USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 35
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Union Cemetery is situated on Teutonia avenue opposite Bur- leigh street. The association was organized on Jan. 11, 1865, and the grounds were selected and purchased by Rev. Mulhauser, J. H. In-
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busch, Nic. Shoof, Charles Kieckhefer, and Henry Dube. The orig- inal officers were: President, Charles Kieckhefer; secretary, Nic. Shoof ; treasurer, John Inbusch.
Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery, situated in the town of Greenfield, west of Forest Home, and less than a half-mile outside the city limits, was established in August, 1880, by St. Stephen's (Lutheran) congrega- tion, and the grounds were laid out in handsome style by Engineer Benzenberg.
Greenwood Cemetery is situated south of and adjoining Forest Home. The Greenwood Cemetery Association was organized on April I, 1872, under the laws of the state. The land, consisting of ten acres, was purchased from Levi and Caroline Blossom by D. Adler, Henry Friend, and A. F. Leopold, and was devoted exclusively to the use of the Israelites. The original officers were: D. Adler, president ; H. Friend, vice-president ; Henry Bonns, treasurer; J. Nathanson, secretary. Among the prominent persons buried here are Henry Friend and wife, who went down in the steamer "Schiller"; and Edward Adler, son of David Adler, who after receiving the highest educational honors from European universities, was stricken with brain fever and died.
Other cemeteries are: Mt. Olivet, situated at Eighth and Okla- homa avenues ; the Polish Union, on Eighth avenue south of the city; Spring Hill, on Hawley road south of Calvary cemetery; and Wan- derer's Rest, near the city limits on Lisbon avenue and Burleigh. Most of the above named cemeteries are fitted with convenient down- town offices, where all arrangements may be made, and at the ceme- teries there are offices and rest rooms fitted with every convenience. Attendants are ready to minister to the wants of the members of funeral parties, and careful records are kept by the secretaries to do away with any confusion. These are found invaluable in hundreds of cases. Neat graveled walks and in many instances walks of cement are found everywhere, and nearby fountains provide water with which the graves may be watered. Caretakers keep the cemeteries looking like beautiful parks, and the lawns and hedges are carefully clipped. No sign of neglect or carelessness is allowed, and thus the modern cemetery is no longer a tangle of overgrown weeds and grass as it was in years gone by.
CHAPTER XIII.
CHURCH HISTORY.
GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT-CATHOLIC CHURCH-EPISCOPAL CHURCH-LUTHERAN CHURCH-METHODIST EPISCOPAL-PRESBYTER- IAN-CONGREGATIONAL-BAPTIST -- JUDAISM IN MILWAUKEE-UNI- TARIAN CHURCH-THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION-CHRISTIAN SCI- ENCE CHURCH-EVANGELICAL CHURCH-UNIVERSALIST CHURCH- OTHER CHURCHES, MISCELLANEOUS ORGANIZATIONS, AND PERSONAL MENTION OF PROMINENT DIVINES.
The growth of religious sentiment in Milwaukee has kept pace with the development of the city and county along commercial and other lines. The past fifteen years have been years of great activity in the erection of churches, not only in the building of churches for newly organized congregations, but also in the erection of edifices for older societies which have outgrown the buildings which they occu- pied. In 1892 it was estimated there were 120 churches, or religious organizations which in a work of this kind are classed as such, within the limits of the city. To-day there are in the city more than 180, while the churches in the rest of the county would bring the total to considerably more than 220.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
While there may be reason for doubt as to which religious faith was the first to hold services in the new settlement of Milwaukee there can be no denial of the fact that the first apostle of the Christian religion to teach that faith on the site of what is now Milwaukee was a Catholic. As early as 1665 Father Claude Allouez, a member of the Jesuit order, had penetrated as far west as Wisconsin and had tarried for some days with the Mascoutin and Kickapoo Indians, on
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the banks of the Milwaukee river near the site of the present city. Accompanying Father Allouez was Father Dablon, and during their brief stay they made many conversions among the red men. Later on, probably in the fall of 1674, Pere Marquette passed by the harbor, but it is not recorded that he entered it. 4 Notwithstanding, his teachings came to the ears of the Indians from other tribes visited by Marquette and served to keep alive the interest created in the Indian mind by the visit of Allouez. While no echo of the wars which wrested the country from French dominion and afterward from England into an infant republic reached the vicinity of Milwaukee, the territory immediately surrounding underwent various changes in ecclesiastical rule. While a French possession it was a dependency of the diocese of Quebec, and remained as such until 1810. When the diocese of Bardstown-now Louisville-Ky., was organized it was placed under the archbishop appointed to govern that district. Sub- sequently it became part of the diocese of Cincinnati and ten years later, in 1832, was made a part of the diocese of Detroit. While the church claimed jurisdiction over the territory of what is now Milwaukee county it made no effort to establish missions or churches, and for many years the entire Northwest was visited only by Jesuit missionary priests. The historian Bancroft says of these, "Away from the amenities of life, away from the opportunities of vain glory, they be- came dead to the world and possessed their souls in unalterable peace. The few who lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a long mission, still kindled with the fervor of an apostolic zeal. The history of their labors is connected with the origin of every celebrated town; in the annals of French-Americans not a cape was turned, not a river entered, but a Jesuit led the way." After the suppression of the Jesuit order in 1773 the whole of what now constitutes the states of Michigan and Wisconsin was left to the direction of one priest stationed at Detroit. The real history of the Catholic church in Milwaukee begins with its transfer to the diocese of Detroit, and is almost synonymous with the secular history of the city.
The first permanent settler and the founder of Milwaukee, Solo- mon Juneau, belonged to the same faith as the early French mission- aries. The first Catholic mass celebrated in the city was in the home of the founder on East Water street, where the Mitchell building now stands, on a Sunday during the month of August, 1837, the presiding clergyman being Rev. Fleurimont J. Bonduel, a missionary from Green Bay. A deed bearing the date of July 13, 1837, from Solomon Juneau to Rt. Rev. F. Rese, the first bishop of Detroit who held spiritual jurisdiction over the territory, for a consideration of five dollars and
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"other valuable considerations," transferred lots ten and eleven, block seventy-three, for church purposes. This land is on Martin street, near Jackson. In the fall of the same year Rev. Patrick O'Kelly came to Milwaukee to become the first resident pastor of the newly organ- ized Catholic church. For some months he held services in the court- house, until the summer of 1839, when the chapel being erected on the lots donated by Juneau was near enough completion to allow of serv- ices being held in it. This chapel was dedicated to St. Peter, from the baptismal name of Bishop Lefevre, and was subsequently enlarged to contain a school. It was the cathedral of the first bishop of Milwau- kee ; between 1863 and 1866 it was the church of the Bohemian society then being organized; later a Sunday school was held in it, and finally the grounds and building passed into the hands of Rt. Rev. L. Batz, who had it transferred and placed beside a church dedicated to the same saint, where it stands to-day. For five years Father O'Kelly served as the prelate of the Catholics of Milwaukee and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Morrissey. The first visit made by a bishop to the city was by the Rt. Rev. P. P. Lefevre, of Detroit, in the fall of 1841, accompanied by Father Martin Kundig, whose after life was insep- arably connected with the history of Catholicism in Milwaukee. It was agreed that should the conditions in Milwaukee meet with the approval of Father Kundig he was to take charge of the church in this city. The conditions were met and in the spring of 1842 Father Kundig assumed his duties. Following out the plan of Father O'Kelly he opened a school, which he placed in charge of Mr. Murray and his sister. The church grew apace with the city and the territory and it was determined that Wisconsin should have a bishop. Prairie du Chien, a strong Catholic city, was apparently to be the choice for the seat of the bishopric. Father Kundig, inspired by a love for the fast growing city in which he labored, determined to do what he could to bring the honor to Milwaukee, where he felt it rightfully belonged. He arranged a monster parade on St. Patrick's day, 1843, in which citizens irrespective of creed or nationalty participated. Father Kundig himself acted as marshal, and the affair being well advertised. turned the balance of favor to Milwaukee, which on May 16 of the same year was selected by the competent bishops as the cathedral city. By this time the tide of German immigration had turned to Milwaukee and it was deemed advisable to appoint one of that tongue to assume charge of the Episcopal See. The Rt. Rev. John Martin Henni received the appointment. He was consecrated on March 19, 1844, and on the 3rd of May following arrived in Milwaukee to assume the duties of his new office.
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Catholic history from that time on for thirty-seven years is iden- tical with the history of Bishop Henni's career in Milwaukee. For the following sketch of the earlier life of that prelate we are indebted to Rev. Augustine F. Schinner in an article on The Catholic Church in Milwaukee, prepared for another publication in 1895 :
"John Martin Henni was born June 15, 1805, in the village of Misanenga, Switzerland. His success at school and college was re- markable. He visited the grammar school of his native village, pur- sued his first Latin studies under the guidance of his parish priest, entered the gymnasium of St. Gallen, followed a course of philosophy and theology for some years at Luzern, and finally went to Italy to complete his studies in the city of the apostles. The representative of Bishop Fenwick, of Cincinnati, his vicar-general, the Very Rev. F. Reese, arrived at Rome in the year 1828, having come with a purpose of obtaining priests for American missions, especially such as were con- versant with the German language. J. M. Henni was persuaded to give his services to the new country. He landed in New York, May 28, 1828, and was ordained priest at Cincinnati, Feb. 2, 1829. He was then commissioned by his bishop to traverse the extensive diocese particularly in search of German Catholics. This he did, extending his journey north as far as Detroit ; preaching, baptizing, uniting in wed- lock, administering the sacraments, building churches where it was possible. In 1834 he was appointed vicar-general of Cincinnati and pastor of Holy Trinity congregation, newly organized, the first German congregation of Cincinnati. He erected a church and added a school. In 1836 he visited Europe, by authority of his bishop, in quest of men and means. In Munich he secured the most noteworthy of the former, John N. Neumann, who died as bishop of Philadelphia. Upon his return, Father Henni established the St. Aloysius .Orphan Asylum for German waifs. He was also the founder and first editor of the "Wahrheitsfreund," for some time the only Catholic paper of America published in German. At the Fifth Provincial Council of Baltimore, 1843, Father Henni acted as theologian to Bishop Purcell. In that council the erection of five dioceses was proposed, and Father Henni was chosen to be the first bishop of Milwaukee.
"Bishop Henni was accompanied to Milwaukee by the Rev. Michael Heiss, his secretary, afterward his successor as archbishop. In Milwaukee he found his friend and former schoolmate, Father Kundig. The latter, after a short stay in Kenosha, during which time his place at the cathedral was filled by the Rev. Peter Mclaughlin, became vicar-general. Bishop Henni and Father Kundig were born in the same country during the same year, Father Kundig, Nov. 16.
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They were fellow-students at St. Gallen and Rome; both decided to go to America with the Very Rev. F. Rese and devote themselves to its missions ; they set out together, were ordained priests on the same day, and labored for some years in the diocese of Cincinnati. When the Rt. Rev. F. Rese was consecrated bishop of Detroit in 1833, Father Kundig accompanied him thither. After a separation of eleven years he again met Bishop Henni, to be parted from him no more; thence- forth their lives and labors were united like the waters of twin streams that, having risen in the same mountains, and wound their way amid common scenery, are separated, then re-approach and, advancing side by side, end their course almost simultaneously to be gathered to- gether in the all-absorbing ocean."
Bishop Henni's field of labor was not one to cheer men who had been accustomed to lives of ease. On the occasion of his eleva- tion to the newly formed archbishopric he told of how, after he had received the welcome of the Catholic community of Milwaukee and had become acquainted with the means at hand for the futherance of his work, he went with Father Kundig to a secluded spot on the lake shore and silently wept. Four priests in the whole extent of his dio- cese, a few thousand Catholics scattered over the district, a small frame church and a heavy church debt were what he found. It is related that as he was about to sit down to his frugal meal he was called from the table to be presented with an overdue note on the house which he occupied. With the $500 presented him as a farewell offering by his Cincinnati congregation he paid the note and returned to his meal. The number of Catholics increased as rapidly as the population, so that in July, 1847, he had thirty priests in his diocese and in October of that year his force was augmented by the arrival from abroad of four priests and two theological students, among them Rev. Joseph Salzmann, D. D., whose career deserves a high place on the pages of Wisconsin church history. To Rev. A. F. Schinner are we again indebted for a sketch of this unusual character :
"This extraordinary man was born at Muenzbach, a village in Austria. According to his own words, he felt a desire for the priest- hood already at the age of five. Possessing uncommon talents, and being of exemplary conduct, he was declared the best and ablest of his classmates and selected to be sent to the Gymnasium at Linz, where the village had a scholarship. The examination he passed on entering caused universal astonishment. It was a presage of his future life at the gymnasium; he always received the highest mark possible in all branches, a thing which had not occurred within thirty years. Having completed his course in the
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classics, he entered the seminary for the immediate preparation for the priesthood. He was ordained, again because of his success, pro- nounced the best qualified among the competitors and sent to the University of Vienna to continue his studies. Here he took the title Doctor of Divinity after a term of three years, the usual course of four years having been abridged in his instance on account of his phenomenal progress. He labored for three years as assistant and catechiser, people coming from great distances to hear his sermons. When Bishop Henni visited Europe in behalf of his diocese, Dr. Salzmann resolved to put him himself at his disposal. Before setting out for America, he solicited pecuniary support for the American mis- sions ; he collected seven thousand gulden beside vestments and church furniture, which he insured for four thousand gulden. His first missionary work in America was performed at Germantown, twenty miles from Milwaukee. The sentiments with which he entered on his labors are expressed in his first address to the people at that place : 'The cry is heard in your forests. The shepherd has arrived; he has come from a great distance. What has drawn him thither? The beauties of this country? Oh, no; the country of my birth is far more beautiful. The richness of the soil? Oh, no; the men of my country would have amply provided me with all that I need. Or, the thirst after honor? or, the love of ease and comfort? No one will believe that-it was the thirst after your souls; for, many would perish without a priest and without the sacraments.' * * * Poor as his congregation was Dr. Salzmann began building a school. In 1850 he was transferred to St. Mary's church, Milwaukee, as assistant to the Rev. M. Heiss, at the same time supervising the building of Holy Trinity church. When Father Heiss was com- pelled by illness to abandon his charge, Dr. Salzmann became his successor at St. Mary's church. This placed him in the midst of the tumult of a religious warfare and made him the butt of attack on the part of the 'Freethinkers.' "
The institution which to-day stands as a monument to Dr. Salz- mann is the seminary of St. Francis of Sales (Salesianum), at St. Francis, a suburb of Milwaukee. Something of the history of that institution can be learned from the chapter on the Educational Devel- opment of Milwaukee. On Jan. 14, 1874, Dr. Salzmann passed to his eternal rest.
To return to Bishop Henni and the development of Catholicism in Milwaukee it is noticeable that the large influx of immigrants brought mostly Germans to the city. It soon became apparent that some means of worship must be provided for these people. Consequent-
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ly on the 19th of April, 1846, Bishop Henni with fitting ceremony laid the cornerstone of St. Mary's church on Broadway and on Sept. 12 of the following year the edifice was consecrated. Most Rev. Michael Hess, who had come to Milwaukee with Bishop Henni, was made its first pastor and continued as such until ill health com- pelled his retirement in favor of Dr. Salzmann in 1850. Bishop Henni returned to Europe in 1848 to solicit funds for the maintenance and development of his fast growing diocese. Just prior to his going he had blessed, on Dec. 5, 1847, the cornerstone of a new cathedral, which had been begun the summer before. The same year he had opened the first hospital under Catholic auspices in Milwaukee, in charge of the Sisters of Charity. It was during his trip to Europe that he obtained in Munich, Bavaria, the School Sisters de Notre Dame, and it was in Annecy, Savoy, while kneeling at the grave of St. Francis de Sales, the bishop of Geneva, that he conceived the idea of founding an ecclesiastical seminary and naming it in honor of the saint, the "Salesianum." On his return to Milwaukee in 1849 he provided a home for orphans and resumed the building of the cathedral, for the completion of which in 1852 he made a collection tour of Cuba and Mexico. By the following year the cathedral, which had received the name of St. John the Evangelist, was ready for occupancy and on July 31 the consecration ceremonies occurred. The papal ablegate, Msgr. C. Bedini, archbishop of Thebes, performed the ceremonies and celebrated the first high mass. Archbishop Hughes, of New York, preached the sermon in the morning and Archbishop Purcell, of Cin- cinnati, in the evening; and among other distinguished visitors present were Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburg; Bishop Lefevre, of Detroit; Bishop Van de Velde, of Chicago, and about seventy priests. In 1862 Bishop Henni, in compliance with the wish of the pope, journeyed to Rome and was present at the canonization of the Japanese martyrs, which was pronounced on June 9 by Pius IX, before the college of cardinals and some three hundred bishops from all over the world. In 1866 the Second Plenary council of Baltimore lightened the burden resting upon the shoulders of Bishop Henni by the establishment of the dioceses of La Crosse and Green Bay. Again in October, 1869, he went to Rome to participate in the Vatican Council, the first ecumen- ical council held since that prorogued at Trent in December, 1563. In 1875 Milwaukee was raised to the rank of an archbishopric, and Bishop Henni was honored with the pallium. Monsignor Cesare Roncetti, who had been sent from Rome with the red cap for the first American cardinal in New York, was also commissioned to invest Bishop Henni with the pallium. At the end of the pontifical mass the officiating
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bishop, Rt. Rev. M. Heiss, of La Crosse, placed the pallium upon the shoulders of the venerable prelate and the sermon was preached by the Rt. Rev. P. Ryan, the bishop coadjutor of St. Louis. On Feb. 2, 1879, was celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Archbishop Henni's ordination to the priesthood, Father Kundig, who had been ordained at the same time, saying the mass, and Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, who had proposed Bishop Henni for the Milwaukee charge and con- secrated him, pronouncing the jubilee. The infirmities of age were by this time beginning to tell on the venerable archbishop, and the death on March 6 of his life-long friend and co-worker, Father Kundig, only helped to hasten the shadow of death. His waning strength was sup- plemented by the apppointment of Rt. Rev. M. Heiss, bishop of La Crosse, as coadjutor. On Sept. 7, 1881, Archbishop Henni departed this life, and on the 10th of the same month the obsequies were held, Archbishop Heiss celebrating the requiem, and Bishop McMullen, of Davenport, Ia., preaching the sermon. His remains to-day rest be- neath the sacristy of the Cathedral which he built.
Much can be written of the institutions and organizations which came to Milwaukee as the direct result of the efforts of Archbishop Henni, but they are more properly treated under different chapters and the limitations of space forbid more than their mention in this connection. In 1850 came the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and early in 1851 he opened St. Mary's Convent. Under his auspices also was founded in 1856 the seminary of St. Francis de Sales, at St. Francis, and at the same place was opened on Jan. 2, 1871, the semi- nary of the Holy Family for the education of Catholic teachers. In connection with the last named institution were organized the Pio Nono College, which gives a thorough business education, and St. John's Deaf-Mute Asylum. In 1880 Rt. Rev. M. Heiss, acting for Archbishop Henni, who was confined to his home by the infirmities of age, blessed the cornerstone of Marquette College. In 1856, negotia- tions which had been pending for some time relative to establishment of the Society of Jesus in the city, were brought to a successful issue on the occasion of the first provisional council of St. Louis, which was at- tended by Bishop Henni. St. Gall's church, which had been erected in 1849, was placed in charge of the Society of Jesus with the under- standing that a college for high education should be maintained by them. The first Jesuits stationed in Milwaukee were the Rev. Fathers P. J. De Smet and F. X. De Coen. Another order, that of the Capu- chin Fathers, was established in 1869, and the forerunners of the society were the Rev. Bonaventure Frey and Rev. Ivo Prass. In 1876 also was established the House of the Little Sisters of the Poor
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on Wells street for the indigent and aged and a year later were opened St. Vincent's asylum for destitute infants, and the House of the Good Shepherd for the reformation of wayward women and abandoned children.
Succeeding Archbishop Henni came Rt. Rev. Michael Heiss, who had come to Milwaukee as private secretary to Henni. Archbishop Heiss was born in Phahldorg, Bavaria, on April 12, 1818. At the age of nine years he entered a Latin school, and when seventeen finished with the highest honors the classical course in the gymnasium of Neuberg on the Danube. From 1835 to 1839 he studied law and theology at the University of Munich and in the fall of the latter year entered the clerical seminary at Eichstaett to prepare for holy orders, with which he was endowed when but little over twenty-two years of age by Bishop, afterward Cardinal, Reisach, on Oct. 18, 1840. For three months after his ordination he remained in the seminary as pre- fect of studies. With a close friend, Charles Boeswald, he had become imbued in 1838, during a visit of Rt. Rev. Purcell to Munich, with the idea of migrating to America and there entering the work of the church. A conference with Boeswald re-awakened the spirit and the young men made their arrangements to leave. As they were about to embark Boeswald was detained for military service and Father Heiss set out alone. After a perilous voyage of forty-five days he arrived in New York on Dec. 17, 1842, whence he went to Louisville, Ky. His first appointment was to the Church of the Mother of God at Covington, Ky., and he remained in the charge until December, 1843. By that time Boeswald had secured his release from military duties and Father Heiss vacated for him the Covington parish. Accepting the invitation of Bishop Henni he came to Milwaukee and on the third day of May, 1844, , he began his labors in the new field, which at the time extended fifty miles west and north of the city. In 1846 he founded St. Mary's church, and served as its pastor until ill-health compelled his retirement in 1850. In order to recuperate he returned to Europe and there remained until Nov. 2, 1852. Early in 1853 he and Dr. Salzmann started the movement for the erection of St. Francis seminary, and between that year and 1856, when the building was ready for occupancy he conducted a class of young men in the bishop's house on Jefferson street. When the institution was fully organized he was made its first president, and he served in that capacity until his consecration on Sept. 6, 1868, as bishop of the newly organized La Crosse diocese. In 1880 he returned to Milwaukee to accept the coad- jutorship of Milwaukee, with the title of archbishop of Adrianople. Upon the demise of Archbishop Henni he ascended to the office of
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