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 11
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His first and only removal, May 18, 1880, advanced him to the pastorate of St. Mary's Church, Elyria, his present charge. He built the new church there at a cost of $30,000, and also the church at Oberlin, which cost $5,000. He is now engaged in the work of erecting a commodious school and pastoral residence that are to cost when completed the sum of $25,000. With these perhaps his building activity will be at an end, because his congre- gation will then be well provided for.
In a quiet way, and by constant and assiduous effort, he has
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THE REV. JOHN T. SCHAFFELD.
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IN NORTHERN OHIO.
accomplished much in the temporal order during the multiplied years of his ministry. In the spiritual field it can be presumed that he has been even more successful, for his adaptability and strength lie more especially in that direction. He has always been correct and most exemplary in his life, thus acting out what he teaches. Whatever he may lack as a pulpit orator he more than makes up for by his earnestness and by his exactress and lucidity as a cate- chist and teacher of the truths of religion. His whole soul is wrapped up in the young people of his fock. He looks well after the education of those attending the parish school, is most careful in seeing that they are removed from bad example, and fails not in imparting to them a good Christian training. In regard to the young men and women, and even the older people of his flock, he always shows himself to be a good shepherd. So pronounced is he, touching the necessity of good morals, and so solicitous has he always been looking to the faithful performance of their Chris- tian duties by those under his care, that he is spoken of by some of them in kindness as an "old timer." This he is, indeed, in very fact, for the zeal, piety, and self-denial of the past he brings forward in his own life to astonish the present. Verily he is an "old timer," and such would be St. Paul, St. Vincent de Paul, the Cure d'Ars, and the great army of holy and Apostolic men who faithfully followed in the footsteps of the Master. That which is not sensa- tional, that which is not modern, is pronounced antiquated today, but those thus passing judgment forget that religion remains the same, the sacraments are ever the same, and it would be well if the customs and practices of the remote past were ours today, at least in religion. It would be well if many of us, too, were "old timers."
The name Schaffeld is well known in northern Ohio. Three priests of that name, all of the same family, belong in the Diocese of Cleveland, while a fourth member, a nephew, named Andrew Kawczynski, died a deacon, in 1899. The Revs. John A. and Joseph G. Schaffeld are nephews of the subject of this sketch, and his sister is in religion Sister Mary Louis, of Hotel Dieu, New Orleans, Louisiana. The devotion of this family to the Church is more than an incident ; it is an evidence of their good will and of a special grace besides-a gift from God, for they both have heard and hearkened to the Master's invitation, "Follow Me!"
VOL. II
/ 386
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. NICHOLAS SCHMITZ.
The subject of this mention is the esteemed pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Monroeville, Ohio .. He is the youngest of a family of nine, born in Prussia, to the late Jacob and Lucy (Mertes) Schmitz. His natal day was May 21, 1833. June 15, 1844, his parents, with their entire family, emigrated to the United States and located in Ridgeville township, Lorain county, Ohio. Mrs. Schmitz died in 1856; her husband passed away ten years later.
The boy Nicholas, being but eleven years old on his arrival in this country, was sent to the common schools to study English and to continue his primary training. Having expressed a desire to become a priest the local pastors encouraged him by giving him lessons in Latin. The late Father Hackspiel was especially interested in the boy and gave him private instruction for the space of one year. Being well advanced in his studies he entered St. John's College. Cleveland, in 1858, and later St. Mary's Theo- logical Seminary in that city, from which institution he emerged a priest June 28, 1863. He was ordained by Bishop Rappe.
Father Hackspiel, his early preceptor, having great affection for the young priest, made an appeal to Bishop Rappe that he be assigned to him as his assistant. Accordingly Father Schmitz' first mission was in that capacity in St. Mary's Church, French Creek, Lorain county, Ohio, where he remained about a year. He was next made pastor of Holy Trinity Church, at Avon, in the same county, with Sheffield as a mission. He continued there until March, 1868, when he was transferred to the pastorate of St. Mary's Church, Six-Mile Woods (Raab P. O.), in Lucas coun- ty. He labored there, and also at St. Mary's Corners as a mission, until August, 1870, after which, for two years, he was curate at St. Joseph's Church, Tiffin. In September, 1872, he was com- missioned as pastor of St. Peter's Church, Loudonville, in Ashland county. From there, after a long stay of twelve years and eight months, he was advanced to his present parish, April, 1885.
At this writing (December, 1900) Father Schmitz is in the six- teenth year of his pastorate in Monroeville. There, as in cach of the five other charges which have been his, he has given no little attention to temporalities, often, as was the case in Loudonville,
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THE REV. NICHOLAS SCHMITZ
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paying for improvements out of his own private funds. Next to the spiritual he has always been noted for efforts to keep the churches in his charge in good repair and as far as possible out of debt. Debts have always had an enemy in him, and wherever he has labored those great annoyances to pastors and peoples have been given little opportunity to become fixtures. He would at any time deny himself to help wipe out a debt on his church.
From this it must not be inferred that the incurring of neces- sary obligations, cash payment being impossible, was always opposed by the pastor of St. Joseph's. Such an inference would not be in accordance with the facts. He has always been in favor of improvements, always saw to it that, wherever he had charge, things were kept in good order and church property was made to look anything but deserted. The in medio always characterized his course. If he incurred debts he abhorred interest, and to get rid of that which he abhorred he bestirred his people to quickly pay off the debt. Such a course is commendable, and if all were impressed by its business wisdom less money would be wasted in
interest paying. It has been Father Schmitz' practice to always count the cost and then take stock of his resources. If the cost exceeded his ability to pay in reasonable time he would not incur the obligation ; but if otherwise, he went on with the project, and, what is better, quickly paid for it. He never liked the idea of classing things as parish property until they were paid for. In such cases he held that the person receiving the interest was the real owner.
The Rev. Nicholas Schmitz, now in his sixty-eighth year, and the thirty-eighth of his priesthood, is a striking example of sim- plicity, perseverance, and faithfulness. These have always been exemplified as well in his private as in his public life. In the pulpit, where he speaks both German and English, the aim of his discourses is to instruct rather than to entertain; to convince rather than to enthuse. He prefers wholesome truths and facts to choice phrases, and is therefore direct and practical as an earnest preacher of sound doctrine. The simplicity of his character is in good keeping with his sacred calling and is a force for much good among his people and the public. Always within hailing distance of his flock, and ever prompt in responding to their calls, and administering to their spiritual needs, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a faithful follower of the Good Shepherd.
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. PHILIP A. SCHRITZ.
At the date to which the record is brought down in this History, Father Schritz was pastor of St. Mary's Church, Edgerton, Williams county, Ohio, with the church at Florence in the same county attached as a mission; but since the work has been in press he was appointed to the pastorate of the Church of St. Teresa, Sheffield, Lorain county. The date of his transfer was December, 1901.
His other appointment, December, 1895, which was his first, immediately after ordination, was as pastor of St. Michael's Church, Gibsonburg, Sandusky county. He labored at Gibson- burg three years, and for a like period at Edgerton. In the former place his beginning was so humble that for the space of three months he was obliged to use the sacristy of the church for his residence. This did not discourage him, however, for he finished the present commodious pastoral residence, begun by his predeces- sor, the Rev. Michael Dechant. . On Palm Sunday, 1896, he took possession of the parsonage; but the first night he spent in his new house a fire in the church destroyed many of his vestments. The loss was a heavy one at that time, but the Tabernacle Society of Philadelphia, and some neighboring priests helped him to replace the articles destroyed. At Edgerton and Florence he made modest improvements commensurate with the needs and the means of his parishioners. At the former place he bought two fine lots south of the church as a site for a new parsonage; at the latter he purchased two side altars and a pulpit, and also a hot-air furnace for the mission church.
The Rev. Philip A. Schritz was born in the little village of Gostingen, Luxemburg, April 4, 1870. His mothers maiden name was Catherine Courte. She was of French extrac- tion. His father, Henry Schritz, was descendant of an old Teu- tonic family. From his good mother he has inherited his mildness, gentleness of manner, and cordiality, characteristics most becom- ing in a priest, and from his father he has received the temperamen- tal impress of steadiness and continuity. These and numerous other kindred and commendable qualities are his to exercise on the mission, and as a result he has been successful in doing the work of
THE REV. PHILIP A. SCHRITZ
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IN NORTHERN OHIO.
a priest among a people who have learned to highly prize zeal, kindness, gentleness, and perseverance in those set over them as . piritual guides.
Besides these attainments and qualities this good priest possesses another which is of greatest importance. It is that of patience, which enables him to bear up under crosses and dis- appointments, and keep steadily on in his work. With it his temperament and method of government enable him to inspire and utilize the best effort and thought of his people for the advance- ment of parochial interests. Hence, there are few parishes in the diocese where more unity of action or a nobler spirit is found than in St. Teresa's, at Sheffield, nor in which better proportionate results may be looked for in the future. Already a new church is spoken of as an improvement worthy of the parish.
Father Schritz received his preparatory education in his native place. When ready for his college course he entered the Royal Atheneum, at Luxemburg. Having nearly finished his humanities he was invited by that good old missionary, the late Father Moes, who spent his last years in a convent near Luxem- burg. to become a missionary in America. Accompanied by his friend, the Rev. John P. Haupert, pastor of St. Nicholas' Church, at Berwick, he bade adieu to his native land and emigrated to the United States, in 1890. He was accepted as an ecclesiastical student by, the Cleveland Diocesan Authority and entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary in the autumn of 1890. He faith- fully prosecuted his studies in that institution for the full term of five and one-half years, and was ordained by Bishop Horstmann December 14, 1895.
Speaking the German, French, and English tongues, he enjoys the literary advantages implied thereby, and is consequently equipped for good service in both pulpit and confessional. In caring for temporalities, too, and especially in a diocese where the several nationalities are largely represented, an acquaintance with more than one of the modern languages is desirable. When these advantages are backed by energy, zeal, and a happy temperament, the priest thus gifted can become most useful to his people and to the Church. In view of these facts it would be far from extravagant to class plain Father Schritz among the large number of such practical and capable priests in the Diocese of Cleveland.
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. AUGUSTUS J. SCHWERTNER.
The reverend gentleman here mentioned is the pastor of St. Anthony's Church, Milan, Erie county, Ohio. He is the second oldest of a family of eight, and was born in the city of Canton, Stark county, Ohio, December 23, 1870. His parents are Anthony and Christina (Richard) Schwertner. His father, during the past forty years one of the foremost business men of Canton, was born in Germany, and came to this country when a youth; his mother is a native of Carroll county, Ohio. Canton is still their home.
Father Schwertner received his early training in St. Peter's parish school in his native city. He completed his preparatory studies in the Canton High School, after which he entered Canisius (Jesuit) College, Buffalo, New York, from which institu- tion he graduated in the classics, June, 1891. The following September he was received into St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland. Completing his divinity course he was ordained priest by .Bishop Horstmann, June 12, 1897.
Thus far his regular pastoral work has been confined to two localities; first, as assistant priest in St. Columba's Church, Youngstown, Ohio, from immediately after his ordination until the following September; and, secondly, his present charge, to which he was appointed September 16, 1897. In all his pastoral work he has displayed unusual zeal and prudence, winning thereby not only the love and esteem of his own people but also the good will and respect of those outside the fold. Recognizing the great need and importance of a good Catholic education, he has always manifested a deep personal interest in the parochial school and in the training of the young. Being, moreover, a firm believer in the old adage "In union there is strength," he has not been slow to organize and encourage Catholic societies which have greatly contributed not only to the advancement of the interests of the Church but also to the progress and protection of its individual members. Since, however, he is only in the fourth year of his priestly career and the thirty-first of his life, what he has thus far accomplished is not so much to be considered as what he is capable of, time and opportunity permitting.
While the future is veiled to every man, there is yet a way of
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THE REV. AUGUSTUS J. SCHWERTNER
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illuminating it so as to outline its hidden things more by way of inference than by prophecy, a method almost as certain as the surveyor's is exact when he reverses his transit instrument to pro- ject a line. The past flashes the light of experience on the future and men note that "History repeats itself." All things being equal a man's future career can be judged by his past and his present. By his present is meant his station, the forces at his command, and the ends to which he employs them; his past is the trail, right-lined or deviating, which he has left on life's sands.
From boyhood the Rev. Father Schwertner has marked out his course and has industriously striven to attain the goal. He has set his mark high on the wall of duty and priestly fame and his daily effort is to reach up to it, today a little higher than yesterday, and tomorrow to mark his reach a little higher still. With a sound, clear mind in a robust body splendidly proportioned, and a countenance beaming forth greatness of soul, he pursues his ideal, sparing neither labor nor time in the work of accomplishing his mission. His human ambition, as is the case with all good priests, is made the servant of his spiritual mission, to the ends that men may be bettered and that religion may hold sway on the earth.
This young priest is a man of notable self-possession, well- balanced temperament, and remarkable physical development, with a head and countenance betokening superior qualities. Among his characteristics, as seen in the accompanying portrait, firmness, coupled with dignity, benevolence, order, and continuity, will be readily noticed. He possesses in a high degree those quali- ties which go to make the successful orator. He has a logical mind and a ready command of language, an ease of manner and a grace of delivery united to a charming personality. He has an excellent voice, is skilled in using it. and he looks and acts what he is. Having made good studies he possesses the knowledge which men are wont to look for in a priest and pastor. The other requisites, health, earnestness, and personal appearance, are well in keeping. He can, therefore, be said to be a very useful priest who creditably represents the younger clergy of the diocese of Cleveland, and who gives promise of a future that will be an encouragement to others of his calling, and a hope to the laity, to whom much of the beauty of religion is reflected through the personality and qualities of its ministers.
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392
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. FELIX M. SCULLIN.
This reverend gentleman is the pastor of St. Stephen's, the only Catholic Church in the city of Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio. He was born at Glenone, county of Derry, Ireland, January 29, 1856. His father's Christian name was Felix; he died in Ireland in 1860. His mother's maiden name was Agnes Henry; she died in her native place in 1899.
When Father Scullin was a youth of eighteen he finished his classical course in All Hallows College, Ireland. The following year, 1875, he embarked for the United States. Arriving in Cleve- land, Ohio, he entered the diocesan seminary to complete his ecclesiastical studies. After a five years' course he was ordained priest in St. John's Cathedral by Bishop Gilmour, July 4, 1880.
He began the labors of his calling in the capacity of assistant priest in St. Malachy's Church, Cleveland, Ohio, having received his appointment as such immediately after his ordination. He remained there two years. July 9, 1882, he was made pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, at Warren, and missions. Notwithstanding the fact that just fifteen families comprised his congregation he succeeded in paying off all the old debts on the parish. He closed his labors there February, 1881. He was next transferred to. St. Patrick's Church, at Hubbard, with charge of Vienna as a mission. He not only liquidated all the debts which he found in force on his arrival, May 28, 1884, but when he left, May 29, 1889, there were no unpaid obligations outstanding against the parish. He was then made pastor of St. Stephen's Church, Niles. From Niles he also attended Mineral Ridge as a mission up until 1892.
At Niles Father Scullin has labored most successfully in the performance of his greatest work since he became a priest. He built, on the foundation which he found already laid, the present splendid Church of St. Stephen, which he has completed in every respect. At this writing, 1900, he has plans prepared for an impos- ing parish school. Besides his attention to temporalities he has so inspired and unified his people that their present condition augurs well for the future of the parish. Not only his own flock, but also the citizens generally, have taken cognizance of his multiplied
THE REV. FELIX M. SCULLIN
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labors and remarkable success and are correspondingly generous in their praise of both. The man and the priest in the person of the pastor of St. Stephen's are both highly prized, the one for untiring effort and public-spiritedness, the other for true Christian teaching and example and the conserving of peace and good order.
In the direction of his particular talents and his acquired effi- ciency this good priest is fully up to the average. During his college course and while in the diocesan seminary he made good studies. He is well equipped as an instructor, capable as a leader, and most solicitous as a spiritual father and friend. His parish- ioners and even his non-Catholic neighbors bear testimony to these things. As the true priest must necessarily be he is the friend of all and is familiarly spoken of as "My friend, Father Scullin." Many would apply to him these words of Cicero: "What a blessing is a friend who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsel, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose every look gives comfort to thee." Others would more appropriately speak of him in the sense of the Proverb: "There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
Cicero's estimate of a friend is along the lines of natural likes and ties. There is more or less of the quid pro quo element in it. It is the best that might be looked for even in a learned pagan. But the friend referred to in Proverbs xviii, 24, is the spiritual friend. It is He who above all others "sticketh closer than a brother." Such a friend is plain Father Scullin, who, like others of his calling, dares every danger, forsakes everything worldly, and denies self to be a friend to all humanity. Even the idea that there is such a friend has a like powerful and helpful effect on the peo- ple of Niles and elsewhere as on the simple layman who writes these lines. The very notion of it is a blessing. It is akin to the idea of the higher love which is charity and which is inseparable from religion.
It is a very happy thing to contemplate in connection with this mention of the pastor of St. Stephen's that, abreast of his spiritual zeal, above his special talents, and more important than his multiplied labors in the temporal order are his priestly char- acter and calling, which make him to all "a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
394
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. PATRICK J. SHEA.
The reverend gentleman here mentioned is pastor of St. Paul's Church, Euclid, Ohio. He was born in the county of Kilkenny, Ireland, March 19, 1838. His parents, with their ten children, emigrated to the United States, April 5, 1852, and took up their abode in Cleveland, Ohio, the following October. They were accompanied on the voyage by a youth named Walsh, who later became the Bishop of London, Ontario, Canada, and whose privilege it was to ordain, in 1868, the subject of this sketch to the priesthood.
Leading up to this most important event in his life, young Shea began his preparatory and collegiate courses in the old St. Mary's College, Cleveland, Ohio, which at that time was the com- panion institution to the present St. Mary's Theological Seminary. In due time he was advanced sufficiently to begin his philosophical and divinity studies, which he completed in 1866. Two years later he was elevated to the priesthood, at London, Ontario, Canada, by Bishop Walsh, who later became Archbishop of Toronto.
Father Shea was curate at the London Cathedral for two years. He was then appointed pastor of SS. Peter and Paul's Church, at Goderich, in Huron county. Ontario, where he labored zealously and successfully during nine years. The suc- ceeding fourteen years he spent as pastor of St. James' Church. at Seaforth, in the same county. His love for the United States and for old Ohio acquaintances induced him to ask for his creat. and, in 1890, he was received into the Diocese of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained two years, principally at Hamilton, in the capacity of chaplain of one of the religious institutions there. Fol- lowing this he was received into the Diocese of Cleveland, where, as a young man, he had finished his studies twenty-six years previous.
He was appointed to the position of curate at the Immaculate Conception Church, Cleveland, where he labored with his usual zeal until November 23, 1593, when he was advanced to the pas- torate of St. Mary's Church, Wakeman. In 1900 he was granted leave of absence by Bishop Horstmann to visit his native land, and
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THE REV. PATRICK J. SHEA
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on his return, June 22, 1902, he was appointed to his present charge.
Father Shea is an humble, retiring man, who loves peace and good order, and who has never offended against these much desired conditions. In all the years of his priestly career he has never known what it is to have disagreements with his parishion- ers or with his ecclesiastical superiors. He goes about his duties quietly and unassumingly, his manner and zeal inviting and winning the approval and co-operation of his people. He lays no claim to profound knowledge or to great oratorical power. Possibly it is his modesty in these respects that wins for him laurels. It is much to his credit, however, to have it said of him that "He knows both his duty, his place, and what he himself calls his 'limited ability.'" It is also to his credit to have it truthfully said of him that he knows how to teach the truths of religion. This means that he is a catechist, a teacher rather than a preacher, and for results the former is to be preferred. Each talent has its field and its uses, and it would be well for all if each recognized his weakness as well as his strength and governed himself accord- ingly. It is more to be preferred to have modesty linked with mediocrity than to have remarkable talents vauntingly displayed. In this contrast can be seen the thought suggested by the person- ality, career, and manner of humble Father Shea.
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