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, pt2 > Part 10
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Because of the distance from church and school, Mr. Rudge removed to Youngstown in October, 1866. After engaging temporarily in different pursuits, he made a start in the real estate business, which was promising at that time. He also organized two building and loan societies, of which he was secretary until they were satisfactorily dissolved and the shares of stock all redeemed. The city of Youngstown having erected water works, in 1870, the trustees invited him to become their secretary. in which position he remained for fifteen years. On severing his connection with the board, Mr. Rudge and his son Edgar opened a real estate, fire insurance and steamship agency. He continued
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active in that business until 1893, when he retired in favor of his son, devoting his time to looking after his own private affairs and superintending and beautifying Calvary Cemetery, in which he / takes great interest.
Mr. and Mrs. Rudge have been blessed with nine children, six boys and three girls, and are also the grandparents of twenty- one children, nineteen of whom are living. One of their sons died in infancy; another joined the Society of Jesus and was ordained priest August 27, 1899; others, including the oldest daughter, married and settled in Youngstown, and the remaining two daughters became nuns in the Ursuline Convent in that city, one of whom died after ten years spent in religion. George Rudge, now in his seventy-eighth year, gives the evidence of having lived a correct and beautiful life. He loves his family with a true father's heart, and is beloved in return by each member of it. This after all is the best test of a man.
Mr. and Mrs. George Rudge have enjoyed perfect content- ment of soul since the day when it was vouchsafed to them to know the truth. At no time since then has their faith faltered, nor has the hold which religion gained on their souls been loosened either by any act of theirs or of others. In keeping with the pious exclamation : "Too late have I known Thee," and half in generously blaming themselves, their humility in self-chiding - suggests the lines of Mrs. Norton :
"It may be God, who saw our careless life, Not sinful, yet not blameless (Since all we thought of, in our youth's bright May Was but the coming joy from day to day), Hath blotted out all joy to bid us learn That this is not our home, and make us turn From the enchanted earth, where much was given, To higher aims and a forgotten heaven, Through a knowledge of the Truth."
Albert A.
Charles E.
Rose M.
Lucy M.
MR. AND MRS. ANTHONY RUFFING AND FAMILY.
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MR. ANTHONY RUFFING.
Mr. Anthony Ruffing, the leading dry goods merchant of Bellevue, Ohio, and the most prominent Catholic in that city, was born, at Bismarck, Huron county, in the same State, April 8, 1840. His father, Joseph Ruffing, was one of the early pioneers of that section. Emigrating from Germany, the elder Ruffing purchased some land and set about clearing it not only from debt but also from the natural obstructions to cultivation. As his children grew up they aided him in the work.
The subject of this biography divided his time between study in the log school and work on the farm. When he was in his seventeenth year, 1856, he removed to Bellevue to take a clerk- ship. He continued in that capacity for eight years, or until 1865, when, with the money he had saved, he embarked in the dry goods business for himself. It is true his beginning was small, but his ambition was vaulting. He persevered, was industrious and atten- tive, and each year marked an increase in the volume of his trade. He has thus continued to the present, with the record of over thirty-five years of honorable and profitable dealing to his credit.
To the responsibility of building up a business he added that also of rearing a family for, in 1865, he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Eisenbeis, who was born in Rhenish Bavaria, and was taken to this country by her parents when she was a child of six. Having been carefully trained in both the Catholic religion and in domestic affairs, she became a help rather than a hindrance to her husband. Beginning married life with mutual resolve to act well their respective parts, they have enjoyed multiplied temporal blessings through seeking first the kingdom of God and His justice.
Of the five children with whom their union has been blessed four are living. The one to pass away was named Mary E. She died when less than one year old. The sons are: Charles E. and Albert A., both of whom are engaged in business with their father. Chas. E. Ruffing was married April 22, 1896, to Miss Mary M. Vollmer of New York City. The two daughters are: Rose M., who was married April 13, 1891, to D. B. Callaghan, who is one of Bellevue's leading grocery merchants ; and Miss Lucy M. They
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have been carefully educated, and have been taught by example to always do something for religion. Mrs. Ruffing has ever been active in this respect, while Mr. Ruffing has been a substantial supporter of the congregation, and one of the councilmen of the Immaculate Conception Church for upward of a quarter of a century.
He served the city also in the capacity of treasurer for two terms. Beyond this he has had neither the time nor the inclina- tion for office-holding or preferments. It was as late as 1892 when he felt he could spare the time to make a tour of Europe accom- panied by his wife, but so pleased was he with what he saw abroad that he repeated the trip in 1900, taking with him Mrs. Ruffing, his son Albert A., and his daughter Miss Lucy M.
In person Mr. Ruffing is slender, with a countenance indicat- ing a blending of force of character with an agreeable disposition. Having a penchant for facts and tangibilities, emphasized by his commercial pursuits, he has readily branched out into the field of discursive knowledge. His intuitions are pronounced, his obser- vations keen, and his ability to draw correct conclusions, and to forecast conditions are about as remarkable as is his business capacity. The reasoning that holds in the one, he is convinced, will apply in the other, and he concludes regarding the Catholic Church in the United States that its future is but a matter of calculation, a sort of estimate based upon facts and conditions. The Church being uppermost in his mind he is for Catholic educa- tion and for maintaining the Catholic school. He places the importance of the school almost abreast of that of the Church itself. His judgment is that every congregation should have a fine school before it has a fine church. The older people, he main- tains, can not be estranged from the Church, while the young must be saved to it through the Catholic school. And thus the subject of this mention is a thinker of practical thoughts, a reasoner, a cheerful giver to carry out his ideas -- an enthusiast for Catholic education. To him the philosophy and force of this suggestive saying is manifest :
"The work is laid Before our feet that shall come after us; We may not stay to watch if it will spread."
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THE REV. FREDERICK RUPERT
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THE REV. FREDERICK RUPERT.
Few who are acquainted with the man, and the facts in his career, will take umbrage now or hereafter at the averment that the pastor of St. Paul's Church,* Norwalk, Ohio, is among the most useful, zealous, and well-equipped priests of the Diocese of Cleve- land. He began his priestly labors July, 1879, and is now (December, 1900) midway in the twenty-second year of his min- istry. What he has accomplished is tangibly in evidence, and is of record in the archives of the diocese as well as in the great book of records where angel fingers do the writing.
- Mr. George John Rupert was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was the third son of Peter and Kunigunde Rupert, and was born March 12, 1814, in Schellenburg, Upper Franconia, Bavaria. He emigrated to the United States in 1836, learned the trade of a cooper in Cleveland, and, in 1842, removed to Massillon, Ohio, where, for upwards of twenty years, he continued the business in his own name. From 1863 to June 29, 1895, the time of his death, he resided on his farm a few miles north of Massillon. He was twice married. By his first wife, who died December 25, 1850, he had four children, two of whom, Mrs. Margaret Molitor, of Mas- sillon, and the Rev. Frederick Rupert, of Norwalk, Ohio, are yet living. By his second wife he had seven children, one of whom is Sister Sophia of the Ursuline Community in Cleveland.
The Rev. Frederick Rupert was born November 21, 1846. He made his first Holy Communion, June, 1859, and during the two years preceding he attended St. Mary's parochial school in his native city. Apart from this his primary training was obtained in the public schools. For several years his education was interrupted, especially during the civil war, 1861-1865. These years were spent in great part in other occupations. Resuming his studies, he graduated from the Massillon High School in 1867, receiving first prize for excellence in the higher mathematics. The following October he entered the diocesan college at Louisville, Stark county, there to prepare himself for carrying into effect his long- cherished desire to become a priest. He remained there until
*Since this sketch was in type Father Rupert was appointed, June 20, 1901, to organize the new parish of St. John, Evangelist, at Lima.
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December, 1868, when a severe and protracted inflammation of his eyes forced him to discontinue. Returning to his home in Massillon, his popularity among his neighbors caused him, in the spring of 1869, to be' elected to a prominent city office. The malady affecting his eyes having disappeared, he resigned his position January, 1871, and resumed his studies at Louisville College. He continued there both as a student and as professor of the German language until June, 1873, when the college closed its doors. The following September he entered Assumption College, Sandwich, Canada. While pursuing his studies in that institution, he was Professor of German, Elementary Classics, and Mathematics. He graduated in June, 1876, and the following September was received into St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, where he finished his divinity course and was ordained priest by Bishop Gilmour, July 5, 1879.
His first appointment was as pastor of St. Mary's Church, Antwerp, Paulding county, Ohio, with charge also of numerous . missions in that and Defiance county. He labored in that extensive field from July 14, 1879, to the end of March, 1881. He completed the pastoral residence at Antwerp and purchased the ground on which the present new church stands; he secured the ground and built the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Cecil; also St. Michael's Church at Hicksville, and St. Stephen's at Delaware Bend. He left but a few hundred dollars in the way of debts on all these improvements at the time of his appointment to Shelby, Richland county, April 2, 1881.
As pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary at Shelby, he had charge also of the missions at Republic, Chicago Junction, and Plymouth, and the stations at Shiloh and Green- wich. He paid a debt of a thousand dollars on the new church at Chicago Junction, and after purchasing additional ground, pews, organ, and altar, left a balance in the treasury. He also redeemed the church at Shelby from its bankrupt condition, leaving less than $100 of debts when, about July 1, 1882, it pleased Bishop Gilmour, according to his previous promise, to appoint him pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Maumee City, in Lucas county. Father Rupert began at once his labors in that field. He purchased the ground whereon the present new church stands, collected a large amount of building material looking to its erection, and had in the parish
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treasury $1,700 in aid of the project, when he fell a victim to malaria, then prevalent in that district, thus checking his active career from the autumn of 1884, until the spring of 1885. He was then appointed pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Concep- tion at Bellevue, the hope of the bishop being that a change of locality would improve his shattered health. He took charge in Bellevue April 16, 1885; he completed the church, paid off the debts, purchased the school property, placed the Sisters in charge, built them a house, improved the pastoral residence, procured a fine pipe organ, and when he departed to become pastor of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk, October 12, 1894, he left no debts, but rather a balance of several hundred dollars to the credit of the congregation. He assumed charge at Norwalk October 24, 1894. He was confronted with a debt of $16,000. It was the same old story with Father Rupert-a hill to climb and a heavy burden to bear. The good people of St. Paul's caught the spirit of the new pastor. They united with him in the good work of redeeming the parish, and today, the beginning of the new century, the obliga- tions of the parish have been reduced to the nominal sum of $1,800, and this, too, after the expenditure of several thousand dollars for stations of the cross, cemetery improvements, etc. During the past nineteen years, and especially since his advent to Norwalk, Father Rupert has been second to none in the diocese in his devotion to Catholic education.
If what Carlyle says is true, that "There is no life of a man, faithfully recorded, but is an heroic poem of its sort, rhymed or unrhymed," then the case in point is doubly heroic, even if but. imperfectly written. If this outline of this good priest's career for the past twenty-two years and the scattering facts above set forth mean anything, they certainly bear out the modest claim made in the opening sentence of this sketch. They mean that the Rev, Father Rupert is a most efficient and zealous priest, who brings to the discharge of his duties rare ability and a spirit that is truly ecclesiastical. . He is always about the business of his Master. Much toil and physical inconvenience become a pleasure to him so long as they inure to the spiritual and temporal advancement of his flock. He recognizes that the servant is not above his Master; hence, he is in the fore-front, not only keeping the faith but spread- ing it --- fighting the good fight for God and humanity.
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THE REV. JOSEPH G. SCHAFFELD.
The junior clergy of the Diocese of Cleveland are men who give promise of walking faithfully in the footsteps of their reverend seniors and revered predecessors. The present pastor of St. Augustine's Church, Barberton, Ohio, is a fair sample of a large number of young priests of whom Bishop Horstmann may be justly proud.
Father Schaffeld is the second of the family of John Bernard and Christina Teresa (Koenig) Schaffeld to become a priest. He was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, August 8, 1871. He received his early training in St. Peter's parish school in his native city. He then finished his preparatory course in the Cleveland High School. Following this, he entered the St. Ignatius (Jesuit) College, Cleveland, from which institution he emerged a classical graduate in 1892. He is the first graduate of that college to choose an ecclesiastical career.
Evidencing brilliant talents and a love for study, he was sent abroad to improve the former and gratify the latter. Accordingly, in that year, 1892, he entered the Royal Imperial University at Innsbruck, Austria, where he completed the full university course. Having attained to the required standards in philosophy and theology before he had arrived at the canonical age for receiving holy orders, he was granted a six months' dispensation by Pope Leo XIII and was ordained priest by the Prince-Bishop of Brixen. July 26, 1896.
Returning soon after to his native diocese, he received his first appointment creating him pastor of the Church of St. John the Baptist, at Payne, in Paulding county, Ohio. He discharged his duties there from December, 1896, until June, 1898, when he was commissioned to his present position as the first resident pastor of St. Augustine's Church, Barberton, Ohio. During the two and one-half years which he has now (1900) been laboring there, he built the pastoral residence and purchased adjoining land upon which to erect a beautiful new church, the plans for which have. already been prepared and adopted.
That Father Schaffeld will perform this task faithfully and fulfill his mission, continued good health permitting, may be inferred from the traits and qualities which round out his character.
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THE REV. JOSEPH G. SCHAFFELD.
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In business matters he is energetic, systematic and cautious. These he evidences both in theory and practice. Speaking both English and German, not merely fluently but with oratorical grace and force, his parishioners and the public have learned to prize highly his sermons and discourses, and in consequence have become his warm supporters in all he undertakes. Perhaps in this respect his non-Catholic fellow citizens are rivals of his own flock, for they, as also the labor organizations, will have him speak for them and represent them at celebrations and public functions.
This young priest possesses a most agreeable disposition. He willingly obliges all when he can do so consistently with his duties and sacred calling. It appears to be a pleasure to him to instruct and lead back to the right path those who are in spiritual darkness or who have gone astray. The non-Catholic coming to him "to have a talk," or directly seeking instruction, goes away convinced that there are more things and truer things than have been in his limited conception heretofore. So also the simplest of his parish- ioners departs from his presence with the impression that his pastor is a true father and friend, an approachable gentleman, and an excellent adviser.
Not a few of his many friends among all classes associate the ideas of patience and resignation with his personality and record. This they do with the knowledge that such a man is a peace-maker and harmonizer, the intention being, no doubt, to appropriately apply to him that portion of the Sermon on the Mount known as the seventh beatitude. Father Schaffeld inherits from his good mother, who yet survives in Cleveland, the natural virtue of patience-that happy physiological equipoise by which, while in the worldly turmoil, he looks calmly but not indifferently upon life's ceaseless drama of joys and sorrows. Whatever of patience in the high sense of a supernatural virtue he possesses he has not inherited but acquired through grace and the practice of religion. Like all of the other virtues it must be cultivated, and evidently Father Schaffeld has given it some attention.
The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity may blazon forth in the life of a priest, like the bloom in the May-time, without attracting more than passing attention, but when the graciousness of true patience adorns his character and life. even the least obser- vant are impressed and edified by it. Perhaps St. Paul hints at
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the rarity of this virtue, when in his epistle to the Hebrews he thus addresses us also : "Ye have need of patience." It may therefore be that those of us who possess least of this virtue notice it quickest, and admire it most in others, especially in the young priest. Be this as it may, the true priest, young or old, must necessarily be the real Christian gentleman who possesses and practices this delightful virtue-quality, and who is especially charged with its inculcation on his flock. In this one respect, as in that of the sacred character which ordination imprints on the soul, the young priest can be the peer of the older one. In this light it will not be amiss to so regard the youthful pastor of St. Augustine's.
THE REV. JOHN A. SCHAFFELD.
The engraver's art, as exhibited in the fine portrait of the Rev. John A. Schaffeld on the adjoining page, is more eloquent than any word picture in telling of his nature, temperament, and character. One need not be an adept in physiognomy or phre- nology to note how befitting him is his priestly calling, and how well adapted to its varied requirements are the pronounced natural qualities of the man. With intellect of high order; large benevolence, conscientiousness and spirituality; evenness of temperament ; and firmness and continuity sufficiently pronounced to make him steadfast and persistent in the line of his duty, he stands forth a leader as well as a director of his people. He readily and almost unwittingly inspires confidence in those to whom he ministers, and it seemingly requires no effort of his not only not to abuse that confidence but to even preserve and strengthen it. An atmosphere almost magnetic, the harbinger of harmony, sur- rounds him, for he loves peace and good order; and that member of his flock must be unfortunately organized or unusually perverse who is not amenable to his kindly influence, and to his tender fatherly care.
By nature and cultivation Father Schaffeld is a musician. Were he to write music the minor key would be his favorite, for his tenderness, gentleness and pathos find there their happiest expres- sion. The public service of the church he chants in G, while the sublime preface he sings as its unknown author must needs desire
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THE REV. JOHN A. SCHAFFELD
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to have it rendered-so as to elevate the soul. He personally instructs the choir of his church, and indeed it is not wanting in merit. The influence of music he has found to be of great assistance in his work, and on this account, as well as for its own sake, he encourages its cultivation among his people. In his mission congregation at Swanton a band of excellent musicians has been organized, which is led and directed by one of the leading Catholics of the place.
Father Schaffeld's parents, John Bernard and Christina Teresa (Koenig) Schaffeld, were born in Germany. When very young they were brought to this country, where they received their education, becoming thereby thoroughly American. He himself was born to them in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, January 18, 1867, and the family removing to Cleveland, Ohio, where his father died in August, 1886, he was given his preparatory training in St. Peter's and in the Cathedral parish schools of that city. His classical studies were made in the Canisius (Jesuit) College, Buffalo, N. Y., from which institution he graduated in 1887. Entering St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, he finished a five years' divinity course in 1892, and was ordained priest by Bishop Horstmann December 17 of that year, when he was not much over the canonical age.
His first appointment, which is his present charge, was as pastor of the Church of St. Mary's of the Assumption, St. Mary's Corners, Fulton county, Ohio,* with the mission church of St. Richard, at Swanton, attached. He found considerable debts on both the churches, but by the united efforts of the people and their co-operation with him he has succeeded in liquidating all pecuniary obligations. Needed improvements have also been made and paid for, and such a condition of affairs has been brought about as augurs well for religion and for that charity and harmony which are the glory of Christian brethren dwelling together in unity and peace. Facts and results are eloquent in testimony, and are in line with the averments of his people, who ought to know, that the Rev. John A. Schaffeld, during the eight years of his ministry among them, has not been an unprofitable servant.
*Since this sketch was put in type the Rev. John A. Schaffeld was appointed, June 30, 1901, pastor of St. Paul's Church, Norwalk.
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THE REV. JOHN T. SCHAFFELD.
Among the older priests of the Diocese of Cleveland, who are yet active on the mission, there are few more remarkable for con- stancy, zeal, and holy simplicity-in fact for that combination of qualities so becoming to the true priest-than is the Rev. John T. Schaffeld, pastor of St. Mary's Church, Elyria, Ohio.
His parents were John and Theodora (Hagesfeld) Schaffeld, of Isselburg, Germany-Rhenish Prussia. He was born October 16, 1837, and when about ten years old was taken with the other members of the family to this country. The city of Balti- more, Maryland, was selected as their abode, and there young Schaffeld was sent to school. Contemplating an ecclesiastical career, he was placed under the direction of the Redemptorist Fathers as a student. Removing, in 1863, to Cleveland, Ohio, he entered St. John's College, and later St. Mary's Theological Seminary, where he finished his divinity course and was ordained priest by Bishop Rappe July 17, 1870.
At this writing, the last days of the nineteenth century, Father Schaffeld is in the thirty-first year of his ministry as a priest of the Diocese of Cleveland. During that time he has had only two appointments and but one removal-a preferment. His first charge was in the capacity of pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Hubbard, Ohio, where he was required to preach in English . and German. He remained there nearly ten years. He had charge also during that time of the church at Vienna as a mission, and at irregular intervals gave attention to the Catholic people at Lowell- ville, and at St. Joseph's, Youngstown. He improved the church at Hubbard, built the school and pastoral residence, and also the church, St. Joseph's, at Vienna.
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