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 4
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Father Mizer was born in the city of Cleveland, December 24 (Christmas Eve), 1854, and was ordained priest July 4 (Inde- pendence Day), 1880. The suggestiveness of these dates and events, typical of religion and patriotism, is happily borne out in the character and career of this good priest. When a boy he served Mass in Cleveland's first Catholic Church, known as old. St. Mary's on the "Flats." He attended St. Mary's parish school during the pastorate of the late Father Falk, and subsequently the Cathedral schools. His preparatory training ended, he began his classical studies at St. Francis' Seminary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; continued them at Louisville College, Stark county, Ohio, and at St. Lawrence College, Mt. Calvary, Wisconsin, where he gradu- ated with honors in 1875. The same year he entered St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, and after a five years' course was elevated to the priesthood by Bishop Gilmour.
He was commissioned immediately as pastor of St. Mary's Church, Kirby, Wyandot county, Ohio, with St. Joseph's Church, at Crawfordsville, in the same county, attached as a mission. He ministered to the people there during ten years, when he was appointed pastor of his present church at Carey. He has retained charge of his mission church at Crawfordsville, whose people have now been his spiritual children for upwards of twenty years.
Some of the notable characteristics of Father Mizer are gentleness, considerateness, generosity and benevolence, and not a few others. the spheres of which lie more particularly in the domain of the tangible. He has an intimate knowledge of human nature, the short-comings of which he accounts for and condones. Besides this he has the elements of leadership, executiveness, and
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persuasiveness, and possesses business talents that are quite pro- nounced. He is forceful, not through harshness or severity, but rather through correct judgments inoffensively executed. Thus equipped, even temporal affairs may not suffer at his hands.
Having a high order of intellect, and being a student and a close observer, he may be credited with having achieved a more than ordinary scholarship. He speaks both English and German fluently and forcibly, his discourses being both natural, compact and instructive. With questions important to pilgrims visiting his church he is, of course, quite conversant, and none have bid farewell to the Shrine of Our Lady, at Carey, without being fully compensated for the troubles incident to the journey. In addition to the renewal of their religious spirit they bear with them pleasant memories of the good priest in charge, and this impress is not so much of that priest's intellect, erudition, penetration or acumen, but rather because there is a something in him and about him which speaks to them of his fatherly concern for them touch- ing the life beyond. They see in him something of the image of the love of the real Father of us all ; hence, not only they but their children will keep green the memory of the pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation, at Carey, Ohio.
It is the hope of Father Mizer to be able to erect, sooner or later, a church befitting his parish, sufficiently large to accom- modate the visiting pilgrims, and especially so grand and impos- ing as to be an honor to Our Lady of Consolation. To attain this end, he has appealed to the faith and generosity of the children of Mary, and very many have responded to his appeal. His own con- gregation is too small in numbers to venture on such an enterprise, and since it is to be a votive church for all Catholics, it is both meet and proper that every one should help to reach this end. Should he succeed it will be much to his credit and to that of those who assist him. His triumph over obstacles will redound to the credit of religion and to the honor of the Mother of God, whose favors appear to be lavishly bestowed on those who make the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation.
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THE VERY REV. NICHOLAS A. MOES, D. D.
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THE VERY REV. NICHOLAS A. MOES, D. D.
Notwithstanding the fact that a bishop is the head of the Church in the territory over which he presides, the late Bishop Gilmour was appreciative enough to happily characterize St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, as the heart of his diocese -- the most essential part of it, the efficient center of its life and activity. What St. Mary's is today in the estimation of the present.Rt. Rev. Bishop it has been, to a degree, for upwards of half a century ; but during the past thirty years the Very Rev. Dr. Moes as its president has been prominently instrumental in advancing it to the eminent position it now occupies as a noted theological institution.
If men occupying important positions are supposed to have their capacity and usefulness measured by the requirements of their respective stations, then the characterization of St. Mary's Semin- ary as the heart of the diocese, and the endorsement of that estimate by the present Rt. Rev. Ordinary, are in themselves a high compliment to the Very Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Moes, whose excellent judgment, zeal, and great ability have, since 1870, not only timed but also regulated and strengthened the pulsations of that diocesan heart. It is, therefore, both considerate and quite proper for the Authorities to speak approvingly of St. Mary's Seminary and its Very Rev. President, for the great majority of the priests who occupy the outposts, so to speak, in the diocese; who preside over the Catholic schools; and who preach the faith to its more than three hundred thousand Catholics, were themselves trained in that institution. Accordingly St. Mary's can be likened to the trunk, and the priests to the branches, of the great, growing tree of the Church in northern Ohio, with the care of which the Rev. Dr. Nicholas A. Moes is now charged, and has been so charged for the past thirty years.
If it be asked : who is the Very Rev. President of the Cleve- land Diocesan Seminary? no layman may fully answer; for Dr. Moes, by reason of his office, is a sort of recluse, and is intimately known only to the priests. While of the people and for the people he is never among them. He is truly in sympathy with them and is most zealous for their good, but they know him not personally, nor does he know them. A layman's answer as to what character
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of man he is would therefore be, in effect, that he has been the president of the seminary under two administrations, and continu- ing as such under the present Ordinary he must be a man well qualified for his very important office. A priest's answer would be, that he is a profoundly learned man, of marked humility and simplicity of life, a man of many labors, and most zealous for God, religion, and the honor and efficiency of the priesthood. That he is such a man can be inferred from the facts that, besides the general important supervisory duties that are his because of his position, he is Professor of Moral and Ascetic Theology, Liturgy, and Canon Law; is a member of the Board of Diocesan Con- sultors; the Board of Synodal Examiners; the Court of Criminal and Disciplinary Causes; the Board of Examiners of the Junior Clergy and Seminarians, and also the director of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and of the Sisters of Charity.
From the records of the diocese it is learned that Dr. Moes was born in the village of Bous, Canton Remich, Luxemburg, April 10, 1844. He made most of his studies in his native country. He emigrated to the United States in 1860, was accepted for the Diocese of Cleveland, and, after a course in the diocesan seminary, was ordained priest by Bishop Rappe, May 18, 1867. He was pastor of St. Michael's Church, Kelley's Island, Ohio, with charge of the church at Put-in-Bay as a mission, from immediately after his ordination until November, 1868. He was then appointed pastor of St. Augustine's Church, Napoleon, where he labored until the autumn of 1870. Evincing rare capacity as a scholar, teacher, and estimator of character, and being a man of remarkable mentality, with a good knowledge of human nature, he was . singled out as the future president of St. Mary's Seminary, and received his appointment as such September, 1870. His conduct of that institution has been marked by superior efficiency and zeal, and has received the approval of the bishops who have since governed the diocese. To that approval is added also the unquali- fied endorsement of the priests. All of them know Dr. Moes, personally, while most of them speak of him from experience, having themselves been educated in the institution over which he presides. It is well, therefore, that such high testimony attests his great success as president of the Cleveland Diocesan Seminary.
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THE REV. NICHOLAS MOES
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THE REV. NICHOLAS MOES.
For nearly thirty years, April, 1859, to October, 1888, the late Rev. Nicholas Moes, better known as "Old Father Moes," labored most effectively as a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland. The success attending his ministrations, the zeal which character- ized his efforts, and the marked ability which he always manifested made him a pastor of note in northern Ohio.
He was born in the village of Bous, Luxemburg, February 8, 1826, and died at Limpertsberg, near the city of Luxemburg, November 26, 1900, when he had almost completed his seventy- fifth year. His ailment was chronic rheumatism, which unfitted him for work the last ten years of his life.
When a youth he made his studies in the Luxemburg Athe- næum, where he spent seven years. This he followed by a two years' course, under the direction of the Jesuits, in Belgium. Emigrating to the United States, he entered, in 1857, St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio, where he taught Mental Philosophy for some time and was ordained priest by Bishop Rappe, April 16, 1859.
From immediately after his ordination till July, 1861, he was pastor of St. Philip's Church, at Dungannon, Columbiana county, from which place, for a short time, he attended to the needs of the Catholics at Louisville. From the latter date till September, 1862, he was pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Fremont. He was then appointed to the pastorate of St. Mary's Church, Sandusky, where he ministered till 1864. Berwick was his next charge until Sep- tember, 1866, when he was called to fill the chair of Moral Theology in St. Mary's Seminary.
In 1867, he accepted the position of curate at St. Francis de Sales' Church, Toledo, where he remained eight months, or until his appointment as pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, at New Bavaria (Poplar Ridge). He labored there till 1873, when, to undertake the great work of erecting the present St. Mary's Church, at Sandusky, occasioned his reappointment to his former parish there. The present magnificent structure is the one erected under his direction. It cost $80,000, all of which, except a trifling sum, he succeeded in paying. Twice during his
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second pastorate of fifteen years at Sandusky his failing health occasioned him to visit his native land. The latter of these visits was made in 1885, and he returned having received no appreciable benefit to his health. He was forced to resign, in 1888, and returned to Luxemburg on an indefinite leave of absence.
The older priests and thousands of the laity of the diocese : have vivid and pleasing recollections of "Old Father Moes." The writer well remembers him as far back as 1867. At first he was impressed by the splendid personal appearance of the man, but later this was supplanted by admiration for his learning and reverence for his wisdom. He was in many respects one of the best equipped priests in his day in the Diocese of Cleveland, and he ranked among the first in strength of character and eloquence. His was a philosophical mind. He appeared to have little difficulty in solving questions, and his consciousness of his own ability might be gathered from the readiness with which he undertook, and the ease with which he accomplished, the solution of difficult problems. Philosophy, theology, philology, history, music, and the higher mathematics were topics on which he liked to con- verse. He did not speak to invite controversy, to contradict, or to arouse opposition. He talked when he had capable questioners, or intelligent listeners, and seemingly because he had an overflow of knowledge on a variety of subjects. His whole nature was attuned to music, and he ably rendered the chants of the Church.
The Rev. Nicholas Moes everywhere impressed himself on the minds of his people, and awakened in them the greatest respect for religion. He did not do this so much by a cold philosophy as by the happy way in which he brought conviction to the intellect and inspiration to the soul. Because of his mentality, convincing manner, and pleasing personality, he appeared to present the truths of religion as if strained through an atmosphere of incense. The wisdom of the serpent, the harmlessness of the dove, the strength of the lion, and the cagle-flights of intellect cropped out in his dis- courses. He was a manly man who was safe as a leader, gentle as a reprover, faithful as a friend, and comforting as a spiritual adviser. We might fancy him saying :
"All that our. wisdom knows, or ever can, Is this: that God hath pity upon man; And where ITis Spirit shines in Holy Writ, The great word Comforter comes after it."
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MR. AND MRS. EDWARD MOLONY.
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MR. EDWARD MOLONY.
Mr. Edward Molony, of St. Augustine's parish, Cleveland, was born in the town of Goresbridge, county of Kilkenny, Ire- land. He is descended of a prominent family whose relatives and friends are numerous, many of whom he met when he revisited his native land in 1883.
One of the old citizens of Cleveland, who knew in Ireland the several branches of the family to which the subject of this sketch belongs, says:
"They were always known as excellent people, true to their religion and to their country, faithful to their friends, and char- itable to the poor. They were quiet and inoffensive, but, in defending their natural and acquired rights, were uncompromis- ing and bold to the point of the highest bravery. In no instance have they been found wanting in the line of duty, and the same, in my opinion, can be said of Mr. Edward Molony, of Cleveland, Ohio."
One would judge from this testimony regarding the Molony' family that, even if the merits of the individual specially men- tioned here were unknown, the good name of his ancestors would be of the strongest assurance of what might be expected of him. Fortunately, the expected is realized in his life and record.
In 1848 James and Margaret (Healy) Molony, with their eight children, came to this country and took up their permanent abode in what was then the unpretentious city of Cleveland. The children were named: Ann, Mary, Ellen, Margaret, Sarah, and Bridget, with two sons, William, and Edward. Mary became a member of the Ursuline Community in Cleveland. She was known in religion as Mother Agnes, and died in 1893, after leading a con- ventual life of thirty-nine years.
Shortly after his arrival in this country the elder Molony became interested in lake business. About 1860, William and
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Edward drifted into the oil business, and in 1861, Edward formed a partnership with Mr. F. M. Backus, calling their enterprise the "Backus Oil Company." This was profitably continued for eighteen years, when the Standard Oil Company bought them out and secured the services of Mr. Molony as superintendent, which position he held for four years. Mr. Molony was engaged in the oil business for about thirty years.
It was in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, that Mr. Edward Molony was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Callahan, a young lady born and educated in that city. Of this union two children were born: Maryellen and Margretta Catherine. Miss Maryellen is a graduate of the Ursuline College of Cleveland. Miss Margretta is a graduate of Central High School and is now taking an advanced course in the Western Reserve Woman's College.
In political affiliation Mr. Molony is a Democrat, not for office, but from principle. With that understanding he was prevailed upon to hold membership on the Infirmary Board in his adopted city for eight years, and for two years to serve in the capacity of superintendent of the Infirmary.
Mr. Molony is of a retiring disposition, is a close observer, thinks and knows a great deal, but says little in public. He is genial and generous and bears well and honorably the good name of the old Celtic stock from which he sprang. The natural ties that bind the members of his househould together are strengthened by religion and the domestic virtues, particularly parental and filial love. It was Adelaid Annie Proctor who said :
"Human love, 'though true and sweet,
Has been sent by love more tender, more complete, more divine."
MR. PATRICK J. MORRISSEY
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MR. PATRICK J. MORRISSEY.
The discovery and subsequent development of the large stone interests for which Berea, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, is noted, early attracted thither large numbers of sturdy, industrious people seeking employment in the quarries. Among these were Thomas and Mary (Keating) Morrissey, natives of Ireland, who were the parents of the subject of this article.
He was born to them in the city of Cork, Ireland, February 8, 1851. When he was one year old, the family emigrated to Quebec, Canada, where they resided two years. They next removed to Buffalo, New York, where they remained for over six years. Good reports from Berea induced them to set out for that place, arriving there September 10, 1860. Young Morrissey was afforded some schooling until his fourteenth year, when, at the low figure of 50 cents a day, he was given employment carrying water and tools to the men at work in the quarries of J. McDermott & Co., which concern later became the Cleveland Stone Company.
From 1865 until this writing; the latter days of 1900, a period of over thirty-five years, Mr. Patrick J. Morrissey has continued his connection with the stone interests at Berea. From being a mere tool carrier and general roustabout as a boy, he advanced until he became superintendent, which responsible position he continues to hold under the Cleveland Stone Company, not alone touching their interests at Berea, but also those at West View and Olmsted, Ohio. Mr. Morrissey is a thorough master in the man- agement of these large interests. To his practical skill and ability he adds the qualities of attentiveness and constancy; making him- self a business essential to those whose money is invested there and who count on profits only on the basis of good management.
Antedating, by several years, the coming of the Morrisseys to Berea, was the arrival there of John and Catharine (Moore) McGann, from Louisville, Kentucky. They brought with them their six months' old daughter, Mary, a native Kentuckian. She had just blossomed into beautiful young womanhood, in 1875, when, January 11th of that year, she became the wife of Mr. Patrick J. Morrissey. To their union have been born three children, now pretty well grown. They are Mary N., Leo J., and
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Josephine C. Morrissey. Surrounded by home comforts and refining influences, accentuated by religion, music and art, both parents and children constitute one of the first Christian families in Berea. Mr. Morrissey and family are leading members of St. Mary's congregation, liberal contributors for the advancement of religion and education, and are Catholics not only in name but in fact. They are of such character as to justly deserve the honor of this recognition in the History of the Diocese of Cleveland.
The parents of both Mr. and Mrs. Morrissey were neighbors for years in Berea. Friendship at first characterized their relation- ship, but later the ties of marriage, uniting their children, bound the families still closer. They have all passed to their reward and their mortal remains are interred in the parish cemetery. In their . stead, their children and grandchildren continue to act well their part, conscious of their obligations to God and country.
MR. AND MRS. JOHN MULLEN.
The late Mr. and Mrs. John Mullen were among the plain industrious Catholic people of Cleveland, Ohio. They aspired to no distinctions, were strangers to inordinate pride, and contented themselves with performing each day their duties as need and obligation demanded. In the early days of church and school building in Cleveland they contributed their inite, and sent their children to their parish church and school to be taught both religion and secular science.
They were natives of Sand Hill, in the county of Mayo, Ire- land, where they were married early in life. With their first-born they emigrated to the United States, in 1849. only to have death, in a few months, snatch from them their only child. Nevertheless, Providence blessed them in later years with a family of eight, to whom they gave the names of John G., who has been mayor of Amherstburg, Canada, for three successive terms; Martin ; Annie; Hannah, who is Mrs. Martin O'Donnell, of Cleveland; Elizabeth ; Celia B., who for eighteen years has been a teacher in the public schools of her native city; Mary E., who has followed the calling of a teacher for the past twelve years, and Robert Joseph.
Mr. Martin Mullen, the second oldest of the family, is presi- dent of the Interstate Foundry Company, of Cleveland, is a
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MR. AND MRS. JOHN MULLEN.
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representative of the Pittsburg Coal Company, and is a director in numerous prominent enterprises and manufacturing establish- ments. He is a man of marked business ability, and his noted success is the measure of his foresight, industry, and capability. Few men, regarding his opportunities, have become more success- ful than has he, and few bear prosperity with better grace.
The subject of this sketch had charge of the business of the Pittsburg Coal Company in Cleveland. He served that concern for upwards of twenty years, and won for himself high enco- miums for honesty, faithfulness, and industry. He retired from active pursuits ten years before his death, which took place in 1891, when he was seventy-one years old. About four years later, when she had attained to the age of seventy, his faithful wife followed him to the farther shore. In life they were reciprocal in affectionate companionship, and jointly labored for the spiritual and temporal well being of their children.
Mrs. John Mullen, whose maiden name was Miss Celia Gallagher, was a typical Catholic wife and mother. She was devoted to the Catholic faith, but was never demonstrative or vaunting regarding her practice of it. She was too sensible and too humble for that. She knew her duties and recognized her obligations, and in the doing and discharging of them she exhibited both constancy and sincerity. She saw clearly along the lines of the poetic writer who wisely advised :
"Hope afresh, for hope shall not be vain; Start afresh along the exceeding steep Road to glory, long and rough and plain: Sow and reap,-for while the moments creep, Time and earth and life are on the wane."
The elder Mullen was the counterpart of his good wife in fidelity to his trust and in loyalty to his religion and to his country. His faithfulness to the one implied his devotion to the other. With him the words Irish and Catholic were synonymous. Whatever of weakness or approach to passion outcropped in him at any time had no reference direct or indirect to his religion or to his country, or to those who represented either. He was a true American Celt and an obedient son of the Church. Religion and patriotism were his guides, and he shaped his conduct accordingly. He was impatient in the presence of presumption, and exhibited no little
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disgust regarding the unfaithfulness of some who should have proved true to their obligations. Nevertheless he was considerate of the weaknessess of men, and it was his custom to try and kindly overlook the multiplied evidences of human frailty.
To be able to say these things truthfully of a plain, every-day sort of man, whose education was limited, whose opportunities were few, and who had much to contend with in early life, is to acknowledge in the late Mr. John Mullen a nobility of character, a generosity of heart, and a degree of wisdom and considerateness not often found in many who have enjoyed superior advantages.
"Some narrow hearts there are That suffer blight when that they feed upon As something to complete their being fails; And they return into their holds and pine, And long restrained, grow stern.
But some there are That in a sacred want and hunger rise, And draw the misery home and live with it, And excellent in honor wait, and will That something good should yet be found in it, Else wherefore were they born?"
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