a measure of joy, of light, of encouragement and buoyant hope, not only here but for hereafter. In view of these facts, it
7
MR. JOHN HOLLAND
201
IN NORTHERN OHIO.
would not strain the imagination much to fancy Father Hoffer, in his great humility and trustful recognition of Divine Providence, as saying :
"Good is not a shapely mass of stone, Hewn by man's hands, and worked by him alone; It is a seed God suffers one to sow, Many to reap. And when the harvests grow.
God giveth increase through all coming years;
And lets us reap in joy, seed that was sown in tears."
MR. JOHN HOLLAND.
Mr. John Holland was born in the parish of Scull, county of Cork, Ireland. When a boy, in the spring of 1847, he sailed from Queenstown for Quebec, on board the ship Lady Flora Hastings. He was accompanied by his two brothers who were older than himself. In the summer of the following year he went to Cleve- land, Ohio, which then had a population of about 16,000, and only one small Catholic Church, St. Mary's, near the Columbus street bridge, on the "Flats." Since then Mr. Holland has witnessed the growth of his adopted city until it became the metropolis of the State, and also the increase of the Catholic population from a few thousand to considerable over one hundred thousand.
He began his career in Cleveland rolling barrels and doing other work on the docks, at the rate of ten cents an hour. The next year. he took charge of the warehouse of a commission firm, with which concern he continued four years. He was then offered a clerkship" on one of the lake propellers, which position he accepted and held for about ten years. Following this he con- nected himself with a commission house on the river as half owner, and later, in company with two others, he organized The Forest City Stone Company, and remained one of its owners for nearly twenty years.
Mr. Holland has always been a Democrat in politics. He took little interest in local elections owing to his living in a Republican stronghold. However, the honor of the nomination for the office of city treasurer was conferred on him unsought, in 1869, and he came within about 120 votes of defeating Mr. Everett, who was his opponent on the Republican ticket. This fact would indicate the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens of both parties. Regarding Mr. Holland's voyage to this country he tells
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.