History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 121

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592

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HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.

Teachers-a body of learned gentlemen whom our Bishop's love of encouraging literature induced him to join-there arose the spark out of which sprung the cele- brated debate between Bishop Purcell and Alexander Campbell.

The Archbishop, to which title and power he was advanced in 1850, was a great favorite at Rome, and for many years had more influence with the Pontiffs than any other American Bishop. He made many visits to the Eternal City, and was always received with marked favor. His first visit was in 1835 to give an account of his diocese. Having been appointed Archbishop in 1850, he went to Rome the follow- ing year to receive the Pallium from the Pope's own hands. Pius IX was then on the throne, and his attachment for Archbishop Purcell led him to send his private carriage to meet him on his arrival, a distinction accorded to no other prelate. On his return from Rome in 1851, the citizens of this city had in readiness, and presented him with, a fine carriage and a team of coal-black horses. In the following year, 1852, the number of inmates in the Orphan Asylum had increased to such an extent that funds were required to buy bread for the little ones, and the tender, warm-hearted Archbishop, who had always been a father to the fatherless, sold his horses and car- riage and gave the money to buy bread for the hungry orphans. In 1862, by invi- tation of the Pope, he visited Rome to be present at the canonization of the Japanese martyrs.

The Pope, in 1850, wishing to make the Archbishop a prelate of the throne, cre- ated his mother, Johanna Purcell, a Roman countess. The Archbishop thus became a Roman count, and being of the nobility, was eligible to the appointment of car- dinal. The distinguishing title and honor was greatly appreciated by the Arch- bishop's aged mother, then in this country, and the son frequently jested affection- ately with the venerable lady about her being a "Countess." He was from the first eminently popular and highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens, without regard to differences of creed. During his debate he was championed by Hon. Charles Ham- mond, one of the brightest intellects of Ohio, and editor of the Cincinnati Gazette in 1837. Dr. Daniel Drake, Judge James Hall, Gen. William Henry Harrison, Hon. Bellamy Storer, in the years 1833 to 1840, and, in fact, almost all our leading citi- zens, from time to time took a pride in being the especial friend, as they were the admirers, of Bishop Purcell. Gen. Harrison, on his invitation, attended in 1837 or 1838 the commencement exercises held at the Athenaeum, Sycamore street, and sat down to dinner for the occasion with the Bishop, clergy, and other invited guests. Archbishop Purcell died July 4, 1883. With the death of the Archbishop his

immediate family became extinct. The father died at Mallow shortly after the great famine of 1846-47, and the mother and her two daughters then came to Cincinnati. Mrs. Purcell and her daughter, Kate, went to Martinsville, Brown Co., Ohio, close to the Ursuline Convent, where they lived with a Mrs. Carr. Mrs. Purcell was here when she received the title of Countess from the Pope. She died April 15, 1857, in her ninety-second year. Kate, before this, came to Cincinnati, and died at the Orphan Asylum, in Cumminsville, March 11, 1879. She was buried by the side of her mother in the Ursuline graveyard, Brown county, and was followed one year later by her brother, Edward. Margaret Purcell married a Mr. Pugh, and removed with him to New Orleans, where her brother, Edward, practiced law for a short time. She died a few years before the Civil war. - [Arbridged from History of Mt. St. Mary's of the West.

MOST REV. WILLIAM HENRY ELDER, D. D., archbishop of Cincinnati, was born in Bal- timore, Md., March 22, 1819, and is a son of Basil and Elizabeth Miles (Snowden) Elder. In his father's family there were ten children who reached majority, of whom he was the ninth. His father, who was born near Emmitsburg, Md., removed in 1802 to Baltimore, where he was a grocer and forwarding commission merchant, and where he died in 1869, lacking but a few days of having completed his ninety- sixth year. Basil Elder's father, Thomas Elder, emigrated with his family to Bards-

Scott Boulan.

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town, Ky., where he lived the remainder of his life. William Elder, who was the father of Thomas Elder, emigrated from England, and was one of the first settlers in Maryland. During the anti-Catholic ascendancy of the colony in the first half of · the eighteenth century a law was passed prohibiting the celebration of the mass, but it was not approved of by the King until it was so changed as to allow citizens to have mass said in their own houses. To aid in alleviating this state of affairs, William Elder built a large log house about two miles south of Emmitsburg, in part of which he resided; and a large portion of which was occupied by one large room, extending to the roof, in which, as was the purpose of the builder, the Holy Sacrifice of the mass might be attended by a large number at a time. The building was occupied as a dwelling by the grandchildren of the first owner as late as 1842, and was but recently torn down. Thus we find the family actively engaged in car- ing in its infancy for the religious freedom and progress of the colony, which laid the foundation of Catholicity in America, and patiently sharing the controversies and persecutions which had now reached the New World, in defence of that religion which one and a half centuries later was to make the name of Elder famous.

In 1831 Archbishop Elder entered Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Md., then presided over by Rev. John B. Purcell, D. D., who was subsequently the second Bishop and the first Archbishop of Cincinnati. After a thorough course of six years he was graduated in June, 1837, and entered the Seminary for the fall term. In 1842 he left the "old Mountain" for the Propaganda, Rome. He was ordained Priest on Passion Sunday, 1846. and, returning to his native diocese, was appointed professor of dogmatic theology in Mt. St. Mary's. He also assumed at the same time the onerous position of director of the Seminary. In 1855 the See of Natchez became vacant by the death of Rt. Rev. J. O. Van De Velde, D. D., and Dr. Elder was chosen to succeed him. There was nothing to commend the diocese of Natchez to the worldly-minded. This diocese embraced the entire State of Mis- sissippi, the people were few, poor and scattered. Bishop Elder was consecrated at Baltimore by Archbishop Kenrick, on the 3d of May, 1857, and immediately de- parted for Natchez, where he arrived on the eve of Pentecost. Not very long after the Bishop's arrival in Mississippi the war for the Union broke out. Some pastors left for the field of battle, and some congregations were scattered.

The first years of his life there were ones of arduous labor and many privations, but his cheerful spirit of self sacrifice, one of the strong traits of his character, won him the love of his people. Catholics and Protestants were everywhere won by the gentleness of his disposition and the determination of his character. The apostolic zeal and charity of Bishop Elder showed themselves strongly during the fever epi- demic which desolated the South in 1878. All who could do so fled from the infected districts, but Bishop Elder remained at his post, to encourage the priests and nuns who rendered such heroic services to the victims of the terrible pestilence, some of them at the sacrifice of their own lives. The Bishop, whose courage in attending the sick inspired his priests, was himself smitten with the dread fever, and for a time his life was despaired of; but Providence seems to have designed him for greater accomplishments than he had yet performed, and he recovered to the great delight of his devoted flock, and that of the entire country, which had become acquainted with his heroism and loyalty to duty.

The following year the Holy See, wishing to testify his admiration for Dr. Elder, offered him the Archbishopric of San Francisco. Bishop Elder did not show any spirit of refusal, but pointed out that it would be very inadvisable to withdraw from the diocese when it was in such a deplorable condition. The Pope refrained from ordering him to accept the proffered promotion, and the Natchez Diocese retained its beloved prelate for two years longer. But the day of separation was to come. Early in 1879 the financial troubles which marked the closing years of Archbishop Purcell's life caused that venerable prelate to petition Rome for a coadjutor. The

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choice fell upon the Bishop of Natchez, who was accordingly appointed January 30, 1880. Few men would care to assume the enormous responsibilities that Bishop Elder was compelled to assume when he accepted the coadjutorship of Cincinnati; but Bishop Elder was too brave to refuse the cross that was now offered him. The administration of diocesan matters devolved upon Bishop Elder as soon as he came to Cincinnati. Archbishop Purcell, broken-hearted, retired to St. Martin's Convent, Brown county, leaving his auxiliary to manage affairs as best he could.

RIGHT REV. THOMAS S. BYRNE, D.D., fifth bishop of Nashville. The subject of this sketch was born in Hamilton, Butler Co., Ohio, July 19, 1842. His parents were among the first settlers of this thriving little town, and their memory is still fresh in the minds of the older inhabitants. Their home was a hospitable resort of the visiting clergy, and it was, no doubt, owing to the presence of so many of these reverend gentlemen that young Thomas Byrne became enamored of the priestly life.

His father dying when he was but nine months old, his good mother strove to give him the best education possible under the circumstances, and accordingly he was sent to the local schools. Every morning found him ready to serve the daily Mass of Father Daniel Hallunan, brother of the first rector of Mount St. Mary's, and he frequently served in the Mass of Father Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States. At the age of eleven he left school and went to work; but the reso- lution still remained to be at some time an educated man; and it was with this pur- pose that he became a machinist, firmly determined to save enough to pay for his edu- cation. His industry enabled him at the age of eighteen to give up his position, and take to the more congenial toil, that of the class room. He entered the Preparatory Seminary of St. Thomas, Bardstown, Ky., where, under the guidance of the learned Father Chambridge, he spent some years in the study of the classics. He finished his college course in Mount St. Mary's of the West, under Father Macleod, being one of the last pupils of this celebrated professor. After one year of philosophy, he and three others were selected by Archbishop Purcell to finish their theology in the American College, Rome. He remained in the Eternal City for three years, and returning in October, 1868, received tonsure and minor orders from Archbishop Pur- cell on the 16th of the following December; on the 18th he was made subdeacon, and on the 19th deacon. The archbishop now made him a member of the Faculty, with the responsible office of procurator. He was ordained priest in the Seminary Chapel May 22, 1869. During the succeeding years he taught various classes, physics, chemistry, mathematics, Latin, English, geology, etc., and also attended to the duties of chaplain to the Sisters of Charity, Mount St. Joseph's, Delhi. The first volume of Alzog's Universal Church History appeared in 1874. This work was the joint production of Dr. Pabisch, the previous rector of Mt. St. Mary's and of Father Byrne. Its translation occupied six years.

In 1877 he took charge of the little parish of St. Vincent de Paul, Sedamsville, once the charge of his old professor, Father Macleod, which he attended from the seminary, and subsequently from St. Joseph's Mother House, where he went to reside permanently in 1879. He remained at St. Joseph's seven years, and during that time superintended the building of the present Mother House, and also the one which was destroyed by fire in 1885. When the second building was nearing com- pletion he was called to the rectorship of the Cathedral. When the Springer Insti- tute, one of the finest school buildings of Cincinnati, was almost completed, he was again transferred to the important post of Rector of the seminary, which the Arch- bishop reopened September 12, 1887. The institution during the first year had an attendance of thirty. The number has continually increased each year, so that at last the diocesan authorities have been constrained to erect a new wing to accommo- date all who seek admission. The average attendance for the present year has been ninety-five, while the roll informs us that during the seven years of Dr. Byrne's

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incumbency, Mount St. Mary's has given over one hundred priests to the Church in the United States.

On May 22, 1894, Dr. Byrne celebrated the silver jubilee of his priesthood. The day was in very truth a family gathering, simple and earnest, heartfelt and sincere, and will ever be remembered by all concerned as a day of peace and enjoyment. On June 7, Dr. Byrne received from Rome the official information of his appoint- ment to the See of Nashville. The Bulls of appointment were dated May 10, 1894. [From History of Mt. St. Mary's of the West.

CHRYSOSTOM THEOBALD is pastor of the Franciscan Province of Cincinnati. The Franciscan Order, whose members were the first to evangelize the New World, was founded by St. Francis in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Order soon spread over all parts of the world, and American history bears abundant testimony to the self-sacrificing labors of its members for the civilization of the aborigines in Maine and the Pacific States within the present border of the Union, as well as in Canada and in South America, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Between the years 1830 and 1850 that incessant stream of immigration, which has since continued with uninterrupted vigor, began to flow into the United States. The number of Germans, swelled by new arrivals from year to year, led the bishops of the various Catholic dioceses founded in different parts of the country to call to their help German priests to minister to the spiritual wants of their countrymen. Repeated urgent invitations of the Rt. Rev. J. B. Purcell, then Bishop of Cincinnati, induced the Franciscans of the Austrian Province of St. Leopold, in the Tyrol, to send Father William Unterthiner to this country. He arrived in 1844, and was installed pastor of St. John's church, Cincinnati, then recently erected. His ministry was so successful, that at the time of his death, January 17, 1857, this congregation was the most flourishing and numerous of the city. Other priests followed him, so that the Franciscans who had meanwhile founded a church and convent in St. Bernard, a few miles northeast of Cincinnati, numbered ten in 1858, and obtained for them- selves the erection into an independent CUSTODIA, or Minor Province. Father Otho Jair, then pastor of St. John's church, was nominated Superior or Custos. Now the Fathers opened a college for candidates for the priesthood, which is to this day in successful operation. The Franciscans now have charge of the following churches in Cincinnati and Hamilton county: (1) St. John's church, built 1845, rebuilt 1867, with about one thousand families and one thousand one hundred school children. (2) St. Francis' church, built 1859, with about one thousand families, and one thousand two hundred school children. (3) St. Bonaventeures church, built 1868, with about five hundred families, and four hundred school children. (4) St. George's, Corryville, built 1868, rebuilt 1872, with about eight hundred families, and nine hundred school children. (5) St. Clement's church, St. Bernard, Ludlow Grove Post Office, with about three hundred families, and five hundred and sixty school children. (6) St. Francis chapel, Mt. Alverno, with Protectory for boys and thirty families. The Franciscans also attend St. Joseph's Home for the Aged Poor, Clifton, and Little Sisters of the Poor, Montgomery road, and the Catholic in the following public institutions: City Workhouse, House of Refuge, City Infirm- ary, County Infirmary and Longview Insane Asylum. (7) St. Francis College, a classical training school for aspirants to the priesthood, founded in 1859, is located on Bremen street, near Liberty, opposite St. Francis' church. A splendid new building was erected for it in 1893. Average number of students, eighty. (8) St. Anthony's Convent, near Mt. Airy, the novitiate for the candidates of the Order, was founded 1889. Here the future members of the Order, clerical and lay, are pre- pared for their future duties, which embrace ministerial work, teaching and house- hold help. - [Contributed.

REV. AUGUSTIN M. QUATMAN is pastor of St. Francis de Sales Church, Madison and Woodburn avenues, Walnut Hills. Of the church edifices of the Queen City,

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St. Francis de Sales, on the corner of Madison and Woodburn avenues, Walnut Hills, ranks among the first.

It was in the "forties," when four Catholic families settled on what is now known as East Walnut Hills. Francis Fortman, Joseph Kleine, H. Westjohn and Fred Kleine, with their families, worshiped in Fortman's barn, on McMillan, opposite Moorman avenue. Subsequently a church was built on the southwest corner of Hackberry and Forest avenues, and the edifice was dedicated November 3, 1850. Up to this time Rev. Jos. Ferneding ministered to the wants of the congregation. After laboring zealously for eight years, the first resident pastor, Rev. I. N. Schmidt, was called to his reward in May, 1860. He was succeeded by Rev. I. M. Menge, who remained until his death in 1873.

Under the pastorate of Rev. A. Fisher, the membership of the congregation increasing rapidly, it was resolved to build a spacious schoolhouse. The present site on the corner of Madison and Woodburn avenues was purchased for the sum of twenty-two thousand dollars by I. B. Enneking, who subsequently transferred the same for the above amount to St. Francis de Sales congregation. The school is at present conducted by the Sisters of Charity, and numbers three hundred pupils. In the same year it was resolved to build a church, and on June 30, of the following year (1878), amid a vast concourse of people the corner stone was laid by the Most Rev. Archbishop Purcell. Besides the customary articles placed in the corner stone was a phonographic cylinder of the Archbishop's address. The sermon was preached by the Rev. I. Friedland, of Detroit, Mich., and among the many distinguished visitors G. D. Adhamar de Cransac, the nephew of Pope Pius IX. ; his honor, Mayor Moore, ex-Mayor Johnston, and the present pastor Rev. Aug. M. Quatman, were present. The edifice was dedicated December 20, 1879. Rev. A. Fisher having been missioned to Springfield, Ohio, Rev. Charles Schmidt labored during the four years of his pastorate with great zeal until his death, which occurred December 14, 1883. On New Year's eve, the Rev. Augustin M. Quatman, having been assistant pas- tor of St. Peter's Cathedral for fourteen years, assumed charge. A very heavy debt rested upon the church. In a few years the debt was reduced to less than half of the original amount, besides reducing the interest to three per cent. The two bazaars held for the benefit of the church, one in 1890, the other in 1892, at which Governor Campbell and Governor Mckinley performed the opening exercises, may be cited as an example of earnest work. Twenty-five thousand dollars were cleared at these bazaars. During his administration the interior of the church was trans- formed into a marvel of beauty. Besides the exquisite frescoing, and the classic windows, we mention the way of the cross or stations; in point of conception, art and coloring they stand first in the country. The sanctuary is graced by a superb gothic altar of statuary marble. We quote from the Commercial Gazette of April 24, 1887: "The altar is of pure white (Rutland, Vermont) marble, not a streak of color, not a dark view in its whole composition, with column and panels of onyx. It is by F. & H. Schroeder, of this city, from designs by A. Kloster, of New York. It is pure German Gothic in style, consistent with that of the cruciform interior of the church. The front of the altar table proper has deeply carved upon it, separated by columns of onyx, which support the table, a head of Christ, Ecce Homo, then, in the center the paschal Lamb, and to the right a head of the blessed Virgin, Mater Dolorosa. The marble slab of the altar is twelve feet long and two and a half feet wide. Behind and over the table of the altar, to the left of the tabernacle, is a group in relief, The presentation of the Infant Jesus in the temple, showing Mary and Simeon. The outer door of the Tabernacle has, in bronze relief, the blessing of the bread by Christ, and to the right again, in marble, is the last supper, St. Peter and St. John, the well-beloved disciples kneeling to receive the Bread of Life from the hands of the Saviour. This completes the story of the Mass, the offering, the consecration and Communion. On the left and right of this level of the altar

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are marble figures of St. Joseph and St. Agnes. The Exposition Niche, over the tabernacle and whose inner door 'I. H. S.' stands in relief, is carved from a solid block of white marble. Marvelously sculptured angels kneel on either side. Above this, in turn, the 'Exposition Canopy,' for use in forty-hour devotions, is another wonder of carving from the solid block. By a happy arrangement of height, look- ing between the dainty columns of this marble canopy, the eye rests upon the figure of the Saviour of the world in stained glass, in the rear. The gothic pinnacles of marble are all from solid pieces, and as all the carvings named are away up in the realms of high art, beautiful alike in conception and treatment, it will be seen that the new altar is an art treasure, which enriches the community without regard to creed, while it is to the Catholics of St. Francis de Sales a pride forever." To Mr. Joseph and Agnes Kleine, a grand old couple, landmarks of piety and generosity, has fallen the privilege of donating this altar. The rite of consecration was per- formed by Most Rev. William H. Elder, D. D., Archbishop of Cincinnati; Rt. Rev. Bishop Richter, of Grand Rapids, participating; Rt. Rev. Bishop Dwenger, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., preaching. Besides Rt. Rev. Bishop Maes, of Covington, Ky., and Rt. Rev. Bishop Rademacher, of Nashville, Tenn., about one hundred and twenty- five priests assisted at the ceremony. The choir, under the directorship of Prof. J. Frank Wilson, sang Beethoven's Mass in a most exquisite manner.

The frescoing of the church was designed and executed by artist W. Thien. There is, indeed, a wealth of color and gold against which the soft tints of the reliefs of the stations form a most pleasing contrast. In the windows are represented the Latin fathers of the church; the birth of Christ and the descent from the cross form the groups of the transept windows respectively. The movable properties of the church are of the most exquisite design and workmanship: A carved pulpit of oak, a gothic sanctuary lamp, various statues, and candelabras which are only equaled by those in Trinity Church, New York. Vestments of the finest embroidery, costing thousands of dollars, make up the interior magnificence of this House of God. When it is borne in mind that all the interior ornaments amounting to eighty thousand dollars have sprung into existence by the generosity of kind members of the congre- gation, and that the debt has been lessened fifty thousand dollars, it will be acknowl- edged that St. Francis de Sales is a model congregation of which Father Quatman and his able assistant, Father Gerdes, may be justly proud .- [Contributed.

REV. J. C. ALBRINCK, V.G., is pastor of Holy Trinity Church, West Fifth street. In the western part of the city, on Fifth street near the site of the old Indian mound, stands a great edifice, with its lofty spire holding up the sign of redemption 220 feet above the curbstone. It is the church of the Holy Trinity, the church of the first Catholic German congregation in Cincinnati. The building is of brick, 65x170 feet in depth, and has a seating capacity of over fifteen hundred persons. West of this building stands the splendid parochial school 61x74 feet, having a spacious hall with eight large schoolrooms, with a mansard used as a residence for the janitor. The present church building was erected in 1853, and dedicated January 1, 1854, by the late Cardinal Bedini, while on his visit to the United States. The building replaces the original Holy Trinity church erected in 1834 and destroyed by fire in 1852.

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History of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio; their past and present, Part 121

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1592

Author: Nelson, S.B., Cincinnati
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Cincinnati : S. B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1592