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 6
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In justice to the subject of this sketch it ought to be men- tioned that he performs his good works unseen of men-that is, without ostentation or flourish. A sense of duty enlivened by zeal for religion is the power that moves him. Hence he neither looks for, nor desires, recognition or thanks for doing that which he knows to be his duty. In keeping with his native mod- esty are the facts that he avoids politics, membership in societies, and office-seeking or office-holding. The one exception to his desire to live a private life was his election to the office of town- ship trustee over his strong protest. He, however, discharged the duties of the office for the term of his election, but he gave notice that he would again serve in no public capacity.
Mr. Nicholas C. Alten is fully aware of the noted absence of generous and exalted aims in life. His experience has taught him the great need society has of kindly traditions and shining personal examples. Every community is more or less adversely affected by the absence of these. and it may be that he has adopted his present methods and formed his character by contemplating the require- ments of an improved future even among Catholics everywhere.
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THE REV. ALBERT ANDLAUER.
The Rev. Albert Andlauer has, even if he does not glory in it, the distinction of being the pastor of the oldest parish in northern Ohio. The Church of St. Philip Neri, at Dungannon, in Columbiana county, is the mother church of the Diocese of Cleve -- land, and the memories that cluster around it are a sort of holy haze through which he may be seen as he patiently but persistently and zealously pursues the even tenor of his way of duty.
Having been a member of the Capuchin Order during the first eleven years of his priestly life, the negation of self thus implied would seem a fitting preparation for him to stand on the altar of old St. Philip's and take up and continue the good work at Dungannon and at the mission at Lisbon, which was so faithfully performed by his reverend predecessors. In obedience he assumed the charge ; in humility he performs his part ; and he would prevent, through modesty, the coupling of his name with these landmarks of Catholicity were it not for the necessity and fitness of his being mentioned.
He was born to Charles and Kunegunda (Zabler) Andlauer, at Kappel am Rhein, Baden, October 31, 1856. From childhood the ecclesiastical state was his choice of calling. In keeping with his desire, he was sent to the gymnasium at Ettenheim and to that at Freiburg, Baden, to finish his classics. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 closed these institutions, thus interrupting his plans, and the Kulturkampf forced him, like thousands of others, to leave his native land. During five years thereafter he engaged in commercial pursuits in the city of Metz, after which he spent four more years similarly employed in Switzerland.
Ilis desire to devote his life to religion was always present with him, a fact which inclined him to keep up his studies when- ever opportunity offered. When, therefore, he emigrated to the United States, in 1879, and entered the Capuchin College at Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania, he was well advanced in his classics. Com- pleting the required course in the Pittsburg institution, he was promoted to the Seminary of the Capuchin Order, at Cumberland, Maryland, where he made his divinity studies, and was ordained priest by Cardinal Gibbons, December 23, 1884. During one year
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THE REV. CHARLES ANDLAUER
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after ordination he devoted himself to study, aiming to perfect himself for the better performance of the duties which are his to discharge in the holy ministry.
As a member of the Order he spent six years in the State of Illinois, principally in the city of Peoria, where he faithfully per- formed pastoral duties, gave missions and retreats, and was also spiritual director of two religious communities. He was similarly engaged in the Diocese of Concordia, Kansas, during the follow- ing three years, after which he spent one year in Wheeling, West Virginia.
December 28, 1895, he was received into the Diocese of Cleveland, and was made pastor of St. Michael's Church, Kelley's Island, Ohio. He labored there during two and one-half years, or until his appointment. September 1, 1898, to his present parish at Dungannon, Columbiana county, Ohio. He built the new tower and spire on the Dungannon Church, and otherwise improved the property.
Father Andlauer is a philosopher and theologian of note. He speaks German, French, and English, is a pleasing and fluent preacher, and is as zealous for religion as he is capable in the management of his congregation. He delights to be about the business of his Father, but dislikes to have his activity heralded abroad. His humility would have his light put under a bushel were it not that it is written that it should so shine before men as to glorify his Father, who is in heaven. It is in this sense, not any other, that this mention is made of him.
THE REV. JOHN P. BARRY.
The pastor of St. Ann's Church, Youngstown, Ohio, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 7, 1861. His parents were Thomas and Ann (Ryan) Barry. They came from Ireland and settled in Boston, where they became widely and favorably known in the business, social, and Catholic circles of that far-famed "City by the Sea." Mr. Barry died there January, 1892. and Mrs. Barry, November, 1894.
Young Barry received his early education in the public schools of his native city. Completing the course he was graduated VOL. II
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from the justly famed Boston High School. At the Jesuit College in Boston, then under the personal supervision of that great student and scholar, the Rev. Robert Fulton, S. J., he began his classical studies. He remained in that institution two years, when he went to Nicolet College, at Nicolet, Province of Quebec, Canada, where he graduated in June, 1881.
Having since early life evinced a vocation for the sacred ministry, he began his theological studies under the direction of the Sulpician Fathers, in the Grand Seminary, at Montreal, Canada, an institution known throughout the continent as the nursery and the school of hundreds of priests who have done nobly and well the work of God in the United States and Canada. After three years devoted to the study of theology, he was adopted as an ecclesiastical student for the Diocese of Cleveland by the late Bishop Gilmour, and was sent by him to complete his divinity course in the Diocesan Seminary, where he was ordained to the priesthood July 9, 1885, by the late Bishop de Goesbriand, of Burlington, Vermont, who officiated on that occasion, in the absence of Bishop Gilmour.
Father Barry's first assignment to duty was as curate at St. Columba's Church, Youngstown, Ohio. He remained there until December 23, 1887, when he was appointed pastor of St. Ann's Church, Youngstown, which position he has satisfactorily filled ever since-thus enjoying the unique distinction of having spent the entire sixteen years of his ministry in the same city and prac- tically among the same people. As curate at St. Columba's, Father Barry endeared himself to the Youngstown people; but it is as pastor of St. Ann's that his marked personal qualities and talents have become fully known and appreciated. Of the work accom- plished by him, often under the most discouraging financial conditions, the mere subjoined statement of facts will be sufficient to indicate the character of the man.
Entering upon his duties as pastor of St. Ann's he found a debt of $2,000. Having paid this, he built a school and parochial residence at a cost of $7,000. The Catholics of Girard then formed part of his care, and with an eye to their future needs he bought property for church purposes which cost $1,800. On this property he built, at a cost of $12,000, the present beautiful Church of
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THE REV. JOHN P. BARRY
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St. Rose. Wisely judging that St. Ann's first Church was too far removed from the populous center of his parish, and too small, he purchased the new site, at Youngstown, at a cost of $5,500, and there erected his present beautiful new church, 132 feet in length by 60 feet in width, with a large, airy and lightsome basement under the entire building. He finished and occupied the basement in 1896. This structure, in its present state of completion, cost $25,000. To this outlay he added $8,000, the cost of the new school building and the new parochial residence.
While these facts show the tangible ends attained, there is other work no less difficult of accomplishment and certainly more far-reaching in its effects. In no department of his work does the priest take greater pride than in that which directly concerns the the little ones of his flock; and it is in his school, among the children, that the Rev. Father Barry gives strong evidence of his character both as priest and guide. No day passes, if at all possible, that does not find him there, not paying a merely passing visit, but rather showing a deep practical interest in each individual child. In the test of examination his children give evidence of the thorough training received at his hands, and this training extends not alone to religious but also to secular science. As far as possible he keeps his school abreast of the best in every useful and modern improve- ment. He associates with the children, aids and encourages them in their labors, and cheers them in their sports and games. Although intimate with them, he always commands and receives their respect and affection. Into the minds of the children he early instills those qualities of uprightness and candor, so marked in himself; for in these children he sees the hope of the future Church and State. His interest follows them long after their school days are over; for he is always able to even go into details concerning the lives of the young men and women who some years before were boys and girls in his school. This implies in part that, under his pastorate, his parish has become thoroughly organized and complete. He actually knows every nook and corner in it.
Father Barry's devotion and attention to the sick and the aged, and his charity for God's poor and the afflicted are proverbial in Youngstown. His particular and earnest devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the Mother of God, and to the helpful Saint of
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Padua, has, like some holy contagion, affected his people to no small degree. "From their fruits, ye shall know them," so spake the Master many years ago. Equally true are His words today, and upon this divine declaration the pastor of St. Ann's might well be content to stand. But when to these fruits of his priestly labors are added the influence of a personality and character clear as crystal and devoid of all sham and pretense; an ability not ordi- narily to be met with; musical talent of exceptionally high order; strikingly neat in his personal appearance, and exacting in his demands for neatness and order about God's house, as well as in all other affairs subject to his care and direction ; straightforward and outspoken almost to a degree of seeming bluntness; and having a heart confiding as a child's and tender as a mother's, one can easily understand the esteem, love, and popularity which Father Barry enjoys among all classes and creeds in Youngstown.
If an appreciation for the beauty of God's house, and for the solemnity of God's service is no uncertain mark of the earnest and true priest, then most fittingly might the Rev. John P. Barry be quoted as saying with the Psalmist : "The zeal of Thy House hath eaten me up."
THE REV. SERAPHIN BAUER, D. D.
A short account of his many labors and of the chief distinc- tions received by him during the nearly forty-three years of his priestly career thus far (1858-1900) is made the principal part of this sketch as well to serve the purposes of history as to aid in forming an intelligent estimate of the character and great ability of the Rev. Dr. Bauer, rector of St. Joseph's Church, Fremont, Ohio. Ordained and held ever afterward in loving companionship by the first Bishop of Cleveland, the saintly Amadeus Rappe; highly prized and signally favored by the succeeding Bishop, the distinguished Richard Gilmour: greatly appreciated, esteemed, and honored by the present Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Ignatius F. Horstmann, and by His Holiness. Leo XIII, it is impossible not to adjudge Dr. Bauer a man of parts and a worthy priest of the Catholic Church.
Descended of an ancestry uniting good old German stock
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THE REV. SERAPHIN BAUER, D. D.
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with Spanish blood, the seeming paradox of his Teutonic stead- fastness and philosophy combined with the brilliancy, activity, and fervor of the Celt is thus most happily and completely accounted for. Hence his manly and convincing outspokenness in defense of truth and right on all occasions, and also the magic charm of his matchless and logical method of defending; hence his devotion to duty and his loyalty in friendships as well as his dignified indiff- crence to misled or poorly-equipped enemies; hence his living forth in broadest daylight the great fact that the priest dwells also in the man, the citizen, the patriot, four-square to every beholder, and to be circumscribed by no mere small-minded, angular limita- tions. In Dr. Bauer is fully realized that other fact that the leader, not those to be led, leads; that the teacher is not to be taught. The plain name, Father Bauer, stands for all it means spiritually in every home in Fremont, and to its priestly significance is added by even the simplest citizen the temporal notion also of neighbor, friend, benefactor. The late President Hayes, for many years Dr. Bauer's neighbor and admirer, thus recognized it ; so have the local and State officials, and so also did President McKinley, who was his long-time friend. There is no mistaking or wonderment touching the garb, personality, or calling of Dr. Bauer. All know both him and his mission. All know his principles, and where and when to find the flag under which he does battle.
He has never withheld the light he might shed on political issues. Patriotism being a matter of conscience, one's political stand should also be of conscience. Since no true man fears to say and do the right, so no good citizen shirks his political duties. Dr. Bauer is not a partisan, for he holds that parties are not to propound questions, but to openly answer them. Parties ought not to make questions, but questions should make parties. In this light he has participated in politics, sometimes on this side, some- times on that, according to the issues or the merits of the candi- dates. Over and above all party issues he is and has always been for the Union and the Government, and for the brave men who risked all in defense of both. Accordingly he is the ideal, so to speak, of the local Grand Army of the Republic. He has delivered numerous memorial addresses for them, notably two in his own church, one in 1892 and the other in 1900. Thither flocked the
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rank and file to join with this priest and the Catholic Church in honoring patriotism, and to be honored in turn by them. The following paragraph is taken from one of his Memorial Day dis- courses to the veteran soldiers in his own church :
"St. Paul found in Athens an altar dedicated and inscribed : 'To the Unknown God.' In our National cemeteries we meet long lines and immense circles with the inscription: 'To the Unknown Dead.' Here unknown soldiers, in unnumbered companionship, sleep the sleep of that peace that fell upon their eyes, when the Angel of Death closed them in the tempest of destruction. 'Who were they?' is the question uppermost in the mind of the visiting pilgrim as he stands there mute and with awe in the presence of the sacred dust. No headstone mentions a name, no epitaph gives even a meager record ! As silent as is that dust below, so silent is the world above. No mother or sister kneels beside the grave to whisper down the name of son or brother! The unknown dead soldier died a most complete death-the death of the body and of individual memory! His country mourns him, but it does not know him. The universal natural desire to be remembered is born of the instinct of immortality. Man may despise the life of the body; none wants his name blotted out from memory. The rich suicide provides a monument to himself; and thousands have sought destruction for the purpose of becoming celebrated. With unutterable grief and emotion let us pray the Judge of the world to let us once look into the book where the names and the deeds of the unknown dead soldiers are inscribed in shining and indelible characters."
The Rev. Seraphin Bauer, D. D., was born October 17, 1835. in the city of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. France, where his father, having left the army in Germany, resided for twenty-three years. When eleven years old he was orphaned by the death of his mother. His father then returned with him, his only child, to his old home in Griessheim, county of Staufen, Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. There young Bauer continued his studies, a remarkable feature of which was his mastery of the German language in a marvelously short time. The pastor at Griessheim took the greatest interest in the studious boy and soon gave him free access to his library. A sign of this child-scholar's progress in learning and of his vigorous mentality was his reading with keenest zest, in his fourteenth year, the historico-political papers of the celebrated Görres.
Having received a solid education, and after mature reflection,
THE REV. SERAPHIN BAUER, D. D.
(Delivering a Memorial Day discourse before the local G. A. R. in his church, at Fremont )
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in which he was aided by the advice of his confessor, the renowned Father Philipi, who became later a member of the German Reichs- tag, Seraphin Bauer resolved to enter the priesthood and devote his life to the Church. He found an obstacle in the Kulturkampf which then raged in the ecclesiastical province (Freiburg) of the Upper Rhine. The Archbishop of Freiburg, Hermann von Vicari, regretted very much that he could not receive him under existing conditions, as the government of Baden had threatened to close his seminary and disperse the students. He, therefore, advised the young man to seek in free America that which was denied him in his father's country. Fortunately our young hero had a friend, a former neighbor, in St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, in the person of the late Rev. Jos. Lais, of Masillon. Through this dear and close friend he was received by Amadeus Rappe, the great Missionary Bishop and Patriarch of the Diocese of Cleveland.
July 1, 1854, the emigrant youth presented himself to his old friend in the Cleveland Seminary, and later to his new friend, the Bishop. He was well received by both. The following October he . entered St. John's College, newly established in Cleveland, to learn English, which he quickly mastered, and to otherwise prepare him- self for his theological course. He soon became the prefect of the institution, and also assisted in teaching. In the autumn of 1855 he entered the Diocesan Seminary, and, in 1858, was singled out to go to the famed St. Sulpice, Paris, with the late Rev. F. A. Sulli- van, to take an advanced course of studies. Scarcity of priests, however, forced Bishop Rappe to ordain him for the missions, which he did June 13, 1858. Rev. Seraphin Bauer was one of the youngest priests ever sent out from St. Mary's Seminary to labor in the missions, being at the time of his ordination only twenty-two years and seven months old. While in the seminary he was teacher of ceremonies, and was first master in the Cathedral during those ycars.
The first appointment of Father Bauer was to St. Joseph's Church at Maumee City, in Lucas county, Ohio, where he remained from July 1. 1858, to September 13, 1862. In the extreme northwestern part of the diocese a priest's life was truly missionary in that early time. The work in that entire district was divided between the Rev. Father Hoeffel, then of Defiance, and
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the Rev. Father Bauer. In recounting the hardships of their missionary labors these two priests could weave in many interest- ing episodes as to how they often had to pick their way through wilderness and trackless, sandy waste to the homes of the scattered Catholics, where now there are numerous flourishing congrega- tions, of which these two pioneers laid the foundations.
September 21, 1862, the Rev. Father Bauer was made pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Fremont, Ohio, where he still resides, having labored there successfully nearly thirty-nine years. At the time he took charge the congregation was small, deeply in debt, with resources barely sufficient for the scantiest common expenses. The ground on which the church stood, and which was all the con- gregation owned at the time, was so limited that it was impossible to erect decent buildings on it for school and residence purposes. However, the receipts of the parish were soon increased, ground for a cemetery was bought, and in the course of time five pieces of the finest and best property were purchased at an outlay of thous- ands of dollars, extending the old contracted lines and making the grounds of St. Joseph's of today very valuable and exceedingly beautiful. In 1864, the Rev. Father built the pastoral residence. which was greatly enlarged and improved in 1900. In 1878, the new school house was erected. In 1890, the magnificant new church of St. Joseph was finished and furnished, and on the day of its dedication, July 9, 1893, the congregation had no debt. Few other congregations, if any, have been privileged to rejoice in such successful financiering. In 1893, the old church was changed into a hall, with a stage; and, in 1898, a fine house was constructed for the sexton. The people of St. Joseph's carnestly pray that their reverend pastor may be spared long enough to finish some other edifices which they have in view, and thus give the finishing touch to his great work in Fremont.
The Rev. Father is noted for his extraordinary capacity for work and for most assiduous study in almost all lines of mental accomplishments. To be able to thus constantly apply himself there is need of physical robustness, and he is not now the strong man he used to be. Infirmity causes him to travel at times. After a severe sickness, lasting from 1868 to 1872, he voyaged February 5. to November 28, 1872, visiting Greece, Asia Minor, Palestine;
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Egypt, Italy, Switzerland-making the 471st ascension of Mont Blanc, as recorded at Chamonix, August 20, 1872. While in Jerusalem he was created a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, and was adorned with the cross of the Order. The Patriarch of that city, Valerga, invested him with the distinction, to which was added the honor of having for the space of one day and one night full charge of the Holy Place. This Order is the mother of all other knight- hoods, is the highest in character and mission, and requires the most exacting conditions as to family, nobility of lineage, vocation, character, etc., in its members. There are few members in this country. From Jerusalem he traversed Italy, Germany, France, Spain, England and parts of Ireland, seeing almost everything of note or interest in those countries. In our own country he has visited all parts and is acquainted with its famed and historic localities.
When he returned from his extensive travels November 28, 1872, his entire congregation celebrated the day in a manner that will be ever memorable in Fremont, their hearts overflowing with love and gratitude toward their pastor. June 13, 1SS3, the Rev. Father celebrated his silver jubilee in the priesthood; September 21, 1887, he commemorated the 25th anniversary of his pastorate in St. Joseph's; November 27, 1894, in acknowledgment of his attainments in ecclesiastical and sacred learning, he was created Doctor of Divinity by His Holiness Leo XIII; February 7, 1895, he was invested with that distinguished honor amid grand sol- emnity, the Rt. Rev. Ignatius F. Horstmann, Bishop of Cleveland, officiating; June 13, 1898, he solemnized his ruby jubilee-forty years in the priesthood. On all those feasts and solemnities the people of St. Joseph's evidenced their high appreciation of their deserving pastor.
In 1876, he was elected Secretary of the Board of the Infirm Priests' Fund of the Diocese of Cleveland, which office he has held, with the exception of one year, up to the present. He might well be called the father of that great beneficent fund. He spoke for it in the Synod of 1865 ; he helped frame its first "Rules and Regu- lations"; he assisted in the revision of the "Rules" in 1876; he drafted the "Constitution" of July, 1882 ; he prepared all its books, forms, and papers; he worked for the fund with singleness of
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