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 8
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352
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. NICHOLAS PFEIL. .
The reverend rector of St. Peter's Church, Cleveland, Ohio, is the second youngest of a family of seven born to Lawrence and the late Frances (Reinhart) Pfeil, of Cleveland, whose ancestors, in Franconia, received the faith from St. Kilian in the seventh century. His natal day was November 4, 1859. He was baptized by the late Father Obermüller in old St. Mary's Church, the first Catholic church in Cleveland. When seven years old he was sent to St. Mary's parochial school. In 1870 he was transferred to St. Stephen's parish school, his parents having become inembers of that congregation. He there became an altar boy, made his first Holy Communion, and was confirmed in his thirteenth year by the same bishop who afterward ordained him priest, the Rt. Rev. Richard Gilmour. Besides his early spiritual training he also received his first instructions in Latin from the then pastor, who is now rector of St. Stephen's, the Rev. Casimir Reichlin. After God and his parents he acknowledges his indebtedness to him for his compliance with his vocation to the priesthood. In 1873 he entered Canisius (Jesuit) College, Buffalo, New York, and there graduated in the classics, in 1878. In the autumn of that year he was received into St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland, and after a five years' course was ordained priest July 1, 1883.
The field of Father Pfeil's first labors as a priest was at Hub- bard, Trumbull county, Ohio, where, during about seven months, he had temporary charge of St. Patrick's congregation. He was next transferred to Avon and missions in Lorain county. He there exercised the holy ministry during thirteen years and three months. The missions at North Ridgeville, Sheffield, and North Dover were also his to attend during nearly four and one-half years, a fact which occasioned him each Sunday to say Mass in widely separated places. Nevertheless he missed but one Sunday during that time, and the cause was a severe illness. May 10, 1897, Bishop Horst- mann appointed him to the rectorate of St. Peter's Church, Cleve- land, where he continues his labors.
The reverend rector of St. Peter's is almost a recluse in the midst of the activity and multiplied cares inseparable from the management of a large congregation in a great city. In a sense he
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THE REV. NICHOLAS PFEIL
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· is in the world but not of it. Being a student and lover of nature he delights in solitude and enjoys looking through created things up to the Creator. Those haunts of nature, the silent woods and the grassy dells, invite him. There he would have fewer distrac- tions and, though in the midst of teeming life, would feel more alone with Him who called all things into being.
Father Pfeil is a man of unquestioned ability. His mind is mature and strong and is equal to weighing questions with exact- ness. His countenance indicates this. While wearing a certain sharpness of expression, it is nevertheless mellowed by the tender- ness and gentleness of his nature. Duty and the virtue of obedience enable him to accommodate himself to situations. He was content to labor in the rural districts for over thirteen years, and now he is equally at home amid the bustle and excitement of city life. He loves music, is more than an amateur in the art, and chants the songs of the Church most acceptably. Eloquence and happy phraseology are at his command, but he does not always use them. With simplest speech and plainest diction he lucidly expounds the Gospel to his people. Avoiding all dogmatism, he appeals to their better nature, touches the minor chord, and thus leads them to Him who has said: "Child, give me thy heart, I desire no more."
The very happy combination of natural and supernatural virtues in Father Pfeil impresses all who know him with the resultant simplicity of his life, the affability of his manner, and the beauty and charm of his character, both as a man and as a priest. As a native of the diocese he is deeply interested in its welfare and is devoting his life to its advancement. To many of the facts recounted in this History he is a witness, and touching its some- what trying career of more than half a century of calm and storm he would, in the language of another, feelingly say that its
"Life is one; and in its warp and woof There runs a thread of gold that glitters fair, And sometimes in the pattern shows most sweet Where there are somber colors. It is true That we have wept. But oh, this thread of gold, We would not have it tarnish! Let us turn Oft and look back upon the wondrous web, And when it shineth sometimes we shall know That memory is possession."
VOL. II
354
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
MR. AND MRS. LAWRENCE PFEIL.
From the standpoints of many years of residence in the See city of the Diocese of Cleveland; from their worth and loyalty as pioneer Catholics and citizens; and in view of their having been persons of more than average merit in parochial and domestic life, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Pfeil well deserve generous mention in this work.
Mr. Pfeil was born in the village of Königheim, Baden, June 11, 1820. Shortly after completing his twenty-fourth year he was married to Miss Frances Reinhart, of Gissigheim, in the same country. She was born December 14, 1822, and at the time of . her death, which took place in Cleveland, Ohio, September 11, 1900, she lacked but a few months of completing her seventy- eighth year. Her husband survives her and is now in his eighty- third year.
In October, 1847, with their first and only child born to them in their native land, Mr. and Mrs. Pfeil emigrated to the United States and selected Cleveland as their home. Besides their first born, whose name is Charles Joseph, and who resides in Cleveland,. six other children, all residents of that city, were added to the family in the persons of Mary Regina, who is Mrs. Charles J. Faulhaber; John Joseph; William; Frances, who is Mrs. George F. Schraff; the Rev. Nicholas Pfeil, rector of St. Peter's Church ; and the Rev. Aloysius Pfeil, who is a priest of the Society of Jesus. Having drank in the Christian example set them in the beautiful lives of their parents the entire family as individuals are good citizens and exemplary Catholics. It would be difficult to find anywhere a family better united, more devoted to their pro- genitors, or deserving of, and receiving, higher esteem than the sons and daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Pfeil.
Of Mrs. Pfeil it has been said that she was charity itself. She was Job-like in her patience. In life she was prayerful, modest, and unassuming, and in her home she was a model. Her husband rivalled her in his religious and domestic traits. He is quiet and generous, having always been a friend and liberal supporter of every work undertaken for the advancement of religion, charity, and education. Both have been humble, and strictly religious, con-
MR. AND MRS. LAWRENCE PFEIL
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stant in prayer, and always intent on setting good example, not only to their children, but also to those among whom they lived.
"Their meek litanies went up to Heaven, That all who suffered might have comfort given."
Having arrived in Cleveland the year of the establishment of the diocese, Mr. and Mrs. Pfeil were to the fore when the most difficult part of the work had to be undertaken, and when money for church building was hardest to get. Shortly afterward, when its first bishop made his initial visit to the comparatively few Catholics in the then unpretentious city of Cleveland, they will- ingly and humbly took their place among the pioneer Catholics who received him. As the years sped on they helped, to the extent of their ability, in every Catholic enterprise undertaken in Cleveland, notably in the building of St. John's Cathedral, St. Peter's Church, of which one of their reverend sons is now rector, also St. Mary's and St. Stephen's churches, all of which yet rank high among the ecclesiastical edifices of the See city of the diocese.
The elder Pfeil was employed as a skilled mechanic in those days, but he later engaged in garden farming on a large scale on his own land, situated in the outskirts of Cleveland. Mrs. Pfeil was a most excellent and industrious woman who never allowed temporal cares to interfere with the performance of her religious duties. An incident in her life, and which is believed to have had great influence on a portion of her family, was her joining, through the advice and influence of the late Father Obermüller, the reli- gious society known as the Third Order of St. Francis. The obli- gation attaching at that time to membership in the Order was the daily recital of a special office. This obligation she faithfully dis- charged during forty years, or until about the time of her death. She was so delighted with spiritual things, and so full of love for God and His Church that, on becoming a Tertiary, she made a solemn promise that if blest with any more children she would consecrate them to His service in religion. Strange to relate, her two sons, born afterward, became priests of their own motion and without any suggestion from her whatsoever. She firmly believed, and so announced it before her death, that the vocations of her two sons to the priesthood were gifts from God according to her intentions and holy resolves.
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356
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
MR. AUGUSTINE PILLIOD.
From his advent to Henry county, Ohio, 1854, until his death, which occurred at the town of Fremont, Indiana, June 11, 1897, a period of forty-three years, Mr. Augustine Pilliod was the most . respected and best loved of the Catholic laity of northwestern Ohio. The first bishop of Cleveland, the Rt. Rev. Amadeus Rappe, was his greatest admirer and fastest friend.
Mr. Pilliod was born in the village of Bouronne, Province of Alsace, France. July 17, 1824. With the other members of the family he was brought to this country when three years old by his parents, who took up their abode in Stark county, Ohio, toward the close of 1827. He was given the training afforded by the log school of the time. When old enough to labor he worked on a farm and later learned the trade of a tanner and partly that of millwright, which included an acquaintance with practical milling. In his thirtieth year, and after considerable experience, he removed to what is now the city of Napoleon, Henry county, Ohio, the river and canal prospects there pointing to better business opportunities. It was then a village of no great pretentions and was known as "Henry," but was later called Napoleon in compliment to Mr. Pilliod's oldest son, who was named Louis Napoleon, the boy's grandfather having served as a soldier under the first great emperor of that name in France.
Mr. Pilliod evidenced his faith in the future of the village by erecting there, 1856, a grist-mill, in which he did a large business. His milling trade brought him in contact with the farmers and citizens generally who, noting his reliability and many excellent qualities, including his strict honesty, elected him treasurer of the county. He was re-elected, and a third time elected, and each time he discharged the duties of his office most faithfully and to the entire satisfaction of the people. In that year also (1856) his great admirer and friend, Bishop Rappe, appealed to him to do some- thing in the way of providing a church for the eight Catholic families then residing in the place. These families were too poor to do anything other than contribute a little labor toward the undertaking. Mr. Pilliod complied with the bishop's request and, aided by an Irishman named James Brennan, and by some liberal
MR. AUGUSTINE PILLIOD.
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Protestants, the first Catholic church in the county, a wooden building twenty-four by thirty feet, was erected at a cost of $500. It was called St. Augustine's in honor of the Christian name of its chief benefactor.
February 15, 1858, at the town of Defiance, Ohio, Mr. Pilliod was married to Miss Emily Harris, the late Father Wester- holt, of Cleveland, performing the ceremony. Mrs. Pilliod was born at Genesee Flats in the State of New York, April 23, 1837. She yet survives her husband and is living in comfort with the unmarried portion of her family at Swanton, Fulton county. For many years past Swanton has been the home of the Pilliods. Two of the sons, Louis N. and Frederick E., are now the chief manufac- turers and business men of the town. The remains of the late Mr. Pilliod are buried in the Catholic cemetery at that place, a thing most fitting since he was a liberal contributor to the work of erecting the mission church of St. Richard at Swanton. Besides the two sons above mentioned there were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pilliod five other children. They are: Augustine Peter, Charles Joseph, Marie Eugenia, Cornelia Josephine, and Henry James. The elder Pilliod was the first member of the family to pass away,
The exigencies of the milling and grain business in which Augustine Pilliod was extensively engaged required him as early as 1864 to remove to Waterville in Lucas county. The same demands of business impelled him, 1869, to remove to the city of Toledo, where he operated a large flour mill during the period of twelve years. While in that city he served three terms in the city council, and two terms as treasurer of the school board. In these positions his honesty and faithfulness attested his worth and ability, showing him to be a man in every way worthy of public confidence. That he was a Catholic was universally known, and his faith was respected on account of his many public virtues.
From 1881 to 1883 he lived and conducted business at Holgate, in Henry county, after which he went back to Napoleon where he remained until 1885, when he removed to Swanton in Fulton county. While there in the line of his business calling he was elected Mayor of the town. He removed, 1890, to Fremont, Indiana, where he operated a grain elevator and flour mill. He continued in business there for seven years or until his death, 1897.
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IN THE DIOCESE OF CLEVELAND.
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THE REV. LEONARD J. PLUMANNS.
The young priest is nearly always an object of absorbing interest during his first years in missionary work, and the youthful pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Wellington, Ohio, and missions, is . no exception to this unwritten rule. While as practical and capable as might be expected for a man of his years and experience, sympathy and appreciation have begotten such a degree of co- operation on the part of his people and the public as to insure beyond question the ultimate success of his labors. Attending strictly to the business of his calling and avoiding everything foreign thereto, the public has not been slow in taking notice of his course.
As an endorsement of that course, and in testimony of the high personal esteem in which he is held, a majority of the leading non-Catholic citizens of Wellington enclosed to him a well-filled purse with the following letter:
Wellington, Ohio, April 2, 1900.
Rev. Father Plumanns, Wellington, Ohio.
Kind Sir :- Enclosed please find a small token which is pre -. sented to you by friends in appreciation of the position you have taken during the present election. You will also find enclosed a list of the ones who cheerfully, willingly in fact, insisted on helping along such a good cause. It seems that it was done so suddenly that one has to think twice to be sure that he is not dreaming. Had such a cause as this been circulated, and the enclosed list put before the remaining good friends in this community, where would the amount have ended? For myself, I wish to say that you are held by more than the majority of the people of Wellington as a gentleman who deserves the highest praise and credit for the manner in which you have conducted yourself as regards the silence you have observed both in public and in your sanctuary while the present campaign has been waxing warm.
Trusting that the enclosed will in no way embarrass you, and that it will be received as cheerfully as it is given, I remain,
Very sincerely,
L. H. WADSWORTH.
Father Plumanns was appointed pastor at Wellington, June 26, 1898. In the short space of two years he has not only im-
THE REV. LEONARD J. PLUMANNS
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proved his church and missions, paying off all the debts on the same, but also, as the above would indicate, established himself in the respect and confidence of the community.
He was born in the city of Eupen, Prussia, March 16, 1874, and is the oldest of three children born to Peter and Hubertina (Willems) Plumanns, who yet reside there. He was educated in the Eupen gymnasium, and finished his course in 1892. He came to America in the autumn of that year, and entered St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati, where he was ordained priest by Archbishop Elder, June 17, 1897.
Having studied for the Galveston diocese, his first appoint- ment was to the Cathedral Church, at Galveston, Texas; after which he devoted four months to mission work among the negroes of that city. The southern climate not agreeing with his health, already impaired by years of study and confinement, he was accepted by the Bishop of Cleveland, in 1898, with the sanction of the Bishop of Galveston, and was commissioned as above.
Father Plumanns preaches fluently in English, having mas- tered the language since his advent to this country. He is quite at home among his books during his spare hours, and delights in philosophical and philological studies.
His talent and aptitude for language is quite notable, while in all respects he is far in advance of what might be looked for in a man of only twenty-six years of age. Already a useful and zealous priest, it is not unreasonable to expect greater things of him by the time middle life shall have matured him in learning and wise counsels.
What is most assuring touching his future usefulness is his good will and the readiness and zeal with which he undertakes those tasks in the line of his calling. The work of attending to his numerous mission churches is both laborious and trying, but he faithfully and cheerfully performs his duty, actuated not only by the higher obligations but also through a loyalty to his superiors, which it is his delight to always exhibit. His constancy has had a good effect on his people, and, with his other good qualities, has endeared him to them. Their appreciation of his services is an encouragement to the young priest who in turn redoubles his efforts to act well his part. not only in the interests of religion, but also in those avenues where he can be of assistance to the people placed in his charge.
360
A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
THE REV. JOHN P. PUETZ.
In the village of Gillenbeuren, Germany, December 20, 1833, was born to John P. and Mary (Scheid) Puetz a son who, in baptism, was given the Christian name of his father. That son is now (1900) the pastor of St. Joseph's (German) Church, Tiffin, Ohio, and is the second of the family that became a priest. The other was the Rev. J. M. Puetz, who died in Tiffin, in 1897, and who labored there with his brother in St. Joseph's parish.
The family emigrated to this country in 1846, and took up their abode at Ridgeville, Ohio. The elder Puetz died there, 1854, and his wife died at French Creek, Ohio, in 1872. The year of his father's death, the subject of this sketch, having made some studies, was received into St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cleveland. He pursued his classical studies there and later took up his divinity course. After spending over eight years in that institution, he was ordained priest by Bishop Rappe, June 26, 1865.
Father Puetz was at once commissioned as pastor of St. Joseph's (German) Church, at Galion, Crawford county, Ohio, with St. Joseph's, Crestline, as a mission attached. He remained there four years, and, in 1869, was transferred to Sherman, Huron county. He was placed, 1875, in charge of St. Anthony's Church, Milan, Erie county, which he left, June, 1885, after more than ten years of faithful service. Becoming assistant to his brother, the late Rev. J. M. Puetz, in Tiffin, he remained such eleven years. He next took up the work of managing the parish as pastor. His labors in Tiffin are in part evidenced by the splendid parish school and a commodious rectory, both of which were built, he assisting his deceased reverend brother in the work.
While not without capacity to handle temporalities, it is, nevertheless, in the domain of the spiritual and educational that Rev. John P. Puetz has always found himself, so to speak, at home. His moral temperament and mental trend incline him to the ministry of the Word, and he has ever rejoiced in the work of instructing the youth. Constant, zealous, gentle, patient, his tactful, quiet methods smack of the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove, qualities which have endeared him to
Father Puetz died December 27, 1902, while this volume was in press.
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the people, and which are most potent as aids in the work of his calling as a teacher and exemplifier of the beauties of religion.
Rev. John P. Puetz is not an orator in the modern sense of the term. Although speaking several languages, it is not given to him to gratify the car by declaiming choice phrases or high sounding periods. But in the higher and better sense he is an orator, in that he instructs and pleases the intellect by the reasonableness and force of what he says. His discourses have a basis of common sense, are practical, go direct to the point, and afford matter for reflection. Wherever he has ministered, his people have been well instructed, a thing of the highest importance to both old and young, and, indeed, to himself also, for those that instruct many unto justice shall shine as stars in the firmament.
It is fortunate for the great mass of mankind that the Blessed Master, in the Beatitudes, takes more note of the little things in life which, like the blossoms in the spring time, imperceptibly grow in excellence, beauty, and sweetness, until they are worthy of being ranked among the virtues, than He does of those towering qualities and shining talents so much admired by men. It was in the ranks of the mediocre, the doers of the little things, that Jesus discovered those whom He called blessed. It was there He found the meek, the clean of heart, the merciful, the patient in suffering, the poor in spirit, the peacemakers, and those who loved justice. And it is in the ranks of such that the simplest amongst us will intuitively look for the good and faithful priest, for the every-day teacher and worker whom we have every reason to call blessed in his life and blessed in his good deeds done in his calling in the interests of his flock.
THE REV. JAMES J. QUINN.
The pastor of St. Catherine's Church, Cleveland, the Rev. James J. Quinn, was born at Ballindine, county of Mayo, Ireland, January 10, 1860. When five days old he was baptized in the parish church of his native place by his cousin, the Rev. John McCullagh. The elder Quinn was named Thomas, and his wife's maiden name was Miss Julia Gibbons McKeague. Besides the subject of this sketch two other sons of the family became priests, the Rev. John Quinn, of Chesterville, Ontario, Canada, and the
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A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY
Rev. Thomas F. Quinn, of Summitville, in the diocese of Cleve- land. One sister, known in religion as Sister Juliana, is a member of the Ursuline Community, in Cleveland. Eleven of his cousins have been priests in this country, some of whom are yet living. Five others of his cousins are priests in Ireland, and four more are in the sisterhoods there. The Quinn family has long been known for its devotion to the Church.
When a lad of ten J. J. Quinn began his preparatory studies in his native place. In 1873 he entered St. Jarlath's College, Tuam, where, until he finished his course, he was the recipient of first premium in all his classes. Having finished his philosophy he entered the Irish College in Paris, France, where he completed his theological course, winning thereby the recommendation for a post-graduate term in the Catholic University. This he had to forgo, because the Archbishop had work for him to do as pro- fessor in St. Jarlath's College, Tuam. In due time he was ordained priest in the Tuam Cathedral by Archbishop McEvilly, August 20, 1882.
Father Quinn's first appointment was in the capacity of curate at Clifden, county of Galway, where he exercised his holy office from immediately after ordination until August, 1884, a period of two years. He was then appointed parish priest at Clare Island, county of Mayo, where he labored from August, 1884, till August, 1887. He built three parochial schools there. From Clare Island he was transferred to the pastorate of Achill, in the same county. He remained there until June. 1888. when, having received, May 3rd of that year, a letter from Bishop Gilmour inviting him to the Diocese of Cleveland and promising him a place, he took his excat and came to the United States.
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