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ST. LOUIS
CATHOLIC HISTORICAL
REVIEW
Issued Quarterly
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
REV. CHARI^ES L. SOUVAY, C. M., D. D.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
REV. F. G. HOLWECK
REV. GII^BERT J. GARRAGHAN, S. J.
REV. JOHN ROTHEN3TEINER
EDWARD BROWN
2 77.3
Volume II JANUARY 1920 Number 1
PUBUSHED BY THE CaTHOUC HiSTORIQAIv SOCIETY OF SaINT LOUIS
209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
CARLI: Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois
http://www.archive.org/details/stlouiscatholich02stlo
CONTENTS
PAGE
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis 4
The Language Question in the Old Cathedral of
St. Louis Rev. F. G. Holweck 5
Du BouRG AND the Biblical SOCIETY (New Orleans,
1813) Rev. C. L. Souvay, CM., D.S.S. 18
An Appeal 26
Notes 27
Documents from our Archives 43
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Established February 7th, 191 7
OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES
1918-1919
President — Most Rev. John J. Glennon, D. D.
First Vice-President — Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G.
Second Vice-President — Edward Brown
Third Vice-President — Louise M. Garesche
Secretary — Rev. John Rothensteiner
Assistant Secretary — Mary Constance Smith
Treasurer — Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. J. Tanni^ath, Chancellor
Librarians
and Archivists
TRev. F. G. Holweck
< Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
(^ Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.
Executive
Committee
<
" Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G., President
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. J. Tannrath, Chancellor
Rt. Rev. Mgr. P. W. Tallon
Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
Rev. F. G. Holweck
Rev. Martin L. Brennan, Sc D.
Rev. John Rothensteiner
Edward Brown, Secretary
Committee f Rt. Rev. Mgr. P. W. Tallon
on Membership \ Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. J. Tannrath, Chancellor
Committee
on Library
and Publications
f Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
I Rev. F. G. Holweck
-{ Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.
I Rev. John Rothensteiner
(^ Edward Brown
COMMUNICATIONS
General Correspondence should be addressed to Rev. John Rothensteiner,
Secretary, 191 1 N. Taylor Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
Exchange publications and matter submitted for publication in the St. Louis
Catholic Historical Review should be sent to the Editor-in-chief, Rev. Charles
L. Souvay, CM., DD., Kenrick Seminary, Webster Groves, Mo.
Remittances should be made to Rt. Rev. J. J. Tannrath, Treasurer, 209 Wal-
nut St., St. Louis, Mo.
4
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION IN
THE OLD CATHEDRAL
OF ST. LOUIS
1
St. Louis was a French settlement. It was founded by French-
men and for Frenchmen. During the Spanish regime, the official
Spanish language was used only in government documents. French
was spoken in the families, in the streets, in the shops, in court, and
French, exclusively, was the vernacular of the Church, even in presence
of the highest Spanish officials. French remained the language of the
Church also after the United States had seized the reins of govern-
ment in the Territory west of the Mississippi, when eastern Americans,
Englishmen and Irishmen passed the open door to St. Louis and to the
Western land of hill and prairie. Only on extraordinary occasions,
when curiosity led this new element in the population of St. Louis to
the Catholic chapel on Second Street, a sermon would be preached also
in English. The French Creoles of St. Louis were not ready to plunge
headlong into the new order of things. They raised no vigorous protest
against the transfer subsequent to the Louisiana Purchase, but when
the Spanish and French flags went down and the American flag was
hoisted, they shed tears. ^
It is safe to say, that the French language remained in full and
indisputed possession of the Church at St. Louis, during the inter-
regnum from the day of the departure of Father Janin (Nov. 12, 1804) 2,
to the day when, sent by Bishop Du Bourg of Louisiana, Father Rosati
arrived (Oct. 19, 1817). All these thirteen years no legitimate pastor
^ L. Houck, History of Missouri, II 375.
' Father Janin, the sixth Parish priest of St. Louis gave up his charge four days before
Ue Lassus with the Spanish officials and soldiers left the city to descend to New Orleans
r>.ovember 16, 1804. The Irish priest, Father Thomas Flynn, who took charge of the parish
Uecember 5, 1806, to January 2, 1808, was no legitimate parish priest; he was "elected"
pastor by the people, or rather, without any explicit faculties in the Louisiana Territory, by
permission of the forlorn Catholics of St. Louis and perhaps also of the quasi-Vicar General
Maxwell of Ste. Genevieve, performed a pastor's functions. Father Maxwell was called
Vicar General," but it would be difficult to say, whose Vicar General he was. The Propa-
ganda, February 21, 1807, expressly states, "cum nullus in eadem dioecesi existat, qui facul-
tates spirituals interim ab apostolica hac S. Sede obtinuerit, donee novus in eadem dioecesi
episcopus praeiiciatur"; i. e., after the cessation of the jurisdiction of Bp. Peiialver over
Louisiana, there was nobody in that diocese who obtained faculties for jurisdiction from the
Apostolic See. On September 1, 1808, Bishop Carroll was made Administrator of the diocese
of Louisiana; it is quite improbable that before the coming of Father Flynn, Father Maxwell
was appointed Vicar General by Bishop Carroll. Father Flynn had come from the East;
November 8, 1806, he wrote to Bishop Carroll that he had taken possession of St. Louis.
Father Savine, who is said to have been the eighth pastor of St. Louis, resided at Kahokia,
111., and served St. Louis the third Sunday of every month, from December, 1812, to Sep-
tember, 1817. Other priests who occasionally performed services at St. Louis during the
interregnum were Father J. Maxwell of Ste. Genevieve. Father D. Olivier of Prairie du
Rocher, 111., and the Trappists Urbain Guillet, F. M. Bernard, and M. Jos. Dunand of
Florissant and the Monks' Mound, 111. Maxwell and Flynn occasionally may have preached
in English.
6 REV. F. G. HOLWECK
resided in the little presbytery adjoining the church. The order of in-
structions in the church of St. Louis continued to follow the beaten
tracks and the English speaking Catholics were looked upon as in-
truders.
Whilst Bishop Du Bourg resided at St. Louis (January 5, 1818
to November 19, 1820) the sermon at High Mass was always preached
in French. But because a considerable number of Irish Catholics had
come to St. Louis and made the city their home, men who were good
Catholics and liberal to the Church like Jeremiah Connor,^ Bishop
Du Bourg made the new rule, that every Sunday, after Vespers, a ser-
mon should be preached in English. This appears from a letter of
De Andreis, the saintly Vicar General, (February 20, 1818), to Father
Rosati : "At every Sunday at morning, we preach in French, and
afternoon at the Vespers in English." (The English is De Andreis').
Again, on March 2, he writes to the same: "I have here scarcely occa-
sion to speak English and I preached English but twice, and very sel-
dom I hear confession in such tongue." (The English is De Andreis').
And again : "My work . . . does not leave me time . . . : to preach twice
on Sundays (le feste), in French and (these last three Sundays) in
English, because Monsignore is absent." (Original written in Italian^.
This indicates that Bishop Du Bourg, either personally or through
his Vicar General, preached in English every Sunday. De Andreis,
January 1, 1820, wrote to his brother: "I speak and preach in French
and in English." Bishop Du Bourg wrote and spoke English well. The
English of De Andreis shows that he thought in Italian. Also Father
Niel, after the demise of De Andreis (October 15, 1820) pro-rector
of the Cathedral and President of St. Louis Academy, Avas able to
preach an English sermon, but he seemed to have discontinued the
practice. In 1823, therefore, when he made an attempt at regulating
the financial affairs of the congregation, the Irish Catholics "were led
to believe that there would be an English sermon every second Sunday
at High Mass" (cf. the petition below). But if then any promise had
been made by Father Niel, it was never realized. It was difficult for
the French clergy of those days to leave the established groove. The
expectations of the Irish Catholics were never complied with (cf. the
petition).
When, in March 1825, Father Niel* left for Europe to raise funds
wherewith to pay the debt of the struggling parish of St. Louis, Father
' Jeremiah Connor, the second sheriff of St. Louis was a bachelor. He had come to
St. Louis from Georgetown, D. C. He gave a thousand dollars to put the old presbytery of
St. Louis in readiness for Bishop Du Bourg. He gave also to the city the great thorough-
fare, called now Washington Avenue, from Third Street to Jefferson Avenue. In 1820 he
sold to Bishop Du Bourg the two squares on which the Jesuits, in 1822, erected their college.
(W. B. Stevens, St. Louis, I p. 777). On March 17, 1820, St. Patrick Day was celebrated
for the first time in St. Louis by the Irish Benevolent Society (organized October 10, 1819,
Jeremiah Connor, president). F. L. Billon, Annals of St. Louis II. J. Jeremiah Connor died
September 23, 1823.
■• Father Francis Niel, born at St. Antonin, Languedoc, France, left Bordeaux with
Bishop DDu Bourg June 17, 1817, came to St. Louis with the Bishop, January 5, 1818, and
was ordained priest in the old Spanish chapel of St. Louis, March 19, 1818. He never re-
turned from his trip to France. His last letter to Bishop Rosati is dated from Paris, Sep-
tember 12, 1835. (Archives.)
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 7
Edmond Saulnier^ was appointed pro-rector of the Cathedral. He was
notoriously a poor speaker, hardly able to preach in French, still less
ni English. Nor did he ever learn enough English to preach a fair
sermon. As late as July 21, 1847, Saulnier in a sort of Diary, kept by
himself, stated that he was made light of by his confreres for reading
his sermons from a copy {cahier)J' It was but a matter of course
that the Irish became impatient. Even the poor courtesy of an after-
noon sermon was denied them, because there was no one to preach it.
Besides Bishop Rosati and the Flemish Jesuits at Florissant, there was
only one priest in Missouri who could preach a decent sermon in En-
glish ; this one priest was the Fleming, P. Leo de Neckere, CMJ At
St. Mary's of the Barrens, then the only English speaking parish in
the new State of Missouri, he had learned English fairly well, being
gifted with an extraordinary memory. Saulnier saw that something
had to be done to provide 'for the instruction and spiritual need of
those who knew no French. Wherefore, March 1, 1826, he wrote to
Bishop Rosati :
"I shall be pleased to see Mr. De Neckere, but I shall be still more so,
If he can stay; he could do a great deal of good by preaching in English
every bunday. No doubt he could even make some converts. It would be
a treat for the Protestants to hear him. In regard to his health Mr De
Neckere would be better off here in St. Louis than at the Barrens because
here he would enjoy better accommodations than there. I know that very
often his sickness is only imaginary; he is too retired, he needs distrac-
tion. . . .
On April 3, 1826, Bishop Rosati sent Fathers De Neckere and
Odm to New Madrid to give a mission. After their return the Bishop
gave De Neckere his papers for St. Louis (May 15). On the same
day Rosati started for New Orleans. The Bishop assumed that the
coming of Father De Neckere would check all friction in the church
of St. Louis. We permit Father Saulnier to give an account of what
happened after De Neckere's arrival.
... .It had not been my intention to write to You at this time, but the
course things have taken forces me to do so. First, I must tell you that
last bunday at eight o'clock. I invited the Irish to assemble before Vespers
twelve of them came; there may have been a few more, but this does not
rnatter. I told them the reason why I called the meeting, that is to grant
them a favour: that in the future Mr. De Neckere would preach in English
every bunday after Vespers. But they would not listen to my proposition,
unless I would grant them the right of having a sermon in English every
Ma 181^^^^,="!^"- "^5" ^?™ ^* Bordeaux, March 13, 1798, arrived at the Barrens in
^; Tnlt 1R^9 r"* °"^a'"«='^ priest at St. Louis, September 22, 1822. From November, 1831,
Ortnh/; 101Q^ ^'""^ pastor of the missions in Arkansas (v. St, Louis Hist. Review, July-
tnr ./f l\r^^''^ appointed pastor of Vide-Roche (Carondelet) in August, 1832, and pas-
s?nce IR^r^h.^'iltlf ' ^h,.''' P'^L- ^" ^^^I.Ky^.V''^'^ ^' '^^ Cathedral of St. Louis and
since 1851, chancellor of the Archdiocese. He died March 22, 1864, in the chapel of Calvary
Cemetery, the only survivor (with Father St. Cyr) of the French Regime.
« The documents used in writing this sketch are in the Archives of the archiepiscopal
cnancery ofhce, St. Louis, and have mostly been translated from the French.
' P- Leo Raymond De Neckere was born June 6, 1800, at Wevelghem, Flanders- he
crossed the ocean with Du Bourg in 1817, and was ordained priest in the Cathedral erected
by LJu Bourg, October 13, 1822. During his stay in the Seminary at the Barrens he joined
the Lazansts. He was consecrated Bishop of New Orleans in the Cathedral of that citv
June 24, 1830, and died of yellow fever September 5, 1833.
8 EEV. F. G. HOLWECK
second Sunday at High Mass. I told them that I could not abolish a custom
which had always existed in St. Louis, that the French had a sermon in
French every Sunday at High Mass, that I could not change this unless a
Superior order told m e to do so. How the French would complain if we
were to preach to them in English ! They would leave the church, as the
Irish do when they notice that the sermon is to be in French. Besides, the
French enjoy this right since the day when St. Louis was founded, and
Msgr. Du Bourg changed nothing in this respect, although four years ago
there were three times as many Irishmen in the city as there are now.
But this is not all. Some Irishmen held a meeting in the .city and made up a
lengthy petition, signed, not by the most respectable amongst them, but
mostly by men of objectionable conduct. For those , of whom I know that
they practice their religion, refused to sign, like Higgins, Walsh, English,
etc. Furthermore, I was told by those who would not sign, that the petition
shows but little respect to my character. I leave the decision to You,
Monseigneur, but for my part I expect more assistance for Mr. De Neckere
from non-Catholics than from the others. If the French did not pay better
than the Irish, I do not know what would become of my support. I made
the arrangement with Mr. De Neckere that I would pay him ten dollars
a month or more, if he wished. All is calm at present. Msgr. Du Bourg
has informed You of the rest (June 6, 1826).
The petition, it is true, was not signed by^all the Irish Catholics
of the city. Men like James Timon, father of Father Timon, (later on
Bishop of Buffalo) and James Timon Jr., who had signed, had later
on their names taken off the list. One of them, Peter Walsh,^ even
wrote a formal protest (in English) against the petition, in the form
of a postscript to Father Saulnier's letter :
Rt. Rev. Sir:
; Pardon the liberty I take in obtruding myself at this crisis; but I should
consider myself in a certain degree a criminal, were I deficient in making
You acquainted with what I deem a petit schism in our church of St. Louis
and raised only by a few discontended spirits, and those not of a respectable
class. A petition has been framed by them, I understand, in terms not the
most elegant, to obtain a certain grant of you ; but be assured. Sir, not one
respectable Catholic Irishman has signed it. For my part, I have not been
at their meeting and do in conjunction with most of my respectable Irish
acquaintances protest against and repel said Petition ; while I and my friends
naturally desire instruction from the pulpit, yet we deem it our duty as
Catholics, to be subject to the will and direction of those superiors which
the Church has placed over us, and I do consider the petition ill-timed and
proceeding from a source not entitled to attention.
I have the honor to be, Rt. Rev. Sir, your obedient servant
P. Walsh.
On the following day, June 7, Saulnier wrote again :
I have been told that the petition of which I spoke to you in my pre-
ceding letter, was sent to you, but it seems that at present grass has grown
over it. I have been informed that the man who raised this commotion, is
a worthless fellow (surtout), who felt insulted when I reprimanded him
for talking whilst I performed a marriage ceremony ; I know that he resented
and still resents having been reproved publicly and to his face. He would
be glad to see me far from here. You have, I suppose, seen my reasons;
I believe they are just, and if it were otherwise there would be no end of
trouble in the parish.
Mr. De Neckere takes great interest in his English sermons, and I hope
he will do a great deal of good in the future. There is a rumor that the
Americans will raise a collection of 300 dollars for him.
« Peter Walsh, born in SHgo, Ireland, in 1783, came to New York in 1803. and to
St. Louis in 1820; he was a commission merchant and Justice of the Peace; died 18b 1.
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 9
But all was not calm, as Father Saulnier imagined. Te petition
was sent to New Orleans and was received by Rosati at the Barrens,
August 27, 1826.'' If its terms are not of the most elegant, it appears
to be very tame in comparison to similar eastern documents of the
same period. We reprint the entire petition, together with the names
attached to it :
Saint Louis, Missouri,
June, 1826.
To the Right Reverend Louis Wm. Du Bourg,
Bishop of the Upper anl Lower Louisianas and Floridas.^
Right Reverend Father,
We your petitioners, members of the holy R. Catholick Church and
parishioners of the Parish of Saint Louis Mo. humbly sheweth.
That some time in the year of our Lord 1823, at an aggregate meeting
of the Roman Catholicks of this Parish, the following resolution was unani-
mously agreed to ; The Reverend F. Niel in the Chair, and the then acting
Church Wardens present.
Resolved, that each family will pay for the support of the parish Priest
two dollars per annum, to make up the Sum of five hundred dollars per
year, provided, the said contribution is not sufficient to make up the said
sum of five hundred dollars per annum, the Church Wardens are to make
up the deficiency, and pay to the Parish Priest the said sum of five hundred
dollars, out of any monies collected in the Church for the sale and rent
of Pews, or otherwise. And further that at a subsequent meeting, the
Reverend F. Niel P. Priest, did for the further consideration of one hun-
dred and fifty dollars, to be added to the above five hundred dollars, mak-
ing a total of Six hundred and fifty dollars per annum ; did agree to give
up his right to certain sums allowed him at Marriages, Buriels, etc. unto
the Church, and thereby changed only the receivers right. In showing the
foregoing resolution to your Reverence, your petitioners do not Complain.
But your petitioners do complain, and most humbly and respectfully
shew, that at the time the above resolution was passed, the amount then
deemed sufficient for the support of our Parish Priest and his Coadjutor,
and was granted at their own request. — And further — Your Reverence's
petitioners do most humbly and respectfully shew, that at the time the
above regulations were passed, your petitioners were led to believe that there
would be an english sermon every second Sunday at high _ Mass. And
further that your Reverence's petitioners have truly and faithfully com-
plyed with the above regulations as far as in them lay, although our ex-
pectations have never been complyed with.
Your Reverence's Petitioners do most humbly and respectfully shew,
that a meeting of the American part of the Catholic Congregation was
called on last Sunday by our acting Parish Priest at his room, then and
there told us that the Reverend Wm. Denackary would stay here if we
could separately raise a sufficient sum to maintain him. Your Reverence's
petitioners did then most respectfully state, that the Sallery of Six hun-
dred and fifty dollars, as above stated, did support two clergymen hereto-
fore, and that they deemed the same amount now sufficient, but your Rev-
erence's petitioners did offer to raise their subscriptions, one dollar each
per annum, provided we would get an english Sermon every second Sunday,
which was refused by the Reverend Edm. Saulnier.
* On May 15, 1826, Bishop Rosati started for Louisiana and did not return to the
Barrens before July 19. (Diary of Bp. Rosati.) When the petition arrived at New Orleans,
Rosati was gone; this explains the long delay. The postal service at that time was very
imperfect.
» It is difficult to say why the petition was addressed to Bishop Du Bourg. Everybody
in St. Louis knew that Bishop Du Bourg was on his way to Europe: on his way to New York
he had been at St. Louis on Ascension Day and had been received with the highest public
honors.
10
EEV. F. G. HOLWECK
Your petitioners do most humbly and respectfully shew, that so long
as the great distinction is kept up between what is termed the French and
the American part of this congregation, by giving after Vespers an english
Sermon, and always at high Mass the French Sermons and exertations, a
a language that few or none of the Americans understand, and that the
said American part can have no satisfaction in attending at high Mass, only
the contemplation of being present at the August mistery of our divine
religion.
Your Reverence's petitioners do distinctly and most respectfully state
that a very large majority of the French population that composes in part
this congregation, do understand perfectly the english language, to these
your petitioners would beg leave to add, that a great number of respectable
Citizens of this place, of other denominations who attend at our Church,
and who do not understand the French language, would form not only a
very large majority who understand the english language, but would leave
very few who do not imderstand it.
Your Reverence's petitioners, do most humbly and respectfully state,
that it is not our intention to dictate to your Reverence any rules or regula-
tions for the Parish which forms a part of the Diocese, which it has pleased
God to place you over, far be it from us, we only wish to make known to
your Reverence these our grievances which we labor under, trusting there-
fore to the justness of our Claims, and your Reverence's known liberality,
we deem it not necessary to state to Your Reverence, the great advance-
ment it would be of the glory of God and our holy religion, to have a
Clergyman who is capable of giving suitable and frequent explanations of
that faith "once delivered to the Saints," in the language of the State and
in which all business is here transacted, to so mixed a population as this
rapidly growing City is daily pouring in upon us, with their existing prej-
udices, that Clergyman your petitioners are confident they have now got in
the person of the Reverend Wm. Denackary, but the time that he is at
liberty to preach to us in the language we understand is at a very unseason-
able hour, and indeed an hour that a majority, or a great part of the Amer-
ican Catholics cannot attend, as they reside at some considerable distance
in the country, and is of necesity obliged to return home even before
Vesper hour.
Your Reverence's petitioners do humbly and sorrowfully state, that
there has of late been a great apathy or total neglect in a number of luke-
warm Catholics to the important duty of hearing Mass on Sundays, on this,
and no other account, than that of never hearing an English instruction at
the time of Mass.
Your Reverence's petitioners do therefore most humbly and respect-
fully request that your Reverence be pleased to direct, that every second
Sermon be prached at the time of high Mass, in the English language, and
your petitioners shall ever be Your faithful Children in Christ.
Patrick Quigley John LaMande
James Fortune Hugh Fitzpatrick
RoBT. CooNEY Barney Dignan
Mathew Dougherty William Tiffle
Michael McLaughlin Joseph Wogan
Michael Reilly Thos. LaughlEn
Edward Harrington James Barry
Michael Rourke
John McGovern
William Tiernan
Cornelius Caughlin
Patrick Hodnett
Timothy Cotter
John Thornton
Mathew Treany
Arthur Flemming
Dennis Murphy
James Hammond
Owen Collins
Peter Warren
Michael Gorman
James Bonney
John Mullen
John Roche
Joseph BoujEr
AUGUSTE GuELBERTH
p. ROCHEBLAVE
L. T. Honore
William McGuire
D. Monnestesse
Louis Garande
Louis Lamond
Francis Fooshay
John Rodgers
Mathew Behedge
John Higgins
Patrick Higgins
Lawrence Ryan
p. dowling
Patrick McDonnogh
Thos. Bany
Ringrose D. Watson
John Watson
Patrick ClEary
James Bellay
William McCluskey
F. D. Belcour
C. G. Brun
Patrick Murphy
William McKnxght
Henry Heagerty
JerEmias Harrington James Roache
James Murphy Patrick Sullivan
Dennis Murphy John Shade
Andrew Murphy
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION H
But the Bishop could work no miracles. Fredericktown, Kas-
kaskias and other neighboring towns had exhausted his resources;
from the Seminary he could not take away any of the professors, etc.
(Rosati's letter to Saulnier Sept. 10, 1826). In this sense he sent a
communication, not to the signers of the petition, but to the trustees
{marguilliers) of the church of St. Louis, September 1, 1826:
"As God is no respector of persons, so those of his ministers whom he
has appointed the pastors of his flock, make no distinction between the
souls entrusted to their care. French and Americans, Creole and Irish are
equally dear to us, because we think them equally entitled to the spiritual
assistance which is in our power to afiford them. But imperious necessity
often renders ineffectual our most ardent desires and reduces us to the
painful impossibility of doing what we would think our happiness to do.
The parish of St. Louis has hitherto had a greater share in the sollicitude
of her pastors than any in the diocese, and if those amongst the parishioners
who speak the English language have been often deprived of instructions
from the pulpit, it has not been the effect of neglect or disregard on our
side. We have been more deeply affected than any other by the considera-
tion of the sad effects that are to be expected from this inconvenience. But
we cannot give what is out of our power and in such circumstance the
only remedy which we can find for our evils is to have recourse to the
Lord of the harvest and beseech him to send evangelical workmen into his
harvest. In the meantime we think it our duty to exert ourselves in order
to raise a national clergy who, knowing the languages spoken in the coun-
try, may be able to assist all their countrymen."
The practice of preaching English after Vespers only was con-
tinued. But even this arrangement did not last. On July 26, Saulnier,
who was never friendly to De Neckere, wrote to Rosati :
"Mr. De Neckere sufr'ers from the heat. But is there anything of which
he does not complain? I shall comment upon this more fully when I see
you. . . ."
From Father De Neckere's own letters, however, it appears that
he was continually ill. To save his life he was compelled to leave St.
Louis and return to Flanders. Before Rosati had received the petition
of the Irish Catholics, he gave permission to De Neckere to go to
Europe (August 12, 1826), to return, if possible; otherwise he was
to stay in Rome.
His departure caused great discontent amongst the Catholics of
St. Louis. It seems that reports of an ill feeling between Saulnier
and De Neckere had leaked out ; sharp tongues attacked Saulnier and
accused him of having driven away the young Flemish priest by jeal-
ousy anud harshness. Father Saulnier was wounded in his feelings. On
Sept. 2 he wrote to the Bishop :
"One more word. A Presbyterian church^o has been built at St. Louis
in tasteful style ; by its refinement it attracts the curious. Another (Epis-
copalian) temple is in course of erection, and will have a very fine appear-
ance. Mr. De Neckere who is gone, left his hearers half converted. What
1" The first Presbyterian church at St. Louis was organized by Rev. Salmon Giddings.
On January 3, 1818, this Rev. Salmon Giddings had opened a school for young ladies and
gentlemen in his house on Fourth and Market Streets. The church of which Saulnier speaks
stood on the west side of Fourth Street near Washington Avenue. The first Episcopalian
church was built on Third and Chestnut. (Walter B. Stevens, op. cit., p. 708 and 717.)
12 EEV. F. G. HOLWECK
is to become of the Catholics of poor St. Louis? If you could do without
Mr. Timon he could attract crowds to the Church. You can hardly conceive
how glad the Protestant ministers are since Mr. De Neckere is gone. Whilst
he was here they complained that their church was deserted. I have nothing
to say. God will arrange things as He sees fit. But I deplore it very much
that I am so devoid of talent as not to be able to preach. The Devil is
doing good business at present. I hope the time is not far ofiF when again
we can twist his tail.
But see, how far malice has gone here, since I am accused in town
of having ill-treated Mr. De Neckere, of having been so jealous of him as
to demand his removal. Well, God knows better than that, thanks be to
Him forever."
"I had the best intentions in obtaining Mr. De Neckere from Msgr.
Du Bourg; everybody was so delighted to hear him; and now I am accused
of having been jealous of him, to have ill treated him and that for this
reason De Neckere left. ... all the Flemings who ever came to St. Louis,
have caused trouble." (Letter, Sept. 12.)
In November and December of the same year, the Irish Catholics
of St. Louis had a pleasant surprise; Father Timon, CM., the son
of one of their citizens, preached the jubilee in English. But after that,
for eighteen months. Father Saulnier had to supply the EngHsh ser-
mons. He even went beyond the episcopal instructions, and to satisfy
both parties gave two short sermons in French and English at every
High Mass. On July 7, 1827, he wrote to the Bishop on this subject:
"H it could be done, there ought to be at St. Louis a larger number of
ecclesiastics for the divine services and somebody who could preach contro-
versial sermons in English. I believe that there would be much more fruit
produced than there is now. From my part I do all I can : every Sunday
I preach at High Mass in French and in English. I am well contended.
There are several people who approached the ' Sacraments after having
neglected them for eight, nine, ten, nineteen and twenty years. . . ."
On February 28, 1828, he wrote:
"li the inhabitants of St. Louis would have you among them and if
you had a priest for the American Catholics who could preach to them in
English, things would turn out better in the Church in regard to religion
as well as to those continual financial troubles."
In June 1828, a new star arose in St. Louis to realize the hopes
of the English speaking Catholics. Regis LoiseU^ was ordained priest
in the Cathedral, June 29, 1828. He was born in St. Louis, but con-
sidered French his mother tongue. He spoke English well, although
like all the Creoles of that period, with a strong French accent. On
July 5, he received his faculties and his appointment as curate at the
Cathedral, together with a pastoral instruction to Father Saulnier. To
this very explicit pastoral letter Saulnier answered July 29, 1828:
In your letter which I received through the kindness of Mr. Loisel, I
have with pleasure read of various plans which I would very much like to
" John Timon was born of Irish parents at the old Jesuit mission of Conewago, Pa.,
February 12, 1797. His Father opened a dry goods store in St. Louis in 1819. John joined
the Lazarists at the Barrens, in 1823, and was ordained priest in 1825. In 1835, he was
appointed tlie first Visitor of the Lazarists in America; in 1838, superior of the missions in
Texas. In 1839 he was nominated Coadjutor to Bishop Rosati, but refused to accept the
burden. On October 17, 1847, he was consecrated Bishop of Buffalo, at New York. Died
April 16, 1867.
" V. St. Louis Catholic Historical Review, Vol. I, No. 2, p. 103.
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 13
carry into effect; but permit me to submit my objections before I commence
to obey you. You desire that the English sermon be preached at nine
o'clock; that after benediction there should be catechism for the children,
then for the negroes; that Mr. Dussaussoyi^ should give popular instruc-
tions before and after Vespers ; that Mr. Loisel and Mr. Dussaussey should
from time to time go to Edwardsville, to Kahos, to Vide Poche; this is a
pretty mess ; pardon, Monseigneur, but I see great difficulties in all this ;
before we commence this order of things we must know if we can keep it
up; if we cannot carry it out, it is better not to start at all.
First: nine o'clock is too early for the English sermon, not only for
the people in the country, but also for the Americans in St. Louis. I can-
not see that any other hour would be more proper than after Vespers or
after High Mass, or rather during High Mass, having alternately a sermon
in English and on another Sunday a sermon in French. This arrangement
would satisfy everybody, after the demands which have been made. How-
ever, there are still some drawbacks in having the English sermon preached
every other Sunday during High Mass : there would be a considerable
crowd of Americans (as last Sunday after Vespers), so that the church
could not hold them and there would not be room for all ; these great num-
bers serve to show how necessary it is to have another, more spacious
church. The French would leave the church when they hear that the ser-
mon is to be in English and the English would go when the sermon is in
French. Then the irreverent behavior of the Americans during the Holy
Sacrifice is very distressing. H you would issue some regulation on this
point, it might do some good and keep them in due respect. As soon as
you give a decision, I shall not delay action.
Father Saulnier writes again August 2, 1828:
"You instruct me, Monseigneur, that Mr. Loisel should preach at nine
o'clock. For the Americans, especially for those from the country, the hour
seems to be inconvenient; there is no other hour possible but after Vespers,
or every other Sunday during High Mass, or every Sunday after High Mass.
It is true, the country people could not derive any benefit from an English-
sermon preached after Vespers, but there are so few of them that this would
form no real obstacle. You saw the great number of hearers he had on
the Sunday, when you assisted at the English sermon of Mr. Elet; well,
in a little while there will be the same numbers for Mr. Loisel, and I would
like to see, where all these people find room during the morning services.
Furthermore you want catechism for the children after Vespers, other
catechetical instructions for the negroes, popular conferences before and
after Vespers by Mr. Dussaussoy; then you wish that these gentlemen go
to Kahokias, to Vide Poche and to Edwardsville and also to the Convent.
This is expecting rather much ; we would have to have more priests and
additional hours. Pardon, Monseigneur, for taking the liberty to speak to
you in such a shocking manner; it is I who do not understand, because
I am too stupid. Please excuse me, the good God has created me just as
I am. . . ."
But the Bishop did not yield. He would not permit Father Saul-
nier to preach in English during High Mass; on August 17, 1828, he
instructed him : "Preach in English at Vespers or even after High
Mass."
Father Loisel, without a fault of his own, was a failure. He was a
saintly man, but no great speaker ; besides he was subject to fevers and
rheumatism to such a degree that several times he was compelled to
" Father Dussaussoy was a nephew of the Blessed Sophie Barat. He had been stationed
at St. Michael's, La., and arrived in St. Louis during Passion week 1828; he was appointed
curate to Father Saulnier at the Cathedral, but, molested by various bodily complaints, he
left St. Louis, April 11, 1829, and returned to France.
I
14 EEV. F. G. HOLWECK
Spend weeks in the house of his mother, Mrs. Lebeau. Consequently
again, for months, there would be no sermon in English at the Cathe-
dral, for the simple reason that there was no one to preach it (letter
of June 30, 1829) "except for Saulnier's little English" (letter, Sept.
19, 1831). And thus things remained until Father Lutz^* had given up
the idea of evangelizing the Indians and, in December 1831, returned
to St. Louis to stay. Because, towards the end of November 1831,
Saulnier had resigned his position at the Cathedral, and had been sent
to the Post of Arkansas. Lutz was appointed to take his place. Father
Lutz knew English fairly well, although he was only five years in this
country. In his missionary trips to Kansas, Illinois, and the North-
west Territory he had been thrown together with Indian agents and
other English speaking men and had acquired some facility in using
the English idiom. Saulnier, in one of his letters, written in the spring
of 1832 from Arkansas, proposed Father Lutz for the purely English
speaking mission of Little Rock.
Shortly after the arrival of Father Lutz, after a retreat (February
26 to March 3, 1832) made by Bishop Rosati in the Bishop's house,
with Fathers Rondot, Lutz, Condamine, and Roux, on Quinquagesima
Sunday, March 4, 1832, a new rule was made regarding the sermons,
and, on March 7, a rule regarding catechetical instructions.
English sermons^'' were to be preached at High Mass on the first
and third Sunday of every month; on all other Sundays in French.
After Vespers the sermon was to be preached in English, when the
morning sermon had been in French and vice versa. The Jesuits were
to preach the English sermons in the morning. Catechism begins at
2 :30 P. M. in French by Roux, in English by Lutz, as long as Lent
lasts. Every evening, on week days and Sundays, there would be a
sermon. ^^ At the Lenten devotions Father Lutz sometimes preached
in English.
On Monday, April 2. 1832, at the Lenten devotions, prayers, for
the first time, were said in English at the Cathedral. So the contest
for recognition of the English speaking part of the parish at High
Mass, a contest which had lasted six years, was won to the satisfaction
of the Irish Catholics. To keep up the concession, however, the Fa-
thers from the Jesuit College, Verhaegen, Elet, Van de Velde, Van
Lommel and others had to preach the sermons at morning services.
" Joseph Anthony Lutz was born in Germany, at Odenheim, Baden, in 1801. Ordained
priest at Paris he was sent to St. Louis bv Father Niel, with the clerics Surault and
Chiaveroti, and arrived November 5, 1826. He was appointed pastor of Kahokia and Vide-
Poche, but resided at St. Louis. Afer hving spent some time in the Indian missions, he was
appointed pro-rector of the Cathedral. On Septuagesima Sunday, January 24, 1834, Father
LutE preached the first sermon in German in St. Mary's chapel and taught catechism m
German- this henceforth was to be done every Sunday. St. Mary's chapel had been dedicated
on the second Sunday after Easter, May 6, 1832, by P. Verhaegen, S.J.. assisted by Fathers
Roux Jeanjean and Bouillier. P. Verhaegen preached. Father Lutz said the Mass, at 8:30
A M In 1842 to 1845 he built St. Patrick's church at St. Louis, was appointed Vicar General
for the Germans in 1846, but left the diocese April IS, 1847, and died at New York February
6, 1861.
" Five Minutes' sermons were unknown in those days. The sermons at the forenoon
and afterooon services were great and long oratorical eiTorts in the style of Bossuet and
Fenelon, answering to all the requirements of rhetoric.
" The day before, M.ircli 6. the Bishop had written in his Diary, t Crux t heu, quam
gravis t ("Alas, how heavy is the Cross'")
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 15
According to Bishop Rosati's Diary, the afternoon sermon was some-
times preached in St. Mary's chapel in the former St. Louis Academy.
In fall of 1836, a priest from the diocese of Boston, Father Jami-
son, came to St. Louis to the great delight of everybody concerned. He
had arrived whilst Bishop Rosati was on the confirmation trip in Ste.
Genevieve, St. Francis and Perry Counties. The Bishop found Jamison
at the episcopal residence, when he returned to St. Louis, October 27,
1832, and incorporated him at once into the diocese for the English
speaking members of the parish. As soon as Father Verhaegen, then
President of St. Louis University, heard of this arrangement, he wrote
to Bishop Rosati (November 14) :
"Rev. Mr. Lutz has told me, Monseigneur, of the arrangement which
you have made with Rev. Mr. Jamison. We are very glad to hear that this
worthy priest has decided to stay at St. Louis and we anticipate abundant
fruit from his labors. I must, however, make an observation, Monseigneur
and, I believe, you will agree with me on this subject. Our Fathers told me
that under present circumstances they would feel mortified to appear in pulpit
before a congregation which must contribute to Dr. Jamison's support and
would not see him at his post They, therefore wish that Mr. Jamison
should preach in the morning and they will gladly assist him in the great
work of preaching as often as their services are required. You will, there-
fore permit us, Monseigneur, to retire from the exercise of this function.
Rest assured, that when circumstances later on shall demand that we take
up our former post again, we shall do so with all our heart."
But Father Jamison did not stay long. Conditions in the West
did not suit his taste and he returned to the East (first to Cincinnati).
The Jesuit Fathers again took the charge of preaching in English at
the morning services, much against their wish, as appears from a let-
ter, which P. Verhaegen wrote to Bishop Rosati on August 4, 1839:
"Our Fathers complain much of the burden which is put upon them by
having to preach at the Cathedral. I understand this and you, Monseigneur,
will also easily understand, if you consider the fatigues which are insepara-
ble from teaching. They are few in number, they have daily four to five
hours to teach, most of them are feeble and those who are capable of
preaching at the Cathedral, as ill luck would have it, have a weak constitu-
tion. Besides, I think, Monseigneur, that the English sermon is impaired
in its usefulness and that it is very expedient, not to say very necessary,
for the prosperity of our religion in St. Louis, that there be at the Cathedral
an American priest, who could give there regular instructions. This gentle-
man might double his usefulness by taking charge of the spiritual direction
of the academy (pcnswnnat) of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, which still
more than any other exterior ministry weighs heavily upon our shoulders.
Please, Monseigneur, reflect on the remarks which I have submitted to you
and arrange things so that those at our house who are already overburdened
may have no reason to complain because exterior ministrations are heaped
upon them. . . ."
On April 25, Bishop Rosati with Fathers Lutz and Lefevre
started east to assist at the Fourth Council of Baltimore. Before he
left. Bishop Rosati appointed P. Verhaegen his Vicar General and
Administrator. Verhaegen^^ resided at the Cathedral. On June 1,
" Father Verliapgen was dignior on tbe Tenia, nroposed bv Bislioo Rosati for the
Coadjutorship of St. Louis Diocese (Timon, Verhaegen, Pise), mentioned in Bishop Dubois'
letter to Rosati, of Tulv 7. 18.^5. (Archi7-i's). On the Tern.i which Bishop Rosati sent to
Rome April 23, 1840, P. Peter Verhaegen was dignissimus (Verhaegen, Timon, Odin).
16 REV. F. G. HOLWEGK
Bishops Rosati, Portiei and Miles and Fathers Lutz and Lefevre
sailed for Europe on the Steamer British Queen.
P. Verhaegen saw, what he had seen before, that in the matter
of preaching things could not go on at the Cathedral of St. Louis as
they had done so far. Still, although he saw that the French sermons
had lost a great deal of their importance, he kept up the old rule of
preaching in English during High Mass only on the first and third
Sunday of the month, but of his own free will he added other instruc-
tions in English as appears from his letters to Bishop Rosati.
"The French sermons are poorly attended and in consequence religion
suffers. If Monseigneur would bring along a good French speaker for the
Cathedral, you would fill a great void. Regarding the English sermons, I
cannot complain of the attendance, but I also cannot suppress my conviction
that, as soon as I leave the bishop's house, religion will fall to a low ebb,
unless a clever American or Irish priest will replace me. The tmhappy
Prud'homme always preaches in St. Louis and makes proselytes. His suc-
cess he owes to his well rounded periods. An excellent speaker at the Cathe-
dral would produce a favorable reaction. You, Monseigneur, know as well
as I do, the personnel which surrounds me, and I am convinced that you
know as well as I, that in point of talent, %it presents very feeble attractions
to the public."i8 (Letter, July 8, 1840.)
"It seems that God deigns to bless our labors. The Cathedral, I believe,
is better attended than ever these last three years. Everybody seems to be
satisfied. My lectures after the first Mass have helped, with the grace of
God, to spread knowledge amongst Catholics and Protestants, and, if I can
continue them, I expect happy results. We have just celebrated the feast
of the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and we had, at the
Cathedral alone, nearly 300 communions." (Letter, August 18, 1840.)
"You ask me, Monseigneur, to suggest some means to make your jour-
ney most profitable to your diocese. You know that I take great interest
in everything that might contribute to its prosperity. I believe that you
should procure a good French preacher for the Cathedral and two good
speakers for the Americans. 2. Bring few priests along, because you could
not place them to the advantage of religion unless they know English.
3. Buy only what is absolutely necessary. Believe me, the money will be
worth more to you than religious articles, no matter how beautiful and use-
ful and convenient they may be. They will be very expensive when delivered
here. Expertus loquor. 4. Banish all sense of shame in the good cause in
which you are engaged — demand, beg, knock everywhere et aperietur vobis."
(Letter, December 16, 1840.)
"Thanks be to God, my health is excellent and I have been strong
enough to give a popular instruction every morning and three lectures a
week for Protestants principally, in the evening. I had 2,000 to 3,000 hearers.
These lectures, they say, have done an immense deal of good. They brought
about several conversions and inspired a great number with the desire and
determination to take instructions. The city papers spoke of them in the
most flattering terms. The Protestants found our Lent too short, to me it
appeared longer than usual. God be praised ; to Him be all the glory of
the efforts I am making to fight against error and to vindicate truth. I can
" These priests were Father P. T. Fischer, a native of Lorraine and later on Pastor
of St. Marv's Church, and the two Frenchmen: Jacob Fontbonne, superior of the Sisters of
St Joseph and. since 1S42. p.TStor of Carondelet. and Jos. Renaud. who, in 1S47, and a^i"
in 18.S3, returned to France. Father Lutz. in 1841, was in Europe, with Bishop Ro?ft'- Tn^
latter never returned to St. Louis. On November 30, 1841, he consecrated at Philadelphia
his Coadiutor. Peter Richard Kenrick, and having spent some time in JJayti on an occasional
mission, he deid at Rome, September 2S, 1843.
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 17
say that piety gains daily, and I see clearer than ever that St. Louis offers
a fertile field to missionaries who are pious, zealous and well trained. The
underlined words remind you, Monseigneur, of what I remarked in another
letter." (Letter, April 19, 1841.)
When in December, 1841, Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, Coadju-
tor of Bishop Rosati, arrived in St. Louis, he saw that the church on
"French sermon days was practically deserted." Shortly before start-
ing east, Bishop Rosati, on April 8, 1840, had blessed the cornerstone
of the new Jesuit church of St. Francis Xavier. Since the vernacular
in this new church was exclusively English, there was great danger
that the English speaking population would attach themselves to St.
Francis Xavier to the detriment of the Cathedral. (Letter of Bishop
Kenrick to Bishop Rosati, written February 20, 1842).^® Therefore
Bishop Kenrick abolished French at the morning services altogether.
The French sermons were to be preached after Vespers. Then he
called Father George Hamilton from Alton to the Cathedral and
replaced him by Father Donnelly. Before the coming of Father
Hamilton, there was no priest at the Cathedral who, according to
Bishop Kenrick's judgment, spoke English well.
The French sermons on Sunday afternoons were soon given up.
The young generation of Creoles had been Americanized and preferred
English to French. At present in the City of St. Louis the Gospel
is being preached in nearly every language of the European Continent,
except in French.
F. G. HOLWECK.
^' When, in 1829, F. Van Quickenborne who was Vicar General of the diocese of St.
Louis, built the Jesuit College, Saulnier suspecting that some day an English speaking church
would be connected with the establishement, in a letter of May 9, 1829, most earnestly
warned Bishop Rosati: "These gentlemen are going to have a church; in town rumours cir-
culate, that the English now soon would have an English priest who would preach to them
every Sunday: Principiis obsta, scro niedicina parattir [Resist in the beginning, medicine
comes too late J. What can a simple priest do against a Vicar General?" Since at the Cathe-
dral the Irish received but little encouragement, a chapel, in connection with the Jesuit col-
lege, with regular instructions in English, was a menace to the Bishop's church. The Flem-
ings at Florissant learned English much faster than the French of the diocesan clergy. Hine
illae lacrimae! This is the reason, why Father Saulnier wrote to Bishop Rosati, that "all
the FJernings who ever came to St. Louis have caused trouble."
DU BOURG
AND THE BIBLICAL SOCIETY
(New Orleans, 1813)
Under the caption, A Bible Distribution among the Catholics
of Louisiana, the late Martin I. J. Griffin recounted, in his American
Catholic Historical Researches (July 1903, pp. 123-125), the attempt
made in 1813 by agents of the Connecticut and Massachusetts Mis-
sionary Societies to foist upon the unsuspecting Creoles of New Orleans
French and Spanish translations of the New Testament published by
the recently created British and Foreign Bible Society. New Orleans
was an ungrateful soil for the Society to thrive in ; for the Creoles, as
a whole, though rather lukewarm in their Catholicity, were ever im-
pervious to protestant proselytism. The incident, therefore, might well
be let pass unnoticed by the historian, were not the names of Father
Anthony de Sedella and Louis William Du Bourg interwoven in the
story; the conduct of both men in this occurrence adds a welcome indi-
cation towards the estimate to be formed of their characters.
Martin Griffin's article was based solely upon the account of the
event published by Samuel I. Mills, one of the Society's agents ; indeed
it was scarcely more than a reprint of that part of Mill's Journal relat-
ing to the incident, and although the editor wisely abstained from
drawing any conclusions, yet the story made the reader somewhat
uneasy. Audiatnr et altera pars. This is now possible, for we are in
possession of Du Bourg's side of the question. Having the independent
testimony of the two principals, we are able to sketch more completely
and fairly this curious and little known episode of Du Bourg's ad-
ministratorship of the New Orleans Diocese.
The Rev. Samuel I. Mills was a Presbyterian minister, sent by
the Connecticut and Massachusetts Missionary Societies to the South-
western part of the United States to get information about its religious
condition and establish Bible Societies. At the outset, the "Standing
Committee on Missions,*' formed in 1805, had conceived no thought,
it seems, of proselytizing among those "outside the pale;" the purpose
of the assembly being rather to provide for the many Presbyterians
scattered through the newly-acquired territory, and destitute of minis-
terial help. For this reason, the Synod had welcomed the establish-
ment, at Philadelphia, of an American branch of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, and set eagerly to the work of distributing the
Scriptures. By its agency large shipments of copies of the Bible, espe-
cially of the New Testament, were disposed of "among the hungry
18
DU BOUEG AND THE BIBLICAL SOCIETY 19
people famishing for the 'bread of Hfe.' " ^ But it was to be expected
that the zeal of the missionaries would soon extend beyond the pale of
presbyterianism and thirst for conquest. Bible distribution was for
this zeal a natural outlet. A glib tongue, a certain gift of ingratiating
himself with the well disposed and religiously inclined people, the dis-
play of deep concern in the spiritual welfare and enlightenment of the
simple folk, an unctuous speech and tone of voice served the cause
powerfully ; in a short while the preacher offered his books ; and, as
he gave them gratis — supreme token of his disinterestedness — even
those of his hearers who, at first, had listened to him only grudgingly,
could not be so rude as to refuse the present. As the success of his
ministry was measured according to the number of copies which he
distributed, glowing reports soon reached headquarters, where every
heart did exult in the glorious prospect "that the righteousness of Zion
shall go forth as brightness, and the salvation of Jerusalem as the lamp
that burneth." ^
Our Rev. Samuel I. Mills, together with one Rev. Mr. Smith,
leaving Natchez, Miss., on March 12, 1813, arrived in New Orleans
on the 19th. At once two glaring facts, which the preachers' peculiar
logic could not help linking together as cause and effect, stood out
prominently before their bewildering gaze : the benighted Creoles were
woefully ignorant of religion — at least of that type of religion known
to the New Englanders — ; and no wonder, for not one single Bible
could be found anywhere in the whole ^city. Here was a virgin soil,
full of promise. Without delay the two missionaries bent all their
efforts to exploit it. We must hear the tale from Mills' own lips, as
he recounted it in his Journal. ^
The greater part of the inhabitants are French Catholics, ignorant of
almost everything except what relates to the increase of their property,
destitute of Schools, Bibles and religious instruction.
In attempting to learn the religious state of these people, we were fre-
quently told that they had no Bibles and that the priests did not allow of
their distribution among them.* An American, who has resided for two or
* I. Daniel Rupp. An original History of the Religious Denominations at piesent exist-
ing in the United States. Philadelphia, 1844. Presbyterian Church, p. 582.
» Op. cit., p. 601.
* We cite this Journal as quoted by Martin I. Griffin in the above mentioned article.
* It is scarcely necessary to point out the gross misstatement lurking under this mate-
rially correct affirmation. Let us remember that Mills is speaking of the French Creoles,
whose priests were likewise French. It is materially exact that the French clergy did not
allow of the distribution of the Bibles among their flocks; the reason for the prohibition was
that the Bibles offered for distribution were usually the publications either of De Barneville s
"Societe biblique catholique," founded about 1719 (De Barneville was a notorious Jansenist),
or of the "Societe biblique frangaise de Loudres." founded in 1792, that is, translations with-
out notes, and with an heretical taint. That the Church, even the French clergy did not
frown upon the reading of the Scriptures in the vernacular, is sufficiently evidenced by the
large number of editions of the Bibles of Carrieres and of Vence. The Church s position,
on this question of modern translations of the Scriptures for the use of the Catholic people,
had been, not many years before the events narrated, authoritatively stated m a letter ot
Pius VI to Archbishop Martini, who was publishing an Italian translation of the Bible: At
a time that a vast number of bad books are circulated, to the great destruction of souls,
you judge exceedingly well, that the faithful should be excited to the reading of the Holy
Scriptures; for these are most abundant sources, which ought to be left open to every one,
to draw from them purity of life and doctrine; to eradicate the errors which are vyidely dis-
seminated in these corrupt times. This you have seasonably effected, by publishing the
sacred writings in the language of your country, so as to place them in the reach ot all
(April 1778).
20 REV. C. L. SOUVAY, CM.
three years at a flourishing settlement and which had a Catholic Church,
informed me that he had not seen a Bible during his stay. He had heard
that a woman from New York had lately brought one into the place.
Upon our arrival at New Orleans we were soon made acquainted with
a few religious people. . . . We found tha-t, in order to have the Bible cir-
culated freely, especially among the Catholics, the consent of those high in
office must be obtained. We were frequently told that the Catholic priests
would by no means favor the project. We were referred to the Father An-
tonio,* as he is called, who has greater influence among those of his order
than even the Bishop, who has lately arrived from Baltimore.^ If the con-
sent of the former could be obtained, it was allowed by those with whom
we conversed, that much might be done towards distributing the Scriptures
among the French Catholics. We took a convenient opportunity to call
upon the reverend Father. The subject was mentioned to him. He said he
should be pleased to have the Bible circulated among those of his, order ;
and that he would approve of the translation distributed by the British and
Foreign Bible Society. In addition to this he said he would aid in the cir-
culation of the Scriptures should an opportunity present. We inquired of
him whether the priests in the different parishes would likewise favor the
good work. At this inquiry he seemed surprised, and answered, "How
can you doubt it? It is for their interest to circulate the Scriptures."
Upon this point our sentiments were hardly in unison. However we felt
no disposition to contradict him.
We have since called upon the Bishop. He also gave his consent and
said he would contribute in favor of the infant institution. This disposition
of the Catholic priests to circulate the Scriptures has very much surprised
all with whom we have conversed on the subject in this city. The priests
acknowledge the nakedness of the land. Father Antonio gave it as his
opinion, that we should rarely find a Bible in any of the French or Spanish
Catholic families in any of the parishes. And the Bishop remarked, that he
did not believe there were ten Bibles in the possession of all the Catholic
families of the State. When we came to this place we found a number of
French Bibles and Testaments had been sent here for distributing gratis,
and had been on hand for some time. They are now all disposed of and
repeated inquiries are made for those books by the Catholics. I happened
to be in Mr. Stackhouse's store a short time since. During my stay, which
was short, five or six persons came in inquiring for the Bible in the French
language. Mr. Stackhouse informed me that if he had 50 Bibles he could
dispose of them at once to the Catholics.
Such, in part, was the report sent East by Mills. No stress needs
be laid upon the superficial nature of the information given by the
missionaries' advisers in New Orleans as to the exact position of the
Very Rev. Louis W. Du Bourg in the Diocese. No Catholic, be he
even of the party which strenuously foug:ht against the Administrator,
would ever style him Bishop. No Catholic either, be he ever so poorly
instructed, could state that the priests did not allow of the distribution
of the Bible among the faithful. This is simply the old and trite accu-
sation, ever refuted, but persistently repeated of protestantism against
the wise cautions of the Church in this matter. Well might our two
Biblical Society agents express genuine surprise that both Father
Anthony and "Bishop" Du Bourg did not show themselves averse m
principle to the distribution of bibles among the Catholics; this sur-
prise only shows how completely their minds were possessed by the
old prejudice ; and that the prejudice was ineradicable, Mills manifests
• Father Anthony de Sedella, O.M.C., Pere Antoine, as he was called, the Rector of
the Cathedral.
• The Very Rev. L. W. Du Bourg, Administrator of the Diocese.
DU BOUKG AND THE BIBLICAL SOCIETY 21
by his disbelief of Father Anthony's assurance that the other priests
of the Diocese were, in this matter, sharing his opinion.
But whatever the tenor of their conversation with the famous
Capuchin, and whether or no, the question of principle laid aside, he
was not, as to the appreciation of the edition presently to be distributed,
hoodwinked by the two preachers, the interview with Du Bourg, while
courteous and, on the whole, satisfactory to the two preachers, was
not altogether, however, the touching unison which Mills reports. We
even understand that there was throughout on the part of the New
Englanders a disingenuousness which succeeded in imposing upon un-
suspecting Du Bourg, as when they acknowledged the propriety of the
Administrator's approving only the distribution of such translations as
had received the Catholic Church's sanction, and explicitly declared that
their purpose was "not to make proselytes to any denomination of
Christians, but to afford to each of them the means of reading the
Divine Word in a manner consistent with their own religious prin-
ciples." How insincere these protestations, when Mills and his partner
must be cognizant that the French translation they were endeavoring
to circulate was Calvin's rendition, one justly abhorred by the Catholic
Church authorities !
The two preachers lost no time in sending to their patrons of the
Missionary Society tlieir report of the wonderful success obtained both
with the Catholic priests in charge of the Church in New Orleans, and
in the matter of Bible distribution ; nor was the Missionary Society
slow in giving wide and loud publicity to this report. With what pain-
ful astonishment it was received by the Catholic Clergy in the Eastern
States, who were fully conversant with the nature, policy and methods
of the Biblical Society, and cognizant of what kinds of versions the
Society was endeavoring to poison Catholic minds with, may easily be
surmised. Du Bourg's friends in Maryland at once warned him of
the abuse made of his name ; and to the friendly warning thus sent by
Father Simon Brute we owe the letter of explanation written by the
Administrator. Usually Du Bourg used the French language in cor-
responding with his dear friend of Mount St. Mary's ; but this time
he wrote in English, so that Brute might give, if needs be, proper cir-
culation to his letter.
Pointe Coupee, Lower Louisiana, September 13, 1814J
Rev. Simon Brute —
Your esteemed favour of the lOth. of July last, my very dear Friend,
reached me only yesterday at this place, in the course of my visit thro' a
part of the Diocese, having been detained and even opened somewhere on
its way. The circumstance mentioned in it, had already been communicated
to me from another quarter. But not conceiving it to be of a nature capable
of creating any serious alarm, I had bestowed upon it but transient atten-
tion. The degree of importance which you appear to attach to it, induces
me now to give you, as far as my recollection will afford, a detail of the
transaction which may have given rise to the publication by which your
attention has been so forcefully engaged —
Early in the year 1813, two Baptist* Missionaries, whose names at pres-
ent escape my memory, on a visit to the city of New Orleans, were intro-
' The original of this letter is in the Catholic Archives of America. University of Notre
Dame, Ind., in the Box labelled Bishops and Archbishops of New Orleans, No. 8 of the Let-
ters of Bishop Du Bourg.
22 REV. C. L. SOUVAY, CM.
duced to me by a common friend, requesting my countenance on their
project for circulating thro' the extent of my Spiritual jurisdiction, French
and Spanish translations of the Holy Scriptures. — My answer to them
was, in the first place, that a promiscuous reading of all the books of
Scripture was uniformly viewed by the Catholic Church as more likely to
prove injurious than beneficial, particularly to the uninformed part of
Christians, and more especially to such as were wholly left to their own
sense of them. They did not express any marked difference of opinion
from me in this respect. I then proceeded to manifest my earnest wish
that copies of the New Testament might be circulated among the laity of
this Diocese : but observed that no translation of the same would ever
receive my countenance, that had not the approbation of the Church, to
whom alone it was our belief that the interpretation of Scriptures essentially
appertained. The Gentlemen appeared to be sensible of the propriety of
this proviso from a man in my station. Their views, apparently, and even
professedly, were not to make proselytes to any denomination of Christians,
but to afford to each of them the means of reading divine Word, in a
manner consistent with their own religious principles. — I did not there-
fore suspect that, undertaking to print French and Spanish translations of
the Sacred Books, for the avowed purpose of disseminating them thro'
countries entirely catholic, they could harbour an idea of departing from
those fair and'honourable principles, by choosing any, that, far from having
received the sanction of their church, had on the contrary been inured with
her stigmas. It was under that impression I cursorily examined a copy of
a French New Testament, with which they presented me. The circumstance
of its being professedly reprinted from a Paris edition, connected with my
implicit confidence in the gentlemen, and the short time allowed for that
examination, prevented it from being as minute as it should have been. I
compared it however in many of the most important places with the original
text, and finding them to accord, I was induced to believe the translation
to be a Catholic one. / freely acknowledge I was too precipitate in that
judgment. — I did not however, as you assert, probably on the report of
the Gentlemen, subscribe for or verbally engage any number of copies,
and it was not till the Missionaries had left the place, which happened a
very few days after our second interview, that on a closer investigation,
I discovered it to be Calvin's Genevan translation. I am sorry the Gentle-
men have thus exposed themselves ; and I authorize you to publish, if you
deem it at all necessary for my vindication and that of our doctrines,
that, whatever inclination I may have manifested to them of being friendly
to their design, was founded upon my entire conviction that they would act
conformably to the principles I had laid down, and from which I will never
depart —
As to the compliment they pay to my liberality, for condescending to
receive the Bible from Protestant hands, if it means anything else than a
disposition in me to support any measure calculated to promote general
good, without infringing upon any of those rules, which as a Member and
Pastor of the Cath. Church I am bound to enforce, by whomsoever such
a measure may be proposed, it certainly cannot entitle the Gentlemtn to my
acknowledgments. It is well known, that, for fifteen centuries previous to
the birth of the first Protestant, the Bible was the exclusive treasure of
the Roman Cath. Church. From her hands unquestionably have Protestants
received it; upon her authority alone can they themselves be certain that
it is the pure and unadulterated word of God, — and that authority, of which
the Reformation cannot have divested her, at least in our eyes, is still, and
ever will be, the sole and unshaken foundation of our profound veneration
for the sacred volume — I am cordially, my Dear Sir,
Your invariable friend
Wm. Du Bourg, Adminis.
Apostolic of Louisiana.
» The Administrator's memory is here at fault, unless he had been from the beginning
under a misapprehension in regard to the protestant denomination of Mills and his com-
panion. This slight misstatement does not render the present account less trustworthy than
that of Mills calling Du Bourg "Bishop."
DU BOURG AND THE BIBLICAL SOCIETY 23
A few lines in French follow this long letter ; they are devoted to
personal news. Then the Administrator, reverting to the subject of
the above communication, adds :
I need only tell you to make of the above whatever use you may deem
fit, avoiding, however, as much as possible, a paper war, which, owing to
the diflficulties inherent in my situation in this city, cannot be but most un-
desirable.
No one will deny that this letter of Du Bourg to Brute, though
written with an apologetic view, is worthy of at least as much credence
as the report of Mills, written with a view to extol his missionary
achievements.
We grant that the Administrator of the Louisiana Diocese, as he
humbly acknowledges, was too hasty in the judgment which he passed,
after a too summary examination, upon the edition of the New Testa-
ment spread by the Biblical Society. This New Testament from Du
Bourg's description, was Olivetan's French rendering, revised and ap-
proved by the "Venerable Company" of the pastors and Professors of
Geneva: Bertram, Beza, de la Faye, Jacquemot, Rotan and Simon
Goulart. "The circumstance of its being professedly reprinted from
a Paris edition," would not have misled a more wary critic, for there
were several Paris editions of the Genevan Bible. But Dr. Du Bourg's
unsophisticated heart, incapable of suspecting deceit in others, because
he himself was incapable of deceit, or, as he puts it, his "implicit con-
fidence in the gentlemen," was mainly responsible for the mistake.
But of mistakes there was none regarding the principles. Not a
jot would the Administrator waver on the point that any version of
the Scriptures to be put in the hands of Catholics should have the
Church's sanction and approval. In vain did Mills try to construe his
language as meaning "he would contribute in favor of the infant insti-
tution" ; he had never expressed any more than "a disposition to sup-
port any measure calculated to promote general good, ... by whom-
soever such a measure may be proposed," provided that such a measure
should in no way "infringe upon any of the rules, which as a Member
and Pastor of the Cathohc Church he was bound to enforce." How
genuinely, therefore, did "the gentlemen" appear "to be sensible of
this proviso from a man in his station," we must leave undecided ; but
their peddling among Catholics a French version of the Scriptures dis-
tinctly and justly hateful to Catholic Church authorities brands as
insincere their pretension "to afford to each of them" (the Christians)
"the means of reading the Divine Word, in a manner consistent zvith
their own religious principles." And in view of this to asseverate, as
they did, that their purpose was not "to make proselytes to any denom-
ination of Christians," may well be qualified as a capital piece of
double-dealing: they might not, indeed, care to make proselytes to
any protestant sect, provided they succeeded in de-Catholicizing
Catholics.
Two years later. Mills was again in New Orleans on behalf of the
Bible Society. This second visit was made some two weeks after the
24 REV. C. L. SOUVAY, CM.
solemn Te Deurn celebrated at the St. Louis Cathedral in honor of Gen.
Jackson's victory of New Orleans (January 23), "the gentlemen"
arriving in the city on February 10. They now had a liberal supply of
bibles, and at once began the distribution among the wounded Ameri-
can and English soldiers, the prisoners, and the people. Once more
we turn to Mills' report, describing the aid readily given to the work
by Father Anthony, and the attitude of the Administrator.
Some more than two years ago, the Reverend Father^ engaged to assist
in the distribution of French Bibles and Testaments. Soon after I arrived
in the city I called upon him in company with Mr. Hennan. We informed
him that the Testaments had been received from the Managers of the Phila-
delphia Bible Society and presented him with a number of copies. He ex-
pressed his great satisfaction and repeatedly invoked the blessing of God
on the donors. He observed, that God would certainly bless the generous,
pious men, who had exerted themselves to give to the destitute His holy
word. He expressed his desire to obtain an additional number of copies,
and engaged that he would make the most judicious distribution of them
in his power. He remarked that he would give them to those persons who
would be sure to read them through.
After our visit to Antonio, his attendant^" called for two or three copies
of the Testament. The man who attends at the CathedraU^ was anxious to
receive one. His choir of singers likewise requested a supply.
Soon after the distribution of the Testaments commenced, Mr. Hennan
called upon Mr. Dubourg, the administrator of the Bishopric, and informed
him that the Testaments, printed by the Managers of the Philadelphia Bible
Society, had been received and that some copies had been given to the
people. The Bishop observed that he had been made acquainted with the
circumstances by some of his people, who had called upon him to ascertain,
whether he would advise them to receive the Testaments. He added, that
as they were not of the version authorized by the Catholic Church, he could
not aid in the distribution of them. When the distribution of the Testa-
ments in the convent was suggested, the Bishop remarked, that the parents
of the children who received instruction at the place were at liberty to
furnish them if they thought best.
I had myself an interview with the Bishop; during his conversation
he expressed to me his regret that the Roman Catholic version of the Tes-
tament printed at Boston in 1810 had not been followed, rather than the
version printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. He observed,
however, that he should prefer to have the present version of the Testament
in the possession of the people, rather than have them remain entirely igno-
rant of the Sacred Scriptures.
In the light of the clear and uncompromising statement of prin-
ciples contained in the letter of Du Bourg to Brute, we cannot hesitate
to believe that Mills' report of Hennan's interview with the Adminis-
trator has emasculated the latter's declaration. To say that "he could
not aid in the distribution of the Testaments." is perhaps very cleverly,
but probably not very exactly describing the attitude of the prelate.
We may understand, too, what kind of "regret" he must have ex-
pressed to Mills himself that "the Roman Catholic version of the Tes-
tament printed at Boston in 1810 had not been followed" by the Phila-
delphia publishers; and it is an easy enough task to reduce to its
• Father Anthony.
" Father Kuana.
*' Possibly the sacristan, or beadle.
DU BOUEG AND THE BIBLICAL SOCIETY 25
genuine proportions the statement that "he should prefer to have the
present version of the Testament in the possession of the people, rather
than have them remain entirely ignorant of the Sacred Scriptures."
At all events, it will not be amiss to note here the difference be-
tween the procedure adopted by Mills and his associate in 1815, and
their conduct in 1813. At the time of their first visit, they had begun
by asking the Administrator's consent to distribute the Scriptures
amongst Catholics; in 1815, they first distribute their wares, and then
go to see the Administrator. It can scarcely be alleged they, this time,
proceeded to the distribution by virtue of the consent given two years
before, as that consent was qualified by the proviso that the version
be one approved by the Church. It must be concluded, therefore, that
the agents of the Biblical Society, who undoubtedly knew the unreceiv-
ableness of the version, had not a clear conscience, and thought it wiser
to put the Administrator face to face with the fait accompli. One
cannot fail to appreciate the finely pointed reply of the prelate — the
almost imperceptible irony of which both missionaries seem to have
failed to catch — , on being advised that the Bible distribution had been
commenced. Most curious and illuminating it would certainly be to
know whether the bible-peddler was told of the answer made by Du
Bourg to those who inquired "whether he would advise them to receive
the Testament" ; and if, as we are inclined to believe, Du Bourg made
known his answer, why, we are wondering, was it not entered into the
report of the interview ?
To close this sketch of the episode, just one word on the conduct
of Father Anthony de Sedella in this aflfair : it stands in striking con-
trast to that of the Very Rev. William L. Du Bourg. Much as we may
discount Mills' account, and even if we credit to the naturally high-
keyed tone of thought and expression of Spanish mind the repeated
invocation of the blessing of God upon the generous, pious men who
had exerted themselves to give to the destitute His holy Word ; still
there will and must remain the fact that the Capuchin Rector of the
Cathedral of New Orleans gave his unreserved approval to the mis-
sionaries of the Bible Society and to their work. If he, a Spaniard
by birth, was ignorant of the heretical origin and bias of the Genevan
French Bible, he at least should have known the value of the Spanish
translations of Cassiodore de Reina and Cyprian de Valera. Not only
did he make no inquiries as to what versions were used in the Phila-
delphia editions, but he laid down no such conditions for his support
of the Bible agents, he stated no such reservations of principles as
Du Bourg was careful to emphasize. This, on the part of a Doctor of
Divinity — for such Pere Antoine is said to have been^^ — , is a lack of
theological acumen most regrettable in one who should be the intellec-
tual leader of the flock and the watchful guardian of their faith.
Charles L. Souvay, CM.
" C. M. Chambon, In and Around the Old St. Louis Cathedral of New Orleans, p. 48.
AN APPEAL
HISTORICAL MATTER DESIRED
by the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Books and pamphlets on American History and Biography,
particularly those relating to Church institutions, ecclesiastical
persons and Catholic lay people within the limits of the Louisiana
Purchase ;
Old newspapers ; Catholic modern papers ; Parish papers,
whether old or recent :
IVe zvill highly appreciate the courtesy of the Reverend
Pastors who send us regularly their Parish publications;
Manuscripts ; narratives of early Catholic settlers or relating
to early Catholic settlements ; letters :
In the case of family papers which the actual owners
zvish to keep in their possession, zve shall be grateful for
the privilege of taking copies of these papers;
Engravings, portraits, Medals, etc ;
In a word, every object whatsoever which, by the most liberal
construction, may be regarded as an aid to, or illustration of the
history of the Catholic Church in the Middle West.
Contributions will be credited to the donors and preserved
in the Library or Archives of the Society, for the use and benefit
of the members and other duly authorized persons.
Communications may be addressed either to the Secretary,
or to the Librarians of the
Catholic Plistorlcal Society of St. Louis,
^ 209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
26
NOTES
HISTORICAL
Our appreciated contributor, the Rev. Lawrence J. Kenny, S.J., of
St. Louis University, last June roused to an uncommon degree the
interest of the College Department of the Catholic Educational Asso-
ciation by his paper entitled "Preserve the Records." It had been to
us a great disappointment when we did not find this paper in the volu-
minous Report of the Proceedings of the meeting. Our disappointment,
however, lasted but a short time; and we have just experienced a keen
pleasure, which we are sure was shared in by many, on reading in the
February Bulletin of the Association (pp. 7-18) the twelve well-digest-
ed, illuminating and genial pages of Father Kenny. Miiltum in parvo
seems to be his motto ; and as he has mastered the secret of stripping
science of the cumbersome trappings of so-called technicalities, and is
an expert in treating grave subjects in a most attractive way, we cherish
the hope that his plea, voicing so well the earnest appeal of History's
devoted students, will find an echo in the minds of the many who can
so easily, with a mite of good will aid the cause of preserving and mak-
ing known the documentary relics of a past worth preserving and
knowing. And let them not forget that to-day's present will to-morrow
have lapsed into the past.
Speaking of the "fuller Catholic co-operation" for which "not a
few historical societies in the large cities and State capitals are eager
to-day," Father Kenny justly emphasizes how pleased such societies
would be "if the churches that have made service flags and service lists
would deposit these with them." Repeatedly did we ourselves sound
in the pages of the Review a like appeal on behalf of our own Catholic
Historical Society of St. Louis. We are happy to record that our
trumpet call was heard. Now, thanks to the exertions of the Right
Rev. Chancellor of the Archdiocese, Msgr. John J. Tannrath, and the
co-operation of the Reverend Clergy, we are in possession of a bulky
volume containing the list of the Catholic men from the Archdiocese of
St. Louis in the service of the United States during the zvar luith Ger-
many and Austria, 1917-1919. This is very well. Historians, however,
are ever insatiable : they presently suggest that the good work should
not stop here. As their desire is neither beyond the limits of reason-
ableness nor impossible of attainment, we may be permitted to express
aloud what they say in a timid whisper. Upon almost every parish
service flag golden stars were glimmering ; among the Catholic men in
the service, not a few were gassed or wounded ; many distinguished
27
28 NOTES
themselves and have reiceved pubHc acknowledgment of their bravery
from our or from foreign governments. Side by side, therefore, with
the roll of honor of the young men who responded to the country's call
does it not seem meet that we should keep a special memory of those
brave among the brave ? A note in the list, paper clippings containing the
mention of noble deeds, copies of public testimonials may thus become
a precious and most welcome supplement to the volume above men-
tioned.
A brave among the brave, "a knight without fear and without re-
proach, a born soldier, a born leader, with a definite trenchent decision
in his manner and in his talk that inspired confidence and cast out fear,"
such was the Right Rev. Msgr. Patrick W. Tallon, who departed this
life on January 15. Others have ably pictured and will yet picture the
sterling qualities of the man and of the priest, faithful always, and in
all and to all ; they have recalled and will yet recall the staunchness of
character of that man of strong sympathies who came forth "with the
word duty seared into his soul." Suffice to us here to record the mem-
ory of his relation to the Catholic Historical Society of St. Lonis^
He never made pretence to be an historian, not even a lover of
history. He disliked self-display; yet how easily he could assimilate
the facts and spirit of times long since gone by, he unwittingly mani-
fested on occasions as, for instance, in his masterful sermon preached
at the new Cathedral on the 6th of January, 1918, at the centennial of
Bishop Du Bourg's coming to St. Louis. We cite this instance because,
being the most recent and his last public appearance in the pulpit at a
solemn function, it is still in the memory of all. But how often before
had he not evinced, in more or less solemn occasions, that facility to
marshal the facts of history and make them subserve the moral aims
of the teacher of Christian truth? No one who is not a steady and
loving worshipper at history's shrine can thus freely draw from its
treasures. We know, indeed, that the best hours which Father Tallon
spent in his library were the many devoted to tete-a-tete with the
writers of history; a mere glance at their tomes on the library
shelves revealed to the onlooker a habitual and thorough perusal of
these volumes. Nor were Father Tallon's historical tastes confined to
the far-away past of far-away lands and nations. As neither his physi-
cal appearance nor his mind bore any of the wrinkles which we usually
associate with the Biblical threescore and ten years of age, his tenacious
memory, stocked with a wealth of interesting reminiscences, could span
back many years. He had known at first hand men and conditions now
reputed to belong to another age, and he could revert to this past age
without ever faUing into the unamiable mood of the laudator tempor-
is acti. He had been in sympathy with those men and conditions, but
was as much in sympathy with the men and condition of this our time,
with, however, a legitimate and most praiseworthy desire that the good
accomplished at other times should survive, and that the men and con-
ditions of those times, so fraught with precious lessons for ours, should
NOTES 29
pass truly into the realm of history and not be buried into the sepulchre
of oblivion.
Shall we wonder, then, that the very first word breathed anent
the organization of a Catholic Historical Society should have touched
a responsive chord in Msgr. Tallon's soul and at once should find in
him a zealous apostle ? Not only did he second with his habitual enthu-
siasm the rnotion which resulted in the foundation of the Catholic His-
torical Society of St. Louis, and become one of the charter members of
the new-born society, but he evinced his unflagging interest in its work
by every means at his command, especially in his capacity as Chairman
of the Committee on Membership ; and so long as his health permitted
no one was ever more faithful in attending its meetings.
It was but meet and just, therefore, that the Executive Committee
should, at its first meeting after his death, voice the wish that a formal
tribute be paid by the society to his memory. We herewith subjoin the
resolutions drawn up in pursuance of this wish, and approved unani-
mously at the following (March) meeting of the Historical Society:
WHEREAS, The Catholic Historical Society of St .Louis has been deprived
by the decease of the Right Reverend Monsignor Patrick W. Tallon, of a charter
member and an ardent promoter of the Society; and,
WHEREAS, The members of the Society, individually have lost by his
death a genial companion and friend; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Society at its meeting this day, the Feast of St.
Patrick, give this formal expression of its regret and the deep sorrow of its mem-
bers for one who was in every way so worthy of their love and respect; one
whose upright and noble life was a standard of emulation to all.
RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be inscribed on the records
of the Society and published in the next issue of the St. Louis Catholic Historical
Review.
Rt. Reverend J. J. Tannrath,
Edward Brown,
Committee.
Another loss occurred since the writing of the Notes for our last
issue must also be recorded here — we mean to speak of the disappear-
ance of the St. Louis Republic, which passed out of existence on De-
cember 4, 1919, after a career of one hundred and twelve years. To
remark that newspapers have rapidly won to themselves a place of
prominence among history's richest sources of information, is in itself
a trite enough statement ; however, when a newspaper has for one hun-
dred and twelve years been identified with a great American city like
St. Louis, and recorded day by day the pulse of its life and varying
moods and wonderful development, what a unique treasure to history
must the files of such a newspaper be ! We cannot do better than quote
here in this connection some lines from the Editorial announcing to the
surprised public of St. Louis the passing of the city's veteran news-
paper :
One hundred and twelve years ago the Republic was born. There was a
fringe of well-settled country along the Atlantic Coast. Villages were springing
up in the wilderness that was to be the Middle West, the Louisiana Purchase
had been negotiated five years before, while the West and Southwest were foreign
soil.
30 NOTES
_ The country was still finding itself, still learning how to make the Consti-
tution work, still an experiment. The War of 1812 was yet to be fought, the
Mexican War was not dreamed of, and while the seeds that made Civil War
were sown, no premonition of the great event troubled the people.
Through those stirring times The Republic, under one name or another,
chronicled the events that make the history of the United States, and continued
to do so through the wonderful period of national growth that brought the
United States up to the Great War the most powerful nation in the world.
And while The Republic consciously and purposefully recorded the story of
the years, its very character and make-up unconsciously reflected the revolution-
ary processes which transformed the land from a country of agricultural pioneers
to a complex organization bound together with railroads, steamships, telegraph
and telephone lines. The isolated village of 1808 waited months and months for
news that comes now in an hour. The horizon of the people who dwell in the
Mississippi Valley was broadened in that time from the confines of the scattered
communities where pioneering Americans lived until the great events of the
whole world were carried to the homes of the people every day in The Republic
and were matters of daily comment. To keep up with the widening field, the
business of journalism itself was transformed. Dailies succeeded weeklies, the
patient hand compositor laid down his "stick" and learned the typesetting ma-
chine, the little hand press became a roaring monster of steel driven by steam.
In view of such a long career, pity 'tis that nowhere, that we know
of, is to be found a complete collection of the paper. All students of
the past of St. Louis will long join in lamenting on this account the late
birth of historical societies, and the fact that none of the city's early
citizens had the foresight to anticipate the advent of these societies, and
garner up for the benefit of unborn generations the daily records bought
at the newspaper stand.
If the clergy of the Cathedral of St. Louis in early times did not
think of preserving for us the paper which they read over their frugal
cup of coffee in the morning, after their Mass and thanksgiving — were
they, after all, as eager for the morning paper as we have become? We
doubt it — , nevertheless, they were on the alert to let no record of the
past, no matter what its apparent insignificance, go to the waste basket.
As was remarked in the early pages of the Review, Bishop Rosati, for
one, had a genuine taste for history. He, it seems, succeeded in im-
parting the same taste to those who lived with him at the Cathedral
residence. Here is an evidence of it. It is a copy of an old scrap of
paper found in the Chancery Archives, which relates to the foundation
of Carondelet, and gives a somewhat new version of the origin of the
nickname, Vide-Poche, by which the village was often designated
among the inhabitants of St. Louis. The handwriting is unknown ; but
on the back of the paper are, besides a note concerning which more
anon, a few words by Bishop Rosati's own hand making it clear he
preserved this seemingly worthless document, because it dealt with the
"Memoirs of the Diocese."
Carondelet, Mo., etabli 1767 par Mr. Deterchet Delor; cet endroit portoit
d'abord le nom de la Prairie a Catalan, nom d'un chasseur, qui s'y etoit place
avec une petite cabanne pour la chasse ; ensuite quelqu'un, en passant par cet
endroit, avoit demande quelque chose a manger, et n'ayant rien trouve, I'appella
du nom de Vuide poche, quel nom lui a reste, en depit du nom de Carondelet,
d'apres h* nom du gouverneur de la N. Orleans. Dans I'annee, que I'ancienne Egl.
NOTES 31
de S. Louis avoit ete detruite. on a batie I'Eglise de Vuide poche, 1819', et les
bancs. I'autel de I'ancienne Eglise de St. Louis out ete transportes a Carondelet
pour y etre place pour I'usage des habitants en 1820.
As may easily be seen, this document is far from being a model
of correct French style, and bears unmistakable marks of foreign idiom
and spelling. Here is a rendering in unpretentious English :
Carondelet, Mo., established in 1767 by Mr. Deterchet Delor^ ; the place at
first bore the name of Prairie a Catalan, from a huntsman who had settled there
in a little cabin for hunting; later on someone, passing through the place, asked
for something to eat, and. finding nothing, called the spot Vide-Poche [Empty
Pocket], which nickname has stuck to it, despite the name of Carondelet, from
the Governor of New Orleans. In the year that the old church of St. Louis
was torn down, the church of Vide-Poche was erected (1819), and the pews
and the altar of the old church of St. Louis were carried to Carondelet, to be
devoted to the use of the inhabitants, in 1820.
We mentioned above a note written in the same handwriting on
the back of the paper. We submit it with pleasure to Father Lawrence
J. Kenny, S.J., as supplementary evidence in favor of his able plea for
"Missouri's Earliest Settlement," being at the mouth of the River des
Peres (Vol. I, pp. 151-156) :
1740. II y a eu un etabl. des Pr. Jes. tout pret de Vuide poche, a la Riviere
des Peres.
That is :
1740. There was an establishment of the Jesuit Fathers in the immediate
vicinity of Vide-Poche, at the River des Peres.
Whatever may be the authority on which our unknown writer as-
signs the date 1740 — he does not necessarily mean this to be the date of
the inception of the establishment, and may refer to a time when it was
still in existence — certain it is, at all events, that early in the last cen-
tury the memory of the existence of this establishment was still pre-
served, and this undoubtedly by means of some documentary evidence.
In the same collection of papers relating to early times of Mis-
souri's settlements, is a copy made by Father Edmund Saulnier, in 1836,
of some old records bearing on these settlements. Whilst some of the
statements contained in these (undated) records may not pass unchal-
lenged and their chronology is often at fault, we intend to publish them
at an early date.
We may be pardoned to give here, ne pereat, a little etymological
note relating to the early river trade between St. Louis and New Or-
leans. Judge Wilson Primm, in his famous article on the "History of
St. Louis," reprinted in the Missouri Historical Society Collections,
Vol. IV, No. 2, mentions, among the dangers attending a trip from St.
Louis to the City (New Orleans), or vice versa, about the time of the
War of Independence, the circumstance that a numerous band of rob-
bers, under the guidance of two men, named Culbert and Magilbray,
had located themselves at a place called Cottonwood Creek, "La riviere
' What follows was added by Father Saulnier and is clearly borrowed from some older
document, the original of which the above is probably a transcript.
• Comp. Houck, History of Missouri, ii, 63.
32 NOTES
aux Liards." From this haunt they sallied forth on the passing crafts,
usually well laden with merchandise. The spot was, in after years,
long known to the river men under the puzzling name of Dardanelle.
Whence did this name derive? Not certainly from any old-world rem-
iniscence, of which the Mississippi boatmen must have been quite inno-
cent ; still less from any real or fancied resemblance between the Mis-
sissippi River and the famous straits. But it was a spot where the river
folks must be carefully on the lookout. "Dors (Tun oeil," that is, liter-
ally : "sleep only with one eye," or, more colloquially : "keep your eyes
open," was the watchword. Passing from French lips to ears untrained
to French sounds, "Dors d'un oeil" was naturally enough transmuted
into the higher sounding and more classical "Dardanelle."
We bwe this interesting view of the origin of the name to Mr,
Louis Fusz, who had it sometime in the fifties from the lips of his first
employer in St. Louis, Pierre Chouteau Jr. ; the tradition which, no
doubt, Pierre Chouteau gathered from old river men in the family's
employ, is quite trustworthy, and the explanation most likely to be true.
On the mission of Bishop Rosati to Haiti we need not reckon upon
mere on-dits and oral tradition ; written sources are neither hard nor
far to seek. It was, therefore, with eager curiosity that we had, some
time ago, taken up the long article on "The Church in the Island of
San Domingo" (second installment), contributed by Mr. Peter Condon,
A. M., for the Historical Records and Studies (Vol. XIII, May, 1919).
Shall we say we experienced something like a mild shock when we
learned that in January, 1842, Bishop Rosati went to Haiti on his way
from Rome to his newly erected diocese of St. Louis (p. 49; italics
ours) ? Those who are aware that the diocese had then been more than
fifteen years in existence will understand our surprise. True, the state-
ment occurs in an incident clause of very secondary importance, and,
on the score of this unhappy phrase, it were unjust to discredit the
author's treatment of his special subject. Withal to us, of St. Louis,
the one short paragraph devoted to this Dominican mission is insuffi-
cient to satisfy our legitimate curiosity about the work, even outside the
Diocese, of our first Bishop. With the aid of a few letters of his to
or from Haiti, the instructions which he received for this diplomatic
mission and his report to the Holy See at his return, we shall, at some
future date not far distant, endeavor to give in the Review that page —
almost the last — of the life of Bishop Rosati.
We must regard as a red-letter day December 30, 1919, which saw
the birth of the American Catholic Historical Association at Cleveland,
Ohio. For months, we should rather say for years, had Dr. Peter Guil-
day of the Catholic University of America, strenuously labored to bring
about this happy consummation. Complete success has crowned his
eflForts. From far and near students of Catholic Church History had
given their hearty adhesion to the movement, and many gathered for
. NOTES , 33
the inaugural meeting. As a result, the American Catholic Historical
Association is now a living organization, with body and soul, and no
prophet nor prophet's son is needed to forecast that it has a long and
bright and active future before it. Of this the names and qualifications
of many of its members are a sure omen, and the assurance is still
increased, if possible, when we look at the list of officers for this year:
President, Dr. Laurence Flick, of Philadelphia ; Vice Presidents, Rev.
Richard Tierney, S.J., of New York City, editor of America, and Rev.
Victor O'Daniel, O.P., S.T.M., associate editor of the Catholic His-
torical Rez'iezc, Washington, D. C. ; Secretary, Dr. Carlton J. H. Hayes,
of Columbia University, New York City ; Treasurer, Rt. Rev. Msgr.
Thomas C. O'Reilly, D.D., L.L.D., Vicar General of Cleveland, O. ;
Archivist, Rev. Peter Guilday, Ph.D., of the Catholic University,
Washington, D. C. The Executive Council of the Association is made
up of the aforementioned officers, to whom are added Rev. Gilbert P.
Jennings, L.L.D., pastor of St. Agnes' Church, Cleveland, O. ; Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Joseph F. Mooney, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of New
York ; Rev. C. L. Souvay, CM., S.S.D., of Kenrick Seminary, St.
Louis, Mo. ; Rev. William Busch, of St. Paul Seminary, St Paul, Minn.,
and Rev. Zephyrin Engelhardt, O.F.M., of Santa Barbara, Cal. At a
conference held in Philadelphia on January 10-11, in preparation for
the meeting of the Executive Council to be convened in New York
City on February 28, it was thought advisable to make the Catholic
University of America the permanent headquarters of the association.
How encouraging the prospects are may well be gauged from the
fact that, at the time of that February meeting of the Executive Coun-
cil, the founders of the association numbered eighty-five. There is no
reason to doubt that the association vires acquiret eundo, and before
the next general meeting, to be held at Washington, D. C, probably
December 28-30, it will count its members by the hundreds. The plan
is to arrange, in connection with that first annual meeting, three con-
ferences: 1. Ancient Church History (Bishop Shahan, chairman); 2.
Mediaeval Church History (Rev. Paschal Robinson, O.F.M., chair-
man), and 3. Modern Church History, including American Church
History (Dr. Thomas F. Meehan, chairman).
The importance of this nevv^ organization, to which must be added
due appreciation for the honor conferred upon one of the members of
our editing staff, dictates that we should keep our readers informed of
the activities of the association. We are all the more prompted to do
so, because of the problem, bound to arise sooner or later — rather
sooner, if we read the signs of the times aright — of the relations of the
new bodv with local Catholic Historical Societies such as ours.
To refer at any length in these pages to the epoch-making meeting
of the American Hierarchy at Washington, D. C, last September were
truly Iliadem post Homeritm scribere. Neither is there any need of
our reverting presently to the momentous Pastoral Letter of the Arch-
bishops and Bishops of the United States in conference assembled to
their clergy and faithful people. Both the meeting and the Pastoral
34 NOTES
Letter undoubtedly constitute events of great magnitude in the history
of the Church in America, and are destined to exert an immeasurable
influence upon the shaping of our Catholic lives and activities hereafter.
Still, at the same time they affect us only as an individual unit of no
official character in the Church ; they, therefore, considerably go be-
yond the bounds of our activity as a local historical Society. The Pas-
toral Letter itself, whilst containing an authoritative retrospect of the
progress accomplished by the Church in this country, is not, and could
not be, and indeed does not claim to be an historical paper, any more
than the Conference of the Hierarchy was an Historical Society meet-
ing. Obviously, their value and importance lie elsewhere. We are not,
however, for all that, debarred from seeking in the masterful pages of
the Pastoral light and guidance for the furtherance of our own aims ;
and availing ourselves of this freedom, we shall be pardoned to quote
here a few lines which may well be considered a welcome confirmation
of our own spirit and our own program.
". . . In the spiritual order there has been a steady advance. The
issue between truth and error with regard to all that religion implies
is now quite clearly drawn. As human devices, intended to replace the
Gospel, have gradually broken down, Christianity, by contrast, appears
distinct and firm in its true position. The Church indeed has suffered
because it would not sanction the vagaries of thought and policy which
were leading the world to disaster. And yet the very opposition which
it encountered, an opposition which would have destroyed the work of
man, has given the Church occasion for new manifestations of life.
With larger freedom from external interference, it has developed more
fully the power from on high with which the Holy Spirit endued it.
Far from being weakened by the failure of outward support, its activity
is seen as the expression of its inner vitality. Its vigor is shown by its
ready adaptation to the varying conditions of the world, an adaptation
which means no supine yielding and no surrender of principle, but
rather the exertion of power in supplying as they arise, the needs of
humanity. Because it maintains inviolate the deposit of Christian faith
and the law of Christian morality, the Church can profit by every item
of truth and every means for the betterment of man which genuine
progress affords. It thrives wherever freedom really lives, and it fur-
nishes the only basis on which freedom can be secure.
"The inner vitality of the Church has been shown and enhanced by
the action of the Holy See in giving fresh impetus to the minds and
hearts of the faithful ; in stimulating philosophical, historical and bib-
lical studies. . . At the same time the Sovereign Pontiffs have promoted
the welfare of all mankind by insisting on the principles which should
govern our social, industrial and political relations ; by deepening respect
for civil authority ; by enjoining upon Catholics everywhere the duty of
allegiance to the State and the discharge of patriotic obligation. They
have condemned the errors which planned to betray hvimanity and to
undermine our civilization . . ." (Progress of the CJmrch, p. 7).
Again :
"The growth of the Church in America was fittingly brought to
NOTES 35
view at the celebration, in 1889, of the first centenary of the Hierarchy.
Within a hundred years the number of dioceses had risen from one to
seventy-five. During the last three decades the same ratio of progress
has been maintained, with the result that at present one-sixth of the
citizens of the United States are members of the Catholic Church, in a
hundred flourishing dioceses.
But what we regard as far more important is the growth and mani-
festation of an active religious spirit in every diocese and parish . . ."
(Ibid., p. 8) .
". , . It is the Church not of one race or one nation, but of all those
who truly believe in His name. The more you dwell upon its teaching,
its practice and its history, the stronger will be your sense of unity
with the multitude of believers throughout the world. You will clearly
understand that the true interest of each part, of each diocese and
parish, are the interests of the Church Universal" (Ibid., p. 9).
It will, no doubt, be of interest to our readers that the National
Catholic Welfare Council has issued an edition of this Pastoral Letter
in pamphlet form (80 pages), which is for sale at ten cents a copy
($8.00 per hundred; and in case 500 or more copies are desired, $7.00
per hundred).
BIBI.TOGRAPHICAL
The Library of the Catholic Historical Society of St, Louis.
In the fall of 1918 the librarians of the Catholic Historical Society
of St. Louis made the first attempt to collect a library. The following
circular was sent out :
St. Louis, December 4. 1918.
The undersigned, Librarians of the Catholic Historical Society of
St. Louis, make the following appeal on behalf of the Library of said
Society :
The special object of this Library is to assemble, preserve and render
accessible to members of the Society and other duly authorized persons,
all available historical material, whether in manuscript or in print, bear-
ing on the origin, development and present status of Catholic life, both
in its lay and ecclesiastical aspects, in the region known as the Louisiana
Purchase. With a view to build up as large a collection as possible of
the material named, as also of such collateral material as may illustrate
the special field of interest of the Catholic Historical Society of St.
Louis, the Librarians earnestly solicit from the Catholic clergy and
laity, as also from the general public, contributions under the following
heads :
I — Books and pamphlets on American history and biography, especially
those bearing on Catholic institutions and persons, clerical and lay,
within the limits of the Louisiana Purchase.
2 — Files or single copies of old newspapers ; files or single copies,
whether back or current issues, of Catholic journals and weeklies;
parish bulletins, calendars and other papers, (e. g., programs, cir-
culars, etc.), whether of old or recent date. In this connection it is
respectfuly urged upon the Reverend Pastors that they send regu-
larly to the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis copies of their
respective parish bulletins and other publications.
36 NOTES
3 — Letters, narratives, documents and other manuscript material regard-
ing early Catholic settlers and settlements. In the case of family
papers which the owners wish to retain in their possession, the privi-
lege of being permitted to take copies of the same will be appreciated
by the Librarians.
4 — Engravings, portraits, medals, curios, and in fine, any object what-
ever, which, by the most liberal construction, may be regarded as
illustrating the history of the Catholic Church in the territory
comprised in the Louisiana Purchase.
All gifts and contributions will be credited to the donors and pre-
served in the Library or Archives of the Society for the use and benefit
of the members and other duly authorized persons. Contributions to
the Library and all correspondence relating thereto should be addressed
to Reverend F. G. Holweck, 2653 Ohio Ave., St. Louis, Mo.
The Librarians of the St. Louis Catholic Historical Society take
this occasion to bespeak the generous patronage of clergy and laity
alike on behalf of the Society's official publication, which under the
title "St. Louis Catholic Historical Review," made its initial appear-
ance in October, 1918. The annual subscription for the Review, to be
issued quarterly, is Two Dollars. Subscriptions will be gratefully re-
ceived by any of the officers of the Society.
Rev. F. G. Holweck,
Rev. Charles L. Souvay, CM., D.D.,
Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S.J.,
Librarians.
Since the Historical Society has no quarters of its own, the Pastor
of St. Francis de Sales Church offered a room in his parochial residence
where the library could be kept until better housing can be procured
for it. The Rosati letters and other documents which are archdiocesan
property, are kept at the chancery office, 207 Walnut Street, but the
books, files, pamphlets, etc., which have been acquired since December,
1918, are preserved at 2653 Ohio Avenue. Since much of the material
had been collected before the library was started, it is impossible to give
the names of all the donors. We give them where it is possible. Our
list is not complete ; it will be finished and continued in later issues of
this Review. Many thanks to those who have so liberally responded to
our appeal. We hope that within a short time our modest library will
be not without value to historians.
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS.
P. M. Abbelen, Mutter Maria Karolina Friess. St. Louis, 1892. (Gift of
the author).
H. Alerding, History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Vincennes.
Indianapolis, 1883. (Donated by Rev. Charles Bilger of Madison, Ind.).
CI. W. Alvord and C. E. Carter, The Critical Period, 1763-1765. (Collection
of the Illinois State Historical Library, vol. X. Springfield, 1915.
CI. W. Alvord and C. E. Carter, The New Regime, 1765-1767. (Collection
of the Illinois State Historical Library, vol. XL). Springfield, 1916.
CI. W. Alvord, Kaskaskia Records, 1 778-1 790. (Collection of the Illinois
State Historical Library, vol. V.) Springfield, 1909. (These three valuable
volumes were given by Rev. J. Rothensteiner).
Baltimore, History of the Third Plenary Council of B. Baltimore, 1885
Baunard Abbe, Histoire de Madame Duchesne. Paris, 1878. (Formerly prop-
erty of Rev. A. Huettler, Holy Ghost Church, St. Louis).
NOTES
V
W. H. Bennet. Catholic Footsteps in Old New York. New York 1909
Beuckmann F., History of the Diocese of Belleville. Belleville, '1914 " (Gift
of Rev. Berckenbrock, St. Libory, 111.). ^^ ^
Beuckmann F., History of the Diocese of Belleville, St. John's Orphanage
Edition. Belleville, 1919. (Donated by the author). ^
L. Blankemeier, Katholiken von St. Louis als Geschaftsleute (62 Gen Ver-
sammlung des Centralvereins, Souvenir). St. Louis, 1917.
o ■^;,^^• Bolton^ Athanase de Mezi^res and the Louisiana-Texas Border 1766-
1700. Two vol. Cleveland, 1914. (Donated by Rev. F. G. Holweck)
H. E. Bolton, Kino's Historical Memoir of Pimeria Alta. Two vol Cleve-
land, 1919. (Donated by Rev. F. G. Holweck).
Brunner, P. Franz Sales, Leben und Wirken. Carthagena, 1882. (Donated
by the Fathers of the Precious Blood of Carthagena).
Arthur W. Calhoun, Ph.D., A Social History of the American Family. Two
vols. Cleveland, O., 1917. (Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
Capuchin Order, St. Joseph's Province in the U. S. Rise and Progress New
York. 1907. (Donated by Mr. Jos. Frey, deceased, of New York).
Benediktiner in Conception, Mo., und ihre Missionstatigkeit. Conception
1885. (Donated by Rt. Abbot Frowin).
G. P. Curtis, The American Catholic Who Is Who. St. Louis, 191 1
DeAndreis, Felix, Life of. St. Louis, 1900.
J. H. Deiler, Geschichte der Deutschen Kirchengemeinden in Staate Louis-
iana. New Orleans, 1894. (With other works of Mr. Deiler, donated by his
wife. New Orleans, La.).
J. H. Deiler. Louisiana ein Heim fur Deutsche Ansiedler. New Orleans
1895.
J. H. Deiler, Die Europaeische Einwanderung nach den Ver. Staaten. New
Orleans, 1897.
J. H. Deiler, Zur Geschichte der Deutschen am Unteren Mississippi. New
Orleans, 1901.
J. H. Deiler, Geschichte der New Orleanser Presse. New Orleans, 1901.
J. H. Deiler, The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana. Philadel-
phia, 1909.
Das Deutschtum der Katholiken von St. Louis in seinen zwanzig Gemeinden.
St. Louis (Amerika) 1896.
J. H. Dubourg, Life of the Cardinal de Cheverus, Archbishop of Bordeaux,
Philadelphia, 1839. (Donated by Rev. P. Crane, St. Louis).
Edwards, R., The Great West and her Commercial Metropolis, and a Com-
plete History of St. Louis, 1861. (Donated by Rev. P. Crane).
Engelhardt, P. Zephyrin, O.F.M., The Holy Man of Santa Clara (Fr. Magin
Catala). San Francisco, 1909.
Engelhardt, P. Zephyrin, O.F.M., The Missions and Missionaries in Califor-
nia. Five vols San Francisco, Cal.
W. H. English, Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783. Life of Gen. Geo.
Rogers Clark. One vol. Indianapolis, 1897.
J. N. Enzlberger, Schematismus der Kath. Geistlichkeit in den Ver. Staaten.
Milwaukee, 1892. (Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
Franziskaner Provinz vom HI. Herzen Jesu, 1858-1908. St. Louis, 1908.
Franziskanerschwestern von der Provinz zur hi. Klara in Nord Amerika.
St. Louis, 1915.
Gmeiner, John, The Church and Foreignism. St. Paul, 1891.
J. A. Gough, A Reminiscence of the Eucharistic Congress of Montreal.
Belleville. 1910.
Habenicht, J., Dejiny Czech uv Americkych. St. Louis, 1904, and a number
of other Bohemian Books (printed at St. Louis, Hlas, and donated to the His-
torical Society by Rev. Chas. Bleha).
P. B. Hammer, Eduard Dominik Fenwick, der Apostel von Ohio. Freiburg,,
1890.
J. J. Hogan, Bishop of Kansas City, On the Mission in Missouri. Kansas
City, 1892.
38 NOTES
F. G. Holweck, Kirchengeschichte von St. Louis (Souvenir der 62. General
Versammlung des R. K. Centralvereins). St. Louis, 1917.
F. G. Holweck, Nach Funfzig Jahren. St. Louis, 1916. (Gift of the author).
F. G. Holweck, Der Freundeskreis des Pastoralblattes. St. Louis, 1917.
(Gift of the author).
F. G. Holweck, History of St. Francis de Sales Parish. St. Louis, Mo., 1917.
(Gift of the author).
G. F. Houck, A History of Catholicity in Northern Ohio. Two vols. Cleve-
land. 1903. (Donated by J. Molitor, D.D., Columbus, O.).
Louis Houck, The Spanish Regime in Missouri. Two vols. Chicago, 1909.
(Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
Louis Houck, A History of Missouri. Three vols. Chicago, 1908. (Gift
of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
W. J. Howlett, Life of Rev. Chas. Nerinckx. Techny, 111., 1915. (Gift of
Rev. Ch. VanTourenhout, Ste. Genevieve, Mo.).
Hundt, Ferd., Die Deutsche^ Katholiken in Amerika. Chicago, 6 Sept., 1887.
P. R. Kenrick, Erzbischof von St. Louis, in seinem Leben und Wirken. St.
Louis, 1891.
Klein, Fel., The Land of the Strenuous Life. Chicago, 1905. (Given by F.
G. Holweck).
Kostbaren Blut. Hundertjahrige Gedachtnissfeier der Griindung der Ge-
nossenschaft der Missionspriester. Collegeville, Ind, 1915.
Kostbaren Blut, Schwestern in O'Fallon, ,Mo. O'Fallon, 1898.
Krueger, Rud., Geschichte des Centralvereins. St. Louis, 1917.
F. von Lama, P. Wilhelm Judge, S.J. Freiburg, i. B. 1912.
J. McCaffrey, History of the Cath. Church in the 19th Century. Two vols.
St. Louis, 1909.
Anna Minogue, Loretto, Annals of the Century. New York, 1912.
Missionary Society of the Most Precious Blood. Centenary Celebration.
Collegeville, Ind., 1915. (Gift of Rev. C. Vogelmann, C.P.P.S. St. Louis, Mo.
Missions in America. Chicago, 1891.
New Orleans, Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Foundation of the City.
Morning Star, 6 April, 1918.
O'Hanlon, Canon, Life and Scenery in Missouri. Dublin, 1890. (Given by
Rev. A. Happe).
Opelousas History of the Cath. Church in Opelousas. (Gift of Rev. A. B.
Colliard, Opelousas, La.).
F. Palou-J. Adam, Life of Ven. Padre Junipero Serra. San Francisco, 1884.
Paulist Fathers, The Light of the Cross in the 20th Century. Three vols.
New York. 1910. (Donated by Mrs. L. Ganahl, St. Louis).
Peoria, Geschichte der Deutschen Kath. Gemeinden. (Souvenir 45. Gen.
Vers, des Centr. Vereins). Peoria, 1900.
Rainer. Jos., Dr. Salzmann's Leben und Wirken. St. Louis, 1876.
Redemptorist Foundation in New Orleans, 1847-1897. (Donated .by Very
Rev. A. J. Gunedling, C.S.S.R., New Orleans, La.).
Corn. Roach, Official Manual of the State of Missouri. Jefferson City, 1916.
(Gift of the author).
Rothensteiner, J.. The Catholic Church and Civil Liberty. St. Louis, 1915.
(Gift of the author).
Rothensteiner, J., Chronicles of an Old Mission Parish. St. Louis, 1917.
Rothensteiner, J., Der erste Deutsch-amerikanische Priester des Westens.
St. Louis, 1916.
Rothensteiner, J., The Missionary Priest a Hundred Years Ago. St. Louis,
1918. (Gift of the author, like the preceding essays).
Rothensteiner. J., Bishop Wm. L. Dubourg and what His Coming Meant to
St. Louis. St. Louis, 1918.
J. Th. Scharf, History of St. Louis City and County. Philadelphia, 1883.
(Gift of Rev. J. Rothensteiner).
J. Schubert, Kirchendeutsche und Vereinsdeutsche.
John Gilmary Shea, The Catholic Church in Colonial Days, 1521-1763. New
York, 1886. (Donated by Rev. F. G. Holweck).
NOTES 39
J. G. Shea, Life and Times of the Most Rev. John Carroll, i76?-i8i=; New
York, 1888.
J. G. Shea, History of the Catholic Church in the U. S. Two vols. New
York, 1892.
W. B. Stevens, Missouri's Centennial. Columbia, Mo., 1917.
W. B. Stevens, St. Louis, the Fourth City, 1764-1909. St. Louis, 1909. (Do-
nated by Rev. F. G. Holweck).
J. T. Sullivan. Sacerdotal Jubilee of Rt. Rev. J. J. Kain, second Bishop of
Wheeling. Wheeling, 1891. (Gift of Chas. Van Tourenhout).
T. J. Sullivan. The Catholic Church in Wisconsin. Milwaukee, 1895-1898.
(Formerly property of Rev. F. Pommer, St. Louis, Mo.).
W. S. Thomas, History of St. Louis County, Mo. Two vols. St. Louis,
1911. (Donated by Rev. Aug. Happe, Denver, Col.).
Ursuline Convent and Academy, St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis, 1899.
Verwyst P. Chrys. O.S.F.. Missionary Labors of Father Marquette, Menard
and Allouez in the Lake Superior Region.
Vieracker, P. Corbinian O.M. Cap., Geschichte von Mt. Calvary. Mt. Cal-
vary, 1907. (Gift of the Capuchin Fathers of Mt. Calvary, Wis.).
Waibl, Eug., Die Katholischen Missionen im Nordostlichen Arkansas. (Gift
of the author).
Walsh, Wm., Life of the Most Rev. Peter Richard Kenrick. St. Louis, 1891.
O. Werner, S.J., Orbis Terrarum Catholicus. Friburgi Brisgoviae, 1890.
(Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
White, Father Andrew, the Apostle of Maryland.
Who is Who in America, vols. VHL IX and X. Chicago, 1914-1919. (Gift
of Msgr. J. J. Tannrath).
Zardetti O.. Westlich, oder Durch den Fernen Westen Nord Amerikas.
Mainz, 1897. (Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
Zeller, J., Conversion of Two Lutheran Ministers, a. 1863. New York, 1918.
Zurbonsen, A., Clerical Bead Roll of the Diocese of Alton. Quincy, 1918.
(Gift of the author).
PARISH SOUVENIRS.
Albers, B. Francis, O.F.M., St. Antonius Gemeinde, St. Louis, Mo., 1894.
Alexianer-Brueder, Jubelfeier in Chicago, 111., 9-1 1 Mai, 1916. (Gift of the
Ven. Brothers).
Alexian Brothers, Chicago, 111., Golden Jubilee. Chicago, 1916.
Alexian Brothers' Hospital, St. Louis, Mo., Golden Jubilee, 1919. (Gift of
llev. P. Const. Vogelmann, C.PP.S.
St. Alphonsus Church, New Orleans, La., Golden Jubilee, 1908. (Gift of
Very Rev. T. Guendling, C.S.S.R.).
St. Augustinuskirche, Cincinnati. O., Goldenes Jubilasum. 1908.
P. Berchmans O.M. Cap., Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Golden Jubilee.
New York, 191 7. (Gift of Mr. Jos. Frey, New York).
Karl F. Bilger, Geschichte der Gemeinde in Celestine. Evansville, Ind.
(Gift of the author).
St. Bonifatiusgemeinde. Chicago, 111. Festausgabe des "Pfarrbote," Juni,
1904.
St. Bonifatiusgemeinde, St. Louis, Mo., Goldenes Jubilaeum. 1910.
H. F. M. Brand, 25th Anniversary of his Ordination. St. Louis, 1810.
Brand, F., Jubilee Book of the DeSoto Dramatic Club. St. Louis, 1919.
(Gift of the author).
P. J. Byrne. Centennial of the Catholic Settlement of Ruma, 111. Belleville,
1918. (Gift of the author).
St. Fidelis Church, Victoria, Kansas, 1911. (Gift of the Capuchin Fathers,
Victoria. Kans.
St. Francis Seminary, Goldenes Jubilaum. Milwaukee, 1906.
Chr. Goeltz, History of St. Philip's Parish. East St. Louis, 1917. (Gift of
the author).
40 NOTES
P. Al. Hoffmann, St. John's University, Collegeville, 1907.
St. Johannesgemeinde in Joliet, 111., Goldenes Jubilaeum. Joliet, 1902. (Gift
of the Franciscan Fathers at Joliet).
St. John's German Catholic Church, Vincennes, Ind. July, 1902. ( Gift of
Rev. M. Fleischmann).
St. John the Baptist Parish of Schuykill Co., Pottsville, Pa., 191 7.
St. Joseph's Maennersodalitaet, Silbernes Jubilseum, St. Louis, 9 Juni, 1907.
P. lid. Kalt, O.S.B., Das Kloster der Benediktinerinne St. Scholastika, Sil-
beres Jubilxum, Little Rock, 25 Juli, 1904.
Kenrick Seminary, Historical Sketch. 1916.
P. Francis Koerdt, O.S.B., Windhorst. Tex., Silbernes Jubilseum, 1917.
F. X. Lasance, 35 Years a Priest, 24 May, 1918. New York.
Leo Haus, Nevi: York, Silberness Jubilseum. 1914.
St. Liboriusgemeinde, St. Louis, Mo., Goldenes Jubilaeum, 13 Oct., 1907.
St. Marien Schulverein, St. Louis, Goldenes Jubilseum, 2 Juli, 1905.
St. Mary's Church, Cape Girardeau, Mo.. Goldenes Jubilseum, 1918. (Gift
of Rev. E. Pruente).
St. Mary's Parish, Madison, Ind. (Rev. Ch. Bilger). 1915.
St. Mary's Church, Alton, 111., Goldenes Jubilseum. 1908.
Maxville, Mo., Immaculate Conception Church, Diamond Jubilee, 1917. (Gift
of Rev. Ch. Sohlefers).
Rev. J. Meckel, M.R., Souvenir of Golden Sacerdotal Jubilee, 8 May, 1919.
St. Michael's Verein, St. Antonius Gemeinde. Milwaukee, 191 r.
New York, Souvenir of Greater New York. 1916.
St. Peter's Gemeinde, St. Charles, Mo., i Jan., 1900. St. Louis, 1900. (Gift
of Rev. F. Willmes).
J. H. Schlarmann, D.D., Cathedral Fire, Belleville, III., 4 Jan., 1912.
H. Schrage, St. Agatha Gemeinde, St. Louis, Mo.. 1899.
Starved Rock Pageant, Starved Rock State Park, 111., Centennial, 4-6 July,
1918.
Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Diamond Jubilee, Brooklyn, 1916.
J. E. Waibl, St. Roman's Catholic Church, Jonesboro, Ark., 1905. (Gift of
the author).
A. Zurbonsen, Golden Jubilee of St. Mary's Congregation, Quincy, 111., 1917.
(Gift of the author).
PAMPHLETS AND DOCUMENTS.
P. M. Abbelen, Relatio de Quaestione Germanica in Statibus Foederatis,
1886.
Alexianer Hospital, Urteile der Presse. Chicago, III., 1916.
Along the Mississippi, Streckfuss Steamboat Co., St. Louis, Mo.
Andachten, Katholische, Geschrieben von Georg Dellring, Marktstetten, 1836.
(Manuscript).
Bernard, Edgar, S.J.A., Miracle on American Soil. Grand Coteau, La.
The Borromean, Commencement, 1918. Grand Coteau, La.
Calvary Cemetery Association, Charter, By-Laws and Rules St. Louis 1898.
Catechisme imprime par I'ordre de Msgr. Jos. Rosati, Eveque de St. Louis.
Lyon. 1841. (This Catechism was the property of Terese Aubuchon).
A Catholic Daily Newspaper, printed, not published.
The Catholic Almanacs and Directories; a full set (i 822-1919), is in the
Chancery Office. The Historical Library possesses the Directories of 1864, 1868,
V870, 1871, 1886-1893, 1894. 1907, 1909, and 1912. (Gift of Rt. Rev. J. J. Tann-
rath). „ .
Charter and By-Laws of the United States Catholic Historical Society. New
York, 1899. • , o •
Constitution and By-Laws of the American Catholic Historical Society of
Philadelphia.
Deiler, Hanno J., Volapiik. New Orleans, 1888.
Encyclopaedia Day at Dunwoodie, Feb. 4, 1918.
NOTES 41
Gould's ^lue Book for the City of St. Louis, 1915. (Gift of Rt. Rev. J. J.
Tannrath).
Gury, Compendium Theopogiae Moralis. Lyon-Paris, 1852. This book (two
small volumes), was the property of Father St. Cyr.
F. C. Kelley, Archbishop Quigley; A Tribute.
P. F. Larbes, O.F.M., Gedenkblatt dem hw. Msgr. J. Rainer zum Goldenen
Priesteriubilreum, Cincinnati, O., 1917.
Ch. Maignen, S.T.D., Father Hecker, Is He a Saint? London, 1898. (Do-
nated by Rev. F. G. Holweck).
The Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Directory for the year of
our Lord 1854. (Gift of Rev. John Sesnon).
N. Nilles, S.J., Tolerari Potest. Oeniponte, 1893.
Ordo Divini Officii. Baltimore, 1818. St. Louis, 1821, 1824, 1827, 1829, 1832,
1869. New Orleans, 1838, 1839, 1840, 1845, 1847, 1848, 1850, 1852, 1853, 1855, 1857,
1859, i860. (Gift of Rt. Rev. J. J. Tannrath).
B. O'Reilly, L.D., Life of Pope Pius IX. New York, 1878.
Pastoral Letter of the Archbishops and Bishops of the United States assem-
bled in conference at the Catholic University of America, September, 1919. Offi-
cial copy in 4° ; and popular (pamphlet, in 12°) edition.
Pastoral Letter of Most Rev. J. J. Kain, Archbishop of St. Louis, 1896.
E. Preuss, Zum Lobe des Unbefleckten Empfangniss. Freiburg, 1879. (Gift
of Mr. R. Krueger).
Standard Guide to Cuba. New York, 1906.
W. B. Stevens, A Reporter's Lincoln. St. Louis (Missouri Historical So-
ciety), 1916.
Course of Studies for the Parish Schools, of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Revised, 1918.
Tolerari Potest. Buffalo, 1893.
Tornado, Pictorial Story of St. Louis Tornado. St. Louis, 1896.
The United States Catholic Almanac, or Laity's Directory, for the year
1836. (Gift of Rev. Thomas J. Walsh).
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Manual. St. Louis, 1861. (Gift of Rev. M.
Brennan).
C. C. Woods, Robert McCulloch. St. Louis, 1915. (Missouri Hist. Soc).
Zurbonsen F., Prophezeiungen zum Weltkrieg. Koeln. 1915.
Catholic Charities and Social Activities of the City of St. Louis. St. Louis,
1812.
St. Louis Public Library, Annual Report, 1914-1915.
Fleur de Lis, Centennial Number, St. Louis University, November, 1919.
St. Vinzenz Waisenverein, St. Louis, Mo., Goldenes Jubiteum, June 13, 1900.
Newsbovs' Home of Father Dunne. Historical Number.
PERIODICALS AND REPORTS.
Acta et Dicta, St. Paul, Minn., Vol. I, No. i ; Vol. Ill, No. 2; Vol. IV, No. 2;
Vol. V. No. 2.
Historical Records and Studies of the United States Catholic Historical
Society, New York. Full set. (Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
The Catholic Historical Review of Washington, D. C. Full set.
llinois Catholic Historical Review, Chicago, 111. Full set.
Louisiana Historical Review of the Louisiana Historical Society, New Or-
leans, La. Full set.
Abbey Student of St. Benedict's College, Atchison, Kans. (Founded in
December, 1891). Full set. (Donated by the Benedictine Fathers of Atchison).
Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia; a
large amount of stray numbers. (Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck).
The American Catholic Historical Researches of Martin Griffin, Philadel-
phia ; a good number of stray copies.
The Guardian, Little Rock, Ark. St. Vincent's Infirmary Number, Septem-
ber 14, 1918.
Stray numbers of the following Historical Periodicals:
The Mississippi Valley Historical Review of the Mississippi Valley His-
torical Society, Cedar Rapids, lo.
42 NOTES
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, III.
St. Louis Historical Collections of St. Louis, Mo.
Catholic University Bulletin. Washington, D. C.
German American Annals, Philadelphia, Pa. (Gift of Rt. Rev. J. J. Tann-
rath).
The Missouri Historical Review of the State Historical Society of Missouri,
Columbia, Mo.
Minnesota Historical Bulletin of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul,
Minn.
Catholic Cabinet, a Monthly Periodical, I and II. St. Louis, 1844 and 1845.
(Donated by Rev. Rothensteiner).
Herold des Glaubens, St. Louis. Mo. Full file since i88g. (Gift of Rev. F.
G. Holweck).
The historical numbers of "Centralblatt and Social Justice.'' St. Louis, Mo.
(F. Kenkel).
The Western Watchman, St. Louis, Mo. Centennial Number, October 25,
1918. • . .
G. L. Osborne, List of Genealogical Works in the Illinois State Historical
Library. Springfield, 1919.
G. Fowke, Prehistoric Objects. Classified and Described. (Missouri Histori-
cal Society, Department of Archeology). St. Louis. Mo., 1913.
A large number of Official Reports of the "General Versammlungen des
D. R. K. Central Vereins" of the "Catholic Union of Missouri" and the "St.
Vincent's Orphan Society," St. Louis. (Donated by Mr. R. Krueger).
Stray Reports of the Association of the Holy Childhood. Pittsburg, Pa.
Maryknoll, N. Y. ; St. Louis Preparatory Seminary, Kenrick Seminary, St.
Reports from the following Colleges and Institutes:
Louis ; Provincial Seminary of St. Francis, Wis. ; Catholic Normal School and
Pio Nono College, St. Francis, Wis. ; St. Francis Solanus College, Quincy, 111. ;
St. Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. ; Fleur-de-Lis, St. Louis University : St.
John's University, Collegeville. Minn. ; Conception College, Conception, Mo. ;
New Subiaco College. Ark.; Military Academy of St. Charles, Grand Coteau,
La.; Ste. Geneveive College, Asheville, N. C. ; Bulletin of Army and Navy
Courses. Washington, D. C.
A large collection of War Literature, pamphlets and books, prepared by one
of the librarians (catalogue may follow later on).
A large collection of articles, historical and political, taken from various
newspapers and periodicals, prepared by one of the librarians.
DOCUMENTS FROM OUR
ARCHIVES
Correspondence of Bishop Du Bourg with Propaganda
XVII.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO CARDINAL FONTANA,
Prefect of Propaganda^.
Eminentissime Praefecte,
Ex Uteris Sacrae huius Congregationis ad me datis Junii 29
proxime elapsi, disco P. Augustinum Ercolani, nuper Evangelii prae-
conem in Wallachia et Byzantii, ad banc dioecesim, Sacra approbante
Congregatione transire. Miror tamen literas has per alium latorem mibi
transmissas fuisse, et nee adventasse dictum Patrem, nee quidquam
mibi de se scriptis significasse ; quanquam, si me non f allunt quae de eo
collegi testimonia, vix admirationi sit locus ; audio enim a viris omni fide
dignis, quibus notissimus Romae fuit, eum inconstantiori animo esse,
aequefacilem in dimittendo proposito,ac ardentem in amplectendo ; quod
si ita sit, nibil profecto erit quod de eius amissione lugeam ; vix siquidem
alius est in toto cbristiano orbe terrarum tractus, ubi maiori prudentia
animique firmitate sacerdotibus opus sit, quam ista vineae pars pusillitati
meae commissa. Hinc est quod pro meipso primum dein pro collabora
toribus meis quotidie sapientiam a Deo efflagitem, ut nobiscum sit et
nobiscum laboret, rogans ut, sicut licentioris vitae homines, ita et incon-
stantes et praecipites a dioecesis meae finibus arceat.
Ea occasione significavit mibi Eminentia Vestra Sacram Congre-
gationem id in votis habere, ut, quandoquidem Patris huius adventu
novum operarium acquisiturus eram, eius loco alium ex nostris mis-
sionariis, qui anglicam linguam didicerunt, Neo Eboracum mitterem,
cuius episcopus propter inopiam sacerdotum, laborum mole obruitur.
Quocirca advertere velim Eminentiam Vestram 1°. plurimos adhuc dio-
ecesi meae deesse ut urgenti non paucarum partium necessitati fiat satis ;
2°. paucissimos ex iis in angHca lingua jam satis profecisse ut Neo
Eboraci accepti esse possint ; 3°. penes me non esse quaemquam ex meis
fratribus in alienam dioecesim mittere, nisi forte aliquis id expetat ; 4°.
Etsi potestas adesset, certe expectari non posse me velle, post tot sus-
ceptos labores, tot sumptus erogatos ad colligendam copiam fidelium co-
1 Archives of Propaganda. Scrittnre Referite nei Congressi. America Cen-
trale. Dal Canada all'Istmo di Panama. Codice No. 4, Dal i8i8 a tto il 182a
Docum. No. 141.
43
44 DOCUMENTS
adjutorum, ullum ex talibus ablegare. His adiicere possim, quod ita
distractus sit Ecclesiae Neo Eboracensis status, adeo labefactata epis-
copalis auctoritas, ut vigentibus actualibus circumstantiis, nulli sacer-
doti auctor esse velim ut ad earn se conferat.
Paucos infra menses animus mihi est unum e presbyteris meis
Romam mittere, qui Eminentiam Vestram et Sacram Congregationem
de statu meae dioeceseos oretenus docebit. At differre diutius non
possum Eminentiam Vestram rogare ut duo matrimonia invalide con-
tracta propter impedimentum affinitatis in primo gradu . . . curat in
radice sanari ...
S. Ludovici, in agro Missouriano, die Febr., 2, 1820.
Humillimus
Lud. Guil. Episc. Neo-Aurel.
Emin. mo. Card. Fontana, Praefecto S.C. de Propg. Fide — Romam.
TRANSLATION.
Your Eminence : —
A letter of Propaganda, in date of June 29 last-, advises me that
Father Augustine Ercolani^, erstwhile employed in the missions of
2 This Letter is apparently lost.
3 Augustine Mary Ercolani was an Augiistinian monk, and had been a mis-
sionary in Bulgaria and Valachia, with headquarters, it appears, at Constan-
tinople Whether he had not been employed in another missionary field before
is not altogether clear. At any rate, for reasons unrecorded, he left the Order
and the Eastern Missions and came back to Rome. Arrived in the Holy City, he
reported to the Vicar General of the Augustinians, begging readmittance.
Shortly afterwards, however, he seemed to be undecided whether he should
remain in the Order, and asked to go to Monte Citorio. As the question of the
American missions was almost constantly agitated in the Lazarist house. Father
Ercolani conceived the project of turning towards the Western world; he was
directed to Cardinal Quarantotti, who introduced him to the Secretary of
Propaganda by the following letter (Archives of Prop., Scritture Referite, Codice
4. Docum. No. 107) :
"February 25, 1819.
"Msgr. Pedicini, Secretary of Propaganda :
"Right Reverend Sir : —
"The bearer is Father Augustine Mary Ercolani, who comes from Constan-
tinople. For reasons which he disclosed to me and which he will explain also
to you orally, he wishes to be transferred from the Mission of Bulgaria and
Valachia to that of America. For this purpose he will be introduced to His
Eminence. Card. Fontana, Prefect, by the Vicar General of the Lazarists at
Monte Citorio, who will join in asking to have him sent to aid his missionaries
in America. I beg you, therefore, most earnestly to inform said Cardinal and
interpose your good offices to the end that the intentions of this gentleman may
be realized ...
"John Bapt. Card. Quarantotti."
How Ercolani impressed the Secretary and the Prefect of Propaganda we
do not know. At any rate, as he had been an Augustinian monk, it was most
natural that further information should be sought for from the Superior of the
Order. Here is the answer of the Augustinian Vicar General to the letter of
enquiry of Msgr. Pedicini {Ibid., Docum, 106) :
"Right Reverend Monsignor : —
"When Father Augustine Ercolani reported to me to present his obedience
he did not tell me that he had left the Missions of the Orient to pass over to
that of America ; but that he wanted to resume the habit of the Order and come
DOCUMENTS 45
Valachia and Constantipole, is, with the approval of the S. Congrega-
tion, to come to this Diocese. I wonder, though, why the aforemen-
tioned letter came to me through another bearer, and why Father Erco-
lani has not come, and has not even written a Hne to me. However, if I
am not misled by the information which I have received about him
there is scarcely room for wonder. For I have been told by men abso-
lutely trustworthy, who knew him well in Rome, that he is rather in-
constant and as quick in relinquishing a project as he was in adopting it.
If this be true, I have nothing to regret if I lose him; for I must say
that there is scarcely any country in all Christendom where priests need
back to the Community; and I replied that I was glad to admit him again. It is
true that I could not give him room in this convent of St. Augustine . . . ; and
he show^ed himself satisfied of this arrangement. On his return from Gennaz-
zano, where he went to make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Good Counsel, he
intimated that he was still in doubt as to coming back to the Order, and begged
leave to go to the house of the Mission at Monte Citorio, to communicate certain
messages which had been entrusted to him, and to be permitted to go to con-
fession outside the Order. That is the last conversation which I had with him.
He is a man of good morals, but hot-headed and very changeable in his reso-
lutions, as is evidenced by his having in so short a space of time left successively
two Missions. Besides, I doubt if he has the amount of prudence and knowledge
that is required. . .
"St. Augustine's Monastery, March 12, 1819.
"Fr. Settimio Rotelli,
"Vic. Gen. of the Augustinians."
Unflattering as was this testimonial. Propaganda decided nevertheless to
send Ercolani to Louisiana; and from a letter of Father Colucci. CM., in date of
July 23, 1819 (Ibid., Docum. 104), we learn that the project was still standing,
and that, together with the ex-Augustinian monk. Propaganda was to send D.
Francis Jacobelli, Canon of the collegiate church of Vico in the Diocese of
Alatri. The testimonial given about this priest is quite in contrast with that
sent concerning Ercolani. Thus wrote Father Colucci to the Secretary of
Propaganda :
"In compliance with the request wherewith His Eminence, the Cardinal Pre-
fect, and Your Lordship have honored me, touching the gentleman whom it is
question to send to America in company with Father Ercolani, it seems to me
that I may say that D. Francis Jacobelli, Canon of the collegiate church of Vico,
in the Diocese of Alatri, whilst he did us the favor of helping us to hear confes-
sions in various missions we were giving in that Diocese, and lived with us,
proved himself to be an ecclesiastic endowed with a fair modicum of knowledge,
with solid judgment, with active, yet prudent and discreet zeal, with great courage
in the face of obstacles, indefectible patience and great docility to the direction
of others; we noticed, moreover, that the people esteem and appreciate his merit;
and for this reason it is to be feared that his Bishop might make opposition to
his departure. He is about forty years of age, and quite healthy and strong.
When he first expressed his desire of embracing the career of the foreign mis-
sions, I wished, before proposing his name to our Superior, to consult on this
subject my companions, who were more able than I to observe his conduct; all
unanimously answered that he would prove a complete success. . .
"Colucci, CM."
From Bishop Du Bourg's letter, we understand he was in possession of very
much the same information in regard to Ercolani, as we have gleaned from the
above-quoted documents, and we may with him conclude that the ex-Augustin-
ian's failure to go to America was small loss to the Louisiana mission. That
Jacobelli did not come seems to be regrettable; of the reasons which detained him
in Europe, we have no other inkling but that which may be gathered from Co-
lucci's letter.
46 DOCUMENTS
more prudence and steadiness of mind than in this portion of the Lord's
vineyard entrusted to the care of your humble servant. Hence, every
day I pray God earnestly to grant, in the first place, to myself and also
to my colaborers, the gift of wisdom, that He may abide and labor with
us ; beseeching Him to keep away from my Dioese not only persons of
questionable morals, but also those that are inconstant and precipitate.
Your Eminence informed me, by the same occasion, that it was the
wish of the S. Congregation that, as I was to get, by the coming of
Father Ercolani, a new worker, I should, in exchange, send one of our
English-speaking missionaries to New York, as the Bishop of that place
is overburdened with work, owing to the paucity of priests. In this
regard permit me to submit to Your Eminence the following considera-
tions: 1. Many more priests are still needed in my Diocese in order to
satisfy the wants of quite a number of places ; 2. Very few are those
who have become proficient enough in English to be suitable for New
York ; 3. I have no authority to mission to another Diocese any one of
my brother-priests, unless he asks to be transferred ; 4. Even if I had
this authority. I could scarcely be expected to be willing, after all
the labors undertaken, all the money expended in recruiting a number
of faithful colaborers, to give away any of them. I might well add,
too, that so distracted is the Church of New York, so weakened the
authority of its Bishop that, in the present circumstances, I should never
approve of any priest going there.
It is my intention to despatch to Rome within a few months one of
my priests*, who will make a verbal report of the state of my Diocese to
Your Eminence and to the S. Congregation. However, I cannot wait
any longer before asking Your Eminence to obtain the Sanatio in radice
... of two marriages invalid on account of an impediment of affinity in
the first degree . . .
St. Louis, Missouri, February 2, 1820.
■^ Louis, Wm., Bp. of New Orl.
To His Eminence, Cardinal Fontana, Prefect of the S. Congrega-
tion of Propaganda, Rome.
XVIII.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO CARDINAL FONTANA^
Eminentissime Praef ecte :
Litterae Vestrae humanitatis plenae, quae nuper accepi, docent
* The priest in question was to be the notorious Count Angelo Inglesi, who
since his arrival in St. Louis in September, 1819, had, by his suave manners, abso-
lutely fascinated everybody, and Bishop Du Bourg more than everyone else. The
Bishop intended to ordain him. as indeed he did, on March 20. We intend to
publish in the near future a summary of what is known of this curious and enig-
matic Roman Count. Cf. Pastoral Blatt, Febuary, 1918: Ein dunkles Blatt aus
Du Bourg's Episkopat. A sketch of Rev. Angelo Inglesi, a Clerical Fraud ;_ by
Rev. F. G. Holweck; also Records of the American Catholic Historical Society
of Philadelphia. March, 1916, pp. 74-87- .
1 Archives of Propaganda. Scrittnre Referite net Congressi. America Cen-
trale. Dal Canada all'Istmo di Panama. Codice 4 Dal 1818 a tto il 1820. Docum.
No. 144.
DOCUMENTS 47
Sacrae isti Congregation! non arrisisse quas ipsi direxeram preces de
assignando mihi in Coadjutorem Revdo. Patre Antonio a Sedella, be-
nigniusque me invitant ut alium Sacerdotem ad tantum opus proponam,
qui, si fieri potest, meipso senior non sit.
Fateor liac clausula me valde coarctari, Tres enim dumtaxat habeo
quos hujusmodi ministerio aptos judicaverim. Primus est Rev. D.nus
Ludovicus Sibourd, Vicarius meus Generalis, qui in summa rerum an-
gustla per sex et amplius annos, Novae Aureliae prudenter ita adminis-
travit, ut omnium in se, etiam hostium, animos conciliaverit. Sed is sex
circiter annos meipso provectior est, licet adhuc veges et me multo
robustior. — Alter est Rev. D.nus Bertrandus Martial, Burdigalensis
sacerdos, duobus abhinc annis in istam Dioecesim advectus, morum
comitate, ingenii solertia, sinceraque pietate, mihi imprimis plebique
carissimus, cui potissimum debetur Novae Aureliae ad meliorem f rugem
.reditus. Hie novem annis, ut puto, me minor existit. — Tertius est Rev.
D. Josephus Rosati, Neapolitanus, Cong.is Miss.is sacerdos,
triginta ad summum annos natus, vir modis pene omnibus absolutus.
Cum vero Rev. D. Martial nuper ad Collegii, pro Christiana et literaria
liberorum institutione in Inf eriori Louisiana ; Rev. autem D. Rosati ad
ecclesiastici Seminarii, in hac Superiori parte, f undationem, me auctore,
manum admoverint, opera prof ecto ne dicam utilissima, sed inter omnia
maxime necessaria, quae ipsis discedentibus, ad terram prosterni necesse
est, unum tantummodo superest, qui sine gravissimo incommode mihi in
Coadjutorem adjungi queat, nempe praefatus Rev. D.nus Ludovicus
Sibourd. Nee vero obstare videtur quod paucis annis me antecellat ;
tum quia, quantum aetate, tantum viribus et virtute praestat ; tum
praesertim quia, cum praecipua Coadjutoris eligendi ratio sit, ut paula-
tim incolarum in inferiori Louisiana mentes episcopali gubernationi
assuescant, plurimum refert, ut ipse eligatur, cui jam quadam conSue-
tudine devincti sunt.
Generalem Dioecesis meae status rationem in decursu labentis anni
per unum e Sacerdotibus meis ad Sacram istam Cong.em transmittere
cogitans, hoc unum, utpote urgentissimum negotium, impraeserttiarum
ipsi submitto, rogans ut, si bene videbitur, quamprimum Rev.di D.ni
Lud.ci Sibourd Episcopalis institutio, sub titulo in partibus, cum jure ad
banc Dioecesim consecrari valeat, ad me dirigatur per manus Rev. mi
D.ni Archiepiscopi Burdigalensis, Interim D.O.M. pro sospitate . . .
me profiteer ... 4" L. Guil., Ep. Neo-Aurel.
S.ti Ludovici (Missouri)
die 4a. Martii 1820.
TRANSLATION.
Your Eminence : —
Your so amiably condescending letter, which I received some time
ago-, advises me that the S. Congregation of Propaganda did not con-
2 This cannot be the letter of December ii, 1819, which we published in our
last issue (Vol. I, p. 310), as no mention is made there of Father de Sedella. A
number of the Letters of Propaganda to Bishop Du Bourg have not been found
so far.
48 DOCUMENTS
sider favorably the request which I had addressed to it to appoint for
my Coadjutor the Rev. Father Anthony de Sedella, and most kindly in-
vites me to propose for this office some other priest, not older than I, if
possible.
I must confess that this latter qualification restricts considerably
my choice. For I have only three priests whom I should consider fit
for this office. The first is the Rev. Louis Sibourd, my Vicar General,
who, amidst very difficult circumstances, for six years and more has
administered the Church of New Orleans with so much prudence that
he has won the sympathy of all, even the refractory. But he is six
years or so older than myself, although he is still quite robust and more
vigorous than I. The second is the Rev. Bertrand Martial, a priest
from Bordeaux, who came to this Diocese two years ago ; his suavity
of manners, his remarkable mind and his genuine piety have endeared
him at once both to the people and to myself ; to his exertions is due
the return of New Orleans to better sentiments. He is, I think, nine
years my junior. The third is the Rev. Joseph Rosati, from Naples^
priest of the Congregation of the Mission, thirty years of age at most*,
but a man accomplished in every way. Now as the Rev. B. Martial and
the Rev. J. Rosati have undertaken under my auspices, the one the
foundation of a college for the religious and literary education of boys
in Lower Louisiana, and the other that of an Ecclesiastical Seminary in
Upper Louisiana, these works which are, I shall not say very useful,
but really necessary above all others, will fatally crumble down if these
two gentlemen are taken away. There remains, therefore, but one can-
didate to whom the Coadjutorship may be given without grave incon-
venience, namely, the Rev. Louis Sibourd. The fact that he is a few
years my senior does not seem really to be in the way : first, because his
vigor and his virtue are in proportion to his years ; secondly and mainly,
because, as the principal reason for giving me a Coadjutor is that the
minds in Lower Louisiana may gradually grow reconciled with the
government of the Bishop, it is of the utmost importance to select a
man with whom they are already quite accustomed.
As I am thinking of sending, through one of my priests^ the gen-
eral report of my Diocese for the past year to the S. Congregation,
I submit to it presently but this one afifair, which indeed is the most
pressing; and beg that the same Congregation, if it so please, forward
me without delay, in care of the Most Rev. Archbishop of Bordeaux,
the appointment of the Rev. Louis Sibourd to a Bishopric in partibus,
and with right of succession to this Diocese, adding the proper dispen-
sation, so that he may be consecrated by only one Bishop. Meanwhile
I pray God to preserve in good health . . . and subscribe myself . . .
►^ L. Wm., Bp. of N. O.
St. Louis, Mo., March 4, 1820.
old
3 Not from the city, but the kingdom of Naples.
* Joseph Rosati was born on January 13, 1789; he was then thirty-one years
5 See above, Note3, on Letter XVII.
DOCUMENTS \ 49
V 6', ,
XIX. ^^V-
BISHOP DU BOURG TO CARDINAL LITTA^
St. Louis le 5 Avril 1820.
Eminence :
Recevez mes tres humbles et tres affectueux remerciemens pour
I'int^ret que vous avez daign^ pendre au cruel embarras ou je m'^tois
mis dans I'affaire de mon Coadjuteur .
J'ai r^it^re ma demande en faveur de Mr. L. Sibourd dont I'age ne
m'est pas bien connu, mais que je suppose etre d'environ soixante ans ;
celui de I'autre que j'avais propose est de 72. Si cette circonstance for-
moit une difficulte, j'avoue que je ne saurois comment la lever; je
n'ai dans mon Diocese que lui qui convienne aujourd 'hui a cette place;
les autres Pretres sont ou plus vieux ou tres jeunes a I'exception de MM.
Andreis, Rosati et Martial. Les deux premiers sont trop necessaires a
r^tablissement de leur Compagnie, et le dernier k la formation d'un
College important qu'il vient de commencer daus la basse Louisiane,
pour en etre detaches . . .
La division du Diocese est encore, dans mon oipnion, et dans celle
de plusieurs de mes plus sages cooperateurs une mesure prematur^e;
1° Tant qu'un certain homme existera, la situation d'un Ev. titulaire h
la Nouvelle Orleans seroit extremement d^sagreable. 2° La haute et la
basse Louisiane sont et seront encore pendant quelques ann^es tres
necessaires I'une k I'autre , , , 3° L'Etat du Missouri est encore si nou-
veau, qu'il offriroit tres peu de chose k faire a un Eveque ; n'ayant que
7 on 8 postes qui puissent faire subsister modiquement un Pretre. Dans
un pareil ^tat de choses, il me semble, Eminence, qu'il vaut mieux laisser
le Diocese dans son integrity, en donnant a I'Eveque un Coadjuteur avec
lequel il puisse partager ses secours et ses travaux.
. . . Mr. Rossetti et sa petite compagnie sont occup^s k ac-
c^l^rer les travaux de mon S^minaire. . . .
'h Lud. Guil. Ev. de la Louis.ne.
TRANSLATION.
St. Louis, April 5, 1820.
My Lord Cardinal :
Deign Your Eminence accept the most humble and affectionate
thanks for the interest which you have so kindly taken in the painful
embarrassment wherein I was intricated in the matter of the Coadju-
torship. . .
I . . . have reiterated my petition in favor of the Rev. L.
Sibourd, whose age I do not know exactly, but suppose to be about
sixty ; the other man I had ventured to propose^ is seventy-two years
old. If this circumstance were to be considered an obstacle, I confess
1 Archives of Propaganda. Scritture Referiie net Congressi. America Cen-
trale. Dal Canada all'Istmo di Panama. Codice 7- Dal 1821 a tto il 1822.
2 Father Anthony de Sedella, O.M.C.
4G22
50 DOCUMENTS
my inability to find a way out ; for I have no one else in the Diocese
who would do, the other priests being either older or very young, except
the Revs. De Andreis, Rosati and Martial. The first two are so indis-
pensable for the establishment of their community, and the other to the
foundation of an important College, which he has just started in Lower
Louisiana, that they cannot be taken away. . . .
According to my opinion and the opinion of several of my wisest
colaborers, the division of the Diocese appears as yet premature: L
As long as a certain man^ is living, the situation of a titulary Bishop in
New Orleans is to be extremely unpleasant ; 2. Upper and Lower Louis-
iana are, and will for yet some years to come be very necessary to each
other. . . 3. The State of Missouri is still so young that it would
afford very little work for a Bishop to do, as there are only seven or
eight places which can afford to maintain — and that poorly enough — a
priest. Owing to these conditions, it seems to me. Your Eminence, that
it is better to leave the Diocese as it is, giving, however, to the Bishop
a Coadjutor with whom he may share his income and his work. . . .
. . . Father Rossetti and his little band* are working to help
hastening the building of my Seminary. . .
+ L. Wm., Bp. of Louisiana.
3 No doubt, Father de Sedella.
* Father John Mary Rossetti was a Milanese priest, who had gathered around
him a little band of clerics and pious young laymen to whom he was a kind of
Superior. At the time of Bishop Du Bourg's journey through Milan, in the early
months of i8i6. Father Rossetti was so deeply touched by the prelate's descrip-
tion of the sorrowful plight of the Church of Louisiana, so moved by his earnest
appeal for laborers to work in that forsaken portion of the Lord's vineyard, that
he forthwith proffered his services and those of the sodality under his direction.
On further consideration, however, it was arranged by common consent that the
Bishop would take immediately along only one of the young clerics, Joseph Tich-
itoli, and that Father Rossetti would hold the rest in reserve to start later, prom-
ising to keep always on hand in the meantime the funds necessary for the jour-
ney. They had to wait, until, early in i8i8, preparations were made at Monte
Citorio for another expedition, made up of Father Francis Cellini, Messrs. Philip
Borgna and Joseph Potini, clerics, and Brother Bettelani, of the Congregation of
the Mission. The two bands met at Genoa. Father Rossetti had with him two
priests. Fathers Charles Mariani and Marcellus Borella ; a cleric, Mr. John Rosti,
and five young laymen : John Bosoni, Peter Vergani, Angelo Mascaroni, Joseph
Pifferi and Vincent Turatti. They all sailed from Leghorn on July 4, 1818, and
landed at Philadelphia October rst. The Lazarists of the band set out at once on
their westward journey, and arrived at the Barrens on the 5th of January, 1819.
Rossetti and his companions remained in Philadelphia awaiting orders. They
reached the Barrens January 4, 1820, almost a year to the day after the arrival
of their former travelling companions.
DOCUMENTS 51
XX.
PROPAGANDA TO BISHOP DU BOURG\
N. 14^
Illme ac Rme Dne.
Licet Amplitudo Tua florente adhuc aetate, ac valetudine utatur,
perspectis tamen rationum momentis, quae adducta sunt, Sacra Congre-
gatio Coadjutorem tibi assignare non recusabit, qui in amplissima ista
Dioecesi, praesertim vero in inferiore illius parte, tibi praesidio sit, ac
adjumento. Verum D. Sibourd, quern novissime ad hujusmodi munus
proposuiti, nimis aetate provectus videtur ; aliunde vero qua ille pru-
dentia, quo studio, quaque doctrina sit praeditus plane ignoramus.
Quare cupio, ut de illius meritis, et qualitatibus plene nos doceas, ante-
quam de ipsius deputatione ratio habeatur. P. Augustinus Ercolani,
qui isthuc sese conferre decreverat, a suscepto consilio recessit. Pres-
byterum, quern Roman mittere statuisti, ut Nos de istius Ecclesiae statu,
ac necessitatibus instruat, libenter expectabimus, quidque ad ejusdem
Ecelesiae utilitatem S. Congregatio conferre poterit studiose praestabit.
Interim tibi petitas duas dispensationes adjicio, Deumque precor, ut A.
T. diutissime servet ac sospitet. Amplitudinis Tuae,
Romae ex Aedibus S. Congnis. de Prop.da Fide
die 26. Augusti 1820.
Uti Frater Studiossissimus,
4" Julius M. Card.lis de Somalia Pro-Praefectus.
C. M. Pedicini, Sec.ius.
Rmo. D. Lud. Guill. Du Bourg,
Epo. Neo Aurelianensi in America (S. Ludovicum).
TRANSLATIONS
Right Reverend Sir ;
Although Your Lordship is still young in years* and enjoying good
health, in view of the importance of the reasons which you advance, the
S. Congregation will not refuse to give you a Coadjutor to assist and aid
you in the administration of your vast Diocese, particularly the southern
part of it. However, the Rev. Sibourd, whom you lately proposed for
this office^, appears to be too old® ; moreover, what are his prudence, his
^ Original in Archives of the St. Louis Chancery.
2 With the exception of the Propaganda Letter No. lo, published in our last
issue (Vol. I, p. 310), the earlier letters of Propaganda to Bishop Du Bourg
seem to be lost.
3 This letter, as is evident from its contents, is an answer to Bishop Du
Bourg's own letter of February 2 (cf. above, XVIL).
* Bishop Du Bourg was then in his fifty-fifth year, being born on February
13, 1766.
5 See Letters XIV, of June 25, 1819 (Vol. L PP- 303 and foil.) ; XV, of the
same date (Ibid., pp. 308 and foil.) ; XVI, of December 11, 1819 (Ibid., pp. 310-
311), XVin, of March 4, and XIX, of April 5, 1820 (in this issue).
« It will be remembered that in the letter XVIII (above), Bishop Du Bourg
stated that Father Sibourd was "six years or so" older than himself; and to
Cardinal Litta (Letter XIX), he declared "not to know exactly Father Sibourd's
age, which he supposed to be about sixty."
52 DOCUMENTS
zeal, and his knowledge, we are completely ignorant of. Hence, I wish
you to give us full information touching his merit and qualifications,
before we can consider the question of his appointment.
Father Augustine Ercolani^ who had determined to pass over to
America has now changed his mind.
We will gladly await the coming of the priest whom you intend
to send to Rome to make known to us the condition of your church
and its needs^ ; and whatever help it is in the power of this S. Congre-
gation to afford for the good of that Diocese will certainly be extended.
Meanwhile you will find herewith enclosed the two dispensations which
you asked for ; and I pray God to keep Your Lordship yet many years
and in good health.
Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
►^ Julius M. Card, de Somalia, Pro-Prefect.
* CM. Pedicini, Secretary.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congregation of Propaganda, August 26,
1820.
To the Right Rev. Louis Wm. Du Bourg, Bishop of New Orleans
in America. St. Louis.
7 See above Letter XVII, Note 3.
« Sec above Letter XVII, Note 4.
ST. LOUIS
CATHOLIC HISTORICAL
REVIEW
I ssued Quarterly
KDITOR-IN-CHIEF
REV. CHARLES I.. SOUVAY, C. M., D. D.
ASSOCIATK EDITORS
REV. F. G. HOJ^WECK
RBV. GILBERT J. GARRAGHAN, S. J,
REV. JOHN ROTHEN3TEINER
EDWARD BROWN
Volume II APRIL— JULY 1920 Number 2—3
Published by the Catholic Historical Society of Saint Louis
209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis 56
Early Missionary Efforts among the Indians in the Diocese
St. Louis Rev. J. Rothensteiner 57
Notes on Sister Mary Theonella Hite and her family
Scannell O'Neill 97
Diary of the Journey of the Sisters of St. Joseph from St.
Louis to Tucson, Ariz. ( 1870) Sister Monica tOl
Origin of the Creoles of German Descent (Cote des Alle-
MANDS, La.) Rev. F. G. Hohveck 114
Notes 123
Documents from our Archives 130
An Appeal 151
(55)
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Established February 7th, 1917
OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES
1920-1921
President — Most Rev. John J. Glennon, D. D.
First Vice-President — Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G.
Second Vice-President and Treasurer — Edward Brown
Third Vice-President — Louise M. Garesche
Secretary — Rev. Edward H. Amsinger
Librarians f Rev. F. G. Holweck
and Archivists i g^^'" Charles L. Souvay, C. AT D. D.
1^ Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S.J.
Executive
Committee
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G., President
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. J. Tannrath, Chancellor
Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
Rev. F. G. Holweck
Rev. Martin L. Brennan, Sc D.
Rev. John Rothensteiner
Rev. Edward H. Amsinger
Edward Brown, Secretary
Committee
on Library
and Publications
f Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
I Rev. F. G. Holweck
<( Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.
I Rev. John Rothensteiner
(^ Edward Brown
COMMUNICATIONS
General Correspondence should be addressed to Rev. Edward H. Amsinger,
Secretary, 744 S. Third St., St. Louis, Mo.
Exchange publications and matter submitted for publication in the St. Louis
Catholic Historical Review should be sent to the Editor-in-chief, Rev. Charles
L. Souvay, CM., DD., Kenrick Seminary, Webster Groves, Mo.
Remittances should be made to Edw^ard Brown, Treasurer, 511 Locust St.,
St. Louis, Mo.
56
EARLY MISSIONARY EFFORTS
AMONG THE INDIANS
IN THE DIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS
The missionary spirit has always and everywhere been a dis-
tinctive mark of the Catholic Church. The injunction of her Divine
Founder and Master, "Go and teach all nations," never ceased ringing
in the ears of her ministers and ever found a ready response in the
hearts of her people. The history of the development of the Church
is largely the history of her missionary labors. It was, therefore, to
be expected that the planting and the growth of the Church in the Mis-
sissippi Valley should be closely identified with many generous efforts
to gain for th:; religion of Christ the various savage tribes called In-
dians, then inhabiting the vast tracts of land bordering on the mighty
Mississippi, and its tributary rivers and streams. And, indeed, here
as elsewhere the Catholic missionary followed in the wake of the ex-
plorer, or, rather, the first explorer was also the first missionary, the
intrepid Father Pierre Marquette of the Society of Jesus. After the
pathfinder came band on band of zealous messengers of the Gospel,
whose chief concern it was to win the poor savages to the religion of
the cross. The Jesuits, whilst there were Jesuits, were most prominent
in this religious movement, and their establishments dotted the land
from far away Canada, along the shores of the great lakes, down the
course of the Illinois River, and on the banks of the River of the Im-
maculate Conception, as Father Marquette called the Mississippi, down
as far as the Gulf of Mexico. Noteworthy above others were the
original Kaskaskia's Mission on Lake Pimeteoui, then Fort St. Louis,^
the home of Father Allouez and Gravier on the Illinois River, and
lastly the new Kaskaskia Mission, of which the Jesuit Relations give
us such glowing pictures of Christian faith and piety, together with
its dependencies. Fort Chartres, Prairie du Rocher and Ste. Genevieve.
The Fathers of the Foreign Mission from Montreal had established
their center at Cahokia with the Commission to evangelize the im-
mense tract watered by the Missouri and its tributary streams, "the
most beautiful region in the world." as Father Vivier calls it in 1750.
Further down the Mississippi there were a number of stations con-
ducted by Jesuits or Capuchins. Of course, these missionary centers
were net always of the same relative importance, increasing or de-
• It would appear that Fort St. Louis and Starved Rock are the same place. The
mission called St. Louis took its name from the Fort St. Louis, and was probably at the
great village, which village was just below Starved Rock. Starved Rock is the place where
the Illinois made their last stand against the Pott;iwotoniies.
57
58 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
creasing frequently in accordance with the frequent shifting of the
Indian population. An approximately correct idea can be gained for
the years 1722-1728 from a Memoir" concerning the Church of Louisi-
ana, dated November 21, 1728, found in the archives of the Ministry
of Marine of France. We will give the leading parts of this lengthy
document in a literal translation of the French original, connecting
them by a resume of the less important matters. "By ordinance of the
Commissioners of the Council of May 16, 1722, and with the consent
of the Bishop of Quebec, the Province of Louisiana was divided into
three religious jurisdictions," apportioned to three missionary orders,
each to hajte at its head a Grand Vicar of the Bishop of Quebec.
The first included all the country which is found in ascending the river St.
Louis (Mississippi) from the sea (the Gulf of Mexico) to the height of the
entry of the river Ouabache (Ohio) into the river St. Louis; and all that part to
the west of this river in the said extent of country. The churches and missions
in this jurisdiction were to be filled by the Capuchins and their Superior was to
be always Grand Vicar of the Bishop of Quebec, in the department, and to reside
in New Orleans.
The second jurisdiction was to extend over all the country which is found
in the upper part of the province above the river Ouabache, and was to be in
control of the Jesuits, whose Superior residing at the Illinois, was to be always
Grand Vicar to the Bishop of Quebec in this part.
The third jurisdiction was to comprise all the country east of the river
(Mississippi) from the Gulf to the Ohio, and was to be given to the Carmelites,
whose Superior was likewise Grand Vicar, and ordinarily established at Mobile. ^
The Capuchins at once took possession of their district ; the
Jesuits had been established in theirs for upwards of fifty years ; the
Carmelites were, indeed, at Mobile, but as the Bishop of Quebec
seemed dissatisfied with their management, their jurisdiction was by
episcopal order united to that of the Capuchins. Whereupon the Car-
melites withdrew to France. Now there were but two jurisdictions :
the old Illinois country under the Jesuits, and the remainder of Upper
Louisiana, together with the entire extent of Lower Louisiana under
the care of the Capuchins.
In the month of December, 1723, continues our memoir, the company (of the
Indies), judging that the Capuchins would not be able to furnish enough clergy-
men to supply all the cures and missions in a region so vast . . . fixed the
boundary of their jurisdiction at Natchez, leaving them all the country below
this post, both to the east and to the west, and giving the remainder to the
Jesuits, who, in this department had for fellow-laborers two priests of the For-
eign Missions.
This arrangement alarmed the Capuchins ; they demanded a guar-
antee that no further encroachments would be made on their sphere of
activity. The guarantee was given by the Council and confirmed by
Royal Patent on July 15, 1725.
' Memoir concerning the Church of Louisiana (1722-1728), dated November 21, 1728.
Cf. Martin T. J. Griffin. The American Catholic Historical Researches. XXII. No. 2.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 59
But the Capuchins, as the Memoir continues, had more zeal than ability to
furnish men. The Province of Champagne, from which those of Louisiana came,
is small and unfruitful of subjects. The company then seeing that they were
not providitig as many clergymen as were needed to fill the ecclesiastical posts of
this district, and knowing, moreover, that they were little fitted for missions
among savages, decided on a new partition which, being accommodated to the
character and the particular talents of the two orders, should fix unalterably their
relations from this time forward. They decided to establish the Capuchins in
all the French posts, and to charge the Jesuits with the spiritual management
of the savages, under the will and pleasure of the Bishop of Quebec, who had
warmly approved this arrangement.
In consequence the Council made an agreement on February 20, 1726, with
the Jesuit Fathers by which they engaged to furnish missionaries not only in all
places of their district, but also at the homes of the savage nations ... in
the territory conceded to the Capuchins.
The Superior of the Jesuits was to reside in New Orleans, on con-
dition, however, that there should not be any ecclesiastical functions
in New Orleans without the consent of the Capuchins. "In the month
of December, 1726, there departed from France the number of Jesuits
necessary to supply the missions which they had agreed to establish,
and they were immediately assigned to their stations. The presence
in one city of two Grand Vicars with divided authority was to bring
on a serious disturbance of ecclesiastical peace ; yet the work of the
Indian Mission entered upon a new era of prosperity, for at least thirty-
six years. The names of all the missionaries then laboring in Louisi-
ana, both Capuchins and Jesuits, were given at the end of the Memoir.
Capuchins : Pere Raphael, V. G. of the Bishop of Quebec, and Cure
of the City of New Orleans ; P. Hyacinthe, Vicar, and Pere Cecile,
both at New Orleans. ^ P. Theodore with the Chapitoulas ; P. Phihppe
at Village Allemand, in the German Village ; P. Gaspard at Balize ;
P. Mathias at Mobile ; P. Maximin with the Natchitaches ; P. Philibert
with the Natchez; P. Victorin, Recollect, joined to the Capuchins with
the Apalaches.
Jesuits : Pere Petit, Superior at New Orleans ; P. Poisson and P.
D'Outreleau, both with the Arkansas ; P. Tartarin and P. Boulenger,
both with the Kaskaskias ; P. Guimereau with the Metchigamias ; P.
Souel with the Yasous ; P. Baudouin with the Chicasaws ; P. Guenne
with the Alabamas.
Pere Petit, adds the Memoir, had been with the Choctaws. There will be a
new missionary to the Castonitas. Messrs. Thaumur and Mercier, priests of
the Foreign Missions, are with the Jesuits serving the Cahokias and Tamarois.
The golden age of the Illinois Missions, however, was then already
on the decline, chiefly on account of the Indians' indulgence in .strong
drink and the consequent licentiousness. This decline was to assume
alarming proportions about 1750, when Father Vivier, S.J., could write
of Kaskaskia :
This station contains more than six hundred Illinois, all baptized, with the
exception of five or six ; but the "fire water" which is sold them by the French,
60 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
and especially by the soldiers, in spite of the reiterated prohibition on the part
of the Kinc. and that which is sometimes distributed to them, under pretext of
maintaining them in our interest, has ruined the mission and caused the greater
part of the converts to abandon our holy religion. The Indians, and particularly
the Illinois, who at other times, are the gentlest and most tractable of men,
become, when intoxicated, frantic and brutally ferocious. Then they attack each
other with knives, inflicting terrible wounds. The greatest good we do among
them is the administration of baptism to children who are at the point of death.^
It was a sad state of affairs, so different than that described by
Penicaut in 171 1,* not to mention the detailed accounts of the Jesuit Re-
lations. But the end was to come in a manner no one could have ex-
pected, by the suppression of the Order, which had been the life of
these missions. At one fell swoop in 1764 all the Jesuit missioners
were recalled by the Council of the Indies, and, with one exception,
deported to France. The Society of Jesus was dissolved, as far as
France was concerned ; but Providence watched over an Order that
was to take up again the work of Christianizing and civilizing the In-
dians of the Mississippi Valley and to carry it beyond the Mississippi,
yes, beyond the plains and the valleys' natural bulwarks, the Rocky
Mountains.
I. The First Moving of the Spirit.
It is my purpose to sketch the missionary efforts among the In-
dians in the Old Diocese of St. Louis. Now the Diocese of St. Louis
is first mentioned as a probable or desirable foundation in the letter of
Bishop Flaget, dated June 26, 1816. Writing to Archbishop Neale of
Baltimore, the Bishop of Bardstown says, among other things :
According to your request, I candidly pass my opinion about the erection of
a new See at St. Louis : I firmly believe that the place is of the utmost im-
portance for the good of religion, not only on account of the many Catholics that
live there now, of those that will immediately emigrate thither as soon as they
hear that there is a Catholic bishop, but much more so on account of the many
nations of Indians that have never heard of the Christian faith. The bishop
that is to be sent thither must be accompanied by a good number of priests, and
zealous ones, because the country is almost destitute of them. . . If the Holy
Father was to send a Jesuit as a bishop and give him five or six companions, I
do not entertain the least doubt but in less than twenty years St. Louis would
be the most flourishing diocese of all those that are in the United States.^
' Cf. Letter of Father Vivier, S.J., to a Father of Society of Jesus, dated at Illinois,
the 17th of November, 1750. American Catholic Historical Researches, vol. XI, No. 4.
* Cf. American Catholic Historical Researches, vol. VII, No. 2, for a brief extract
from Penicants Journal of the Ka.skaskias' Mission, to conditions obtaining then: We
can give hut one lemark concerning the spiritual condition of the mission in 1711: "By
far the greater :iumber of the Illinois are Catholic Christians. . . . The church (a
very large one" is kept very clean inside. There are three chapels, the large one for the
choir and two side chapels. There is also a tower, and in it is a bell. The people attend
very regularly at High Mass and Vespers. The Jesuit Fathers have translated for them
the Psalms and hymns from the Latin into their own language.
The Illinois, both at Mass and at Vespers, sing a couplet alternately with the French,
who keep to the original language. For example, the Illinois sing a couplet of a Psalm
or hymn -n their own tongue, and the French sing the succeeding couplet in Latin, and
so on; and all in the same tone in which it is sung in Europe by Catholic Christians."
° Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget's Letter to Archbishop Neale, June 26, 1816. From
the Archives, Baltimore. Cf. Printed in American Catholic Historical Researches, vol.
XIX. No. 3.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 61
This was written in 1816, on June 26. About three and a half
months previous to this Bishop Flaget had written about this matter
in a somewhat veiled manner, probably acting for Bishop Du Bourg
of New Orleans, then in the first flush of apostolical zeal, seeking la-
borers and soliciting means in Rome, the Italian States, France and
Belgium, for his boundless diocese of Louisiana. There was a gentle
hint on this communication addressed to the clergy and laity of the
Missouri Missions, that Ste. Genevieve might be chosen as the episco-
pal seat instead of St. Louis, especially as St. Louis now boasted of
having a theater, probably the first theater on the west side of the
Mississippi. The good bishop expressed the hope "that the citizens of
St. Louis would come to their senses, and that they would not cast
aside, out of love for vanity and falsehood, the incalculable benefits
which will infallibly result from the presence of a bishop in their
city."" By a strange chain of circumstances Bishop Du Bourg himself
was led, we may say. forced, to come for the first years of his episco-
pacy to St Louis instead of New Orleans, and to found here those in-
stitutions which he had originally intended for the South. It is also
noteworthy, though in a much lower degree, that Bishop Flaget. who
had opposed the choice of St. Louis on account of its theater, had as
companion on the steamer Piqua that carried him and Bishop Du
Bourg down the Ohio and up the Mississippi to St. Louis, a band of
strolling players. But the reception extended to the new Bishop was
a most heartv one in the French style. A great parade of the inhabi-
tants was held. Two carriages brought the prelates from the landing
to the church, four of the most prominent men of the town, Messrs.
Didier, Pratte, Sarpy and Belcour, carried the canopy under which the
Bishops walked to the altar: St.. Louis was a diocese in fact, though
not in name, and now began the work of christianizing the Indians in
dead earnest.^
« Bishop Flaget Circular Letter to the Priests of Upper Louisiana, March 3, 1816, in
Americ/in Catho .c Historical Researches, vol. XXI, No. 4.
Also in Dr. Charles Souvay's article "Rosati's Election to the Coadjutorship of New
Orleans," in Catholic Historical Rex-iew (Washington), vol. Ill, pp. 5 and 6.
' Of 'his important historical event we catch a passing glance in an intimate letter
of Mrs. Anne Lucas Hunt, written on the very days of the occurrences to her father,
J. B. C. Lucas, at Washington. D. C, dated St. Louis, January 4th and Sth, 1818: "The
steamboat arrived here yesterday and brought a company of players who will perform in
the o'd theater this winter.
The Bishops Du Bourg and Flaget) are to be here at 12 o'clock to-day and will be
received with great parade in the church by the inhabitants of this place. Mr. Hunt found
Messrs. Didier, Belcour. Sarpy (who gave him this information) in grand council at
the church door; the whole town is in an uproar about it, and one-half on the river shore
in anxious expectation. . . . .Ann L. Hunt" On the following day Mrs. Hunt wrote
a postscript which, as usual is the best part of her letter: "As my letter is not yet sealed
I will give you a description of the installation of Bishop Du Bourg. Two carriages took
them both from the landing to the presbytery; four priests attended them thence to the
church, besides twelve little boys, who walked in procession before the two Bishops, who
were und-r the dais (canopy), which was supported by Messrs. Didier, Pratte, Sarpy and
Belcour. Our old church was handsoraelv decorated and a crimson throne erected, to
which Bishop Flaget led our Bishop, and, having seated him, left him and returned to the
altar, from whence he addros^cri our Bishop very handsomely. But I thought the answer
was the best of 'he two. Bishoo Du Bourg is certanly more eloquent than the other; at
all event-;, he speaks more handsomely. The church was never so crowded since I have
been here, nor will those four walls ever see such another day as this. AH the people
appear to be much pleased with their new acquisition. May it continue so, is the wish of
your affectionate daughter, Ann L. Hunt.
62 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
The Indians of the Western plains were not altogether unknown
at the time. French traders and trappers had visited the tribes in all
directions. And Indian delegations had frequently been seen in the
streets of St. Louis. As early as 1750 Father Yivier wrote :
Among the tribes in Missouri there are some who seem most favorably dis-
posed for the reception of the Gospel ; for example, the Panismahas. One of
our priests wrote one day to a Frenchman who was trading with these Indians,
and begged him in his letter to baptize those of their children whom he found to
be at the point of death. The chief of the village, seeing the letter, asked: what
is the news? "None," answered the Frenchman. "What!" said the Indian, "be-
cause we are red men may we not learn the news?" "It is from the Black Chief,"
replied the Frenchman. "He has written advising me to baptize the children who
are dying, so that they may go to the Great Spirit." The Indian chief, perfectly
satisfied, said to him: "Do not put yourself to any trouble in this matter. I
will take upon myself the task of giving you notice whenever there shall be a
child in danger." On assembling his people, he said "What do you think of
this Black Chief? We have never seen him : we have never done him any service ;
lie dwells far from us towards the rising sun. and yet he thinks of our village.
He wishes to da us good, and when our children come to die, he wishes to send
them to the Great Spirit. The Black Chief must be very good.^
Such and similar occurrences, breathing forth the true charity of
Christ that must warm every true heart, carried the fame of the Black
Chiefs, or Black Robes, as the missionaries were called by the Indians,
from tribe to tribe, from nation to nation, and awakened in their hearts
the desire of having one of their kind among them. In the course of
our sketch we shall learn of many an Indian delegation coming to St.
Louis to obtain, if possible, a missionary for their people who still
preserved the memory of some Black Gown now long in his grave,
but who had done a kindness to their fathers long ago, or who had
instructed them in their childhood, and perhaps baptized them in some
mission chape! that afterwards fell in ruins. A few days after his ar-
rival in St. Louis Bishop Du Bourg wrote to a friend in France who
had expressed a fear that the bishop's supporters might injure the
interests of France by working for distant lands : "The good which
they do here will return to them a hundredfold" and then continues :
"Turn your eyes on hundreds of Indian tribes that seem but to wait for in-
struction in order to embrace the faith. How touched you would be if you
could be witness of the frequent deputations which I receive from them the re-
ligious respect which they testify to me, and the urgent prayers which they ad-
dress to me, to be their father, to visit them, and to give them men of God."^
Among the numerous companions of Bishop Du Bourg, the saintly
Father Felix De Andreis of the Congregation of the Missions, was the
first one to conceive the idea of a missionary life among the Indians.
* Tesuit Mission to 'he Illinois. 1750, in American Catholic Historical Researches,
4."
XI. 4."
' AnnaJes de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi. I, 1. In quoting the An
we have found great help in the excellent translation made of many letters by Nairn
Santos, ai.d nubli .hed in Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Phi
phia, vol. XIV No. 2, pp. 140-2)6.
Annale.s
aina dos
Philadel-
MISvSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 63
Even before he set foot upon the land to be hallowed by his labors,
whilst preparing himself for his life-work under the roof of St. Thom-
as' Seminary at Bardstown, he gave strong expression to his desires
and hopes. Writing to the Vicar General of the Congregation of the
Missions at Rome, under date of January 5, 1817, Father De Andrews
says:
"I feel strongly impelled to devote myself, in a particular manner, to the
conversion of the Indian tribes who live beyond the Mississippi. Here (in Ken-
tucky) no trace of them remains, while, on the contrary, the Mississippi, which
serves as a boundary to the United States, and separates them from the immense
widerness. which extends even to the Pacific Coast, flows by St. Louis, and makes
of it the central point of all these savage nations. Among these, so far, the light
of the gospel has never penetrated, though they seem well disposed to receive it.
Therefore, I intend, when our seminary is well established, to leave Father Rosati
at its head, and to wend my way, in Nomine Domini, along the banks of the Mis-
sissippi and Mibcouri, preaching the gospel to these poor people. Before I leave
St. Louis I will have the Catechism translated into their language. This I can do
with the assistance of some Indians who come from time to time to St. Louis,
and persons of the place who are pretty well acquainted with their language. I
have received from men of experience much information, both with regard to the
difficulties to be encountered and the manner of overcoming them, and, with the
help of God, the undertaking seems as easy as if I already witnessed its execution.
I shall have much to suffer, but of this I do not think, nor will I allow my mind
to rest on it one moment. Too much already have I thought about myself, and
1 am ashamed to have done so ; but in future, nothing but God and the interests
of His glory shall occupy my attention. I see clearly that He is very merciful
in my regard, for I should be an infidel did I not trust in Him and follow solely
the impulse of His spirit.
"To tell the truth, the Indians are uncivilized, ferocious, inconstant and
haughty. They habitually lead a very austere life, and sometimes spend several
days without taking any nourishment; but then, if they chance to kill a buffalo
or a deer in their hunt, they will eat it all at once, almost raw. They wear very
little clothes, and torment their bodies to please the 'Great Spirit.' The old
people, with the women and children, remain in the wigwams, but the others are
nearly always away hunting beasts, whose skins they prepare very skillfully, and
exchange them with the Americans for provisions and strong liquors. They are
exceedingly fond of liquor, so much so that this propensity constitutes one of
the principal obstacles with which the missionary has to contend, in the work of
their conversion." ^^
One year later, about forty days after his arrival in St. Louis,
February 24, 1818, Father De Andreis writes, among other details con-
cerning the new mission, the following account of the unfolding of his
plans in regard to the Indians. The letter is addressed to Father Si-
cardi in Rome :
"Let us now proceed to the numerous Indian tribes. There are among
them fifty different nations ; they acknowledge one only God, whom, in their
language, they call Chissemenetu, which means 'Father of Life' ; to him they
address their prayers and offer the first fumes of their pipe. To please this god,
they treat themselves most cruelly. Indeed, their whole religion consists in
these practices, some of which are too horrible to relate. They live like the
very animals of which they are constantly in pursuit. Their chase provides
them with food and scanty clothing (for they go almost naked), and enables
" Rosati's Lif" of Felix De Andreis, pp. 157 and 158.
64 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER -
them to trade with the white people, who, in exchange for furs and venison, give
them powder, spirits, paint to decorate their bodies and silver rings for their
ears and nostrils. Their aspect is frightful, and one feels inclined to doubt if
their reasoning powers be fully developed. I have seen several, and have con-
versed wtih them by means of an interpreter. In general, they regard priests with
great respect, calling them Mecate-o-coriatte. which means Black Gown. They
also call them "Fathers of Prayer." Some few among them are Catholics, and,
in spite of the efforts made by Protestant missionaries to imbue them with false
doctine, they constantly refuse to adopt it, objecting that the true "Fathers of
Prayer" have no wives and children like the Protestant ministers, but that they
devote themselves wholly to God and the salvation of souls. Notwithstanding
the difficulties attending the work of their conversion, I am convinced that, when
the first obstacles are overcome, it will be almost easy. The chief impediment is
the language, which is not the same among the various tribes, though the dialects
are very much alike, and the Indians of different nations understand one an-
other. With the assistance of an interpreter, I have made some attempts to
arrange their principal language according to grammatical rule. It is a difficult
undertaking, as my interpreter, knowing nothing of such laws, cannot translate
word for word, nor supply me with equivalent expressions for every idea. How-
ever, I have begun a small dictionary ,and made some translations. Their
scarcity of ideas renders their language poor in words. They are constantly
obliged to express themselves with the aid of circuumlocution, especially on the
subject of religion."
In December, 1818, Father De Andreis returns to the subject in a
letter to Father Baccari, the Vicar General of the Congregation in
Rome:
"As to the savages, it is rather a more difficult task. These poor creatures
seem incapable of forming any idea of spiritual and divine things. They know
that there is a God, and they begin all their employments by an act of worship (a
fact which should make many Christians blush with shame!) When they come
to trade with the white people, they begin to smoke, and directing the first cloud
on high, they say: 'Anaregare kill chakanda,' which means: 'May this ascend
to the Divinity.' But these notions only concern the present life. They believe
that God has given them a religion different from ours, and if they are told of
a future life they understand nothing about it. With patience and time, how-
ever, something will be made of them."i2
Always hopeful amid a thousand discouragements, and consumed
with the zeal for the Kingdom of God, Father De Andreis seemed to
be on the point of attaining his purpose. In 1820 Bishop Du Bourg
was preparing to visit "those immense forests," and Father De Andreis
was invited to accompany him.
"Alleluia ! Deo Gratias !" he wrote from the Barrens. "At length we are
to commence a mission among the savages. I am to have the happiness of ac-
companying the Bishop to visit these unfortunate people !"
But these wishes were, as Father Rosati wrote, the last sparks of
that flame of charity which burned within his heart, for he was soon to
depart for heaven, for which he constantly sighed, that he might be
united forever with his God. Like St. Vincent, who was not able
" Rosati's Life of Felix De Andreis, pp. 179 and 180.
" Rosati's Life of Felix De Andreis, p. 193.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 65
before his death to behold the establishment of his missionaries in
the Island of Madagascar, for which he so ardently longed, and had
made so many sacrifices ; like St. Francis Xavier, who had to stop on
the threshold of China without entering the kingdom, because God
called him to Himself; so was Father De Andreis to see the Indian
tribes, and to approach them, without having it in his power to liberate
them from the hands of their ignorance. God destined others, after his
death, to undertake this work.
II. The First Attempts.
But what the saintly Dr. Andreis had dreamed of and longed and
prayed for was soon to be attempted. On October 21, 1822, John M.
Odin, then only in deacon's order, wrote from the Barrens to a friend,
Mr. C., in regard to the earliest effort made from St. Louis for the
conversion of the Indian tribes of the West :
We have the consolation of seeing a mission opened, or at least begun
among the savages. Father Lacroix, chaplain to the Ladies of the Sacred Heart
of Florissant, near St. Louis, has made two journeys to the great Osages He
was cordially received, and conceived great hopes of seeing the faith prosper
among this tribe. Forty persons, children and old people, received the waters of
baptism.
The second visit was short. He preached, however, before the entire tribe
and the chiefs, answering, said that they were happy to hear the word of the
Great wSpirit. He pushed on further, also, along the banks of the Missouri a
hundred leagues beyond the narion of the Osages, among a great number of other
savages. The fever, from which he suffered almost constantly, during this
second mission, prevented him from prolonging his sojourn, and obliged him also
to abandon his intention of building a church in this part of the country The
poor savages exist in great numbers. i*
How this missionary undertaking came about is well explained by
Father Michaud, who wrote the following account to the Vicar Gen-
eral of Chambery in 1823 :
In 1820 a number of chiefs of the Osage nation came to St. Ix)uis by the
order of the Indian agent. Sans-Nerf (principal chief of this nation) was at
their head. They all visited our Bishop, whom they call the 'Chief of the Black
Robes As they have a high opinion of him, and as respect for priests seems
natural to them, since they know by tradition that 'Black Robes' visited their
toretathers, they came in full dress. Their copper-colored bodies were coated
with grease, their faces and arms were striped in different colors, white lead
Vermillion, verdigris and other colors formed a great variety of furrows all
starting at the nose. Their hair was arranged in tufts. Bracelets, ear-rings
rings in their noses and lips completed their head-dress. Their shoes are made
ot buckskin which they ornament with different designs in feathers of various
colors; hanging from their robes are little pieces of tin. shaped like small pipes,
these are to them the most beautiful ornaments. Their great object is to make
a noise when they walk or dance. Their heads are ornamented with a sort of
crown in which are mixed up birds' heads, bears' claws and little stag horns A
woolen robe hung over the shoulders covers nearly all the rest of the body; and
" Rosati's Life of Felix De Andreis, p. 205.
" Annates de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, 2.
66 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
again, to this robe are fastened the tails of difterent aniinals, etc. Such is the
attire in which the chiefs of the Osages paid their respects to the Bishop of
Louisiana. He has in his room a handsome ivory crucifix, a small picture of
St. Thomas and a few other paintings. The sight of the crucifix struck them
with astonishment. They gazed at it, their expression wondering and softened.
The Bishop profited by this occasion to announce to them Jesus Christ. 'Behold'
(said he to them through the interpreter who accompanied them), 'behold the
Son of the Master of Life, who came down from heaven to earth, who died
for us, as much for the redskins as for the white skins. It was to gain our
happiness that He suffered so much and that He shed all His blood. It is He.'
added the Bishop, 'who has sent me here to make known to you His will.'
It is impossible, the Bishop .'said, to describe the attention that all these poor
savages paid to him, and the emotion which they experienced when the inter-
preter repeated to them th words of the Bishop. They raised their eyes and their
hands to heaven and then to the crucifix. All the spectators were moved by the
scene. Before taking leave of the Bishop, Sans-Nerf said to him, through the
interpreter, that if he wished to come and visit them in their homes he would be
well received, that he could do a great deal of good, and that he could
pour waters on many heads. The Bishop promised to do so, and presented
each one with a little crucifix and also a medal which he hung around their
necks by a ribbon, admonishing them to guard them carefully. They promised
him to do so, and have kept their word.^s
From a letter of John Odin, deacon, we add to Father Michaud's
account the following anecdote :
Some time ago a great number of savages were in St. Louis. One of them
was taken on some errand to a house where the Bishop happened to be. The
moment he perceived the Bishop, he ran to him. seized his hand and kissed it
with every demonstration of friendship. Having departed without remember-
mg to go through the same ceremony, he recalled his mistake, only when already
at some distance from the house. He turned back immediately, running all the
way, and uttering loud cries, kissed the Bishop's hand and departed once more.'«
Bishop Dii Bourg, enthusiastic as he was, and of a romantic turn
of mind, at once decided to assist the Osages himself, and De Andreis
was to accompany him. But De Andreis died, and Bishop Du Bourg
had so many calls on his time and talent, and cherished as many grand
dreams that he soon decided to entrust the Osage Mission to one of his
most excellent priests, Father Charles de La Croix,^^ as we have al-
ready stated in the words of the deacon, Odin. But the beginnings of
a great utidertaking, be they ever so humble, deserve to be remembered
in all their details. We will, therefore, give entire the second part of
Father Michaud's letter, which treats more fully of the events that
transpired in the first Osage Mission :
In 1821 Father Lacroix set out to open the mission to the savages. On
the occasion of his first visit, as they were about to depart on a hunting expe-
dition, he could only see one village. He was very well received and baptized a
great many children. As he had promised to visit all the villages of that nation
of Indians, he was obliged to return last summer. He left Florissant, which is
" Annates de I' Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, 5.
1* Annates de I'Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, 2.
"An excellent Sketch of the Life and Labors of Father Charles de la Croix from the
pen of our of our indefatigable colaborer. Father F. G. Ho! week may be found in the
St. Lotus Postorat Blatt, vol. 53, No. 7 (July, 1919).
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 67
situated live league^; from St. Louis, on the 22d of July. After traveling twelve
days on horseback across prairies, broken by forests and streams, he reached
the first village which he had already visited in the spring. They were delighted
to see him again, lie was accompanied by several persons who intended to trade
witli the savages. All the warriors came to meet them.
'"They were conducted, with great honor, to the head chief and invited to
feasts, prepared by the savages, and so were kept going until evening, from cabin
to cabin. At these repasts they were presented with a wooden dish, filled with
boiled maize or buffalo meat (boeuf sauvage), but each disli had to be duly
tasted.
The head chief and six of his principal warriors offered to accompany the
missionary in his visit to the other villages. Ten days were passed thus, and the
missionary was received everywhere with the same eagerness. At one of these
villages more than a hundred warriors, covered from head to foot with their
handsomest ornaments, came quite a distance to meet him. They rode finely
trained horses. The occupations of the men are war and hunting. The women
are very hard working. They it is who build the cabins, and who carry loads of
firewood on their backs. The quantity they take at one time is astonishing. The
whole nation is clothed, decently at least. Everyone is covered with a robe.
Polygamy is practiced among them, for it is the custom that when a savage
demands a girl in marriage and is accepted, not only she, but all her sisters also
belong to him and are looked upon as his wives. They pride themselves greatly
upon having several wives. -Another great obstacle to their civilization lies in
their strong distaste for the cultivation of the soil and for all kinds of work.
They care for nothing biit war and hunting.
One da}' the missionary celebrated the Holy Sacrifice. All the chiefs were
present and also as many savages as the place would hold. He has told me that
he was greatly moved by the respectful attention which they showed, and the
exactitude with which they rose and knelt, raising their arms and eyes to heaven.
After Mass he distributed to all the chiefs a number of crosses, fastened to
ribbons, which he threw around their necks. He also baptized several children.
For several years Protestant missionaries, sent out and well paid by the
American government, had been settled among these savages, and had built up
establishments where they cared for the children of this nation for a certain
time. Buy they were not successful, and nearly a year ago the Indians took
away all their children, saying that they had realized that they were not Black
Robes, as they had tliought they were at first.
The soil of this portion of Missouri is very fertile, and there are prairies
si.K or seven leagues in extent. In summer the heat is excessive. It was during
this journey that the missionary was attacked by burning fever, which forced
him to leave the O.sages. He was obliged to travel twelve days on horseback,
sleeping at night in the woods, not coming across a single miserable cabin. This
is how they go about arranging" their camp. Having chosen the most suitable
place, they unload and unharness the horses, which they let run loose in the
woods that they may pasture during the night. They build a hut with the
branches of trees, and having gfathered wood they light a big fire. Over this
they boil a piece of young buck placed on a stick planted before the fire, the
meat being turned from time to tim3. This fire serves also to drive away bears
and other wild beasts. After their repast, they roll themselves up in a bufifalo
skin and fatigue renders this poor bed very comfortable."^*
TIT. Help From Unexpected Quarters.
Father Michaud makes mention of several Protestant mission-
aries, sent out and well paid by the American Government, as settled
among^ the savage Osage Indians. This fact brings before us the pol-
icy obtaining under the Presidency of James Monroe in regard to
measures to bs used for civilizing the savages. It was "the era of good
" .4n»ales de V Association de la Propatjation de la Foi, I, 5.
68 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
feeling," and even the Indians were to share in its blessings. An as-
sured appropriation of $10,000.00 had been made by Congress for the
education of the government's wards. As Father Gabriel Richard/'
member of Congress from Michigan, wrote to Bishop Edward Fen-
wick of Cincinnati in 1823 :
The President and Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary of the War Department, have
expressed their willingness to aid in a particular manner those who will under-
take the difficult task of civilizing and christianizing the Indians. I have enclosed
to you two circular letters, which Mr. Calhoun gave me, expressly to send to you.
The laws allow the President to spend yearly $10,000.00 for the purpose of
aiding the schools that are or may be established for the instruction of young
Indians. You will see that the whole is not to be done by the Government a
beginning must be made by the benevolence of some charitable persons. You
will find by the enclosed papers that the Government is disposed to pay two-thirds
of the expense of the necessary buildings. ... In addition to this, Mr. Cal-
houn, the Secretary of War, told me yesterday that the Government, besides
paying two-thirds of the expense for the buildings, will give $20 for every Indian
child instructed, and for the number of thirty children $300.00."-°
Of course. Bishop Du Bourg was at once made aware of this gov-
ernment ofifer and acted upon it, although we did not find anything
more than an allusion to it in his own writings. We copy the letters
from Bishop Fenwick's account of the "Progress of the Catholic Re-
ligion in the Western States of North America." The first circular of
the War Department reads as follows :
Department ok War, Sept. 3, 1819.
Sir — In order to render the sum of ten thousand dollars annually appro-
priated at the last session of Congress for the civilization of the Indians, as
extensively beneficial as possible, the President is of opinion that it ought to be
applied in co-operation with the exertions of benevolent associations and indi-
viduals who may choose to devote their time and means to eflFect the object
contemplated by the act of Congress. But it will be indispensable, in order to
apply any portion of the sum appropriated in the manner proposed that the plan
of education, in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, should, in the
instruction of the boys, extend to the practical knowledge of the mode of agri-
culture, and of such of the mechanic arts as are suited to the condition of the
Indians ; and in that of the girls, to spinning, weaving, and sewing. It is also
indispensable that the establishment should be fixed within the limits of those
Indian nations who border on our settlements. Such associations or individuals
who are already actually engaged in educating the Indians, and who may desire
the co-operation of the government, will report to the Department of War, to
be laid before the President, the location of the institutions under their superin-
tendence; their funds; the number and kind of teachers; the number of youths
of both sexes; the objects which are actually embraced in their plan of educa-
tion; and the extent of the aid which they require; and such institutions as are
'" Father Gabriel Richard, one of the most versatile and energetic priests of the
times. Besides his labors and hardships in the immediate service of Christ as a faithful
priest. Father Richard was a prime mover in a number of important undertakings in the
cause of civilization. He was one of the founders and first professors of the University
of Michigan; then the publisher and editor of the first paper ever published in that State;
and he enjoys the distinction, some think not a very enviable one, of being the only
Catholic priest who was sent to Congress. Father Gabriel Richards' congressional laurels
very probablj' prevented his receiving the mitre.
^ The whole correspondence may be read in American Catholic Historical Researches,
vol. X, No 4, pp. 154-1.S9, under the caption: An Account of the Progress of the Catholic
Religion 'n the Western States of North America, London 1824. Ohio Mission.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 69
formed, but have not gone into actual operation will report the extent of their
funds; the places at which they intend to make their establishments; the whole
number of youths of both sexes which they intend to educate; the number and
kind of teachers to be employed; the plan of edtication to be adopted; and the
extent of the aid required.
This information will be necessary to enable the President to determine
whether the appropriation of Congress ought to be applied in co-operation with
the institutions which may request it, and to make a just distribution of the
appropriation. ^1
Additional regulations were issued by Secretary Calhoun on
Februar)/ 29, 1820, from which we will transcribe the main points of
interest :
The position selected for this establishment (of schools for the education
of Indian children), with an estimate of the costs, is to be submitted to the
Secretary of War, to be laid before the President.
Government will, if it has the means, and approves the arrangement, pay
two-thirds of the expense of erecting the necessary buildings. The President
of the United States will contribute out of the annual appropriation to each
institution which may be approved by him, a sum proportionate to the number
of pupils belonging to each, regard being had to the necessary expense of the
establishment and the degree of success which has attended it.
A report will be annually made for each establishment on the ist of October.
. . . It is considered to be the duty of all persons who may be employed or
attached to any institution, not only to set a good example of sobriety, industry
and honesty, but, as far as practicable, to impress on the minds of the Indians
the friendly and benevolent views of the government towards them, and the
advantage to them in yielding to the policy of the government and of co-operat-
ing with it in such measures as it may deem necessary for their civilization and
happiness. A contrary course of conduct cannot fail to incur the displeasure
of the government, as it is impossible that the object which it has in view, can
be effected, and peace be habitually preserved, if the distrust of the Indians, as
to its benevolent views should be excited.
(Signed) J. C. Calhoun/2
Department of War, February 29, 1820.
Bishop Du Bourg was not slow in making use of this offer: In
fact, he obtained more than was here promised. We again quote our
deacon, John M. Odin, who from his position at the Barrens was well
informed on what was transpiring in ecclesiastical circles. The letter
is addressed to Director of rhe Seminary at Lyons, March 20, 1822 :
"Bishop Du Bourg, en route for Baltimore, stopped at Washington to confer
with the President of the United States, concerning the mission to the savages
which he is planning to establish. The question was carried to the Senate, and
although nearly all the members were Protestants, they resolved to grant a sum
of money for the furtherance of this project. They promised, moreover, to pay
a small pension to the missionaries ,and to furnish them with the necessary
agricultural implements. The savages themselves show the most favorable dis-
positions."-^
From this it appears that a special appropriation was made for
the specially difficult Western missions.
» Cf. Note 23.
» Ibidem.
^ Annales de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, S.
70 RKV. J. ROTMKNSTErNER
Bishop Du Bourg himself writes on this subject to his brother in
Bordeaux March 17, 1823:
Providence deigns to grant a success to this negotion, far in excess of my
hopes. The government bestows upon me two hundred dollars a year for each
missionary and that for four or tive men, and it promises to increase the number
gradually, and 1 am sure that it will do so. For an enterprise such as this, it
was essential that I should have men especially called to this work, and I had
almost renounced the hope of ever obtaining such, when God, in His infinite
goodness, has brought about one of these incidents which He alone can foresee
and direct the results.-*
The question of means was now settled, at least sufficiently to
warrant further steps. But where shall the men be found best fitted
for the arduous undertaking? Naturallv", his thoughts often dwelt
on the former glories of Jesuits in the neighboring Illinois. IT he could
obtain some members of the re-established Order, all would be well.
But the prospects of such a piece of good fortune seemed very remote
indeed. Lazarists he had in his diocese, but they were needed for the
seminary and for the old parishes and missions. Secular priests,
though willing, were not specially adapted for the work.
In a letter to his brother, dated January 30, 1826, Bishop Du
Bourg sums up the results of his anxious meditations on this subject :
T had long been convinced that nothing could be accomplished here without
the religious orders. A man living isolated from his kind grows weary of the
apparent uselessness of his efforts. The intense heat exhausts his strength and
checks his ardor. Too often he loses his life or in the fear of losing it he
abandons his post. He is fortunate indeed, if he does not prove the truth of
those words of the Holy Ghost : "Woe to him who is alone !" and from a
being, full of vigor and activity he becomes a good-for-nothing, and the scorn
of his fellowmeii. There is not the same danger for the religious community.
Union makes strength of all kinds. Their members are constantly renewed and
increased, hence they are able to provide for their own losses.
It is to this end that T liave worked from tlie very beginning, to secure the
help of the Order of Saint Vincent de Paid, and that I have made every effort to
induce the Jesuits to come here, the former Order for the seminary, the latter
for the Missouri missions, and more especially, for work among the Indians.
The expense of all this has been great, but T am far from regretting it.^'*
As early as February 24. 1921, Bishop Du Bourg wrote to the
Prefect of the Propaganda. Cardinal Fontana, asking His assistance in
gaining the Jesuits for the work of converting the Indians, who, as he
states, are very numerous in the upper part of his diocese. He was
greatly aided by the Holy Father, who wrote to the Superior General
with a view to endorse his wishes. But up to that date all efforts had
proved unsuccessful.
"However," concludes P.ishop Du Bourg, "I understand that the Superiors of
t!ie Society are now showing more willingness to imdertake the work. I have
accordingly recommended to Father Tnglesi to make use of every resource his in-
telligence and zeal could muster, in order to liring this project to maturity. I beg
** Annates de VAss^'ciatinn de la Prol>atioii dc la Fot. I, 5.
" Avttates dc l' Association de In Propaganda dc !n Foi. TI, p. 394.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 71
likewise Your Eminence to second his efforts. There is particularly one of the
Fathers of the Society, De Barat by name, now in the Little Seminary of Bor-
deau, whom I know to be most anxious to come here ; his piety, knowledge and
zeal are beyond par. [ beg nio.->t earnestly the Vicar General to give him to me,
and beseech to this end the aid of Your Eminence's most powerful influence.
With him some of the younger French Jesuits will be glad to come, and also
others, of riper years, from among those who came lately from Russia to France.
Five, or six at most, would he sufficient, if to them were added two or thrre from
Maryland — a thing most desirable, on account of their knowledge of English, and
also because, as they are well provided financially, they could supply the want of
their brothers. With this help, the Gospel cannot fail to make headway among
the numberless nations on botii sides of the Mississippi and the Missouri.
Bishop Du Bourg's efforts in this regard were soon to be crowned
with perfect success. There was at White Marsh, near Baltimore, a
Novitiate of Jesuits ; the Master of novices was Father Charles Van
Quickenbonie, a native of Ghent. The novices were Jodocus Van Ashe,
Peter J. Verhaegen, John Elet, Smedts, Peter J. De Smet, Felix L.
Verreyt and De Maillet. These young Belgians had been induced by
the untiring zeal of Father Charles Nerinkx to go to America with
him and to join the Society of Jesus. -'' They were accepted at George-
town by the Provincial Father Anthony Kohlman, and began their
novitiate on the 6th of October. 1821. In September, 1823, Bishop Du
Bourg came to Georgetown to request from the Provincial a colony
of Jesuits for the Indian Missions. Father Van Quickenbome and
Father Timmermans, with the novices Van Asshe, De Smet, Verhae-
gen, Verreyt. Snieds. Elet and Brothers Peter De Meyer and Henry
Rychmans, offered themselves for the enterprise. They left White
Marsh about the middle of April. 1823, procured wagons for their lug-
gage, crossed the Alleghany Mountains, reaching Wheeling after a
journey of two weeks. Here the travellers procured two flatboats,,
which they lashed together, and floated down the river to Louisville,
where they met their belovc^d Father Nerinkx ; thence they went down
the Ohio as far as Shawneetown, and journeyed across the broad ex-
panse of Illinois to St. Louis, which they reached May 30, 1823. That
same evening Father Van Quickenborne rode on horseback to Floris-
sant, accompanied by Father De La Croix. Here the Novitiate of St.
Stanislaus-^ was founded by the advent of the pilgrims from White
Marsh in Maryland. A letter written by Bishop Du Bourg to his
brother at Bourdeaux. March 17. 1823. throws an interesting sidelight
on this providential occurrence:
The Jesuits of whom T speak (says he) had their institution in Maryland,
and finding themselves excessively embarrassed for lack of accommodation,
^ NfacS, Life of Rev. Charles Nerirtckx, pp. 332-347. Hewlett, Life of Rev. Charles
Nerinckx, op. 356-359.
" Florisisant, or St. Ferdinand, is one of the very lodest religious centers in the
State of Missouri. Originally settled by the French under the Spanish Regime about 1790,
it became a dependency of the Canonical Parish of St. Louis under P. Bernard de Lim-
pach; later on it had pastors of its own. From 1809-1810 it was the home of the Trap-
nisfK under Abbot Urban Guillet. and for the next ten years remained in charge of the
Father Prior, Maria Joseph Dunand. The farm on which the Jesuit establishment of St.
StaJiislaus was erected, was originally called the Bishop's Farm, now the Priest's Farm.
The building put up by Father Dunand before 1820 is still in use.
72 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
were on the point of disbanding their novitiate, when I obtained this pecuniary
encouragement irom the government. They have seized this opportunity and
have offered to transport the whole novitiate, master and novices, into Upper
Louisiana and form there a preparatory school for Indian missionaries. If I had
had my choice, I could not have desired anything better. Seven young men, all
Flemings, full of talent and of the spirit of Saint Francis Xavier, advanced in
their studies, about twenty-two to twenty-seven years of age, with their two
excellent masters and some brothers ; this is what Providence at last grants
to my prayers.
Near the spot where the Missouri empties into the Mississippi, outside the
village of Florissant, already so happy as to possess the principal institution of
the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, I have a good yielding farm, excellent soil,
which, if well cultivated (which it is not at present), could easily provide sus-
tenance for twenty persons at least, so far as the important question of nourish-
ment is concerned. True, there is only a small house on the place, but in this
country a big cabin of rough wood, such as will be suitable for the apostles
of the savages, is quickly built. It is there that I will locate this novitiate, which
will be, for all time, a seminary especially intended to form missionaries for
the Indians, and for the civilized and ever-growing population of Missouri. As
soon as the actual subjects are ready, we will commence the mission in good
earnest. In the meantime. I propose to receive in the seminary a half-dozen
Indian children from the different tribes, in order to familiarize my young mis-
sionaries with their habits and language, and to prepare the Indians to serve as
guides, interpre;ers and aides to the missionaries when they are sent to the
scattered tribes -®
On August 6th, 1823, Bishop Du Bourg resumes the subject so
dear to his heart :
. . . The acquisition which I have made of Jesuits for Missouri
causes me to f;el singularly peaceful about these distant parts. These good
fathers are in possession of my farm at Florissant. To reach it they walked
more than four hundred miles, of which two hundred miles were through inun-
dated country, where the water was often up to their waists; and far from mur-
muring, they blc;>sed God for granting them such an Apostolic beginning. They
were very agreeably surprised, not expecting to find such a pretty place ; for it is
my policy to speak only of the drawbacks to those whom I invite to share my
labors. The superintendent of Indian affairs, upon whom depends much of the
success of our missions to the savages, received them with an interest both kind
and active, and shows himself in an especial way, their protector. Moreover,
the Fathers, including their novices, are well calculated to inspire confidence.
An unlimited dcvotedness, which is proof against the greatest dangers and pri-
vations, is associated in them with rare goodness and talents of a high order.
They complain of nothing, they are satisfied with everything. Living in the
closest quarters in a little house, sleeping on skins for want of mattresses, living
on corn and pork, they are happier than the rich on their down beds, surrounded
by luxury, because they know happiness far more exquisite, and are not hampered
by self-indulgence. It is my duty, however, to try to procure for them, at
least the necessaries of life, and also the means of exercising their zeal and
extending their field of labor. It is in this that I hope to be seconded by the
Association for the Propagation of the Faith. ^9
Once more Bishop Du Bourg pours out the joy and gratitude of
his heart in a letter from New Orleans, dated August 20, 1823 :
In the midst of these trying cares (the seminary, the Cathedral, the religious
houses and schools, and the demands of New Orleans), my thoughts were
'* Annates de V Association de /j Propagation de la Fox, I, 5.
^Annates de VAssociation de la Propagation de la Foi, I, S.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 73
ceaselessly and irresistibly drawn towards the totally abandoned missions of the
natives. I needed for their re-establishment a band of apostolic men, men fear-
less of ill sorts of privations and suffering. God has deigned to give me men
such as these, m that society, as famous for its brilliant success as for its
overwhelming reverses to which He grants a new births in these days, for the
consolation of religion. A detachment of the Society of Jesus, animated by
the spirit of Xavier and Regis, arrived some months ago in the state of Missouri.
In order to draw them to me I could not refrain from buying a small cultivated
domain, which might furnish them at least with the most pressing necessities of
life. This establishment which has cost me about thirty thousand francs, is
intended for a preparatory school for missionaries to the savages and also to
the civilized peoples along the great Missouri River, the numbers of which are
increasing with marvelous rapidity. It includes at the present two Fathers,
seven fervent scholastics, all of whom are old enough to be ordained ; three
Brothers, and a few negro farm hands. The American government has prom-
ised me some small help, but it will be quite insufficient for their needs. To
those chief institutions, already established, may be added a Cathedral, a farm
and a bishop's mansion, at St. Louis, several new churches in the state of Mis-
souri, two houses of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart already in running order, a
third one in process of construction, and one of the Sisters of the Cross for the
education of girls, and finally, two colleges for boys, for which I have had to
make advances, or sacrifices, more or less great, without, in the meantime, having
any sources of revenue other than the funds of divine Providence, and the hope
of the yearly help which the Association for the Propagation of the Faith prom-
ises me.-'"'
Good re.sults came in due time. The Bishop writes on June 24,
1824:
. . . The Jesuits of Missouri have at last opened their college for the
little Indians. They have only six or eight for whom the government allows
them eight hundred dollars. They will take the college of St. Louis ; in this
way they will insure its stability. The poor Fathers are in great need."
And again January 31, 1826:
You can see by the letters of Father Van Quickenborne the progress made
by the Jesuits in a very short time .and with very small means. I have been
unable to assisr them as substantially as I would have liked, having still some-
thing to pay on the establishment which I have given them. As soon as this
debt is discharged, if our brothers in Europe continue to help us as liberally
as heretofore, I intend to spend a quarter, perhaps a third of these donations to
aid the Fathers in their important work. They will also need more subjects, for
the field which I have assigned to them is immense, but I believe that all will
come in good time.^i
Father Van Quickenborne now drew up. at the suggestion of the
government, his plan for the improvement of the Indians. It was as
follows :
I. Our little Indian seminary should continue to support the present number
of boys from eight to twelve years of age, while the Ladies of the Sacred Heart
in our neighborhood should bring up about as many girls of the same tribe.
They should be taken young, from eight to twelve, to habitate them more easily
to the customs and industry of civil life, and impress more deeply on their hearts
the principles of religion.
* /innates de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, 5.
** Annates de V Association de la Propagation de la Foi, I, 5 and II, p. 394.
74 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
2. After five or six years' education, it would be good that each youth
should choose a wife among the pupils of the Sacred Heart before returning to
his tribe.
3. Within two or three years two missionaries should go to reside in that
nation to gain their confidence and esteem, and gradually persuade a number
to settle together on a tract to be set apart by government. Agricultural imple-
ments and other necessary tools for the new establishment to be furnished.
4. As soon as his new town was formed some of the couples formed in our
establishments should be sent there with one of the said missionaries, who
should be immediately replaced, so that two should always be left with the body
of the tribe till it was gradually absorbed in the civilized colony.
5. Our missionaries should then pass to another tribe and proceed succes-
sively with each in the same manner as the first.
6. As the number of missionaries and our resources increases, the civilization
of two or more tribes might be undertaken at once.
The expense of carrying out this plan might be estimated thus :
Support of 16 to 24 children in tlie two establishments $1900
Three missionaries 600
Total $2500^2
"Such was the great scheme projected by the Jesuits of the West,
never indeed to be realized, but, as their history shows, one which
would have approached, if it did not obtain, complete success."
IV. Missionary Efforts Under Bishop Ros.mi.
But whilst the Jesuit Fathers were slowly maturing their great
missionary plans, the Lazarists, and even the secular clergy were
called upon to take part in actual work of Christianizing the Indians.
Joseph Rosati, the Superior of the Vincentians in America, was, on
March 25. 1824. consecrated Bishop of Tenagra, and entrusted with
the care of the Church in Upper Louisiana, that is Missouri, Arkansas,
the Northwestern Territory, the vast Indian Territory, and the best
part of Illinois. One of the new bishop's first acts (August 24, 1824).
was to send Father John M. Odin, a newly ordained member of his
Order, together with the deacon, John Timon,^^ on a missionary trip
through Arkansas and Texas. It was on the 8th day of September,
1824, that the youthful messengers of God's Kingdom started out from
the Barrens on horseback. From New Madrid, where they made their
first stop, they penetrated through swamps and sparsely settled re-
gions to the Arkansas River, near Little Rock. From there they rode
down to Pine Blufif, and reached at last the ancient settlement so often
" Document in the Archives of the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis.
" John M. Odin, CM., born at .\mbicrle, in France. February 2S, 1801, became a
member of the Vincentian Order, w.-.s raised to the jirieKthood in 1824; after Rosati's eleva-
tion to the episcopate Odin became President of the Barrens: made Bishop of Claudiopolis
and Vicar Apostolic of Texas in 1841; promoted to Archipiscopal See of New Orleans
February 15, 1861. Died Ascension Day, ^fay 25, 1870, in his native city. John Timon,
CM., born in Conewago, Pennsylvania, of Irish parentage, on February 12, 1797. Came
to St. Louis and entered the Seminary of St. Mary's in April, 1823; ordained in 1825.
Was a noted controversialist. Was appointed Visitor of the lazarists in 1835, and Bishop
of Buffalo, on September 5, 1847. He died on Anril 16, 1867.
MISSION.S KKOM ST. LOUIS 75
mentioned in our early annals, the Post of Arkansas^* at the confluence
of the Arkansas River and the Mississippi. Here they visited the
village of the Quapaw Indians. Father Odin celebrated the divine
sacrifice on an altar erected at the entrance to the wigwam of the
Chief Sarrasin
Now will 1 die happy, exclaimed the aged chief, who had seen the days of the
early Jesuit misbionaries at Arkansas Post, "now will I die happy, as I have seen
my father, the IMack Gown of France. ^^
Though .'11 were pagans, they yet preserved an affectionate re-
membrance of the religion that had been preached to their fathers
and then destroyed by evil-minded men. Owing to sickness and im-
passable roads the missionaries returned to the Barrens.
As early as 1823 a missionary center for the Indians of the Nortii
was planned at Prairie du Chien, at the mouth of the Wisconsin River.
But the lack of priests, and later on, the widespread disturbances
among the Indians, precluded the possibility of success.^**
The Jesuits, as a matter of course, did not content themselves
with their Indian schools at Florissant, but bravely launched out upon
the deep to save what could be saved by individual endeavor. "To
carry out his plans," says Shea, \'an Quickenborne, in August, 1827,
visited the old Osage Village, near Harmony, and in the house of the
Presbyterian missionary, baptized ten, heard confession and said
Mass, for many of the tribe were Catholics (since Father De La
Croix's days). He then visited the villages on the Neosho, where, to
the joy of the Indians, he spent two weeks and baptized seven of the
tribe."^^ But a number of other important works awaited the zealous
Father's care and labor, among them the formation of the great West-
ern Institution of Learning, the St. Louis University, in 1828. The
Church at St. Charles as well as the convent of the Ladies of the Sa-
cred Heart at St. Charles were built by him. Yet the Indian missions
were always present in his mind.
Another effort to bring the Indian nation into the pale of the
Church was to be made by one of the secular clerg}', the Reverend
Anthony Lutz. It was early in May, 1827. that a delegation of the
heathen Kanzas^* Indians with their chief. White Plume, came to Gov-
" The Poste of Arkansas is one of the earliest settlements in the entire Mississipnt
V^alley. Tts religious history, however, was not always an edifying one, as Father F. G.
TToKveck nas shown in his highly interesting sketch in the .9/. Louis Pastoral-Blatt,
Even in the (.arlier days of the old Jesuit missions the Poste hore a bad name for
irreligion of the inhabitants. The last Jesuit priest withdrew from the place about 1760,
"until they wero disposed to respect religion there." Cf. Tllinois Historical Collection,
vol. I, p. 84.
" J. G. Shea, History of the Catholic Missions ainonq the Indian Tribes, p. 454.
^'Cf. Illinois Catholic Historical Review, vol. II, p. 190, s. s.
" Shea /. c. p. 457.
** The first mention of the Kansas or K.Tnzas tribe of Indians is that in Don Juan
de Onate's Account of his Expedition to the Great Plains in search of the elusive city of
Quiviras, in 1601 :
"Proceeding <n the day of the glorious levite and martyr, San Lorenzo," Onate's
narrative states, "God was pleased that we should begin to see those monstrous cattle
7(i REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
ernor William Clark,^^ the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the
West, residing- at St. Louis, for the purpose of obtaining Catholic mis-
sionaries. A Protestant preacher, who offered his services, was quick-
ly rejected by the savages. General Clark sent the delegation to the
Cathedral. Here Father Lutz heard of their wishes, and immediately
decided to undertake the mission, if Bishop Rosati would consent.
The Bishop was absent from St. Louis at the time, but when he re-
turned, about September, Father Lutz gave him no rest, begging, op-
portune, importune, that the Kanzas mission be assigned to him.
General Clark seconded the petition of Father Lutz, and as he was
the most influential personage at the time in St. Louis, Bishop Rosati
gave his consent, though somewhat reluctantly, partly on account of
the youth and inexperience of the missionary, partly on account of the
dearth of priests necessary for the care of the ever-growing Catholic
population. The appointment was dated from the Barrens, July 23,
1828.
As you have manifested to us from the very first day of your coming to
St. Louis your ardent desire of devoting yourself to the salvation of the indi-
genous tribes that wander through the forests of this vast diocese; and as Divine
Providence seems now to open a way to the conversion of the nation called the
Kansas, we, in accordance with your fervent wish, and knowing you well qualified
as to the science, prudence and doctrine necessary for this undertaking, send you
as messenger of the Gospel to the aforementioned people and appoint you as
missionary of that and of the neighboring tribes, giving you the necessary facul-
ties, arbitrio nostro valituras. In the meantime, we humbly pray the Supreme
Pastor of Souls that He maydeign to accompany you on your journey with His
all-powerful grace, sustain you in your undertaking and give abundant fruit to
your labors.*"
Father Lutz was only 26 years old when he set out for the land
of the Kansas. Father Saulnier in his letter to Bishop Rosati ex-
pressed grave doubts as to the young man's qualifications. Not very
robust physically, of a lively disposition, impatient of contradiction,
and lacking in perseverance. Father Lutz, indeed, was not the man to
make an ideal missionary among savages ; yet, though his zeal outran
his discretion, he certainly deserves credit for his good will and for
the results obtained. On July 30, 1828, the young and enthusiastic
called cibola Cbuffalo). Although they were fleet of foot, on this day four or five of the
bulls were killed, which caused great rejoicing. On the following day, we saw great droves
of bulls and cows, and from there on the multitude which we saw was so great that it
might be considered a falsehood ."ly one who had not seen them . . .; and they were
so tame *hat nearly always, unless they were frightened or chased, they remained quiet
and did not flee."
Marching onward, the Spaniards came to the temporary villages of the roving Escan-
jaques (EscansaquesI or Kansas Indians. "They were not a people that sowed or reaped,
but lived solely on cattle (buffalo) meat," Onate reports. "They were ruled by chiefs, and
like communities that are freed from subjection to any lord, they obeyed their chiefs but
little. They had large quantities of hides which, wrapped about their bodies, served as cloth-
ing; but the weather beiing hot, all the men went about nearly naked, the women being
clothed from the waist down. Men and women alike used bows and arrows, with which they
were very dexterous."
Cf. Fr. Zephyrin Engelhardt, O.F.M., in Franciscan Herald, March, 1920.
•» Governor William Clark, the companion of Meriwether Lewis on the celebrated Journev
of Exploration to the Rocky Mountains. 1804-1816. Brother of George Rogers Clarke, of
Ka.skaskia fame, and Superintendent of Indian AfTairs until his death, which occurred in St.
Louis September 1, 1838.
** Archives of Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 77
apostle of the Kanzas started, in company of the Indian Agent, Bar-
onet Vasquez, and several others, for his destination near the mouth
of the Kansas River. Baronet Vasquez was a Catholic. The great
influence of this gentleman with the Indians seemed to insure the
success of Father Lutz's mission. But before the end of the journey,
early in August, Baronet Vasquez died and the good Father had to
convey the sad news to the family of the departed. The Chouteaus
had a great trading establishment on the Kansas River.*^ They, too,
were Catholic? and most of their employes also. Father Lutz speaks
of the morals of these frontiersmen in rather harsh terms.'*- Of the
savages his opinion was even worse, so much so that he declined for
the present to confer baptism on any adult among them, saying "that
they must first be made human beings, the members of Christ's body."
As far as we know, Father Lutz sent three letters from the Kansas
mission to Bishop Rosati. The first of these seems to be lost. It con-
tained an account of the death of the Indian Agent, Baronet Vasquez.
The opening sentence of the second letter, dated September 28, 1828,
alludes to thi,-. unfortunate circumstance. Father Lutz's Latin letters
are rather verbose, probably owing to the fact that elegant Latinity
seemed most desirable in communications addressed to such an elegant
Latinist as the Bishop of St. Louis certainly was. We would prefer
the rugged English of a Lefevere. Yet this letter is of utmost im-
portance and interest, and has never, as far as we are aware, been pub-
lished except in the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith,Yo\.ll, Sep-
tember 18, 1829, in a somewhat abbreviated French translation. Our
readers, we hope, will be pleased to have "the earliest record extant
of the exercise of the Catholic ministry along the Kansas River," as
Father Garraghan calls it, in a completed form : Absolute completeness
even this version cannot claim, but the omissions we made are only
of trival matters or of more complimentary phrases, and are every-
where indicated by three dots.
Territory of the Kansas Indians, on the nver of the same name, Sept. 28, 1828.
Right Reverend Father, Most Illustrious Prelate:
In my first letter, sent to Your Paternity at the end of August, I gave you
the news of our agent's, Mr. Vasquez' death, and at the same time I explained
to you the singular condition in which Divine Providence has placed me, happily
or unhappily. I cannot decide ; you may judge for yourself. This one thing,
however, seems certain, that I have earned many things to the advantage of my
soul, which, if Mr. Vasquez had lived, I should have experienced not at all or
very late. The name of the Lord be blessed. Through the death of this one man
my affairs had assumed such a hopeless aspect that it became necessary for me
to cast myself entirely into the arms of the all-controlling Father, just as a
child casts itself upon the bosom of its mother; a course exactly befitting one
" "The Chouteaus," as Father Garraghan states in his beautiful booklet, 'Catholic Begin-
nings of Kansas City,' "were the most prominent of the early Indian traders in the region
around thf- mouth of the Kaw," p. 47, giving as references in regard to the various Chouteau
trading houses an article in Kansas Historical Collection, No. 9, pp. 573-574.
♦^ The letters of Father Lutz from the country of the Kansas contain a few scathing
denunciations of treacherous, lying and stealing white trash he met on his excursions. Of the
Chouteaus themselves he speaks in the highest terms of respect.
78 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
who has accepted the Lord as his inheritance and the chalice of salvation, and
now realizes that he has come to that part of his grand office to be the messenger
of Christ the Lord, sent out by Him into the wide world, without scrip or staff.
But these usual accompaniments of the lives of Christ's missionaries, have been
sufficiently dwell upon in my first letter; if perhaps more than proper, I would
ask your pardon for the beginner, who at that time had not learned to bear the
glorious cross of Christ in silence, without the noise of many words, but is now
learning, through the grace of God, to think little of all these things, however
burdensome they be, as long as Christ is preached to the poor. May the Lord
preserve this good will and greatly strengthen it. Now I will briefly explain
what has been done so far, what must yet be done, and why I have not sent a
letter ere this, all which matters I know you wish to know.
You Grace must realize that, owing to the great distance between the setle-
ments here, it is very difficult to send letters from this country. The agent's
liouse. where I nxed my residence, is on the banks of the Kansas River sixty-five
miles from the former home of the late Mr. Vasquez.*^ The little towns, how-
ever, which supply mailing facilities, are more than fifteen miles away. There-
fore, when we wish this thing to be done, we have either to take our letters
there ourselves or send them by a trusted mssenger. One of these towns is
named Liberty, the other Independence. The latter town is situated on our side
of the Missouri River, the former on the opposite side. . . The town of Lib-
erty I was not Rs yet able to visit, but in a little while I can and must do so, as
[ am resolved to see the entire surrounding region. Independence I have visited
but once, and at times I have sent messengers there for my mail, if there was any.
Camp Leavenworth, which is 35 miles from our home, has no service of public
conveyances, so that its inhabitants are forced to send their mail to Liberty, a
distance of 36 miles. Considering these facts, 3'ou will certainly not blame me
if you should fail to receive a letter from me. . . In regard to this pre-
liminary visit to the country of the Indians, it must be confessed that it was
altogether necessary. I myself feel deeply its various advantages. I will relate
them briefly: It is there I began to learn the very alphabet of apostolical life,
to accustom the body to its hardships, and to put a correct estimate on the great-
ness as v/ell as ihe excellence of my office ; then to know the Indian ways of liv-
ing, their mode of feeling and their superstitions, the various conditions of these
regions and the distance between places ; to understand the characters of the various
persons with whom I certainly or probably may have to live, to decide what per-
sons should be consulted, what persons avoided by me, who of them are of good
will, who of evil disposition. I also learned the pecularities of the Kansas dia-
lect, wherein it seemed different from our idioms, and what special difficulties
it offered; lastly, I was helped to decide where the missioners' residence should
be established, what provisions could be made for their sustenance, and what
matters we should lay before the civil authoritis. I hope and wish that an occa-
sion may be offered when I can speak to you about these matters. Now permit
me to recount in detail how my time in these parts was passed. I departed from
St. Louis on July 30th ; on August 12th I arrived at the former home of Mr.
Vasquez, the Indian agent, where I remained five days before starting for the
Kansas River; on August iQth I reached the house erected by the government
on the banks of the Kansas River. On August 20 I had the first interview with
the chief of the Kansas nation; on August 24, I, together with an interpreter,
visited the famil/ of the chief and other families, sixteen in number, living only
about two miles from our stopping place; and this I did several times. On
September 17th I obtained my fervent wish of organizing a meeting with the
barbarians. On September i8th, I set out for Camp Leavenworth, where I re-
mained six days, certaainly longer than I had intended. On October ist I will
return to the home of Mrs. Vasquez, as I find no means of subsistence here,
and the Kansas tribe, with the exception of three families, has already gone on
its hunting excursion. These things, here mentioned in a general way. you may
be pleased to read at greater length. The house of the agent, Vasquez, on the
" Barnnet Vasquez, son of Benito Vasquez, of St. Louis, was of Spanish extraction.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 79
banks of the Missouri River, was heretofore considered the meeting place of
the Indians, but now, after his death, the visits of the Indians are becoming less
frequent, the house of the new agent having been established elsewhere, I believe
on the Kansas River. The widow Vasquez still resides at the old house. She is a
matron of great piety. She has a small family, but a well-educated one ; she
takes good care of me, almost as if I were one of the children of the household,
providing me with the necessaries of life on my journey; she shines forth with
good example in frequenting the sacraments and practicing devotion ; and she
edifies her family with her virtues. Not so the other Catholics, alas! that live
in the neighborhood. They are "slothful bellies," not much different from the
Cretans, addicted to drink and much talking, ignorant, to pass over in silence
the rest of their vices. I except two or three persons from this charge. Some of
them live with Indian concubines, refusing the grace which is offered to them
by my ministry. Only two could I prevail upon to dismiss their concubin;2S
and contract in legitimate marriages. The third one tried to deceive me, but in
vain. . .
I leave this corner of the earth with no small regret, but I feel a stronger
impulse towards the Barbarians, and I desire to arrive among them as early as
possible, as it is to be feared that, through a longer delay I might find the chief of
the nation (Nombe-ware,** i. «-., the Furious, or Moushouska, White Plume),
no longer among the living. Having been ailing for a long time he began to
carry things to extremes, and that is a two-fold manner. Indignant at the evils
that had befallen him, White Plume, armed with a pistol, rushed forth and threat-
ening death to God, directed a shot towards heaven, exclaiming, "Oh, would that
I had destroyed thee this time for having sent so many evils to my family and
to my whole nation!" (During the past year about i8o of the Kansas tribe,
together with the chief's principal wife, two sons and many other members of
his family, were taken by death). As White Plume's illness became worse, he
repented of his word and deed and earnestly asked forgivenesss from Heaven.
But God delayed hearing the prayer of the sick man and willed that the barbarian
should begin to improve in health only two days before my advent. White
Plume was hardly notified of my coming when he gathered all his strength and
had himself placed on a horse, in order to welcome the Taborco*^ (the name by
which he always addressed me). I was greatly surprised at seeing him enter my
room, especially as rumors were current that he had died. I ran to meet him,
and as he seemed to stagger, I supported him with my hand, offered him a chair
and pressed his proffered hand. He that was wont to speak with stentorian voice
now gave forth such a gentle whisper that the meaning of his words could hardly
be gathered by the interpreters : "O, my Father, you are welcome. At last you
are here whom I have so long desired. I am happy ; but I would rejoice still
more if I could celebrate your coming in perfect health. May the Great Healer
(Washkanta) ,1 pray, restore my health. It is my intention to assist you in all
things that you wish to do among the Kansas. My only son (tl>e others had
all died), I will send to be educated by you as soon as you have a home. In the
same way all the chiefs of our nation in my obedience shall act towards you.
How long will you stay with us? When will you have a hou'^e? Remember
this : Do not have your house too far away from mine. The nearer it is the
more it will please me, so that I may consult with you in the government of the
*• White Plume, or the Furious, it will be remembered, had been in St. Louis early in
May, 1827, to ask for a missionary for his people. In St. Louis he met a number of the
clergy, probably also Father de la Croix, the future missionary to the Osages. Washington
Irving, in his "Adventures of Captain Bonnville, U. S. A., in the Rocky Mountains and the
Far West," gives a pleasant account of the old chief in 1832; when White Plume gave proofs
of having acquired some of the lights of civilization from his proximity to the whites, as was
evinced in his knowledge of driving a bargain. He required hard cash in return for some
corn with which he supplied the worthy captain, and left the latter at a loss which most do
admire, his native chivalry as a brave, or his acquired adroitness as a trader." Irving, Captain
Bonnville, ch. II. From the same account it appears that the Kansas had begun to raise
corn, but had not left off their hunting excursions. White Plume was still Inhabiting the
great stone house on the Kansas River, "a palace without a wigwam within," as Irving says.
The Kansas were still at war with ihe Pawnees.
" The Tabosco is the Kansas word for Black Gown, or Black Robe, meaning the Catholic
priest. "Washkanta," also Wakonda, is the Great Spirit.
80 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
Kansas. I am not able to talk with you very long to-day, my voice having be-
come so weakened ; but I am expecting our hunters, who will bring me buffalo
meat, with which I can regain strength." Knowing full well what authority this
great chief wielded among his people and how necessary it was for the pros-
perous course of my undertaking, I determined to leave no stone unmoved in
order to restore his health. I wanted to give him medicine, to keep him in my
house and to take watchful care of the sick man, but prudence objected to all
those things; if he should die using my medicines this whole wild and super-
stitious nation would blame me. The two interpreters, who stood by, seemed to
hint at the same thing. I, therefore, superseded the medicine with a goblet of
rich wine, after drinking which the chief said that it had warmed his stomach,
and begged earnestly that after a few days I should send him another specimen
of the same medicine. This I readily promised to do.
Returning home he sent ten messengers, men and women, in various direc-
tions, to meet the hunters and to announce the coming of Tabosco. They
smoked in honor of Tabosco on the whole journey, they sang and shouted for
joy. At last the inhabitants of the four villages arrived from their long journey
and brought heaps of buffalo meat. White Plume overflows with vigor, enjoying
as perfect health as he did when he was most robust. Two chiefs brought me a
very large portion of buffalo meat, and they stood wondering at me eating of
it, although it was not cooked. "Behold," one said, "Tabosco has no aversion
to us. He is not squeamish and delicate, as the Fathers of the Osages," mean-
ing thereby the Protestant missionaries). '"Do you not see in his eyes how he
loves us, how .iffable he is," said one to another in a low voice. They desired
to spend the night in my bedroom, and I readily obliged them. Like two satellites
they enclosed me, lying on the floor in the middle of my room, one on my right
side, the other on my left. With great big eyes they looked at me performing
my morning prayers. They hardly dared to breathe. Having returned home the
next day, White Plume visited me once more. But he now spoke in loud tones,
talking much of his joy and that of the entire tribe and asking many questions.
He enquired attentively of Tabosco, what is the purpose of his mission, what
are the causes which led him to stay with them four months of this year, what
education he would give the children, and what obedience would be required.
At last I suggested that I desired very much he should, as opportunity offered,
convoke the other Kansas, to whom T could then explain the things I had at
heart. He answered that this could hardly be done before the middle of Sep-
tember, because not all would be back from their hunting excursion before that
time. It would seem more satisfactory, he said, to select the time when they
would come together for the government's annual distribution of gifts. I ac-
quiesced and di'-missed the man. I then began to cut the timbers and to adorn
the chapel. When I had finished this work I took care to examine the country
and to consider what I must build if I should happen to come to reside here.
White Plume now visited me for the third time: "Write," he said, "to Red
Hair (General W. Clark), *« that as Vasquez is dead, he should send us another
agent who will properly attend to our affairs. We do not want an American.
We ask for a Frenchman, certainly none other than Cyprian or Francis Chou-
teau. The five other chiefs of the Kansas are likewise in favor of these two.
Sign my name and the names of these, and urge at the same time your own
undertaking, so that you can more easily and more quickly come to stay with us.
I have great hopes that our nation will, by your help, be shortly changed for
the better."
I wrote immediately commending their request and my own to the governor
and, impatient of delay. I expected the new agent from day to day. And, behold,
there arrived Mr. Dunnay McNair,*'' a youth of about twenty years sent by
" In 1832 a brother of the General Clark of Columbia River fame was Indian Agent
among the Kansas, as successor to Vasquez and Dunnay McNair. Cf. Bonneville's Adventures
ch. II.
" Dunning McNair, son of the first Governor of Missouri, .Alexander McNair, was a
Catholic, although his father probably never became affiliated with the church. Cf.Edward
Brown's Sketch of the Life of Alexander McNair, in St. Louis Catholic Historical Review,
vol. I, p. 231 s. s.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 81
Governor Clark, who has no little confidence in the young man. He is to take
the place of the agent with the Kansas. Governor Clark, having been advised
by me of the death of Mr. Vasquez, had immediately appointed him, not having
as yet received my first letter. The young man is a Catholic of good morals,
and endowed with sufficient knowledge, sincere and prudent, a friend and de-
fender of religion, most attentitve to his work, and friendly to me. We do not
yet know whether he will be agent with full power or not. He helps me very
much by his auihority and his kindness. He frequently says that nothing is to
be despaired of (nil dcsperandum) , under the auspices of Governor Clark, who
really takes great interest in the success of the mission, and he assures me that
the sale of thirty-six sections of land will certainly be held in the month of Octo-
ber or November, and then our work could be begun. The vice-agent requested
White Plume to call an assembly of the Indians, telling them that he wished to
explain some matters to them in council. The messengers go out and call to-
gether the warriors of four of the villages. The third day after the call had
gone out about two hundred and forty Indians from the surrounding country
come there and listen to what the vice-agent might proclaim. For the whole day
the Kansas remain in session. The medals are distributed and the laws and the
treaties ire explained, the thieves are whipped, and the cultivation of the land
is urgently recommended, and the permanent location in one village is demanded.
The Tabosco is presented to them. The annual distribution is promised when
the Kansas shall assemble at Fort Leavenworth, and many other things are
approved. The barbarians agreed with almost everything except the plan of
permanently locating in one village, and abandoning their hunting life. Rumors,
clamors and complaints arose, but in vain. With all my strength I urged the
necessity of the matter contained in the first point (uniting the tribe in one vil-
lage), and I argued against the foolish and destructive plan adopted by them, to
remove their home a hundred and fifty miles from our house. (This, a large
party among them had decided on. against the wishes of White Plume, at the
very time that they returned from their hunting grounds, and had seen for the
first time the elegant place offering such various conveniences). They now
understand how proper and useful it would be to unite in one village, where
all their tents should be fixed. The place selected at a distance of about one
day's journey, was approved by all with the exception of a few stiff-necked
people, who, however, have to follow the crowd. After having visited, as I hope
to do, the four villages, I will examine the proposed location and describe it in my
next letter. The agent now having finished what he wished to propose, I arose
and demanded in a loud voice that all should remain the next day also, as I had
some things to announce to tliem. The next day at 8 o'clock all were gathered in
the chapel, which is as large as the study hall in St. Louis College. They all
assembled at the ringing of the bell. Those present were the new agent, two
interpreters, three other Catholics ; a large altar, beautifully ornamented, the pic-
ture of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the middle of the altar, on the right side a
large crucifix, on the left a picture of the sorrowful Virgin of the same size.
The Tabosco, clad in his sacred vestments, gravely walked from his chamber
and entered the chapel. All genuflect, the Veni Creator with the oration is
intoned. High Mass is sung. At the consecration all are commanded to bend
the knee, there is deep silence. After the Mass all sit down. Tabosco stands at
the epistle side and preaches. After every sentence the barbarians exclaim
"How!" That is. "Good!" It would take too long to repeat word for word what
I said; let it suffice that I preached on the purpose of my coming and mission,
on the desire of my heart to procure the salvation of all the Kansas, on the
One God and His attributes, making no mention, for the present, of the Trinity,
on God the Creator and Giver of all good, on the human soul being immortal,
on God the Judge and Rewarder, on the eternal fire, and the joys of Heaven, on
sin and the sins in particular, to which the Kansas are specially addicted, or the
necessity of hearing Tabosco's preaching, on the obedience due to him, on Christ
the Lord crucified, on the gratitude to God, who is now offering to them his
82 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
grace in abundance ; lastly, on the education of their children, to be undertaken
by us, on the raising of the Holy Cross among them, and on the visits to be made
to the four villages, and the children to be baptized. These are in brief the
things which I had explained to them in our first meeting. The ceremony con-
cluded with the canticle 'Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel' and the 'Our Father'
and the 'Hail Mary.' The Canticle pleased them very much. Their tears flowed
m the presence of the Crucified Lord. They repeated to one another what they
had heard, one the things concerning heaven, the other the things concerning
hell, another the sufferings of Christ. "Ah," exclaimed White Plume, "how I
was enlightened to-day!" "Wazzeche, wazzeche," that is, how good to have a
Tabosco ! others exclaimed. But I sigh ; give me souls, O Jesus ; may thy king-
dom come. As regards the baptism of the infants, it is very much desired by the
Kansas. This reason, besides others, moved me to promise then in public not
to return to St. Louis before I had baptized all the little ones ; especially as so
many of them have died since the time I came here. Indeed, an old man, when
dying, asked day and night, to see the Tabosco, in order to receive baptism. He
was deprived of baptism by a sad circumstance and died, leaving to his relatives
his anxieties about their future state and the punishments to be undergone by
them unless they were willing to receive the salutary waters. Certainly, a firm
faith in this sacrament, forcing others also to believe in it. At the time when this
Indian called me I was detained at Fort Leavenworth. After the death of the
old man the family asked me what I thought concerning his doom. Having
given the proper answer I sent the greatly relieved inquirers home.
Perhaps Your Paternity will ask, why I have not already made my home in
the country of the barbarians. This I had certainly wished to do and already
fixed the day on which I should undertake the journey with an interpreter, but
the contrary seemed to be more advisable on account of the celebration of cer-
tain feasts, which occupy the barbarians for the space of two weeks, and which
are the occasion of great tumult, drunkenness and strife. I preferred to post-
pone the visit rather than expose my dignity to insult. I take great care to pre-
serve the authority of my person, never tolerating even the least thing contrary
to the respect due to me. In the beginning some loose women of the barbarians
began to uncover their bodies immodestly in my presence, to whom I said indig-
nantly that thev should cover themselves or go away. On another occasion,
when I happened to see some immodest women lying on the floor of our house,
surpassing the former ones in looseness, I took to flight and requested the inter-
preter to report the matter to White Plume, which, having been done, I never
had another similar experience.
Two warriors have been assigned to me, to be at my service, but only when
I am exercising my religious functions. It is their office to preserve order and
silence whilst I say Mass or preach, to accompany me and to close the door, and
call the people tu church by ringing the bell. This is considered a great honor
and much desired by many. Having explained to them their duties, I promised
to give each one a little cross when I should return from St. Louis. The name
of the one is "Tatsche Sagai" (Wild Wind) : of the other, "Nikananseware"
(Exterminator (<i Men). Let me add a few words on the location of the build-
ings erected by the government on the banks of the Kansas River. Fancy a
valley, half a league wide and long, with five large houses, of which one is for
the agent of the nation, the second for the interpreter, the third for the black-
smith, the fourth for the farming expert, the fifth, built of stone, is for White
Plume. The first four follow one another in a straight line, the fifth is two
miles farther on. As to the mission house, I intend to build it where the air is
purer, if this be agreeable to the Governor and to the other members of the
mission. The soil is most fertile ; there are many forest patches all around, but
not too many ; but the salubrity of the air is not the same everywhere. Every
newcomer is forced to pay tribute to the bilious fevers and chills obtaining here.
In all these parts around the Missouri and Kansas Rivers there is nothing more
usual than that the new settler is attacked by fevers, headaches and pains of the
stomach. I for myself had the bilious fever five days ; after that I felt well
and had an insatiable appetite. The air at Camp Leavenworth is even worse.
MISSIONS FROM ST. I.Ol'lS 83
Just now there are at least one hundred persons there on the sick list. I went
there with the vice-agent (McNair), the interpreter, and io8 of the Indians, to
attend the annual distribution of gifts to the tribesmen. .A.t lirst I felt very well;
on the third day I myself and Mr. McNair had to fight against an attack of
chills and fever for the space of four days. Here I heard tiie confessions of
two soldiers, one an Irishman and the other a Frenchman; I baptized six infants
and comforted the sick. I will go there once more in the beginning of Novem-
ber, to baptize a number of the infants of the officers and to perform the other
religious functions. I was received with the highest honors by the officers, who
invited me to their mess, and in the evening entertained me with military music.
I have distributed various books, of which I have a great number, treating of
the Truth of the Catholic Faith. There is a murderer in the prison, soon to
suffer the death penalty. I will try to convert the doomed man and to prepare
him for death. I have baptized at other places and at different times 28 infants,
and shall baptize many more.
Of the other Indian nations I have visited only the Shawneons, who seem
to be more intent on acquiring temporal goods than those that will last forever.
Their time seems not yet come. Nevertheless, I will try again and see if an
opening can be made there. It would, indeed, be gratifying if I could win to
Christ this tribe, living along our way in elegant houses. An invitation to visit
the Iowa tribe, about 60 miles from our house, was extended to me by their
agent, General Us, who also promised to do what he could to provide shelter
and food for me, if I should decide to take up my abode with his nation. The
next neighbors of the lowas are the Ottawas, who use about the same language.
This journey cannot possibly be made, that is. at present, because the agent is
now absent from home, to return to those tribes only about the middle of No-
vember. The gifts you intended for White Plume I have delivered and thereby
given great pleasure to the chief. The barbarity and superstition of the Kansas
tribe is too great to find ready belief. Therefore, I am in no hurry to admit
any adult to holy baptism. They must first be made human beings, then members
of Christ's body. . . .
To-morrow I will go to the home of Mrs. Baronette Vasquez to prepare her
several daughters for First Holy Communion and instruct the faithful in the
duties of Christian life. . . .
I kiss your paternal hand, the hand of our Common Father. Your most
obedient son, Joseph Anthony Lutz.
Missionary Priest with the Kanzas.
This letter held out great hopes for the imminent conversion of
the Kansas Indians ; yet the work seemed beyond the power and en-
durance of our man. Father Lutz, White Plume's Tabosco, never
returned to the promising field. On November 12. 1828, he wrote his
last letter Ex Agro Kansas Rivi to his beloved bishop. It contains
only a few points of minor interest. The reasons for his premature
return to St. Louis are an early and probably very severe winter, and
the hopelessness of achieving any good in the unknown and pathless
country. The Kanzas had promised to return home by the end of Octo-
ber, and had even now, November 12, given no sign of fulfilling their
promise," thus making it doubtful whether the Tabosco could adminis-
ter baptism to all their children before his departure for St. Louis." It
seemed they were purposely delaying their home-coming. It would,
therefore, be their own fault if their children should not receive the
sacrament of regeneration. As to the mission-cross, I will in anv
case, erect and bless it, if not solemnly, then privately, in the presence
of some of the Kansas.
The last month he had spent at the home of Mrs. Vasquez. teach-
84 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
ing, preaching, baptizing, hearing confessions and saying Mass. "Visit-
ing the town of Liberty, he found but one CathoHc in the whole place,
the wife of Dr. Curtiss, a native of St. Louis." His attempts to visit
Fort Leavenworth once more was frustrated by his guide, who left
him, media in zna, so that he had to return home. Messrs. Francis,
Cyprian and Frederick Chouteau were putting up a grand building on
the Kansas River, which would serve as the Emporium, or trading post,
for all the Shawneons and Kansas. "Francis Chouteau treats me
very kindly and promises me his continued support," Father Lutz con-
cludes his last letter from the Kansas River. His missionary attempt-
was but a faint promise of the greater things to come.^^
V. Jesuit Missions in the Indian Territory.
The ancient glories of the Jesuit Missions of the Illinois were to
be renewed in a measure beyond the great river, far to the west ; but
the rise and progress of this new effort is intimately connected Vv^ith cer-
tain dishonorable dealings of our government, State and national, in
regard to the nations that once possessed the land from ocean lo ocean.
Treaty upon treaty was made and broken with disastrous consequences,
until the Indian has almost vanished from the face of the earth. "A
Century of Dishonor" is the title of the book that treats of our broken
faith with the Indians. It is a sad story, but well worth our attention.
As we proceed in our sketch we will meet with a few examples of our
burning shame.
"The gov'ernment of Ihe United States." says an elegant writer, probably
Father O'Hanlon, in the November nnmber, 1843, of the Catholic Cabinet of St.
Louis,, "having deemed it good policy to concentrate the aborigines of the coun-
try, commonly called Indians, assigned for this purpose a territory, beyond
which, within a distance of 1500 miles, no suitable habilation for white men can
be made. This Indian territory is bounded by the States of Missouri and Ar-
kansas towards the east, by the so-called American desert on the west ; by Texas
on the south, and by the Missouri and Platte rivers to the north. It has been
assigned as the permanent abode of the various Indian tribes scattered through-
out the Union. The Pawnees, Omahas, Kanzas, Osages and Missourians roamed
at large over the lands of this territory, before this plan was adopted by our
government, which as a necessary consequence of the new appropriation, was
obliged to confine them within certain limits : and to persuade them to cede
part of their lands to their red brethren east of the Mississippi. In consequence
of this arrangement the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees. Creeks, Seminoles,
Senecas, Pottowatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas. Otoes, Miamis, Shawanees, Dela-
wares, Kickapoos, lowas, and Foxes, emigrated — some by force, others by per-
suasion, but all most unwillingly from the various States of the Union to the
respective portions of the territory assigned to them by the U. S. Government.
The original inhabitants of this territory are called the indigenous tribes, and are
savage and wretched to the extreme: the emigrant tribes are more or less civ-
ilized, according to the different relations they have had with the settlers of the
States. The whole number of the Indians of this territory amounts to about
80,000 souls. With regard to their numbers, it may be observed that they appear
gradually to decrease, owing to their inordinate mode of living, their vicious
habits, the unsuitableness of the soil, the change of air by emigration, etc. So
that they may be said, in the language of the Prophet Osee, "to disappear as early
dew that passeth away — as the dust that is driven with a whirlwind out of the
floor — and as the smoke out of the chimney (c. 13, v. 3).
** Archives of (he Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis.
MISSIONS l-ROM ST. LOUIS 85
It is true t!iat the emigrant tribes have some civilization; but, generally
speaking, witb all ilie vices ol the white men, they have brought few or none of
their virtues over lu the Indian wilds.
j\lany efforts at converting these unhappy children of the wilder-
ness had been made, as we have seen, and were being made by the rep-
resentatives of various Christian denominations; but these divisions
and consequent dissensions proved the chief stumbling block to their
sticcess. Our author continues :
The state nt our Holy Religion is truly deplorable among these unhappy
people. Almost all the tribes are in favor of Catholic missioners, and feel a
kind of natural aversion to Protestant preachers, And yet, in the absence of the
former the latter are almost everywhere to be found; and the whole territory
has about 30 Protestant missionary establishments. But every, plantation not
made by the hand of the Father shall be rooted out. Vain are the efforts of
these unsent apostles to make proselytes among the Indians. They may. indeed,
scatter hundreds of Bibles among the savages; but these are neither prized nor
understood. The principle that faith is to be conceived by the Bible — and by
the Bible alone — proves quite incomprehensible to the illiterate and savage mind;
and the consequence is tliat all the Protestant congregations of the Indian terri-
tory do not amount to ~.(X) souls.
While a few of the Indians, whose devotion is bought and paid for, like any
other marketable commodity, are nominal adherents to Protestantism; while
tliousands daily worsliip their Manitos and indulge in all the execesses of un-
l)ridled licentiousness; the voice of the Catholic Church is almost unheard, ex-
cept on the banks of Sugar Creek, tributary stream of the north fork of the
Osage River. We would, however, willingly indulge the hope that within a few
years a line of Catholic Missions may be established from the Missouri River
down to Texas— a plan by no means difficult of execution, and one which would
be of incalculable advantage to religion. The field is large and the harvest prom-
ising, but the laborers are by far too few.^o
These fond hopes, held out in 1843, were not realized, owing to
the rapid changes in the political and social conditions of these regions,
as well as to the vices and weaknesses of the Indians themselves. Yet
great efforts were made by the Church and untold good was accom-
plished in behalf of the Indians, as our author shows :
Twenty years ago the zealous Bishop of Upper and Lower Louisiana, Louis
William Valentine Du Bourg. directed the views of his ever active zeal towards
the unfortunate Indians, especially the Osages. With the co-operation of the
Rev. Charles Van Quickenborne, then Superior of the Jesuits of Missouri, two
schools were opened for Indian youths in the township of Florissant, near St.
Louis ; the Indian boys were placed under the charge of the Jesuits, and the girls
under that of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart. To enable them to succeed in
this undertaking, the leverend gentlemen under whose care the schools were
placed, applied to the government for a moderate annual income from the sum
annually appropriated for the civilization of the Indians. This request was
readily complied with, but the greatest obstacle to success was found to consist
in the unwillingness of the Indian youth to quit their parents' home, their sports
and their games, and to go to a distant place for the purpose of acquiring the
learning which they so little valued. It was soon discovered that to establish
missionary stations among the Indians in their own country would be a more
successful and 'e=s difficult enterprise. In consequence, this having been deter-
<» Catholic Cabinet, St, I.ouis, vol. I, p. 406.
«> Catholic Cabinet, vol. I, p. 407.
86 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
mined on, tlie Rev. Charles de la Croix, then missioner in the State of Missouri,
now a Canon Regular in Ghent, set out on a visit to the Osages — one of the
most savage of the Indian tribes. His efforts were blessed with success, and
records now before us prove that the number of children baptized by him on
that occasion was very larg^e and the number of marriages he blessed not incon-
siderable. Shortly after he was followed by the Rev. C. Van Quickenborne,
who also visited the Osage nation, and who was particularly successful in in-
ducing the chiefs and headmen of the tribe to send their sons and daughters to
St. Louis County. The schools, composed of Osage, Iowa and Iroquois youths,
flourished for a few years, but were finally broken up, in consequence of the com-
plaints of their parents, on seeing their children separated from them by such a
distance, as also of the disinclination of the young Indians to bend under the
yoke of disciplined^
The first idea of Father Van Quickenborne to convert the tribes
by separating the children from the parents during the most pHant
years of their hves and instructing them in the practice of the true
reUgion and in the ways of civihzed Hfe, having proved impracticable,
at least on a larger scale, the old Jesuit plan of establishing missionary
centers among the Indians, with churches, schools, and a kind of pa-
ternal authority, even in civil matters, was taken up and carried for-
ward with gratifying results. We will quote the final chapter of the
accoimt as contained in the Catholic Cabinet :
In 1835 the Rev. Father Van Quickenborne paid a missionary visit to the
Miamis, on tlie north fork of the Osage River. They are the small remnants
of four once powerful nations, the Kaskaskias, the Peorias, the Weas and the
Piankeshaws. He was received by them with great joy; and many of them,
having been baptized in their infancy by the priests who attended the old French
villages in Illinois, showed unfeigned readiness to enroll themselves anew under
the standard of the cross. They seemed to be indifferently pleased with the
Methodist station, established among them, and willingly promised to return t(?
the faith of their fathers, among whom the Jesuit missionaries had so success-
fully labored during the early part of the last century. An old woman, whose
gray hair and bent-up form showed that she had belonged to by-gone times,
crawled up to the missionary, grasped his hand with a strong expression of ex-
ultation, and pronounced him to be a true black gown, sent to instruct her hao-
less and neglected nation. She had lived at least a score of winters longer than
any other of her tribe, but yet '•he distinctly remembered t-o have been prepared
for her first communion by one of the Jesuits who attended the flourishing mis-
sion of Kaskaskias. His name she could not bring to mind, but described his
dress and features in a manner to show what a deep impression this recollection
of her early youth continued to make on her mind. She also gave a description
of the old church of Kaskaskia; recited her prayers and sang a Canticle in the
language of the tribe. She told the missioner that her constant prayer had been
that her tribe, now exiled and almost extinct, might have the happiness to see a
true black gown among them. She congratulated those around her on the
occasion and cried out, like Simeon, that her eyes had seen him now, and that
she was ready lo mix her bones with those of her fathers. Her death, which
took place a few days^ after, was a great loss to the missioner. As she was the
only person who knew the prayers in the Indian language, and the only one who
appeared to have kept herself untainted by the general depravity of those by
whom she was surrounded.
The few remaining Miamis have never had any permanent Catholic mission
in their situation ; yet they continue to be visited at time. Among them, how-
ever, in their original residence, near Chicago, Father Marquette, the first ex-
plorer of the Mississippi, labored as early as 1675. In 1836 the first Catholic
" Catholic Cabinet, vol. I, 407 and 408.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 87
Missionary settlement was made among the Indians of this territory. The Rev.
C. V^in Quiclcenborne, of the Society of Jesus, with Father Hoeken and two
lay brothers, opened a mission among the Kickapoos. Suitable buildings were
erected, a neat chapel built, and the zeal of the missionaries was displayed m
almost incessant labors by day and by night ; but the soil proved for the time
ungrateful ^-
Of these beginnings of Father Van Quickenborne's missionary
labors among the Indians of Missouri and the Indian Territory, we
will place before our readers the account given in 1840 by the Rev. P.
J. Verhagen, '"'.J., Provincial of Missouri, to the Most Reverend Arch-
bishop and Rt. Rev. Bishop in Provincial Council assembled :
The Indian missions having been entrusted to the care of this western por-
tion of the Society of Jesus, by the prelates of the United States, we deem it a
duty to lay before them some particulars respecting their establishment, progress
and future prospects. No sooner was this wide field opened to our labors than
the Rev. Father Van Quickenborne, of happy memory, with his characteristic
zeal began to make preparations to open a mission among the nearest tribes.
For tliis purpose, he visited several of the Atlantic cities, in order to procure
the necessary fimds. He succeeded, after great exertions, in collecting about:
fifteen hundred dollars. On the 20th day of May, 1836, he set out, in company
with another Father and two lay brothers for the Indian country, and arrived
at his destination among the Kickapoos, on the ist of June of the same year.
The agent of these Indians, not being, at first, favorably disposed, refused the
requisite permission for building a house and when at length he consented, the
sea.^on was so far advanced that all the funds at the disposal of the missioners
were expended in raising a frame building 24x20 feet, and several months passed
before it was ready for their accommodation. In the meantime they availed
th^emselves of the kindness of a trader, who offered them his log cabin. When
the new building was completed it served as a chapel, school and dwelling. About
twenty children frequented the school — the chapel was well attended on Sundays
• — some few received into the church and many infants baptized. This first
establishment has continued to progress, slowly indeed, but steadily, and affords
a better prospect every year. The latest letters of the missioner give an account
of twenty adult baptisms. If the success has not corresponded to the labors
and expense, it is owing, first, to the presence and opposition of a Methodist
minister who lives among them to the vicinity of the whites, to the difficulties
which was always attend the commencement of such establishments, for in-
stance, the absence of all facilities for the acquirement of the language, etc.^^
More explicit data as to the progress of the Kickapoo station,
including the Kansas Mission near Chouteau's trading house, then the
settlements of Plattsburg and Liberty, the mission among the Wyan-
dotts. and lastly Fort Leavenworth, are given in Father Hoeken's Report
for 1837. The mission among the Kickapos, to use the original spell-
ing, was begun in the month of Jime. 1836. The church was blessed
on Passion Sunday, and Father Van Quickenborne had hardly left the
mission (July 20. 1837), when he died and was succeeded by Father
Felix Verreidt. The mission among the Kansas, after the brief visit
of Father Lutz, was founded about the same time as that among the
Kickapoo. Plattsburg and Liberty date from November, 1837; the
Wyandotte mission, as well as Fort Leavenworth from about the same
time.
°" Catholic Cabinet, vol. I, 408 and 409.
" Original in Archives of Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis.
S8 RHV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
This account finds an interesting supplement in the report of
Father 11. G. Aelen, S.J., dated September 25, 1839:
On the 25th of September, 1839, he, as superior of the missions,
writes from S\tgar Creek concerning the Kickapoo station:
The church, which is under the invocation of St. Francis Xavier, is regularly
attended three times a month, the number of the faithful is about 20. There
is an English school attached to this mission. The resident clergyman is Father
A. Eisvogels, S.J., fort LeaveniK'orth. This station is regularly attended by the
Rev. A. Eisvogels, S.J., once a month. The congregation is very flourishing,
and a great dtal of fruit has been reaped, especially of late, both among the
soldiers and the workmen. Tlie Rev. Eisvogels, S.J., visits also occasionally
Liberty in Clay County and Platlsburg in Clinton County, Missouri.
After a brief account of the Pottawattomie Mission, which we
shall quote latei on, the Report of Father Aelen continues :
Ottazcas Stalinii. A band of about 300 of this nation resides on the left bank
of tlie "mer des cygnes," otherwise llie Osage River. It is regularly visited every
second month l)y tlie Rev. H. G. Aelen, S.J. (from the Pottawatomie Mission).
The congregatit'U. counting about 20 adults, is zealous, and the prospects for
proselytes is very fair. Their language is mostly like tliat of the Pottawatomies.
Miantis Statio)i, comprising the four combined nations, Peorias, Kaskaskias,
Weas and Piankeshaws. This station on the left bank of the "Mer des Cygnes,"
in the Peorias village, has been formed in July last, i. e. 1838, and is attended
every second month by the Rev. H. G. Aelen, S.J., who also attends three times
a year the cliurch at Westport and the missionary station of Independence, in
Jackson County. Missouri.
Concerning the Miami Station, composed, as it was, of the Weas
and Piankshaws, the Kaskaskias and Peorias, Shea says on the authority
of the Annalcs, that originally Catholics of the Illinois Missions, many
of them had become Protestants. The Wea and the Kaskaskia chiefs
had, however, remained Catholic. When Father Quickenborne asked
the assembled people whether they had become Protestants, all were
3ilent, till a woman, with tears, acknowledged it, "believing it better to
be something *han to have no worship."^* This visit of Father Van
Quickenborne was his last work among the Indians. The great mis-
sionary retired to Portage des .Sioux at the confluence of the Missouri
and Mississippi Rivers, where he died August 17, 1837. The founder
was now dead, but his good work of reclaiming and keeping the Indians
for Christ went on without interruption, and with remarkable success.
It is the celebrated Pottawotomie Mission of whose origin and
progress I must now give a brief account. The Pottawotomie Indians
were a branch of the great Algonquin family, and, at the opening of our
western history were in possession of the southern confines of Lake
Michigan from Chicago on the west to South Bend on the east. Having
come in cont.ict with the Jesuit missionaries at an early date, many
Cathobcs, sometimes entire bands, were numbered among them. Their
mission of St. Joseph, near what is tiow South Bend, in Indiana, became
famous as a renter of religious influence. But the rapid spread of the
" Report in Diocesan fhanrery, St. T.nuis.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LUUIS 89
white population tolled the parting knell of this Indian mission, as well
as of the great nation itself. The remnants only reached their new
home in what was then called the Indian Territory, that is, all the
Louisiana Purchase, with the exception of the States of Missouri, Ar-
kansas and Louisiana. All Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and the present
Indian Territory, with Oklahoma, were considered unfit for white set-
tlers, and theiefore, given over to the Indians forever. Before 1838
two great bands of the Pottawotomies had been removed beyond the
Mississippi and assigned new homes along the boundary of the State of
Missouri, and here, as Father Verhaegen. S.J., the Provincial of the
Jesuits informs the Fathers of the Provincial Council assembled at Bal-
timore, May 3. 1840:
A second mission (after the Kickapoo station) was established in 1838 anionti
the Pottawotomies on the Missouri River, near Council Bluffs, aiiout live hun-
dred miles west of the Kickapoo station. Two Fathers and two lay brothers com-
menced this establishment on the 31st of May of the same year. On their
arrival they received from the chief four log cabins for a school, dwelling and
other purposes, tmd from the United States officer a block house (24 feet .square),
which serves as a chapel. One of the Fathers devotes four hours every day to
the instruction of the children in the Christian doctrine; the other makes fre-
quent excursions among the neighboring tribes, and according to his report, has
baptized many children — nearly two hundred adults have been admitted to the
holy communion — the practice of bigamy has been in a great measure removed,
etc. The accounts from this station are of the most cheering character and
describe in glowmg terms the happy disposition of thou.sands of these poor chil-
dren of the forest, particularly of the women and children. ■'S
The "two Fathers" were the celebrated Peter De Smet and his
companion, Felix Verreidt, one of the brothers was Andrew Mazelli,
the other George Miles. These Prairie "Pottawotomies" were a mix-
ture of various tribal remnants, the Pottawotomies predominating and
giving their name to the entire people. One of their leaders was the
celebrated half-breed chief, Billy Caldwell, from Chicago, who had
helped to found the first church in that city under Father St. Cyr. The
block house given to the missionaries by Colonel Kearney was orig-
inally built as a fort, but as the troops had departed there was no
need of a fort, and so it was converted into a church, the only church
in Council Bluffs for a number of years. It was still in existence in'
1855. The mission was placed under the protection of the Blessed
Virgin and St Joseph. Yet, though promising good results, the Potta-
wotomie mission at Council Bluffs was not without its scandals :
From time to time the medicine men would excite greatest trouble. Polyg-
amy, too, presented its fearful obstacle, requiring as it did, a restraint on the
passions, to wh'ch these children of the wilderness were not accustomed; while
intoxication, the deadly bane of the red man, at times converted their towns
into images of hell.^^
^ Archives of Catholic Historical Society of St. F.ouis.
=• J. G. Shea, American Catholic Missions, p. 46.1 Cf. Frnncis Cassilly, S.T. Oldest Jesuit
Mission in Council Bluffs. Reprint from the Crcighton Chronicle, February, 1917.
90 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
The very year of the foundation of the Pottawotomie Mission near
Council Bluffs was to witness the third great immigration of Potta-
wotomies, mostly Catholics, coming from the neighborhood of St. Jo-
seph's, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Let us hear what
Father Verhacgen has to say about this matter ;
In the same year (1838), .six hundred Catholic Pottawotomies from Indiana,
who were accompanied, in their removal, by the late Rev. Fr. Petit, on reaching
their destination, were transferred by him to the care of one of our Fathers.
Their location is on the banks of Sugar Creek, about seventy miles southwest of
the Kickapoos station. This is the most nourishing of all the Indian missions
and realizes the accounts which we read of the missions of Paraguay. A letter
of the missioner, received in January last, states that on Christmas one hundred
and fifty approached the sacred table and all who could be spared from domestic
duties assisted with great devotion at the three solemn Masses, the first at
midnight, the second at daybreak and the third at 10:30. There is but one
Feather at present at the station, and as his presence is almost always required
among his six hundred Catholics, he cannot make frequent excursions to the
neighboring tribes. His catechists, however, perform this duty for him, and
often return with several adults ready to receive baptism. The details of this
mission would form a lengthy and interesting article, we cannot properly find
place in a mere report.
What Father Verhaegen at the time failed to give we will endeavor
to supply from the reports of his colaborers and other trustworthy
documents, and, first of all, I shall quote the words of Fathers Charles
Hoeken and H. Aelen, the founders of the mission. In his report from
the Pottawotomies village, near the Osage River, dated May 14, 1839,
Father Aelen writes. "If it please Your Grace, 1 would call this mis-
sion "Conceptio Beatae Mariae Virginis." On the 2nd day of October,
1838, the Reverend Father Hoeken came to the Osage River and was
about to gather soine bountiful fruit, when the Reverend Father Petit,
of blessed memory, on the second day of November of the same year,
arrived there with a large number of Catholic Indians. A temporary
chapel was raised near the banks of the river, called Pottawotomie
Creek. After the departure of Father Petit, Father Hoeken remained
with these Indians for a time alone, until the Rev. Father P. Aelen
joined him as Iiis assistant, April 26th, 1839. On March 10th the entire
multitude of tlie faithful removed to the river commonly called Sugar
Creek, but renamed by us St. Mary's Creek, there to have their perma-
nent home. .'\ new church was erected in this place under the title
"Conceptio Beatae Mariae V^irginis." Father Hoeken adds a note to
this report as follows :
The Indians under my care are of good disposition and fervent, some of
them were confirmed by Bishop Brute before their western migration. But as
they come from Indiana they were never under the decrees of the Sacred Synod
of Trent (i. e., the ne Temere decree), concerning marriages, consequently they
are not subject to the proclamation of the banns. Besides, the Indian mode of
contracting marriage is altogether different from that of other nations; and
lastly they do not like to have their names proclaimed in church, because they
are very much inclined to bashfulness, so much so that at times they can scarcely
speak, so shamefaced they are.^^
" Diocesan Archives of St. Louis.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 91
But these Indians were not converts of recent date. Many of thein
had received baptism in the far-away mission of St. Joseph's, on Lake
Michigan. Tliey had been expelled from their native haunts by an act
of governmental tyranny, and the account of their long and weary
march from Indiana to the borders of Kansas is a little epic full of
pathos and deep human interest. Father Benjamin-Maria Petit was the
spiritual leader- of these exiled people, their teacher, protector and
comforter, and it was he that left us in his letters a beautiful record of
their sad journey to the country beyond the Mississippi River. Father
Petit was bom at Rennes in France, April 8, 1811, attended the college
of his native city for the study of law, and had already attained the
position of advocate when, in 1835, Bishop Simon Brute, of Vincennes,
arrived at Renes and confirmed the hopeful young man in his deter-
mination to become a missionary in America. Arriving at Vincennes
in 1836, the youthful Petit was raised to the priesthood in October,
1837. His first and only appointment was to the Indian mission in the
region around South Bend, Indiana, where he remained until Septem-
ber, 1838. Hence, Father Petit accompanied the Pottawotomies on
their exile to the Far West, and died on his homeward journey in St.
Louis, February 10, 1839, not quite twenty-eight years old, but full of
merit.
As the Pottowatomie mission of Sugar Creek, Indian Territory,^*
forms one of rhe glories of the diocese of St. Louis, and as Father Petit
is not as well known among us as his heroic life deserves, I will trans-
late the beautiful letters he wrote to Bishop Brute concerning his stay
with the Indians and their departure for the West. Speaking of his
Christians at Chichipe-Outipe, near South Bend,^" Father Petit writes :
Our common mode of life was as follows: The first bell rang at sunrise.
Then you should have seen the Indians hurrying along the foot-path along the
woods and from the shores of the lakes to our chapel on the hill. Then the
second bell warned the belated ones to make speed. When they were all assem-
bled, the catechist recounted the points of the previous instruction : Morning
prayer, followed and holy Mass, during which hymns were sung by the con-
gregation. My sermon was translated into the Pottawotomie dialect. After this
™ At the time of which we are writing the Indian Territory was much more extensive
than what was commonly given p.s Invl'an Territory in our school days. "The Act of Congress
of June 30, 1834, regulating trade and intercourse with the Indians, declares that 'all that part
of the United States west of the Mississippi and not within the States of Missouri and Louis-
iana or the territory of Arkansas shall for the purposes of that Act he considered the Indian
country." This vast region thus defined, formed part of the Louisiana Purchase from France
in 1803. The mission of Sugar Creek (Kansas) as well as the mission at Council l^lufFs
(Iowa) was in the Indian Territory,
" St. Joseph's Mission at South Bend (Tndianal, was founded by Father Claude Allonez,
S.J., before 1711, for at that period Father John Chardon. S.J., became his successor. The
nation of the Pottawotomies is noteworthy in our literary history as having given to Long-
fellow the matter of his Hiawatha. Their traditions were first recorded by Father De Smet
in his Oregon Missions. The "Ponlona'omics,'' as spelled by French writers, were mentioned
from 1639. In 16^1 they were at Sault Ste. Mary's, fleeing before the Sioux; in 1668 they
were all on the Pottawotomie Islands in Green Rav. In 1721 the bulk of the nation was still
on their islands; ore band was at Detroit, another on the St. Joseph's River (South Bend
Indiana). These latter are the people led to the West bv F.nther Petit. Cf. IVixconsin His-
torical Collection, vol. Ill, p. 1,16. The letters of Father Benjamin Marie Petit to Bishop
Brute were published in volume VII, of The Annales de I'Association de la Propagation de la
Foi for August. They were translated into German for Father Theodore Rruener's Kirchen-
Geschichte Qiiincy's, 1887. The English translation was made for this article.
92 REV. J. ROTHENSTKKNER
I heard confessions until evening. At sundown the whole congregation assem-
bled for catechetical instruction and night prayer. Many of them had the prac-
tice of frequent communion, but since the death of Father Deseilles until my
coming they had to be content with spiritual communion. I have already baptized
eighteen converts and solemnized seven marriages. Their zeal for religion is
most beautiful to witness. They will leave tlieir homes to visit and instruct
anyone, no matter how far away, of whom they have learned that he had desire
to become a Christian. And with what afifection they clung to me. "We were
orphans," they said, "and we were lost in the night when you came among us,
and now^ we live in light. You are a Father to us, and without your advice we
will undertake nothing." I am very happy here, but there is one thing that dis-
turbs my peace of mind. This mission is threatened with dissolution. The gov-
ernment intends to transport my Indians beyond the Mississippi. T am agitated
between fear and hope. But my fears and hopes I lay in the hand of Providence.
Oti July 9th, 1838, Father Petit expresses his joy at finding him-
self ahle to understand and speak the language of his people ; and at
the end of his letter expresses a desire to be permitted to accompany
them to their new destination. Since Easter. 1838, he had baptized one
hundred and two Indian converts. At length the sad day of parting
arrived. On September 14, 1838, Father Petit writes :
I have read my last Mass at Chicsipe-Ontipe. After Mass my dear little
chapel was stripped of all its ornaments, and 1 gathered my children around me
for the hour of departure. I shed tears, my Indians cried aloud ; it was heart-
rending. We, a dying mission, prayed for the prosperity of the other missions
and sang:
"In thy protection do wc trust.
O Virgin, meek and mild."
The leader's voice was broken with sobbing; but few could carry the song
to its end. I had to leave. It is very sad for a missionary to witness the death
of what he had loved. A few days later I learned that the Indians, in spite of
their peaceful disposition, had been attacked and made prisoners of war. Under
pretence of a council they had been brought together, when suddenly they were
surrounded by the military, 8oo in number, and put under restraint. The gov-
ernment at the same time extended an invitation to me to accompany them to
their destination, as the separation from their priest was one of the reasons
of their unwillingness to depart. I answered that I could do nothing without
consent of my bishop, and that he had refused permission, in order to remove
all suspicion, that the church authorities had consented to the harsh measures
adopted by the government. But the dispensation of Providence is wonderful.
Bishop Brute was expected at Logansport on September 7th to dedicate the new
church ; and on the same day my Indian children were to camp near Logansport
on their way to the Mississippi. On the morning of September 5th, the Bishop
entered my room at South Bend and asked me to accompany him to Logansport.
I was quiet as a man who does not move under an oppressive weight. We de-
parted together. On the way we learned that the Indians, who were urged on to
quicker movement at the point of the bayonet, had a number of sick people with
them; several of them on the wagons having already died of heat and thirst.
These reports were like a dagger piercing my heart. The Bishop now gave his
consent that I join the Indians on their sad exodus ; on condition, however, that
I return as soon as another priest could be provided. T feared at first that I
would not be permitted to enter the camp without special permission. All the
Indians, however came out to receive my blessing. The .Americans were sur-
prised at this. "This man," said the General "has greater influence here than
I." I had free entrance everywhere. On the afternoon of September Qth Bishop
Brute came to the camp and confirmed twenty of my people. It was a beautiful
day of triumph for the Catholic Faith. On the following day I brought my lug-
gage from South Bend, and am now on the march to found a new mission for
my barbarians 400 miles to the west.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 93
W'ly the military acted so harshly in carrying out the sufficiently
harsh measures of the government is not clear, except on the suppo-
sition that some of them were far more barbarous than the barbarians
themselves, these gentle children of the one-time wilderness. But these
Indians were Catholics and, therefore, their sufferings passed unnoticed
by the great world. On November 13, 1837, Father Petit continues
his report to Bishop Brute. His letter is dated from
Osage River, Indiana County (Kansas) : "On September I2 I returned to
Logansport, having to catch up with the emigrants at Lafayette, but the march
was accelerated so much that I did not see them, even from afar, until I came
to Danville. They were marching along the right bank of the river, whilst the
wagon train followed on the left bank. It was Sunday, September i6th. I had
just arrived, when a Colonel rode up for the purpose of selecting the location
for a camp. Shortly afterward I saw my Christians approaching through the
heat of midday, amid a cloud of dust and surrounded by the soldiery, urging
them on to renewed effort. Then came the wagon train with the numreous sick
and the children and women heaped pellmell on the carts. The camp was about
half an hour's walk from the city, and in a little more than that time I was with
them. It was a heart-breaking spectacle. Sick and dying people everywhere;
almost all the children were in a state of utter exhaustion and unconsciousness.
The General expressed his pleasure at seeing me, and gallantly offered me a
chair, the only one he had. This was the first night spent under a tent. Early
next morning the Indians were placed in the wagons ; all the others mounting
their horses. Just before starting. Judge Polk, the commander-in-chief, came
up and offered me a saddle horse which the government had hired from an Indian,
but the Indian approached and said: "My Father, I give you the horse, saddled
and bridled as it is." We then started for a new camp, when a longer rest was
promised us. At my request the authorities set at liberty the six Indian chiefs.
who had until now been treated as prisoners of war. The order of march was
now as follows : The U. S. flag was carried at the head of the column by a
dragoon, followed by some of the chief officers; then came the wagon train of
the General Staff; then the wagons used by the Indian chiefs. After that came
250 to 300 horses, with men, women and children riding in single file after tlie
manner of the Indians, under guard of dragoons and volunteers, who continually
urged on the cavalcade with bitter words and taunts. Now came about 40 wagons
with the luggage of the Indians, and the sick Indians crowded on top of the lug-
gage. Here the poor creatures lay, continually shaken up, under a canvas cover that
was intended to shelter them against the heat of the sun, but served only to de-
prive them of fresh air; literaly buried aive under the burning cover. A few
of them died under the torment. We encamped about six miles from Danville.
Then I had the happiness for two successive days to say holy Mass surrounded
by my children. I administered the holy sacrament to several in preparation for
death, and baptized a few infants, and when we left this camp after our two
days' rest, we left behind six graves with crosses at their head. At Danville the
General gave furlough to his little army, and departed. He had promised to do
so immediately after my advent. Soon we found ourselves on the vast prairies
of Illinois, moving from one camp to another under a broiling sun, against which
there was no shelter; they are immeasurable like the ocean, and the eye wearies
itself to discover a tree in its immensity. No drop of water is to be found there.
The journey was a real torment for the poor sick, some of whom died almost every
day from exhaustion and fatigue. But all this misery did not prevent us from
reciting our niglit prayers in common, and the Americans, who were led by
curiosity to visit us, were astonished to find so much piety among so many trials.
It frequ;"ntly happened that some fifteen to twenty Indians sat around a fire
before a tent that was illumined by a single wax candle, singing hymns and recit-
ing the rosary all night; it meant that one of their friends had died and his
corpse lay now in the tent. Thus they showed him their love and honor. On the
following morning a grave was dug, the sorrowing family, without a tear in
94 REV. J. ROTHENSTEhNER
their eyes, however, remained at the place after the others had departed ; the
priest bhssed the grave and cast the first shovelful of clay on the poor cofiixi ;
then a mound was raised over the dead and a little cross placed upon it. On
some Sundays, when the lack of drinking water forced us to march on, a time of
grace of two hours was granted to me, during which I might perform my re-
ligious duties. The Indians attended holy Mass, during which they sang their
hymns so sweetly that all visitors were filled with wonderment. To my tasle
some of their songs had a very beautiful melody. I then preached a sermon on
the Gospel, requested all to recite the Rosary on the way and gathered my belong*-
ings. The tents were struck, the horses were mounted, and on we marched to
the next encampment. As a rule there was no marching on Sundays. The morn-
ing prayers and an instruction preceded the Mass. Vespers were chanted in the
Indian *:ongue. Then came the Rosary and a brief sermon; the latter I some-
times preached in Indian without an interpreter. The respect shown me by Cath-
olics along the way is above praise. . . .
I was again attacked) by fever, about two or three days' journey this side
of the Illinois River. Here an old Frenchman came to the camp and made me
promise, with many importunities, to take a few days' rest at his home. The
next morning lie came with a wagon to convey me away, but I had to decline
the invitation for fear I might not be able to catch up with my emigrants if
I remained behind. When we arrived at Naples, where we crossed the Illinois
River, a Protestant gentlemen who had been married to a Catholic French-
woman at Vincennes, and who had heard that there was a sick priest among
the Indians, came to offer me his home for the time of my stay. I accepted
this invitation ,and through the great care lavished upon me I got rid of the
fever. At Naples I took the stage coach and hurried on to Quincy. There I
found a German priest, Father Brickwedde.^o and a German congregation,
who all received me with indescribable aflfection. The same friendly treat-
ment was accorded to me by some Catholic Americans and by a few of the
most prominent Protestants of the city. When the Indians arrived at Quincy
the inhabitants, who had seen other emigrating tribes pass through their city,
could not contain their admiration of the modesty, the quiet and good be-
havior of our Christians. A Catholic lady, accompanied by a Protestant
friend, made the sign of the cross. Immediately the Indian women ran up to
her and grasped her hand and shook it most heartily. The Protestant lady
tried also to make the sign of the cross, but made a poor showing at it. One
of the Indian women approached her, saying, "You, nothing." And she was
right. . . .
At Quincy the Indians crossed the Mississippi and wandered
from camp to camp through Northern Missotiri ever westward across
the Missouri bottndary to the headqtiarters of the Osage River, in the
present State of Kansas, then but a part of the vast Indian Territory.
Father Petit's letter comes [o a concktsion :
One day's journey from the Osage River 1 was met by Father Hoeken,
S.J. He speaks both the Pottawotomie and the Kickapoo languages. He
told me of his purpose to leave the land of the Kickapoo and to take up his
abode among my Christians. Thus Your Grace will see that your purpose
as well as mine is attained. Your Grace sought nothing but the honor of God
and the salvation of these poor Christians ; I sought nothing else. Having
departed on September 4th. we arrived November 4th. The number of our
Indians at their departure amounted to 800; some have deserted and many
(lied. I do not think there were, at our arrival, more than 650 souls.
•° A very symi)alhf'tic account oi Father Florentin Augb.stin Brickwedde, tlie first pastor
of Ouincy, 111., is to be found in Pastoral-Blatt of St. Louis, vol. 51, No. 7. Father Hilary
Tucker in a letter dated Quincy, September 27, 1840. gives a brief account of another Potta-
wotomie migration to the Far West, pr.ssing through Quincy. There were 400 Indians, 300 of
them Catholics, un'lcr the spiritual leadership of Father Bernier.
MISSIONS FROM ST. LOUIS 95
Father Petit fell sick once more; the effects of the fever and the
terrible privations and hardships were partly counteracted by the tender
care of F'ather Hoeken. On January 2, 1839, Father Petit started for
Vincennes, but was again taken ill on the way, and died at St. Louis, a
martyr to duty, as Bishop Brute called him, cheered and comforted by
the pious care of the Jesuit Fathers and the visits of Bishops Rosati
and Loras. His death occurred on February 11, 1839.
As this long digression has at last brought us back to the place
from which we started, that is, the Osage River or Sugar Creek, Mis-
sion, we will give a brief account of the success the Jesuit Fathers at-
tained. The Kickapoo mission was, indeed, merged in the Pottowat-
omie Mission of St. Mary's, on Sugar Creek, directed at first by Father
Hoecke, S.J. "Before long the mission, as Shea^^ informs us, con-
tained more than 1200 Catholic Indians; and two schools in a flourish-
ing condition gave every hope of the rising generation. The Fathers
were aided in this mission by the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, who
began a school at Sugar Creek about the same time." The report from
Sugar Creek for 1839 was made by Father H. S. Aelen, S.J. On the
distribution of the Catholic Indians he has the following information
to give :
The Pottawototnie Mission south of the Mer des Cygnes (Lake of the
Swans) sometimes called Osage River. This mission extends itself to all
ihe various bands of that nation, scattered all over their lands. Some of the
faithful live on the right bank of the Mer des Cygnes ; a considerable number
on both banks of the so-called Pottavvotomie Creek, and about 400 in a south-
ward direction on the banks of the so-called Sugar Creek. Here is the resi-
dence of the attending clergyman, the Rev. H. G. Aelen, S.J., and a church
under the invocation of the Bl. V. M. This mission is very flourishing, and
no less than 60 adiilts have been baptized during the last eight months, or
from the time that the nation has begun to settle on heir lands.^^
From this flourishing center the Ottawas and Miamis were regu-
larly visited by Father Aelen ; the Kickapoo Station was for a time the
residence of Father A. Eysvogels, S.J., who also visited Fort Leaven-
worth, and came, at times, to Liberty and Plattsburg. We regret very
much that we cannot here give a full account of the Jesuit labors among
the Indians of the old Indiaa Territory until its erection into a Vicariate
under Bishop John B. Miege, S.J., in 1851, who, by the way, took up
his residence at the Pottawotomie Mission.
The question may arise why these Indian missions were not as suc-
cessful as similar efforts in South and Central America and in Califor-
nia. One reason is to be found in the frequent wanderings of these
tribes ; and their gradual extirpation through the greed of their white
neighbors. Had the Jesuit missionaries of the West been allowed to
pursue their plans without let or hindrance, or, better still, had they
received the undivided support of the government in the work of Chris-
tianization, these numerous and once powerful tribes would now form
" J. G. She History of the Catholic Mission, among the Indian Tribes, p. 464.
" Archives of St. Louis and Diocesan Chancery.
96 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
large and prosperous communities on our Western prairies. But Cath-
olic efforts were not supported as they should have been, nay, were
often antagonized by government under some specious plea or an-
other. Our Catholic people, too, were not as earnest in this great work
as might have been expected of them. Other interests seemed to be
more urgent. Father Verhaegen, in his appeal to the Council, com-
plains of this lack of means :
The prospect of these difTerent missions with respect to the salvation of
souls is such as to animate the missioner with the greatest courage in the midst of
privation and labor. But we cannot conceal fro mthe prelates of the Coun-
cil, who have placed these missions under our care, that their successful con-
tinuance depends upon other encouragement or support than the sweat of
the laborers. These missions have hitherto been kept up by remittances from
Europe, namely, from the Association of France and from friends in Belgium
and Holland, and also by a small annual allowance made by the government —
the last, however, is not extended to the establishment at Council Bluffs.
These resources are precarious, it may indeed be said, that they nearly failed
during the last year. It then becomes a most important question, what shall
be done for the continuance of the Indian missions? We leave to the wisdom
of the Council to devise the means for the promotion of this great object.
In conclusion we submit a statement of the expenses of one mission, that of
Council Bluffs, since its commencement. ^^
Yet, in spite of all these difficulties, great good has been attained,
especially at the mission on Sugar Creek, and then among the Indians
of the Rocky Mountains, made famous to that heroic soul, Father Peter
De Smet, S.J., of St. Louis, the founder of the Oregon Missions be-
yond the Rocky Mountains.
JOHN ROTHENSTEINER.
" Verhaegen, I. c.
N OT E S O N
SISTER MARY THEONELLA HITE
AND HER FAMILY^
There are but few old Virginia families which for romantic inter-
est surpass that of the Hites, the founder of which was Baron Hans
Joist Heydt (as the name was originally spelled), an Alsatian noble
who, to escape religious persecution, early in the eighteenth century
fled to Holland, and ^here married Anna Alaria Du Bois, daughter of
a Hugiienot refugee.
Baron Hans, having heard of the wonderful possibilities of the
New World, fitted out two vessels, "The Swift" and "The Friendship,"
and with his own family and about forty other colonists set sail from
Strassburg. He arrived in Nevv' York in 1710, and purchasing a large
tract of land on the Schuylkill in Pennsylvania, there remained the
patriarch of his little colony until in 1734, he acquired the original
Van Mater tract of 40,000 acres in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia,
whither he removed. By an additional purchase of 100,000 acres, he
became one of the largest landowners in all Virginia, second indeed
only to the Fairfaxes, with whom, by the way, he was destined to be
engaged in a long and costly litigation. He died about the year 1760,
leaving a numerous progeny.
Of his sons, the eldest. Captain Jacob Hite, of New Hopewell,
near Leetown, High Sheriff, Justice of Berkeley County and officer
of County Mihtia, wns engaged for some years in securing settlers
in Europe for the lands owned by his father. For this purpose he
made frequeni rrips to Ireland in his own vessel, and on one of these
trips met and married in Dublin, Miss Catherine O'Bannon.
Bv this marriage he became the father of Colonel Thomas Hite
(1750-1779) ; of John, whose daughter, Catherine, married Theodoric
1 St. Louis readers will (ind interest in these Notes when they remember
that Sister Theonella was a relative of Mrs. Mary Ann Malvina (Hite) Bois-
liniere (1826-1902) wife of Dr. Louis Cherot Boisliniere (1816-1896) of St. Louis,
the parents of Marie Xavier Charlotte, wife of Laurence Vincent Cartan. Other
:-onvert relatives of this family well known to St. Lonisans were : Mrs. Eleanora
Nelson (Guest) Semmes (1820-1875) wife of Samuel Middleton Semvnes (181 1-
1867), and daughter of Jonathan Guest and Mary Stoughton Hite Gantt, daughter
of John Hite, and granddaughter of Captain Jacob Hite and Catherine O'Bannon,
mentioned in the article. Mrs. Semmes was the sister of Commodore John Guest
(1821-1879) of the U. S. Navy, who also entered the Church.
97
98 SCANNELL O'NEILL
Lee, son of "Light Horse Harry" Lee; of Jacob O'Bannon, slain by
the Lidians in 1776; of Elizabeth, wife of Colonel Tavener Beale, Jr.,
(son l?y a previous marriage of Jacob Hite's second wife, Fanny
(Madison Beale Hite, aunt of President Madison) ; and of Mary who
married clergymen. On the death of his Irish-born wife, Captain
Jacob Hite married Fanny (Madison) Beale (1726-1776) widow of
Colonel Tavener Beale, Sr., aunt of President Madison.
Due to some disagreement with his family. Captain Jacob Hite
early in the year 1776, leaving his son George at William and Mar\'
College to finish his education, removed to South Carolina, where in
July following, he with his wife and several children was slain by the
Indians, they having being instigated to this atrocious act by British
agents who resented his espousal of the cause of the Revolutionists.
Two of his daughters, Frances Madison" and Eleanor, were taken
captive by the Indians and carried to Florida. Frances Madison, in
attempting to make her escape was tomahawked ; her sister, Eleanor,
was later ransomed by Captain Johnson of the British Army, but she
lived only long enough to reach the settlement at Pensacola, where she
died and lies buried.
George Hite (died 1817) who, as we have seen, was at the time of
the massacre of his family a student at William and Mary College,
after finishing his education, served as a Captain in the Revolution,
and was afterward first clerk of JelTerson (Tountv. He married, in
1780, Deborah, daugtner of Colonel Robert Rutherford^* (1728-1803)
and Mary (Dobbin) Howe Rutherford* of "Flowing Spring," on the
James River.
To Captain George and Deborah (Rutherford) Hite was born on
February 17, 1793, a daughter whom they named Margaret. She was
one of six children, one son and five daughters. Little is definitely
known concerning her early life beyond the statement in the Gorge-
town Convent Annals to the effect that "her parents took great pains to
2 She is often confused with her mother, notalily by the author of "The
Fate of Frances Madison," who there states that the wife of Jacob Hite was
not slain by the Indians but taken captive and Liter ransomed. The confusion
is due to the fact that the daughter bore the given names of her mother. Colonel
Isaac Hite (her brother-in-law) distinctly states in his diary that Frances
Madison Beale Hite was slain by the Indians along with her husband and sev-
eral children in July. 1776.
s Colonel Robert Rutherford was a native of Scotland who settled on an
estate which he namd "Flowing Spring," on the James River, Jefferson County.
Virginia. He was a member of the House of F>urgesses as early as 1758. and of
the Continental Congress. He was an intimate friend of General Washington,
who was wont to address him in letters as "My dear Robin."
* Widow of Viscount George Augustus Howe (i 724-1758) who came to this
country in command of a British regiment, was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier-General and in 1758 .served under .\bercrombie at Ticonderoga where
he met his death. He was the brother of Rt. Hon. Richard Earl Howe (1725-
1790), Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the British Naval Forces, and
of Sir William Howe (1729-1814), successor to Gage as commander-in-chief of
British military forces in America and who, in 1777, defeated Washington at the
Battle of Brandywine.
NOTKS OX SISTER MARY TllUOXKLLA IlITK 99
bring up their children in the fear of God and to instill into their hearts
upright principles ; and the children seconded their parents' pious
exertions."
In 1825, Margaret accompanied her brother, Robert, to Washing-
ton, where she made the acquaintance of a devout Catholic family
(whose name has not come down to us), through whose exemplary
life she at length became attracted to their religion. After much prayer
and study she at last was given the great grace of conversion. Follow-
ing her baptism in 1827, she entered the Visitation Convent at George-
town. She pronounced her vows on the Feast of S. Jane Frances de
Chantal, August 21, 1828, receiving the name of Sister Mary Theonella.
The Georgetown xAnnals speak of her characteristic virtues as
having been "purity of intention and willing obedience." in her long
and arduous service as Infirmarian, Dispenser and teacher of various
classes. She yielded up her pure soul to God on December 27, 1845,
after eighteen years in religion. The night before she died she said
to those around her bedside. "Since I have known (iod, I have served
Him in the best manner I know."
It is extremely interesting to trace the relationship existing Ije-
tween Sister Theonella and six of the Presidents of the United States.
Her paternal grandmother, Frances (Madison) Beale Hite. was the
daughter of Colonel Ambrose and Frances (Taylor) Madison, the
grandparents of President James Madison. Now Frances (Taylor)
Madison was in turn the daughter of Colonel James and Martha
(Thompson) Taylor, the common ancestors of Presidents Madison.
Taylor, Tyler, the two Harrisons, and of Mrs. Jefferson Davis. Again,
Frances (Taylor) Madison was the sister of President Zacharv^
Taylor's grandfather. To still further connect her with the Presidents,
we have only to recall that Sister Theonella's half-brother, Colonel
Thomas Hite, married Frances Madison Beale, daughter by a previous
marriage of his stepmother, Frances Madison Beale Hite (President
Madison's aunt) ; that her grand-uncle. Major Isaac Hite (1758-1836)
married as his first wife. Eleanor Conway Aladison (1783-1802) sister
of President James Madison ; that her grand-aunt, Elizabeth (Madison)
Willis, (another aunt of President Madison,) married Richard Beale,
brother of Colonel Travener Beale. Sr. ; that her half-niece, Frances
Hite (daughter of her half-brother. Colonel Thomas Hite) married
Thomas Carver Willis, who were the grandparents of Nathaniel Willis
who married Jennie, daughter of John Augustine Washington of
Mount Vernon, and of Emma, wife of Bushrod Washington of Cla-
mont Court, nephews of General George Washington.
Sister Theonella's only brother. Major Robert Hite. married
Courtney Ann Briscoe, of a family closely allied to that of the two
Presidents Harrison. Finally .she was the aunt of George Flagg (son
of her sister, Susan, and of John R. Flagg) husband of Elizabeth,
daughter of Richard and Christine (Washington) Washington, grand-
daughter of Samuel Washington of Harewood, and the niece of Gen-
eral George Washington. ^
100 SCANNELL O'NEILL
Still another Catholic relative of Sister Theonella must be men-
tioned : Mrs. Sarah Pearce Vick, who bore a papal title. She was the
wife of Henry William Vick, of Vicksburg, Miss., and the daughter of
James Pearce and Anne Clark. Her grandparents were General Jona-
than Clark (1750-1811) of the Continental Army, and Sarah Hite.
Jonathan Clark was the brother of General George Rogers Clark
(1752-1818) and of General William Clark (1770-1838), Governor of
Missouri. Sarah Hite Clark was the daughter of Colonel Isaac Hite
(1723-1795) of "Long Meadows," the son of Baron Hans Joist Hite,
founder of the family in Virginia. Her brother, Major Isaac Hite
(1758-1836) married as his first wife, Eleanor Conway Madison (1783-
1802) sister of President James Madison. Mrs. Jonathan Clark's uncle,
Captain Jacob Hite, was the grandfather of Sister Mary Theonella Hite.
Authorities: "Hite Family,'" in "Colonial Families of the United States," by-
Mackenzie, Vol. I (1896), pp. 185-203; Va. Hist. Mag. Vol. LV., (1896); "The
Fate of Frances Madison," Va. Hist. Mag. Vol. IV, pp. 463-4; "Diary of Colonel
Isaac Hite." William and Mary Quart, Vol. VHL, p. 123 ; "Madison Family
Record," William and Mary Quart., Vol. IX (1901), p. 39; "Memorandum from
Note-Book of Major Isaac Hi?e, Jr." William and Mary Quart., Vo. X., (1902),
pp. l20-'i ; County Histories of Virginia and Kentucky; History of Jefferson
County, Va., (1886) ; data from Georgetown Convent Annals through courtesy
of Sister Superior.
ScANNELL O'NEILL.
DIARY OF THE JOURNEY OF THE
SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH
TO TUCSON, ARIZ. (1870)
Early in the year 1870 Right Reverend J. B. Salpointe applied for
the Sisters of St. Joseph for the missions in Arizona. Reverend Mother
Saint-John Facemaz, then Superior General of the Congregation of Ca-
rondelet. he'^itated some time before accepting the offer. She placed
before the Sisters the dangers of the long journey, and finally, from
among the many who volunteered she selected seven. During the spring
of 1870 every preparation was made for the perilous undertaking, and
the Sisters left Carondelet in the middle of April (1870), reaching
Tucson May 26.
Reverend Mother and Dear Sisters:
Before leaving Carondelet I promised to write a Journal of our
trip to Arizona, it seems to me that the fulfillment of this promise
is almost out of date. You know we had scarcely time to brush the dust
off our habits before opening school ; consequently, 1 was obliged to
defer writing the events of our trip until vacation, and I would not have
the courage even nov/ to comm'ence it, were it not that Sister Euphrasia
is reminding me continually. I have time now, it is true, but not ca-
pacity for such a task. Nevertheless, I shall do the best I can, relying
on the kind indulgence of our good Sisters.
April 20, 1870. After bidding adieu to our good Sisters in Caron-
delet, we started on our long and perilous jotirney to Arizona. Our
first two stations were St. Joseph's and St. Bridget's Asylums, St. Louis,
Missouri, where we were cordially greeted by our good Sisters. We
wished them good-bye, repaired to the Pacific Railroad depot, and took
the train at 6 P. M. direct to Kansas City. Puff! jniff ! went the loco-
motive, and we were off really on our way to Arizona. As the Sisters
travel this portion of our journey, I shall not describe it ; but it is cer-
tainly true that none of th.em ever went over it with the sadness of
heart which we experienced on that ever memorable night. We were
going, but not to return in vacation to make the retreat with our dear
Sisters. jMother Julia will not call on us when visiting her Province.
It is quite probable that we may never again meet here below ; and it is
only when this thought occurs to me that I know how deeply I love
them. Oh ! the incoinprehensible beauty of our holy Faith ! How con-
■■ We are inm .,tcd for this Journal to Sister M. Lucida, Annalist of the Sisters of St.
Joseph. The fiftie'h .inniversary of the events which it recounts, is, together with its intrinsic
interest, s;iflFicient reason for offering it to our readers; they will, no doubt, join with us in
expressing cordiui : hanks to Sister Lucida for the privilege. (The Ed. tor).
101
102 SISTER MONICA
soling to know with an infallible certainty that we are accompishing the
will of God, with an assured hope of being reunited in our Heavenly
Country to those beloved ones whom we have left here below for the
love of Jesus and the salvation of souls. With these and similar reflec-
tions we passed the first night until we reached Kansas City.
Tliitysday, April 21, 1870. We were kindly welcomed by our good
Sisters, and had the pleasure of meeting there Mother Agatha, who had
been sick, but was now better. We spent the day quite pleasantly. It
soon became once more our duty to say good-bye ; but we were much
encouraged on hearing that Keverend Mother Saint John had concluded
to accomjiany us as far as Omaha, Nebraska. We took the train at 7
P. M., and as the cars were new and clean and but moderately filled, we
were comfortably seated. We changed during the night— and it was
indeed n change in every respect, as the cars were filled with emigrants,
crying children, etc. In this crowd we spent the remainder of our
second night.
April 22, 1870. In the morning we refreshed ourselves with a nice
cup of coffee, then proceeded on our journey. The weather was cool
and pleasant. An Indian boy played the violin for the entertainment of
the passengers. Reverend Mother treated us to apples and maple sugar,
and presented ns with little statues of our Blessed Mother as souvenirs ;
but in spite of all, there was a sad cloud hanging over us. It was not
surprising, for we were to part from Reverend Mother in a few hours,
and that, perhaps, forever in this world. As in similar difficulties, wc
had recourse to our good Father, St. Joseph. We were detained about
two hours after time. Wc feared that the San Francisco train would
wait for us, as we wished it to be gone ; for then we could remain one
day more with Reverend Mother. As we approached Omaha some of
us were crying and others praying ; but all were looking eagerly to see
if the train was there. We did not wait long, as a messenger came with
the welcome news that the train had just left. "Thanks be to God,"
escaped from each one's lips, and was in every heart. We then went to
the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, where we received a most cordial
welcome from those good Sisters, ^^'e remained there until the next
morning.
Saturday, April 23, 1870. After we had the consolation of hearirig
Mass and receiving the Bishop's blessing we went to the depot. Reverend
Mother and Sister Lucina accompanied us. Reverend Mother procured
our tickets, refreshments and other conveniences for the journey. The
dreaded moment of parting had almost arrived. That moment we shall
never forget ! We were all seated in the cars when she came in with
her little purcliases, and at the same time to say "good-bye." We lost
all self-controi, and after she left us, wept bitterly, our eyes following
her until she entered the carriage and drove out of sight. The Arizona
missionaries had made their first jrreat sacrifice in leaving- their dear
{••ROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSON 103
Mother. Tlie same day we passed through the beautiful valley of the
La Platte, took supper at Clarks, 121 miles from Omaha. Sister Am-
brosia and I went out to purchase some t(a. We received it as an alms,
and with it several mortifications. The cars were so crowded that night
we were unab'e to sleep.
Sunday. April 24. 1870. We breakfasted at Sydney, 414 miles from
Omaha. From this place onward the scenery was very interesting, and
the conversation of our fellow-travellers amusing. In our car were
four Protestant ministers with their ladies, on their way to China to
convert those benighted idolators. There were almost as many religious
denominations represented as were persons in the car. Whether owins:
to our presence or not, religion was the principal topic of conversation
throughout the entire journey. Everyone maintained his own opinion,
and proved it from the Bible, agreeing in one point that "Catholicity is
abominable." When the controversy reached its highest point, an elderly
respectable-looking gentleman came over to us and handed one of the
Sisters a five-dollar bill, proffering his services to us as far as San
Francisco. Ho stated that he was not a Catholic, but had great respect
for the Sisters, as he knew them to be "angels of mercy," and that he
regarded it a great privilege to serve them when it was in his power.
One of the Sisters gave him a small medal of the Blessed Virgin. He
hung it on his watch chain, and said that he would keep it as long as he
lived. This afternoon we entered the Rocky range, passed through
Sherman at an elevation of 8242 feet, the highest point on the line ;
also the highest point crossed by the railroad. It is a frightful and deso-
late region, nothing to be seen but snow-clad mountains of rock, whose
summits appear to touch the clouds. The cars pass over frightful
chasms. The rails are laid on logs resting on pillars whose only support
are the craggy rocks benealh. vSome of these chasms seem to be about
the length of three city blocks. When we were going over these places
everyone appeared to hold his breath, and it was only when we were
safe on firm ground that conversation was resumed and comments made
on the terrors and perils of the place. I chanced to be sleeping when
crossing one of these places. Sister Martha woke me, telling me to
"wake up and take note of this beautiful scenery." When I saw
where we were, sleep forsook me immediately. I was really terrified.
The Sisters enjoyed the scenery vei-y much. This night, like the pre-
ceding one, we passed with little sleep.
Monday. April 25, 1870. We took breakfast at Green River, 845
miles from Omaha. At Byrne we met Sister Andrew's brother, Mr.
Byrne, and delivered the little messages of his sister. At 5 o'clock we
passed the "thousand-mile tree," so called from its being just 1000
miles from Omaha. It stands at the entrance to the "Devil's Gate," a
very appropriately named place, with lofty mountains rising on each
side of the track. The railroad winds through a narrow pass in the
mountair, at the base of which the Weber River, an angry-looking
104 SISTER MONICA
stream, dashes along with frightful impetuosity. We crossed it eight
times within the space of a quarter of an hour. It is probably from this
difficulty in crossing that it has received its name. We changed cars
at Ogdtn, a Mormon town of about 6000 inhabitants. It lies between
the Weber and Ogden Rivers, thirty-one miles north of Salt Lake City,
1032 miles from Omaha. Many of the Mormon houses are built like
the tenement houses of the States ; others are in groups of small houses
in the yard. The Mormons are a degraded-looking set of people. Per-
haps it k prejudice that makes me think so. Here we had the pleasure
of meeting with kind friends in the persons of Mr. Doebeck and lady of
San Francisco, who did everything they could to make us comfortable.
About sunset -.ve passed Salt Lake. The railroad runs along its margin.
The city is a beautiful place. On the left are flower gardens, shade and
fruit trees covered with dense foliage, which relieve the scene on the
right — barren mountains and bleak rocks, presenting in all a lonely
prospect.
Tuesday, April 26, 1870. Breakfast at Elco, 1307 miles from
Omaha. The morning was warm and pleasant. There were a great
many Indians at the depot. We threw them candy, and it was really
amusing to see these poor old creatures grabbing for it in the dust. Mr.
Doebeck occasionally sent us apples, oranges and candy. At noon we
stopped at Battle Mountain, where we met Reverend Father Kelly, pas-
tor of Austig, Nevada. Fie invited us to dinner, which, indeed, we
needed badly ; but Mother was afraid to leave the carpet bags, etc., so
he had her dinner sent in. At supper Sister Martha was rather indis-
posed, and the good priest brought her supper to the car. He was ex-
tremely kind. When we retired at night the heat was as oppressive as
that of a St. Louis July ; the morning was as cold as a Canadian March.
In several places the railroad is protected by sheds to prevent the snow
from blocking the track.
Wednesday, April 27, 1870. About 6 o'clock we passed a place
called Cape Horn. It is an ugly, dreary place. The railroad track runs
alongside of a mountain that rises on the right and left. About five or
six feet from the track th<-:re is a precipice said to be 300 feet deep,
which extends about a mile along the railroad. On the opposite side
of this precipice are mountams from whose sides issue several streams
flowing into the chasm beneath, where, imiting, they rush along with
awe-inspiring impetuosity. At 8 o'clock we reached the California gold
diggings. They are subterranean, consequently we did not see them.
We dined at Colfax with Reverend Father Kelly, who now took a
fatherly care cf us. We here parted from him, and in bidding us fare-
well, he presented us with a five-dollar gold piece, with strict injunc-
tions to telegraph to him in case we needed any funds, as he would not
fail to supply them. He gave us an introductory letter to Reverend
Hugh Gallagher, San Francisco, who rendered us important services
while we were there. Father Kelly said that he would apply for a
colony :>f our Sisters for Salt Lake City, were it not that he purposed
FROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSON 105
leaving the mission to enter the Congregation of the Lazarists. He is
the first pastor of the mission, and has been there fifteen years. At 7
o'clock P. M. we reached San Francisco. Mr. Doebeck saw us to the
bus, and attended to our bagg^age, but, owing to some mistake in the
address, we did not reach the hospital until 9 o'clock P. M. We pre-
sented a beautiful sight after our week's journey without arranging
our toilet — the distance from Omaha to San Francisco being 1914
miles. We were received most cordially by the good Sisters of Mercy,
who did all in rheir power to make us comfortable. We were sadly in
need of rest, as we were completely dizzy from the motion of the cars.
April 28, 1870. i^everend ]\Iother Gabriel took us to visit the Mag-
dalen Asylum in the country. Mother was rather indisposed and did
not accompany us. Sister Martha remained with her. The Sisters at
the asylum were extremely kind to us. They wished to load us with
provisions for our journey ; but as we were inexperienced in these mat-
ters, we did not think we would need them, and accepted only a few
knickknacks just to please tnem. We were heartily sorry when hungry
in the desert that we had not accepted their offering. We shall ever
feel grateful to those good Sisters who proved to us "friends in need,"
and lavished so much kindness on us.
Saturday, April 30, 1870. The good Sisters sent us to the boat in
their carriage. We took passage on the steamer Arizola.. Captain
Johnson, with his officers, treated us with every mark of respect and
kindness. Mother was quite seasick and scarcely able to sit up until
Alonday. In the afternoon Sisters Euphrasia and Martha were seasick,
but were well the next day.
Sunday, May 8, 1870. With the exception of these little occur-
rences we had a pleasant trip to San Diego, where we arrived on Tuesday
morning, May 3. We stopped at a boarding house until Saturday, May
7, when we lef*: in a private conveyance for Fort Yuma. The carriage
was too small for all to ride inside, so one was obliged to ride outside
with the driver. Sister Ambrosia volunteered to make the great act
of mortification and humility. It is beyond description what we suf-
fered in riding 200 miles in a country like this, without protection from
the rays of a tiopical sun. Yet, poor Sister did this! About 10 o'clock
we passed a white post that marks the southwest boundary of the
United States. We dropped a few tears at sight of it, then entered
Lower California. At noon we halted and took lunch in a stable 12
miles from San Diego. Sister Maxima and I went in search of gold.
Seeing quantities of it we proposed getting a sack and filling it. Just
think a sack of gold! But we soon learned from experience that "all
is not gold that glitters." We camped about sunset at the foot of a
mountain, made .some tea, and took our supper off a rock. All were
cheerful. We Wished Reverend Mother could see us at supper. After
offering thanks to the Giver of all good, we retired to rest; Mother,
106 SISTER MONICA
Sisters Euphrasia and Martha under the wagon, others in the wagon,
where there was room for only two to he down. Sister Euphrasia and
1 sat in a corner and tried to sleep. We had scarcely closed our eyes
when the wolves began to howl around us. We were terribly fright-
ened and recommended ourselves to the safekeeping of Him who guides
the weary traveller on his way. We feared that they would consume
our little store of provisions and thus let us perish in the wilderness ;
but the driver told us not to fear. During the night Sister Euphrasia
was startled from her sleep by one of the horses licking her face. She
screamed fearfully and we concluded that she was a prey to wolves.
Next morning (May 9), Ftast of the Patronage of our Holy Father,
St. Joseph, we were determined to celebrate it in the best way we could.
After offering up our prayers, we formed a procession, going in ad-
vance of the wagon. Mother walking in front with a Spanish lily in her
hand. We followed in solemn order, imagining ourselves in Egypt with
St. Joseph as leader. At noon we came to a cool, shady place, in which
we rested. The ranchman (a person who keeps refreshments, stable-
feed, etc., on »^he W^estern plains), invited us to dinner. He offered us
a good meal of all we could desire. There were several ranchmen there
from the neighboring stations, but no women. There are few women
in this country. After dinner they became sociable. We retired to the
stable, where our driver and only protector was, and they followed.
Some of them proposed marriage to us, .saying we would do better by
accepting the offer than by going to Tucson, for we would be all mas-
sacred by the Indians. The simplicity and earnestness with which they
spoke, put indignation out of the question, as it was evident that they
meant no insult, but our good. They were all native Americans. For
that afternoon we had amusement enough. We resumed our journey.
That evening we camped in a very damp place, made some tea, the only
beverage we had. We then offered up our evening prayers and retired
to rest. Mother. Sister Ambrosia, Sister Maxima and I mounted a
rock ; the other three went to the wagon. The night was very cold. I
believe there was frost. We had only one blanket between seven of us.
Sister Martha and I had only light summer shawls. The others were
fortunate enough to have brought their winter ones, along. Yet, we all
kept up good spirits, being convinced that we were doing the Divine
will.
Monday, May 9, 1870. We spent the day climbing up and down
hills. Tn the evening we reached the ever-memorable place, "IMountain
Springs," the entrance to the American Desert. For several miles the
road is up and down mountains. We were obliged to travel it on foot.
At the highest point it is said to be 4000 feet above the level of the sea.
We were compelled to stop here to breathe. Some of the Sisters laid
down on the I'oadside. being unable to proceed farther. Besides this
terrible fatigue, we suffered still more from thirst. Before proceeding
further, I shall give you a brief description of the place. We were
going south ; before us lay the American Desert, forty miles long, 800
FROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSON 107
feet below the level of the sea. It is said to have once formed a portion
of the ocean. It has every appearance of having been covered with
water. On the right lies a great salt lake, supposed to have been a part
of the ocean, which, being hemmed in by moimtains, could not recede
with the other water. On the left arise ugly mountains of volcanic
rock and red sand. 1 wished Sister Euphrasia to make a sketch of it,
but she said ii was not necessary to do it then, as she would never
forget its appearance. After a few moments' rest we commenced to
descend. We were so much tatigued that it seemed as if our limbs were
dislocated. We had yet two miles to descend on foot, the greater part
being very steep. We joined hands, two by two, and ran as well as we
could. It was certainly a novel sight to see the Sisters alone crossing
that lonely mountain in the wilderness. The sides of the road were
covered with teams of horses, oxen and cattle that had Sropped dead
trying to ascend. In one place we counted fourteen oxen which had
apparently died at the same time. When Mother saw so many dead
animals she wept, fearing we might share their fate. We reassembled
at the foot of the mountain and paused to breathe. Everyone had some-
thing to remark about the place we had just passed. Sister Maxima
said it was "the abomination of desolation." The carriage overtook us
there, but we continued on foot, as it was yet too dangerous to ride,
though we had quite a distance to go before we could take the con-
veyance. We travelled as fast as we could, in order to reach a ranch.
Before nightfall the travellers reached a ranch, where they were
accommodated for the night, though with much discomfort to all.
Alay 10, 1870. We started this morning at 5 o'clock and entered
the desert. It is a vast bed of sand. Travel over it is rendered dan-
gerous on account of the sandstorms. We were told that about a month
previous to our crossing there was found a government wagon loaded
with firearms which had been forwarded several months before, and a
stage coach with seven passengers all buried in the sand. The sand is
a good conductor, consequently the heat is extreme. When the sun is
at meridian height, the sand is hot enough to blister. In one place we
passed a drove of horned cattle said to contain a thotisand head. Ev-
eryone died of heat the same day. Another place we passed the remains
of 1500 sheep, smothered m a sandstorm. In several places the sand
is so deep that we were obliged to walk. We could get water only in
one place, and when we did get it it was not only hot but so full of min-
eral that we suffered more after taking it than before. We travelled till
noon, then re=^^ted until 4 P. M. Recommending our journey to our
Heavenly Father, we travelled until midnight. It was then cool and
pleasant ; the .sun shone brightly ; we rode and walked alternately. We
sang hymns all the time and imagined St. Joseph in our company, pro-
tecting us as he did the Infant Jesus and His Blessed Mother through
the Eg}'ptian Desert. Thus we felt no fear.
108 SISTER MONICA
At midnight they reached a ranch where they were kindly received
and accommodated until the following evening. They travelled during
tiie night, and at 3 o'clock on the morning of May 12. reached another
ranch. The proprietor offered them the use of the barroom, which they
declined, preferring a large i)arn near by. There were 40 Indian men at
this ranch, who treated the Sisters vv'ith great kindness and respect.
Everything was done to make them comfortable until evening, when
they resumed their journey.
Friday, May 13, 1870. About 7 o'clock A. M. we left Lower Cali-
fornia and entered Arizona. We crossed the Colorado River about 9
o'clock on what they term here a towboat, which, however, is nothing
but a raft. We were obliged to go ov^r in a carriage, as they did not
wish to cross o*i»er a second time. There were four spirited horses.
Two men held them by the bridle ; and as there was nothing on the
opposite side to which the raft could be fastened, two men stood on
the opposite bank, holding it with ropes. As the horses sprang for-
ward, the raft floated back. At this, one of the horses fell on the raft,
which is the only thing that saved us from a watery grave. The weight
of the horse prevented the carriage from rolling into the river. There
stood the carriage with the Sisters hanging over a depth of 17 feet of
water. 1 saw the danger before it happened and jumped from the car-
riage. We barely escaped being drowned and ending our mission and
finishing our crown before reaching Arizon. But our Lord did not
wish it. We must labor longer and assist in cultivating this barren por-
tion of His vineyard. At 10 o'clock we reached Arizona City, or Fort
Yuma,,v/here we received a most cordial welcome from good Father
Francifco, V. G. of Tucson. We remained here three days, and had
the inexpressible consolation of assisting at the Holy vSacrifice and
receiving our dear Lord in Holv Communion, which imbued us with
new strength and courage for the remainder of our journey. We had
the pleasure of hearing a Spanish sermon for the first time. We were
lodged with a good Mexican family. As some of our Sisters may be
going here at some future day, a brief description of the place may not
prove uninteresting. It is located at the junction of the Colorado and
Gila Rivers, being much more conveniently situated than Tucson. It
is said to be the hottest place in the United States, but has the advan-
tage of having plenty of fresh water. Sandstorms are of frequent oc-
currence. The population, consisting of Mexicans and Americans,
number.- about 4000, the latter having the majority. No schools have
yet been established. They offered $200 per month if two of the Sisters
would remain for a year, but were told by Father Francisco to first
build a convent. The majority of the buildings are of adobe (sun-
dried brick). Lumber is very scarce and difificult to procure. There is
but one Cr.tholic Church. The first pastor, who was one of the priests
that accompanied the Bishop to Carondelet. was appointed last May.
The soil is fertile, but, owing to continual drought, agriculture is con-
fined to those parts where irrigation is practicable. There is an almost
inexhaur-tible supply of firewood. The Indians in the vicinity are
peaceable.
FROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSOM 109
Tuesday, May 17, 1870. We left this place at sunrise and travelled
till noon. The remainder of the journey was quite pleasant, as we had
a comfortable, covered carriage, good Father Francisco to guard us,
a plentiful supply of provisions, etc.. and a cook to prepare our meals.
From this time forward we had our regular meals — good ones, too —
far better than we had expected in such a wilderness. We had a tent
to sleep under, but as it was rather warm some of us slept in the wagon
on the seats. We travelled until 10 o'clock P. M.
IVrdnesday, May 18, 1870. We started early in the morning and
stopped at noon on the banks of the Gila. We travelled 200 miles along
this stream, and took supper at a ranch, where we remained during the
night.
Thursday, May 19, 1870. When we were about to resume our
journey, Mother started in advance of us for a walk. On coming to a
place where the roads crossed she took the wrong direction. After a
short interval, not perceiving any trace of her, we became alarmed for
her safety. Father and Sister Ambrosia immediately started in pursuit.
When the driver descried her in the distance, he ran as fast as possible
in order to overtake her ; and she, on perceiving a man nmning after
her, ran, too, with all her might. After her return. Father put her in
penance by making her ride in his carriage. Sister Martha accom-
panied her. We rested from 12 M. till 3 P. M.. and then continued
our journey until 8 P. M.
May 20, 1870. At 6 A. M. we resumed our journey and came to a
ranch about noon. The proprietor treated us very kindly and pre-
sented us with some canned fruit, and a new towel for our journey,
which we resumed until 7 o'clock P. M., when we camped for the night,
suffering much from the cold.
Saturday, May 21, 1870. We started on our way at 4 P. M. and
passed many recently made graves of persons who had been killed by
the Indians. One of these, we were informed, contained the remains
of a father, mother and five children. These burial places looked so
sadly neglected. The wolves had even made holes in them. The deso-
late, lonelv places in which these poor creatures were laid to rest, and
still more their melancholy and frightful death cast a damper over our
spirits, as we had no certainty of not meeting the same fate. And yet,
why should we be sad? Did we not risk our lives for the love of Jesus,
and would it not be glorious to have the happiness of dying for Flim?
But poor nature is weak ; and though in spirit we coveted the privilege
of so glorious an end. yet our frail, earthly bodies shrank from so try-
ing an ordeal. We passed at night the Indians' place of worship. It is
a natural construction of huge, immovable rocks, on which they have
cut the figures of their gods. They were various planets, different
animals of the forest, and even reptiles. The figures appear to be well
110 SISTER MONICA
made and are quite interesting to look at. Oh, how my heart burned
to make them know the true and only God ! We camped about 8 o'clock
and took our supper by brush light, as usual.
Sunday, May 22, 1870. We had a lamb this morning for break-
fast. We called it our Passover. After offering up our prayers and
placing ourselves with confidence under the protection of Heaven we
resumed our journey at rather an advanced hour of the day under the
rays of a scorching sun, the average heat in the shade being 125 de-
grees. We reached a ranch at noon, and were accommodated with a
room, v/here we enjoyed the luxury of a good wash and change of
clothing.. We dined at 3 o'clock, and after getting a supply of fresh
water for the journey we started at 6 P. M. We entered the Arizona
Desert, Jravelled all night, and were so much fatigued that almost every-
one fell asleep, the driver permitting the horses to go at will. Father
and his driver slept so soundly that Sister Martha was obliged to drive
nearly all night. At 8 A. M. we refreshed ourselves with a cup of
coffee, rnd journeyed on until 2:30 P. M., when we were out of the
desert.
May 23, 1870. We took dinner at 5 P. M. and lodged at the house
of a generous -hearted Irishman, Mr. Cosgrove. Whenever we had the
good fortune to come across Irish or Mexicans we were sure of meeting
with a cordial reception and of finding in them all the characteristics of
true friends.
Tuesday, May 24, 1870. We started early, entering upon the
most dangerous portion of our journey, as we were in danger of being
attacked and massacred by the savages at any moment ; but placing
ourselves in the hands of Providence, to whom we had consecrated our
lives, we courageously advanced, feeling assured that His all-seeing
eye would protect His chosen ones from danger — at all events, that
whatever would befall us would be in accordance with His most holy
will. When we stopped at noon, there was no room for us in the inn,
so that we had not even a tree to shelter us from the burning rays of a
tropical sun. The ruins of some old buildings were near. Mother and
Sister Martha went there to rest and fell asleep. A troop of nude
Indians, who are peaceable, came in the meantime. They had the con-
sideration to be quiet and let them sleep. Sister Martha was resting
on an eld cowhide. A warrior, perceiving her, stole softly up and sat
down beside her. The rest of the Sisters were in the wagon, while I
employed myself in washing some handkerchiefs and amused myself
by taking notes for my Journal. Father and the boy prepared dinner,
after which we resumed our journey. About 4 P. M. we passed the
Valley of the Pima Indians. Their dwellings are constructed of straw
and are shaped like a bird's nest, in an inverted position. They vary
from four to five feet in height, and have a small hole as a place of
entrance. Their costume consists of two pieces of calico or flannel
extending to the knees, one piece hanging in front, the other behind.
FROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSON 111
The young squaws are clothed with the inner bark of trees in the same
manner. The old ladies arc not so modestly attired. They dress their
hair with a mixture of mud and water, which has the double effect of
destroying the vermin and keeping the hair in its place. They are a
brave-looking tribe, very unlike the poor, timid Indians of the frontier.
We camped at 9 o'clock. Whilst partaking of our evening refection
sixteen soldiers rode up and informed u.'^ that they had been sent to
escort "^ome travellers, they knew not whom, and supposed we were
the persons, as they saw no others. We conjectured that our good
Father, St. Joseph, had sent them to our assistance, though at the time
we were not aware of how much we stood in need of their escort. We
might in all probability have been massacred by the savages had they
not beeti our safeguard. The Indians are afraid to appear when they
hear the soldiers, unless they are sufficiently strong in number to fight
them. They continued with us for the remaining seventy-five miles of
our journey.
May 25, 1870. While v* e were at breakfast this morning three of
the citizens of Tucson who were a portion of the number appointed to
meet us (the others having remained at the next station), rode up. We
resumed our journey at 5 P. M. Some miners joined us in order to
share our protection. The soldiers followed close in the rear. They
had two mules to carry their baggage — one carried the blankets, the
other the cooking utensils. We titled them respectively the "chamber-
maid" and the "cook." Tlie latter looked quite amusing with pots and
pans hanging from each side. At noon we reached the station, where
the remainder of the escort from Tucson was awaiting us — sixty-five
miles from the city ; but as they could speak neither French nor English
we did not understand them. At 5 P. M. we set out again. Everyone
was in fine spirits, especially the citizens. All passed oft" pleasantly
until midnight, when a serious turn of mind and manner seemed to take
possession of each and every one. We were then approaching Picacho
Peak, where the Apaches are accustomed to attack travellers. A fear-
ful massacre had been perpetrated there only a week previous. The
road winds through a narrow pass in the mountain where the Indians
conceal themselves and throw out their poisoned arrows at the passers-
by. The place is literally filled with graves, sorrowful monuments of
savage barbarity. Each one prepared his firearms, even good Father
Francisco. The citizens pressed around our carriage. The soldiers
rode about like bloodhounds in search of prey. In passing through the
peak the horses began to neigh, which is a sure indication of the prox-
imity of the savages. "The Indians ! the Indians !" was echoed from
every mouth. Whip and spurs were given to the horses. We went
like lightning, the men yelling all the while like so many fiends in order
to frighten the savages. Tiie novelty of the scene kept us from being
afraid. We travelled in this manner until 4 A. M.
Ascension Thursday, May 26. 1870. When we had passed un-
harmed through the most dangerous portion of our route, we returned
112 SISTER MONICA
fervent, heartfelt thanks to our good God for our preservation. After
refreshing ourselves with a cup of cofifee, we continued our journey
until within fifteen miles of Tucson, where we stopped for a short rest.
The citizens wished us to remain there all night, as they wished us to
enter Tucson in daylight, v/here a grand reception was in preparation.
You see thev were quite proud of us. After considerable reasoning
they became very enthusiastic over the matter; but Father finally suc-
ceeded in obtaining their consent for us to enter that night. Four men
went in advance with the joyful tidings of our arrival. We were ex-
pected at about 6 o'clock P. IVI., and were afterwards informed that the
ladies ?ind children had stationed themselves on the housetops, being
too modest to mix in the crowd with men. At about three miles from
the town we were met by the procession, which was headed by four
priests on hor;-eback ; but as we came in sight they dismounted and ran
rather than walked to meet us, the crowd in the meantime discharging
firearms. Before we reached the city their number had increased to
about 3000, some discharging firearms, others bearing lighted torches in
their hands, al) walking in order with heads uncovered. The city was
illuminated, fireworks in full play. Balls of combustible matter were
thrown in the streets through which we passed. At each explosion
Sister Euphrasia made the pign of the cross. All the bells in the city
were pealing forth their merriest strains. On reaching the convent we
found our good Bishop in company with several ladies and gentlemen,
awaiting our arrival. The crowd then fired a farewell salute and dis-
persed. We feel truly grateful to these good people for their kind re-
ception, as it is a convincing testimony of their reverence for our holy
Faith. After we had arranged our toilet the ladies ushered us into the
refectory, where a nice supper had been prepared for us. They waited
on us at supper, and endeavored to make everything as pleasant as pos-
sible. When we had finished our repast they departed, leaving us in
quiet possession of our new home — "St. Joseph's Convent, Tucson,
Arizona." Our first act was to return thanks to our glorious Patriarch,
St. Joseph, for preserving us from the many and great dangers to which
we had been exposed for love of Jesus and the salvation of souls. Our
house is built of adobe or brick dried in the sun — simply mud — and
consists of but one story. It adjoins the Cathedral, and one of the
chapels thereof serves as our chapel.
Now that we are settled in our new home we trust our good Sis-
ters will continue to pray tor us. recommending the success of our mis-
sion, our schools and our own spiritual welfare to our dear Lord, to the
end that we may labor earnestly to promote His greater glory, and have
this alone in view in all our undertakings.
Dear Reverend Mother and Sisters in Christ,
6'iSTER Monica of the Sacred Heart.^
Sentember 17, 1870.
2 Our readers may be interested to know that Sister Monica, the author of
this Diary, is still alive and active; she now lives at the Nazareth House of the
Community, Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis Co., Mo.
FROM ST. LOUIS TO TUCSON 113
N. B. — The Bishop was never able to find out who had given the
order for the soldiers to meet the Sisters. All that the Commandant of
the fort could tell was that a very respectable, hasty messenger arrived
at the fort, with a request that a detachment be sent immediately to
escort some travellers through the dangerous passes.
Three years later, in 1873, Bishop Salpointe stopped at Carondelet
on his way to Rome, and made arrangements for three more Sisters for
the Arizona Mission. He returned from Rome in the fall, and met the
Sisters who were to accompany him. in Kansas City. They left Kansas
City December ist, 1873, reached Denver where they remained until De,-
cember 9. The Sisters were hospitably entertained by the Sisters of
Loretto and the Bishop remained at the home of Bishop Machebeuf.
From Denver they went by rail to Kit Carson, Colorado, where they
were furnished with a covered wagon and horses for the remainder of
the journey. They started for Trinidad by way of Raton Pass, got lost
in a snowstorm, but had the good fortune to find a sheep ranch, where
two shepherds gave up their hut to the travellers. On December 14 they
resumed theirjourney, reached Trinidad in safety and spent several days
with the Sisters of Charity. They arrived at Las Vegas in time to spend
the Christmas holidays with the Sisters of Loretto. At Las Vegas the
Bishop secured another team of horses, the Sisters of Loretto gave him
an old coach for his own use, and, according to the written account, the
travellers left Las Vegas "in style." They reached Tucson January 2-/,
1874.
ORIGIN OF THE CREOLES OF
GERMAN DESCENT
J. Hanno Deiler in his book on "The Settlement of the German
Coast of Lotusiana" (Americana Germanica Press, Philadelphia,
1909) defines the term "Creole":
Creoles are the descendants of the white people who emigrated from
Europe to Louisiana during the colonial period, i. e. before 1803; and are
properly only those born within the limits of the original territory of
Louisiana.
In matters of descent not the language, but the blood is the vital
matter, and the blood alone. We must therefore classify the Louisiana
Creoles according to the blood of their progenitors and say: There
are Creoles of French descent, Creoles of German descent, Creoles of
Spanish descent, and still others, for instance, Creoles of Irish descent
and Creoles of Scotch descent (H. Deiler ib. p. 116). The descendants
of the founders of the "German Coast" and the descendants of all
other Germans who came to Louisiana before the year 1803 are the
"Creoles of German descent". The first Louisiana Creole was bom
in Mobile in 1704, the child of a French father, nationality of the
mother unknown.
In 1717, under the leadership of the notorious Scottish speculator
John Law and in connection with his bank in Paris, the Western Com-
pany was formed, called after 1719, "La Compagnie des Indes". This
company had grants of land and was expected to realize immense sums
by planting and commerce. It received the trade monopoly for twenty-
five years, with the right to issue an unlimited number of shares of
stock and the privilege not only of giving away land on conditions,
but also of selling it outright. For these and other considerations
the company obligated itself to bring into the colony during the life of
its franchise at least 6,000 white people and 3,000 negroes.
In order to develop the supposedly inexhaustible mineral treas-
ures of Louisiana and the fabulous wealth of its soil, large tracts of
land, concessions, were given to such rich men in France as would
obligate themselves to bring the necessary number of people from
Europe to till the soil, and to work in the mines. One of the largest
concessioners was John Law, the president of the company, who caused
two concessions to be given to himself. The largest one was on the
lower Arkansas River, on the peninsula formed by the Mississippi,
White and Arkansas Rivers. His second concession was seven leagues
below New Orleans, on the Mississippi River, below English Turn.
As a shrewd business man, which he no doubt was. John Law knew
that, to make his venture a success, he needed not only money but also
114
COTE DES ALLEMANDS 115
people able and willing to toil for him ; and, as he knew from the
reports of the former governors how little adapted to agriculture the
French colonists had proven themselves, he resolved to engage for his
own concessions Germans from the country on both sides of the Rhine,
and from Switzerland.
A great agitation was now inaugurated, partly to induce rich peo-
ple to take shares in the general enterprise and buy land for their own
account and partly to entice poor people to become engages (hired field
hands). After a while, land was to be given to the poor held hands
to enable them also to get rich. About this time, pamphlets in several
languages were printed, containing extracts from letters of people who
had already settled in Louisiana, and giving glowing descriptions of
the country. Such a pamphlet, in German, which, perhaps, came to
Louisiana with one of the pioneer families, was found by Hanno
Deiler, the historian of the German Coast, about 1884, in a little book
shop at New Orleans and was bought by the Fisk Library (v. Deiler
p. 12). It was printed at Leipsic in 1720.
German historians state that, as a result of this agitation, 10,000
Germans emigrated to Louisiana. This seems a rather large number
of people to be enticed by the promoter's promises to leave their father-
land and emigrate to a distant country ; but we must consider the
pitiable condition under which these people lived at home. No part
of Germany had suffered more through the terrible "Thirty Years'
War" (1618-1648), than the country on the Rhine and especially the
Palatinate. After the Thirty Years' War came the dreadful period of
Louis XIV ; the Palatinate, en both sides of the Rhine, was devastated
in a most frightful manner. Never before were such barbarous deeds
perpetrated as by Turenne, Melac and other French generals in the
Palatinate. Whether French troops invaded Germany or Germans
marched against the French, it was always the Palatinate and the other
countries on the Rhine that suffered most through war and its fearful
consequences : pestilence, famine and, often also, religious persecution.
The people on the Rhine had at last lost courage, and. as in 1709
and 1710, at the time of the great famine, 15,0CXD inhabitants of the
Palatine had listened to the English agents and had gone down the
Rhine to England to seek passage for the English colonies in America :
so they were again only too eager to listen to the Louisiana promoter,
promising them peace, political and religious freedom and wealth in
the New World. So they went forth, not only from the Palatinate,
but also from Alsace Lorraine, Baden, Wuertemberg. the electorates
of Mayence and Treves and even from Switzerland, some of whose
sons were already serving in the Swiss regiments of Halwyl and Karer,
sent to Louisiana by France.
Only a small portion of these 10,000 Germans ever reached the
shores of Louisiana. We read that the roads leading to the French
ports of embarkation were covered with Germans, but that many broke
down on their journey from hardships and privations. In the French
ports, moreover, where no preparations had been made for the care of
so many strangers, and where, while waiting for the departure of the
vessels, the emigrants lay crowded together for months, and were in-
116 REV. F. G. HOLWECK
sufficiently fed, diseases broke out among them and carried off many.
Then came the great loss of human life on the voyage across the sea.
Such a vo3'age often lasted several months, long stops being made at
San Domingo, where the people were exposed to infection from tropical
diseases. When even strong and healthy people succumbed to diseases
brought on by the privations and hardships of such a voyage, by the
miserable fare, by the lack of drinking water and disinfectants, and
by the terrible odors in the ship's hold, — how mufet these emigrants
have fared, weakened as they were from their journey through France
and from sickness in the French ports? At one time only forty Ger-
mans landed in Louisiana of 200 who had gone on board ; one author
speaks of 200 Germans who landed out of 1,200 (H. Deiler ib. p. 16).
Sickness and starvation, however, were not the only dangers of
the emigrant of those days. At that time the buccaneers, who had
been driven from Yucatan by the Spaniards, in 1717, were yet in the
Gulf of Mexico and pursued European vessels because these, in addi-
tion to emigrants, usually carried large quantities of provisions, arms,
ammunition and money. Afany a vessel that plied between France
and Louisiana was never heard of again. In 1721 a French ship with
"300 very sick Germans" on board was captured by bucaneers near
the bay of Samana in San Domingo.
Following Hanno Deiler's careful inquiries, we must come to the
conclusion that of the many thousands (6,000 to 10,000) who left
Europe for Louisiana, only 2,000 actually reached the shores of the
colony and were disembarked at Biloxi and upon Dauphine Island,
in the harbor of Mobile.
In the fall of 1719 the French ship Les Deux Freres brought the
first German colonists to Louisiana (Deiler p. 19). The ship was
laden with all sorts of merchandise and effects "which belonged to
them." These people could not have been intended for John Law;
for judging from what they brought along with them, they must have
been people of some means, who intended to become independent
settlers. We may assume that they were the founders of the first
Germati village (le premier ancien village allemand), on what is now
called "The German Coast," - one and a half miles inland from the
Mississippi River, on the right bank, about 30 miles above New
Orleans ( founded by Bienville only one year previously) . In Sep-
tember 1721 (according to census of 1724), however, these j>eople
were drowned out by the stormwater of the "great hurricane," and the
waters of the "Lac des Allemands". This storm lasted five days. Some
of the inundated families of the German villages died, others moved
to the river front, where the land was higher, and only three were
' The district wliich is now called the "German Coast" (Cote des Allemands)
begins about 25 miles (by river) above New Orleans and extends about forty
miles up the Mississippi on both banks. The land is perfectly level; at the banks
of the river, however, it is a little higher, because of the deposit the Mississippi
had left there at every overflow. At a distance from one to two miles from
the river it becomes lower and gradually turns into cypress swamps. Since 1802
the lower part has been called "St. Charles Parish" and the upper "St. John the
Baptist Parish."
COTE DES ALLEMANDS 117
found in the first German village by the census enumerator of 1724.
In the beginning of the year 1720, says Penicaut", seven ships
came with more than 4,000 persons, "French as well as German and
Jews". They were the ships La Gironde, L'Elephant, La Loire, La
Seine, Le Dromadaire, Lc Traversier and La Venus. As Le Droma-
daire brought the whole outfit for John Law's concession, the staff of
Mr. EHas (Stultheus), the Jewish business manager of Law, may have
been on board this vessel. For the same reason we may assume that
the German people on board, or at least a large part of them, were
so-called "Law People" and were mostly sent to the concession on the
Arkansas River.
On the 16th of September, the ship Le Profond brought more than
240 Germans "for the concession of Mr. Law," and on November 9,
1720, the ship La Marie brought Mr. Levens, the second director of
Law's concessions, and Mr. Maynard, "conducteur d'ouvriers." The
Germans who came on the seven ships mentioned by Penicaut and
those who arrived on board Le Profond seem to have been the only
ones of the thousands recruited for Law in Germany who actually
reached the howling wilderness of the Arkansas River, traveling from
Biloxi by way of the inland route: Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain,
Lake Maurepas, Amite River, Bayou Manchac and the Mississippi
River. All later arrivals were detained at Biloxi and New Orleans
and sent to the villages on the German Coast.
A rapid increase of the population would at all times, even in a
well regulated community, be a source of embarrassment. It would
need the most careful preparations and the purchasing and storing of
a great quantity of provisions in order to solve the problem of subsist-
ence in a satisfactory manner. On Dauphine Island and on Biloxi
Bay, nevertheless, where the officials of the Compagnie des Indes ruled,
nothing was done for the reception of so many newcomers. Everybody
there seems to have lived like unto the lilies of the field : "They toiled
not, neither did they spin." Nobody sowed, nobody harvested, and all
waited for the provision ships from France and from San Domingo.
Rather than work they would beg, steal or rob from the Indians. Thus
the poor German immigrants were put on land where there was always
more or less famine, sometimes even starvation. The provisions
which the concessioners had brought with them to feed their own
engages were taken away from the ships by force to feed the soldiers
and the immigrants were told to subsist on what they might be able
to catch on the beach and on the corn which the Indians might let them
have. Governor Bienville repeatedly demanded that these immigrants
should not be landed on the gulf, but should be taken up the Mississippi
River, but the question whether large vessels could enter and ascend
the great river was not yet solved, although the colony had been in
existence for about twenty years. As a very large number of smaller
2 Penicaut was a French carpenter who lived for twenty years (i6gg to
Oct. 1721) in the colony, and his "Relation" is an important source for the his-
tory of Louisiana. Mr. French, in his "Louisiana and Florida" has published a
translation.
118 REV. F. G. HOLWECK
boats, by which the immigrants might easily have been taken to the
concessions by the' inland route through Lake Pontchartrain, had been
allowed to go to wreck on the sands of Biloxi, the newcomers, espe-
cially those who arrived in 1721, had to stay for many months in
Biloxi and on Dauphine Island, where they starved in masses or died
of epidemic diseases.
On February 3, 1721, the ship La Mutme arrived at Ship Island
with 147 (347?) Swiss "Ouvriers" of the Compagnie des Indes." ^
Shortly before, on January 24, four ships had sailed from the French
port of L'Orient for Louisiana with 875 Germans and 66 Swiss
emigrants. The names of these four ships were Les Deux Freres, La
Garonne, La Sanone and La Charente. But few of these 941 emigrants
survived the horrors of the sea voyage and landed on the coast of
Louisiana (v. Deiler, p. 28). On the ship Lex Deux Freres alone 173
lives out of 213 were lost on the sea. What suffering, what despair
must have been endured on board these pest ships !
Towards the end of May 1721 two other ships with 270 Germans
arrived in Louisiana ; finally there came on June 4, the Portefaix with
330 immigrants, mostly Germans and originally intended for John
Law's concessions. They were under the command of Karl Friedrich
d'Arensburg, a former Swedish officer, then in the service of the Com-
pagnie des hides} But in the meanwhile John Law's delusive scheme
had failed. In the early spring of 1721 the news arrived in Louisiana,
that Law had resigned his post of councillor of state and comptroller-
general of the finances of France and for personal safety fled from
Paris. ^ The news of Law's failure was a heavy blow to the Compagnie
des Indes. It was decided to send no more Germans to the Law con-
cessions, but to organize the immigrants under the leadership of
d'Arensburg and to begin a new settlement with them. D'Arensburg,
merging the survivors of the different troops into one body, departed
with them from Biloxi for the banks of the Mississippi and transferred
them to the two German villages on the German Coast, thirty miles
3 Ever since 1719 the Swiss formed an integral part of the French troops
in Louisiana. There were always at least four companies of fifty men each in
the colony. At the expiration of their term of service, they usually remained
in Louisiana, took up a trade or settled on some land contiguous to the German
Coast. It was even a rule to give annually land, provisions and rations to two
men from each Swiss company to facilitate their settling. The great majority
of these Swiss soldiers, however, were not Swiss, but Germans from all parts
of the fatherland.
* This remarkable man's name probably was Karl Friedrich, born at Arens-
burg on the isle of Oesel in the Baltic Sea (Bay of Riga). With other Swedish
officers he left his home, because he preferred exile to Russification. The French
officials of the Compagnie des Indes, mistaking "d'Arensburg" for his family
name, issued his commission to "Charles Frederic D'Arensbourg" With his
Germans he took active part in the expulsion of Governor Ulloa from New
Orleans in 1768. He died November 18, 1777, at the age of 84 years. (Deiler,
p. 38. ss.)
s Law left Paris on December 10, 1720, for Brussels. Later on he lived in
great obscurity, finally settling at Venice; there he died March 21. 1729, still
occupied in vast schemes and fully convinced of the solidity of his system, the
failure of which he attributed entirely to enmity and panic. (The Americana,
Vol. XIT, under Law John.)
COTE DES ALLEMANDS 119
from New Orleans, which in honor of Karl Friedrich d'Arensburg
were called "Karlstein" (Deiler p. 54).
But the German engages on the Arkansas River were in a pre-
carious condition. Having arrived about the end of 1720, they had
not been able to make a crop, as the preparatory work of clearing the
ground and providing shelter for themselves had occupied most of
their time; much sickness also prevailing amongst them, they were
unable to begin farming operations on a larger scale before August
1721. These Germans therefore needed assistance until they could
help themselves, for not another livre was to be expected from the
bankrupt John Law. But when, in November 1721, the company had
decided to manage Law's concessions in the future for their own
account, the resolution to help the Germans was not carried out, as
Law's agent on the Arkansas, Levens, refused to transfer the business
to the company. So it happened that the forlorn Germans received
help neither from the one side nor from the other to bridge them over
to the harvesting time of their first crop. They were forced to ask
help of their old friends, the Arkansas and the Sothui Indians. Final-
ly, when help from this last source failed, and smallpox broke out
amongst the Indians and the Germans, they were forced to give up all
and abandon the concession.
They resolved to go down the Mississippi to New Orleans, end
of January or in February 1722, to return to Europe. Only 47 persons
remained behind, which Dudemaine Dufresne found there, when in
March 1722 he was installed by La Harpe in the office of manager of
the concession in place of Levens. When La Harpe returned from
his other mission, the silly search for the imaginary "Smaragd Rock"
in Arkansas, these too had departed.
The arrival of the flotilla of the Germans from the Arkansas
River must have been a great surprise for the people of New Orleans.
That the Teuton colonists who considerably outnumbered the popula-
tion of the new town, could remain at New Orleans, was out of ques-
tion. Nor would the ill treated people stay in the swampy and wild
post. New Orleans was at that time in its very infancy and looked
more like a miserable mining camp than a town. Indeed the Germans
did not come to thank the Company for favors. Some very plain
words were spoken by the desperate men to the officials of the Com-
pany ; in fact, it is said that Governor Bienville interceded, and when
they demanded passage back to Europe, tried his very best to induce
them to remain. The results of the conferences were : first that the
Germans from the Arkansas were given rich alluvial lands on the
right bank of the Mississippi River, about 25 miles above Ntew Orleans,
on what is now known as the "German Coast," where the village of
Karlstein already existed ; secondly that the agent on the Arkansas,
Levens, was deposed ; and thirdly, that provisions were sent to the
Germans who still remained there. (Deiler, p. 38).
But the grant of good land in the neighborhood of the infant city
did not terminate the woes of the unfortunate colonists.
No pen can describe, says Deiler (p. 56), nor human fancy imagine
the hardships which the German pioneers of Louisiana suffered even
120 REV. F. G. HOLWECK
after they had survived the perils of the sea and epidemics and starva-
tion on the sands of Biloxi. Had they been of a less hardy race, not
one of these families would have survived. It should be remembered
that the land assigned to them was virgin forest in the heavy alluvial
bottoms of the Mississippi, with their tremendous germinating powers
awakened by a semi-tropical sun. Giant oaks with wide-spreading arms
and gray mossy beards stood there as if from eternity and defied the
ax of man. Between them arose towering pines with thick under-
growth, bushes and shrubs and an impenetrable twist of running,
spinning and climbing vines, under whose protection lurked a hell of
hostile animals and savage men. Leopards, bears, panthers, wild cats,
snakes and alligators, and their terrible allies, a scorching sun, the
miasma rising from the disturbed virgin soil, and the floods of a
mighty river, — all these combined to destroy the work of man and
man himself. There were no levees then, no protecting dams, and
only too often, when the spring floods came, the colonists wore driven
to climb upon the roofs of their houses and up into the trees ; hvindreds
of miles of fertile land were inundated.
In spite of all the hardships which the pioneers had to endure and
the difficulties to be encountered, the industry, energy and perseverance
of these hardy colonists conquered all ; and although hundreds perished,
the survivors wrested from, the soil not only a bare living, but in course
of time a high degree of prosperity also. These German peasants more
than once saved the city of New Orleans from famine. Karl Friedrich
d'Arensburg served for more than forty years as commander and judge
of the German Coast of Louisiana, sharing alike the joys and the hard-
ships of his people.
In the Catholic Church in New Orleans, on the site of the present
Cathedral, the Germans of the German Coast first attended divine
service ; here they also had their children christened, here their wed-
dings were celebrated. The .^athedral records from 1720 to 1730 contain
many German names.
But in 1724, so the census of that year informs us, the tiermans
had a chapel of their own on the German Coast, which then may have
stood already for one or two years, as the river settlement was made
in the late fall of 1721. It is interesting to note this fact and to
remember that this chapel was built about the same time when the
Jesuit Charlevoix reported (1722) that the people of New Orleans
"had lent the Lord half of a miserable store for divine service and
that they want the Lord to move out again and accept shelter in a tent"
(Deiler, p. 63). In the colonial budget for 1729 provision was made
for a resident priest, the Capuchin Father Philip. The chapel was
dedicated to St. Charles, to do honor to Karl Friedrich d'Arensburg.
It was replaced in 1740 by the first "Red Church" on the other side
of the river, twenty-five miles above New Orleans. The first Red
Church was burnt in 1806 and in the same year replaced by the sec-
ond, the present Red Church.®
« The church of St. Charles was called the "Red Church" from tlie tradi-
tional coat of red paint which hoth, the old and new church, had aiul which
made them a landmark for boats on the Mississippi River.
COTE DES ALLEMANDS 121
111 1771 the Germans of the Upper German Coast built the church
of St. John the Baptist, upon the right side of the river, a few miles
from the place where the first chapel had been. The corner stone of
the present church of St. John the Baptist was laid on June 4, 1820,
and it was consecrated on March 17, 1822. The first parish priest of
St. John the Baptist, the Capuchin P. Bernard de Limpach (1772-76)
was also the first canonical pastor of the church of St. Louis, in Mis-
souri (1776-1789).^
We now approach the question : What is the probable number of
the Creoles of German descent? This question may be answered in
the words of the promise given to Abraham : they are as numerous
"as the sands on the sea shore."
The church registers cf St. John the Baptist prove that the Ger-
man pioneers were blessed with enormously large families. ^ It seems
that heaven wanted to compensate them in this manner for the many
dear ones they had lost in the ports of France, on the high seas, in
Biloxi, and during the first period of their settling in Louisiana. Hanno
Deiler found fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, and once even twenty-two
children in a family.
Yet, in spite of this great number of children there was no diffi-
culty in providing for the numerous daughters. There was a great
scarcity of women in Louisiana in early times. Indeed prostitutes were
gathered in Paris^ and sent to Louisiana to provide wives for the
colonists. Few of these lewd women ever had any children and their
families became extinct in the second or third generations. No wonder
that the young Frenchmen, especially those of the better class chose
wives from among the German maidens, who were not only morally
and physically strong, but had also been reared by their German
mothers to be good house-wives. Even into the most exclusive circles
into the families of the officials and of the richest merchants the
German girls married ; they became the wives of French and Spanish
officers of ancient nobility in whose descendants German blood still
flows.^°
As a rule the German girls took German husbands and whole
■ V. Pastoralblatt, St. Loui--, Mo., August 1918. J. Rothensteiner.
** When, in 1877 a demented negro set fire to the priest's house of St.
Charles' parish, all the records of the "Red Church" were burnt.
* The Chevalier Champigny in his memoir (I<a Haye, 1776) writes: They
gathered up the poor, mendicants and prostitutes, and embarked them by force
on the transports. On arriving in Louisiana they were married and had lands
assigned to them to cultivate, but the idle life of three-fourths of these folks
rendered them unfit for farming. You cannot find twenty of these vagabond
families in Louisiana now. Most of them_ died in misery or returned to France,
bringing back such ideas which their ill-success had inspired. The most frightful
accounts of the country of the Mississippi soon began to spread among the pub-
lic, at a time when German colonists were planting new and most successful
establishments on the banks of the Mississippi within five or seven leagues from
New Orleans. This tract, still occupied by their descendants, is the best culti-
vated and most thickly settled part of the colony, and I regard the Germans
and the Canadians as the founders of all our establishments in Louisiana.
^^ The proofs v. in Deiler's book, p. 116.
122 REV. F. G. HOLWECK
families married into one another. To give but one example, it may
he mentioned here that out of ten children of one Jacob Troxler, net
fewer than eight married into the Haydel family. In such families the
German language survived longest. In consequence, however, of the
many family ties between the Germans and the French, and in conse-
quence of the custom of the Creoles to marry into related families,
French gradually became the family language even in those German
families which had preserved the German language during three gen-
erations.
The changes which the German family names underwent amongst
the Creoles are most regrettable. Without exception, all names of the
first German colonists were changed, and most of the Creoles of Ger-
man descent at the present time no longer know how the names of
their German ancestors looked. Sometimes they were changed beyond
recognition (e. g. Zweig into La Branche). Various circumstances
contributed to the changing of these names. The principal one was,
no doubt, the fact, that some of the old German colonists were not
able to write their names. Their youth had fallen into the period of
the first fifty years after the Thirty Years' War, and into the last
years of the war when the armies of Louis XIV of France devastated
the Palatinate. In consequence of the general destruction and the
widespread misery of that period, schools could hardly exist in their
home towns. It was, therefore, not the fault of these people if they
could neither read nor write. As the parents could not tell their chil-
dren in Louisiana how to write their names, these children had to
accept what French and Spanish teachers and priests told them, and
what they found in official documents. But French and Spanish offi-
cials and priests heard the German names through French and Spanish
ears and wrote them down as they thought these sounds should be
written in French or Spanish.
The Creoles of German descent constitute even now a large, if
not the largest, part of the white population of the German Coast,
the parishes of St. Charles and St. John the Baptist. But they spread
at an early time also over neighboring districts, where their many chil-
dren took up new lands for cultivation.
There are still amongst the descendants of the early Germans
many of the ancient stalwart German type, who betray the French
blood received in the course of time only by their more lively disposi-
tion ; there are still blue eyes and blond hair among them. But their
economical condition has been changed considerably. Through the
Civil War many of these families lost not only their slaves, but also
their plantations, the source of their once very considerable wealth.
They have shared the lot of the French Creoles. But, thanks to their
inherited energy, they wrung an existence from the adverse conditions,
and now that a new era of prosperty has dawned upon Lousiana, their
prospects have become brighter. The great majority of the Creoles
of German descent may be said to be again on the road to prosperity.
F. G. HOLWECK.
NOTES
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis.
Secretary's Report for 1919-1920.
The Secretary's report for the twelve months just elapsed need be
but very brief, as the main topics will be treated by the chairmen of the
various committees.
At the last general meeting of the Society all the old officers were
elected for another term, although that method did not seem altogether
satisfactory to some. The officers, however, very faithfully attended
to their duties. The attendance of our membership was not what
could be expected, especially when the importance of our proposed
work is taken into consideration. Yet we have to chronicle some prog-
ress. The membership grew in numbers, and our collections were en-
riched by some very important gifts, as the old Church Records of Old
Mines Parish and the Letters of Archbishop Kain. His Grace of St.
Louis was the donor of the Records, and Msgr. J. J. Tannrath of Arch-
bishop Kain's Letters. At the September meeting Fathers Holweck and
Van Tourenhout gave informal talks on the Old Parishes of Louisiana,
which they had recently visited and partly explored. At the Novem-
ber meeting Mr. Edward Brown read an important paper on Governor
McNair. At the January meeting Father Martin Brennan gave a
highly interesting talk on the theory of the planets being inhabited, in-
clining to the negative side. At the March meeting the Secretary treated
of the circumstances connected with the visit of an Indian delegation
from beyond the Rocky IMountains to St. Louis for the purpose of ob-
taining a "Black Gown" for their people.
The publication of the Society's organ, the St. Louis Catholic
Historical Review was delayed several times, owing, in part, to the
disturbed condition of the times. The Society has a strong claim on
the patriotic and Christian interest of the cultured classes of St. Louis
and Missouri, and, we may add, of the entire Mississippi Valley. It
is the Society's purpose to elucidate the religious and social influences
that went out from St. Louis, far and wide, from the days of the
earliest discoveries to our living present, which will soon be history, too.
With greater interest aroused and with better financial support, the
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis could do imperishable work.
John Rothensteiner, Secretary.
123
124 NOTES
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CATHOLIC HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS FOR THE YEAR ENDING MAY, 1920.
The Committee met regularly each month next preceding the general meeting
of tlie Sociely during the year.
The meetings of the Committee were generally well attended, current expendi-
tures were authorized and arrangements made from time to time for the reading
of a paper at each meeting of the Society during the year.
The urgent appeal made by the Committee a year ago for an increased mem-
bership and a more active interest m the work of the Society, on the part of the
members enrolled, has not been heeded — six new members were enrolled during
the year — two members died and one resigned, leaving the present membership
57 — a net gain of only three members since our last Annual Meeting. The gen-
eral meetings of the Society were poorly attended ; sixty-four per cent of the
total membership were not present at any meeting, and less than twelve members
have taken any active interest ui the work of the Society. The principal work of
the Society has been in the publication of its Quarterlj--, the St. Louis Catholic
Historical Rkvikw. the first volume of which was completed with the publication
of the July-October, IQIQ, number. One hundred copies of this volume will be
bound in cloth as soon as the index to the volume has been received from the
printer, and offered for sale at $4.00 per copy. The cost of publishing the Review
is about $600 per anmun, while the entire membership dues and subscriptions for
the Revikw is about $460. While the Society, up to this time, has been able to
meet its current obligations, it is obvious that the work cannot be continued very
long vvitliout a deficit, unless there is a marked increase in the Society's member-
ship, or a large number of new subscriliers secured for the Review.
Apart from the question of expense, there has been much delay and irregu-
larity in issuing the ReviEw — each number being several months late. Although
the July and October numbers were issued as a double number, it was not ready
for distribution until after the first of the year. The January number is still
in press, but will be issued shortly.
It is suggested that the Publication Committee reorganize or arrange its edi-
torial work in some way to have the Review appear each quarter with regularity.
The very life of the Society, in the opinion of this Committee, depends upon the
success of this publication.
The membership at large is again urged to lend the interest and co-operation
necessary to maintain the Society and enable it to continue its work successfully.
The Treasurer's report showing the receipts and expenditures for the year
and the amount of cash on hand, is submitted herewith :
Financial Report
Por the year ending; April 30, 1920.
RECEIPTS. EXPENDITURES.
Bakince on hand May i, 1919. . .$ 11.34 Postage and printing $ 6.20
Dues paid by members 268.13 Printing Hist. Review 389.62
Su!)scriptions, etc., Historical M. V. Review 4.00
Review 220.25 Exchange 1.15
Balance 98.75
$499.72
Total $49972
J. J, Tannrath, Treasurer.
Balance on band May t, 1920.$ 98.75
Respectfully Submitted,
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
J. A. Connolly, V. G., Chairman.
NOTLCS 125
CATHOLIC REGINN1N(;S IN KANSAS CITV,
By Reverend Gilbert J . Corraglian, S.J .
12mo., 137 pages, illustrated. Trice $1.25. postpaid.
The city and diocese of Kansas Cit\' may well be proud of the
dainty booklet concerning its "Catholic Beginnings," which Father Gil-
bert J. Garraghan, S.J., of the St. Louis University has written, and
the Loyola University Press of Chicago has published this year. It
is a monograph of 137 pages, beautifully printed on fine paper, and
tastefully bound. Father Garraghan is a writer who combines patient,
laborious research with excellent judgment and fine literary ability ; and
this latest product of his genius proves once more that accuracy and
historical truth are not incompatible with the graces of style. Father
Garraghan's book reads like a romance, and yet it is exact and trust-
worthy history. The book is full of most interesting facts, gathered
from numerous sources, mostly manuscripts not accessible heretofore,
but hidden away in archives and libraries, yet facts touched to life once
more by the glowing pen of a true historian, a lover of the ancient days.
In fact, we have here the only authentic account of the early days of the
second metropolis of Missouri, "the only complete tirst chapter of the
general history of Kansas City," as it has been justly styled. Any fu-
ture historian of that wonderful city must, of necessity, give this book
the place of honor among his printed sources, for it is a source-book of
the most important kind, embodying the very words of the actors in
that early drama. The Roux letters form only one, though the most
interesting, source of information : TJie Westport Register, the Kieka-
poo Mission Record, the Baptismal Records of Father De la Croix, the
numerous illustrations, the old map of early Kansas City, with all the
houses marked upon it. all ore historical sources as rare and priceless as
any in our state. If it be surprising what a mass of interesting infor-
mation is compressed in such small compass, it is still more surprising
how eminently readable the book proves to be. The secret of its attrac-
tion lies in the orderly arrangement of all the manifold detail, and the
clear, concise, limpid style of writing. The beginnings of Kansas City
were Catholic. Catholic traders from St. Louis were the pioneers in all
the region, and the presence of the Catholic Church made itself felt as
the earliest and most important religious influence in Westport and the
surrounding country. Now that the mustard seed has grown up into
the mighty tree of Catholic Kansas City, it is pleasant to read of the
spirit of faith and charity and self-.sacrifice that animated the first plant-
ers and cultivators of the spiritual soil in that one-time Western walder-
ness. We would recommend to all Missourians first, and to all lovers
of heroic lives in general, the perusal of Father Garraghan's Catholic
Beginnings in Kansas City, Missouri. We of the St. Louts Catholic
Historical Review are specially proud of Father Garraghan's success,
as we number him among the members of our editorial stafT. and as
one of the most valued contributors to our columns. Father Garraghan
has erected a monumenttim acre percnnius to the greatness of Kansas
126 NOTES
City, and to the honor of our State. May this beautiful success en-
courage others to raise similar inonuments to commemorate the labors
and sacrifices and successes and triumphs of our fathers in the Faith.
Father G. J. Garraghan's book illustrates the fact that, from the
time of its erection into an independent Episcopal See, the Church of St.
Louis has taken to heart to prove herself pre-eminently apostolic. The
leading article opening the present number of the Review gives another
evidence of that apostolic zeal. But not only the Church of St. Louis
as an Ecclesiastical unit, but more restricted organizations in its bosom
were looked up to as centers from which Catholic life and activity must
radiate abroad. It was, no doubt, because he was convinced of this
truth, that Bishop Salpointe applied to the Sisters of St. Joseph to send
a colony in far-away Arizona. Fifty years have rolled by since the
first Sisters set out from Carondelet on the long, tedious and perilous
journey. Tucson, Arizona, is now within the distance of a three days'
journey from St. Louis ; no longer do the Indians lie in wait to slaugh-
ter the traveller through their jealously kept wilderness ; we are
tempted at times to judge the conditions of fifty years ago by those of
to-day; from the Pullman window or the observation car one finds
hard to believe traveling meant then well-night incredible hardships ; the
parlor-car philosopher smiles at the harrowing tales which are the his-
tory of but yesterday, and fails to recognize that nothing short of hero-
ism was needed to launch on such journeys as the Sisters of St. Joseph
imdertook in 1870. But the parlor-car philosopher lacks the power to
visualize past conditions ; nor is it to him we look up for appreciation
of devotedness prompted by no human interest and discernment of
heroism. Neither does history look to him for judgment ; and more
and more, we are sure, will history extol the true worth of those zealous
souls that set out from our midst to blaze the way of the Gospel.
Honor to them, and particularly on this happy golden Jubilee year,
honor to those apostolic Sisters of Carondelet who fearlessly started to
the unknown West to do the work of Him who missioned His Church
to teach all nations.
The missions to the Indians of Missouri and the great Northwest
have been recounted ; in the above-mentioned Journal we have a narra-
tive of the commencement of Catholic education in the West ; one field
of the missionary activity kindled in St. Louis has so far been the object
of little attention : we mean the Texas Missions. Let us hope that, no
less than the others, these, too, will soon find in these pages an appre-
ciative narrator.
The nationality of P. Kino, S.J. — Since Mr. Herb. E. Bolton of
the State University of California discovered the long-lost diary of P.
Kino, called "Favores Celestiales," several Reviews have taken interest
in the person of this great American Missionary. To settle the ques-
tion of his nationality. Rev. F. G. Holweck asked one of the parish
priests of the Val di Non, Trentino, the home of P. Kino, for informa-
NOTES 127
tion. Whereupon a well-known priest from Trent, Rev. Simone Weber,
June 21, 1920, answered that P. Kino's real name was "Chmi" ; he
was born August 10, 1645, at Segno, a village belonging to the Parish of
Torra, Val di Non. His parents were Francisco Chmi and Marg.
Luchi! If P. Chini called himself "German," it was not to indicate his
nationality, but solely because the ecclesiastic principality of Trent was
a dependency of the Germano-Roman Empire. The "Germanus" of P.
Chini must not be taken in the same sense that he was a Teuton ; himself,
his family, his countrv,his valley, were and are distinctly Italian. His ed-
ucation, however, was absolutely German ; he studied at Hall near Inns-
bruck, at Freiburg, i. B. and at Ingolstadt. At Segno, the home village
of P. Chini, there exist, at the present time, many families by the name
of Chini.
* * * *
Why the Buffalo Vanished from the Plains.
The Indian, once the proud possessor of all America, has almost
vanished from the land. Pushed westward by the advancing tide of
European immigration, the various tribes seemed destined, for a short
time to become a great people of hunters and trappers on the Western
plains from Nebraska to Texas. The land was full of game, especially
of the so-called bison or Buffalo, which supplied a frugal people with
food, clothing and fuel. But in a few years the buffalo had vanished,
and the poor Indian was reduced to direst poverty.
How the wild game, particularly the bison, were swept from the
Western plains, is told by a railroad poster resurrected from America's
early days, says the Neiv York Sun.
These posters, according to the California Fish and Game Com-
mission, were posted throughout England. American hunters not com-
ing in sufficient numbers, a bid was made oversees for more gunners,
women being included.
The poster is headed "Grand Buffalo Hunt," and reads as follows :
"A grand buffalo hunt vvill be held in September next on the prai-
ries of Nebraska and Colorado, U. S. A., and through the magnificent
valley of the Republican River, the rich alluvial feeding grounds of the
buffalo.
"The Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company owns mil-
lions of acres, is one of the most wealthy corporations in the Western
States of America, and will assist this hunting party in every way, in
order that the sportsmen of England may see the Western country, and
on their return be able to corroborate the statements as to cHmate, re-
sources and the gigantic advancement made in so new a country.
"There are no hostile Indians in Nebraska whatever; friendly
chiefs of the Otoes, Pawnees and other tribes will accompany the party.
"Sportsmen will be provided with army tents and beds during the
hunt. There will be servants to take care of the horses, and, in fact,
all arrangements have been made to give the hunting party the greatest
amount of pleasure with the least possible trouble.
128 NOTES
"Wagons will be provided for the conveyance of any trophies of
the chase, such as biififalo skins, elk horns and antlers in limited quan-
tity.
"The sportsman has there a field of nature's own planting on
which to roam in pursuit of his healthy and invigorating pleasures, and
where can the lover of scenery find greater, grander, lovelier views than
are to be found on the continent of America?
"Fare for the round trip of about seven weeks, including every
expense, except wines, liquors, cigars, guns, riflies and ammunition, 90
guineas.
"The arrangements will be such as to admit of ladies joining the
party, but the charge for ladies will be 100 guineas each."
We, of St. Louis, who, schooled in the spirit of grateful remem-
brance so strongly inculcated by St. Paul, (Heb. 13, 7), did not deem
any celebration too grand for the worthy remembrance of the prelate
who came here a century ago to speak the word of God on our shores.
We are bending all our efforts upon the pleasant task of letting no par-
ticle of information escape our search, in order that to "the men of
renown, and our fathers in their generation" may be in due time erected
an historical monument worthy of their labors and of our appreciation.
For we have long since made our own the earnest appeal of the learned
Editor of the Catholic Historical Review (Washington, D. C.) that of
every Bishop of the United States, the history should be written. No
more ingratiating news, therefore, could reach us than that a life of
Bishop Louis William Valentine Du Bourg is contemplated and in
course of composition. We may add, without fear of betraying any
secrets, that the writer is admirably well equipped for the task he has
undertaken. Of the "Bishop of Louisiana" what most of us know
best is his pubHc life as Administrator and Bishop ; the prelate's pros-
pective historian is privileged to have access to an imposing mass of
family papers which will reveal also the man. Most heartily do we
wish godspeed to the zealous historian and do we pray for the happy
completion of his labor of love and devotion.
3}C SfC S|£ ^
To some of our Ecclesiastical readers it may appear that the periodi-
cal conferences of the clergy are a relatively new-fangled institution,
without precedent or even analogy in the past. Without going back to
the pages of Europe's Church history, we may trace the wholesome
practice in this country, and in the Diocese of Louisiana, of which St.
Louis was then a part, for now more than a century back. For this
purpose we need but quote here the following passage of a letter of
Bishop Du Bourg to Father Bigeschi, Pastor of the Church of the As-
sumption, Bayou La Fourche. La. This letter was written from the
Barrens, on August 15th, 1819:
With regard to the Ecclesiastical Conferences, if Father Valezano
is willing to gather the priests at his place, I believe that that would be
most convenient, I appoint him President, and Father Tichitoli, Secretary.
NOTES 129
I desire that Fathers Mina and Mariani should go there. Let the
members begin with going to confession and assisting at High Mass.
At the time appointed for the conference proper, one of the members
shall have a little speech on some matter of ecclesiastical life or duties;
after that, each one may "submit his doubts, or some case of conscience.
The Secretary shall take d^vA^n the names of the members in attendance,
and the minutes of the proceedings, with the questions propounded and
the solutions given thereto ; and he shall send me his minutes, either by
mail, postpaid, to spare my exchequer, or by some occasion. It would
be well for the Chairman to prepare the subjects. beforehaand, and assign
them for the next conference. These subjects may be on questions of
Moral Theology, the Sacraments, the Decalogue, Justice, etc. — on Eccle-
siastical duties, the means to reform abuses, to spread instruction, etc.,
etc., or finally difficult cases of conscience with their circumstances.
DOCUMENTS FROM OUR
ARCHIVES
Correspondence of Bishop Du Bourg with Propaganda
XXI.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO THE CARDINAL PREFECT OF
PROPAGANDA/
Eminenitissime Praefecte.
. . . Quod vero attinet ad erectionem Novae Metropoleos, de
qua unum solummodo verbuni in praefato supplici libello factum est,
inter Praesules praevalet opinio, Civitatem S. Ludomci inter omnes
praeferendam, turn propter ipsius geographicam positionem, turn ob
nascentem in dies circumvicinarum Regionum populationem et famam.
Nullum profecto dubium est quin Religionis molumento valde profu-
tura sit secunda Metropoleos creatio. Una tamen est difficultas, quae
nos moratur. Nondum in Episcopalem Sedem erecta est Civitas S.
Liidovici, nee ullatenus expedit ut dividatur, saltem ante longimi tem-
pus, Dioecesis Louisianensis. Inferior enim et Superior Louisiana ?ibi
mutuo ita necessaria sunt, i.t neque ista corporalem nee ilia spiritualem
pastum, a se invicem avulsae comparare valeret. Episcopali mensae, et
Seminarii sustentationi utcumque providet inferior Louisiana ; Superior
sola est, unde -Jtera Sacerdotes expectat. Utraque igitur societatis suae
emolumentum habet, quo, si dividetur, in deterius utraque abeat necesse
est. Dies forsan olim elucescet, cum alioqui expetenda divisio sine tam
gravi detriment© efifici poterit ; at maturius semper in re tanti momenti
erit procedendum, ne, sub 5:pecie majoris utilitatis, pessumdetur partis
utriusque vigox. Impraesf.ntiarum vero prorsus constat hujusmodi
divisionem exitiosissimam ^ore, et summopere necessarium esse ut sub
unius Episcopi auctoritate ambae remaneant, r.djuncto tamen ipsi Co-
adjutore, qui in partem ipsius solicitudinis veniat. Haec cum ita sint,
duobus dumtaxat modis erigi posset praefata Metropolis, videlicet, vel
sub generico nomine Louisijnae, vel erigendo Civititatem San Ludoin-
censeni in titulum Archi"'.p'scopalem annexa ipsi Sede Neo-Aurelinn-
1 Archives of Propaganda. Acta S. Congregattonis de Propaganda Fide,
1822. These Documents, from rhe Roman Archives were copied in Rome (1882)
by the Very Rev. Henry Van der Sanden, Chancellor of the Archdiocese. The
dots indicate passages not copied, probably because they were deemed irrelevant
to the History of the Diocese which the late Chancellor was compiling.
130
DOCUMENTS 131
cnsi. Quod si ueutruin Sacrae Congregationi arriserit, nihil de nova
Metropoli e'-it statuenduni. Si vero posterius expedire videatur, propria
San Ludovicfnsis Dioecesis circuniscriptio esse potest tofus Status Mis-
souriensis, cum tota ilia IlUnensis Status parte quae inter flumen Mis-
sissippi et duodccinium longitudinis gradum jacet. Quod superest su-
premi hujus Status, cum Statu Indianae, nunc a Revmo Bardensi An-
tistite administratum, novam Dioecesim olim constituere poterit ; sed
nondum matura res est. Nova vero Metropolis, si erigere ipsam pla-
cuerit, omnes Sedes Episcopates citra juga Alleganensia, sibi subjectas
habere convenit.
Ad sacrae purp . . . etc,
+LuD. GuiL. Episc. Neo-Aurel
S. Ludovici, in Statu Missouriano,
Aprilis 25, 1820.
TRANSLATION.
Your Emineu'^e : — ■
Now tourhing the erection of a new Metropolitan See, about which
only a word was said in the afore-mentioned petition,' the Bishops' pre-
vailing opinion is that the City of St. Louis should have the preference
above all others,, on account of its geographical position, as well as of
the increasing population and appreciation of the surrounding country.
There can be no doubt that the creation of another Archbishopric is
destined to serve greatly the interests of Religion. However, there is a
difficulty which stops us : St. Louis has not yet been erected into an
Episcopal See, and a division of Louisiana is in no wise advisable, at
least for yet a good while. For Lower and Upper Louisiana are so
necessary to each other, th:it if they be separated, the latter could not
get temporal, and the other spiritual help. The Episcopal inensa, and
the support of the seminary are somehow supplied by Lower Louisiana ;
from Upper Louisiana alone can priests be supplied. Each one, there-
fore, ne^ds the society of the other ; hence, if a division is made, both
must of necessity suffer. At some future day, perhaps, it will be possi-
ble to make this division, otherwise desirable, without such great detri-
ment ; yet it will always be profitable to proceed slowly in a matter of
such importance, lest, under the specious appearance of greater utility,
the strer'gth of both parts be impaired. For the present, at any rate, it
is evident that the division would be a calamity ; and it is of the utmost
import_nce that both sections remain under the authority of only one
Bishop, to whom, however, a Coadjutor should be given, to take a
portion of his solicitude. In these conditions, only in two ways could
- The passage here omittjd introduced the Rev. Angelo Inglesi (See Rn-
\itw. Vol. II, p. 46, n. 4) and as'-ced he be appointed Coadjutor. Document XXIII
deals at great length with this request.
3 This was. no doubt, a petition by the "western" Bishops. Flaget and David.
(See Spalding, Life of Bishop Flaget, p. 216 and foil.
132 DOCUMENTS
the jMenopolitan vSee of which we are speaking be erected: namely, by
designnting it under the generic name of Louisiana, or by the creation
in St. Louis of an Archiepiscopal title to which would be joined the See
of New Orleans, and if neither way meets the approval of the S. Con-
gregaticn, then nothing should be done in regard to a new Archbishop-
ric. If. however, the latter of the above-indicated means should be
found expedient, then the Diocese of St. Louis proper might include
all the State of Missouri, with all the part of the State of Illinois
stretching between the Mississippi River and the 12th degree of longi-
tude. The re^t of the Stale, together with the State of Indiana, now
under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Bardstown, may, in the course
of time, constitute a new Diocese ; but the matter is not yet ripe for con-
sideration. The new Metropolis, if it is the good pleasure of the Con-
gregation to erect it. might have properly as Suffragan all the Episcopal
Sees this side of the Alleghanies.
+L. Wm., Bp. of New Orl.
.St. Louis, vState of Missouri, April 25, 1820.
XXII.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO CARDINAL FONTANA, PREFECT
OF PROPAGANDA}
Deo favente, ad me nuper venerunt amplissimae litterae, quibus
me docet Eminentia Vestra, etsi Sacra ilia Congregatio Coadjutorem
mihi dare sit parata. Domino tamen Ludovico Sibourd, Vicario meo
Generali. quern ad hoc onus proposueram, tum propter provectam ipsius
aetatem.sexaginta nempe et quatutor annorum.tum quia de ejus pruden-
tia. virtute et doctrina satis ipsi non constat, nullo modo favere. Fateor
aetatem grandnevam non modicum difficultatis facessere, quippe quae
parum juvet ad immensas Episcopalis muneris, in tam dilatata Dioecesi,
molestias perferendas. — De caeteris dotibus putabam me abunde satis-
fecisse. Sufficit vero quod sub uno respectu Sacrae Congregationi
minus quam ojiortet idoneus videatur, ut ipsius sapientissimo oraculo
me penitus su])jiciam. Declaraveram sane me Domino Sibourd hac de
causa adhaerc'-c', quod praeter eum, vix alius praesto foret sacerdos in
niea Dioecesi, r;iii earn experientiam, et cognitionem rerum et hominum
in Episcopo summe necessarias, adquisivisset. In aliud igitur tempus
necesse erit di^erre Coadjutoris electionem. Forsan intra unum aut
alterum annum poterimus de alio cogitare, qui Sacrae Congregationis
vota, aeque ac mea valeat explere. Interim dum vires mihi suppetunt,
solus oneri humeros applicabo ; et ad id juvabit quod infinita Dei miseri-
cordia nnhi tandem omnium corda subjecit.
Pu*o Eminentiam Vestram non latere quanta odia in me prius in
ista inferiori Louisiana efferbuissent, ita ut ipsam adire absque evidenti
^ Archives of Propaganda,". Scritture referite nei Congressi. Cod. 7. Ameri-
ca Ccntrale. Dal Canada all Istmo di Panama. Dal 1821 a tto il 1822.
Emincntissime Praefecte.
DOCUMENTS 133
periculo non valereni. Non niodicam igitur ipsi admirationem faciet
audire me in hac Dioceseos meae lustratione, ad Novam usque Aureliam
inter unanimes ferme cleri et populorum congratulationes advenisse.
A Domino factum est istud, et ita mirabilis apparuit animorum
conversio, ut vix oculis suis credant, qui priorum angustiarum conscii,
nunc consolationcs vidente ;, quibus misericors Deus animani meam
laetiticat. Inter omnes qui ad advcntum meum majora dedere et gaudi
et reverentiae signa conspicuum quam maxime se praebuit Rev. Pater
Antonius de Sedella, ille ip.-e, qui antea, nescio cur, infensissimus mihi
extiterat Verba non sufflciant si narrare velim, quot et quantis honori-
bus me cxceperit, et prope dicere ausim : "Nullum nunc habeo tam
unanimem qui sincera diectione sollicitus sit pro me." Hujus ad ex-
emplum tota se composuit Civitas, ita ut publice Synodum in ea ipsa
urbe cel'^brarc non pertimuerim, in qua uno abhinc anno faciem meam
nionstrare simimi fuisset periculi. —
Ad Synodum banc convenerunt viginti circiter sacerdotes ex in-
feriori Louisiana ; qui omnes unanimes se exhibuerunt, tum in sua erga
me observantia, tum in zelo Ecclesiasticae disciplinae tuendae. Mul-
tum quoque solatii attulit videre morum reformationem et pietatis in-
crementum quae in universis prope parocbiis intra tam breve spatium,
fratrum meorum laboribus, obtinuerunt.
De caeteris Sacram banc Congregationem fusius docebit Reveren-
dus Dnus. Angelus Inglesi, Romanus patria . . . . de quo in
praecedentibus. Hunc jam in Coadjutorem mibi rogare praesumerem,
nisi meo judicio, satius esset aliquot annos expectare, ut sibi inter fratres
suos majorem existimationem conciliaret.
Lic^.vat mibi tamen, Iiniinentissime Praefecte. haec Tibi vota in-
sinuare, ut si forte de vivis me auferri contigerit, antequam expleantur,
sciat Fminentia Vestra nullum eo acceptiorem mihi fore in successorem.
(iaudeo ((uod praesens occasio ipsum Eminentiae Vestrae caeterisque
Emineniissimis S. Congregationis Patribus notimi facere et desiderium
meum oromoverc possit.
Ad Sylvicolarum, qui in superioribus Dioeceseos meae partibus
abundant, conversionem, vix animum usquedum adjicere licuit ; et si
potuissem, deerant operarii. Dudum de Patribus .Societatis Jesu ad hoc
praecellentissimum opus cliaritatis cogitaveram. nullumque, ad obtinen-
dos aliquot ex eis, non movcram lapidem. In hac re plurimum mihi
favit Sanctis-'imus Dominns Noster, datis ad Superiorem Generalem
etiam epistolis, ut meis votis obsecundaret. Nihil tamen hactenus pro-
feceramus. Sed nunc audio Superiores in hoc opus se propensiores ex-
hibere Dnum. Inglesi igitur monui, ut quod sibi ingenii et sollicitudinis
inest, totum in maturando hoc consilo impendat. Et Eminentiam Ves-
tram ferventissime precor ut ipsi adjutricem maninn admoveat. Unus
praecipr.e est inter Pat res dictae Societatis, nomine De Barat, Burdi-
galae in inferiori Seminario degens. quem scio ardentissimo hue veni-
endi dcjiderin fiagrarc. vir pietate, doctrina. zeloque animarum nemini
secundns ; hunc suppliciter logo mihi a Vicario Generali concedi, et
Eminentiae Vestrae ad eum finem potentissimam mediationem mihi
flagito. Huic se libenter comites adjicient aliqui ex junioribus inter
134 DOCUMENTS
Galios. aliique provectioris aetatis inter eos quos e Moscovitarum fini-
bus Gallia nuper excepit. Quinque vel ad summum sex sufficerent, si
duo vel tres ex Marylandia ipsis se adjungerent, quod summopere est
peroptatidum, turn propter linguae Anglicae peritiam, turn quia cum isti
fortuna abundant, possent inopiae fratrum supplere. Cum extra sub-
sidio. facile sibi iter pandet Evangelium ad gentes innumerasMississippii
et Missourii oris undequaque circumjacentes. Ad Eminentiam Ves-
tram spectat, Kminentissime Praefecte, tantum opus inchoare. Ad illud
viriliter se acclngat. Ni faciat, vereor heterodoxos missionarios tarn
optabilis victoriae palmam a nobis ablaturos.
Parcat Eminentia Vestra epistolae hujus incoherentiae, et obtuso
stylo. Iter agens scribo, in una ex his navibus, quae fervidae aquae
vapore propelluntur.
+LuD. GuiL. Ep. Neo-Aurel.
Ex Superior! Louisiana, die Sti. Mathiae Ap. 1821. >
TRANSLATION
Your Eminence: —
I *:hank God for the consolation afforded me recently by the recep-
tion of your long letter,- wherein Your Eminence advises me that, al-
though the S. Congregation is disposed to give me a Coadjutor, yet jt
does not at all favor the appointment of Father Louis Sibourd, my
Vicar General, whom 1 had proposed for this office. The objection is
taken from his advanced age — sixty-four — also from the lack of in-
formation as to his prudence, virtue and knowledge. I readily confess
that his age causes a certain amount of difficulty, as it does not permit
to undergo the considerable fatigues of the Episcopal charge in such an
immense Diocese. With regard to the other qualifications, I thouglit
I had explained myself quite sufficiently. But the fact that from one
point of view he does not come up to the mark of the S. Congregation
is enough for me to abide entirely by its most wise decision. I had
plainly stated, though, that my reason for holding so much for Father
Sibourd, was that, outside of him, I had scarcely any priest in my
Diocese in possession of that experience, and knowledge of men and
things, which are of prime iccessity in a Bishop. We will have, there-
fore, to postpone to some other time the election of the Coadjutor.
Perhaps within one or two years will we be able to think of someone
else capable of meeting the requirements of the S. Congregation, and
my own. Meanwhile, as long as my strength permits, I will bear the
burden alone ; and I will find no mean help in the fact that, by God's
infinite mercy, all hearts are now obedient to me.
Your Eminence is aware, I believe, of the amount of hatred first
aroused against me in this Lower Louisiana ; it went so far that I could
go there only at considerable risk. It will be to you, therefore, a source
2 This seems to refer to Propaganda Letter No. 14 (Review, Vol. II, p. =;i-
52), although the length of this document is not such as to justify the "ampiissi-
mas" wherewith Bishop Du Bourg qualifies it. But the subject matter fits in
every point.
DOCUMENTS 135
of great wonder to hear that, in this visitation of my Diocese, I have
met, all the way to New Orleans, a practically unanimous welcome
from the clerg\' and the people.^
This is truly the work of the Lord, and so wonderful has this
change of spirit appeared, that the persons who knew the distress I was
in, can scarcely believe their eyes when they behold the consolations
with which the all-merciful God gladdens my soul. Among those who
exhibited the greatest signs of joy and reverence at my coming, one of
the most conspicuous was the Rev. Father Anthony de Sedella, the
very same man who, in former times, I know not why, was most hos-
tile to me. Words are unavailing to describe the honors with which he
welcomed me, and I would dare say that there is no one more in har-
mony with me, no one to whom genuine affection prompts to more
solicitude in my behalf. This example has given the tone to the whole
city, so that I was not afraid to celebrate publicly a synod in that same
city wht;re, a year ago, merely to show myself would have meant ex-
treme danger.
This Synod was made up of some twenty priests from Lower
Louisiana. All manifested m unison both their obedience to me and
their zeal for the maintenance of Ecclesiastical discipline. It afforded
me likewise much consolation to see the change in morals and the in-
crease of piety which, thanks to the labors of my brother-priests, has
been effected in almost everv parish within so short a space of time.*
As to the rest, the S. Congregation will be made fully cognizant
of it by the Rev. Angelo Inglesi, a native of . . .^ whom I men-
tioned in my preceding letter. I would not hesitate to ask him for my
Coadjutor were it not proper, according to my judgment, to wait a few
years, until he is more fully appreciated by his brother-priests.®
However, permit me, C.Ty Lord, to give you this hint of my wish,
so that m case I should depart this life before this wish is fulfilled.
Your Eminence may know that I deem no one to be more acceptable as
my successor. I am glad that the present occasion is offered Your
Eminence and the other Cardinals of the Sacred Congregation to know
him and bring about the fulfilment of my desires.
^ In fev^ral letters of this period. Bishop Du Bourg attributes this wondortMl
change to the exertions of Father Martial, whom he cannot praise too highly.
Later events reversed considerably this feeling and this esteem.
* Th's glowing report appears too optimistic; or, if there was a change, it
was not 'asting: for, in a letter — perhaps somewhat pessimistic, although it men-
tions fact? — of July 13, 1822, leather Martial wrote from New Orleans: 'fV'^e
had not. during this whole year, one single communion, not even at Easter, de-
spite our instructions and pressing solicitations. Carelessness in regard to -fl'-
pion is rampant to a frightful degree." (Archives of Propaganda. Scrithi^s
Referife. Cod. 7). It should be noted, however, that religion fared quite differ-
ently in '.ne city and in country districts.
5 Wr,rd illegible.
' Bishop Du Bourg seems here to forget what he had already written in the
beginning of his letter of April 25, 1820 (Document XXI, above). At any rate,
he was not to wait "a few years" before making a strong plea for Inglesi's pro-
motion, IS may be seen from his very next letter, of May 3. The "few years"
were reduced to a little more than two months.
136 DOCUMENTS
So far I have scarcely been able to turn my attention to the con-
version of the savages, who are in great numbers in the upper part of
my Diocese. Rut even if I had been able to do so, there were no labor-
ers. For some time past I have been thinking, for this paramount
work of charity, of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and have left
no stone vinturncd in order to secure some of them. In this regard I
was greatly aided by His Holiness, who went so far as to write to the
Superior General with a view to indorse my wishes. But hitherto our
eflforts have proved unsuccessful. However, I understand that the Su-
periors of the Society are now showing more willingness to undertake
the work I have accordingly recommended to Father Inglesi to make
use of every resource his intelligence and zeal could prompt in order to
bring this project to maturity. I likewise beg most earnestly Your
Eminence to second his efforts. There is. in particular, one of the
Fathers of the Society, De Barat by name, now in the Little Seminary
of Bordeaux, whom 1 know to be most anxious to come here ; his piety,
knowledge and zeal are beyond par. I most earnestly pray the Vicar
Genera! to give him to me; and beseech to this end tlie aid of Your
Eminen-e's most powerful influence. With him some of the younger
French Jesuits will be glad to come, as also others, of riper years,
among those who came lately from Russia to France. Five, or six at
most, would be sufficient, if to them were added two or three from
Maryland — a thing most desirable on account of their knowledge of
English, and also because, as these are well off financially, they could
supply the want of their brothers. With this help the Gospel cannot
fail to make headway among the numberless nations on both sides of
the Mississippi and of the Missouri. Your Eminence should make it
his business to undertake such a great work. Do manfully gird your
loins to do it ! H you do not, I am afraid the Protestant missionaries
will wrest from us this so desirable palm of victory.
Please, Your Eminence, to pardon me the incoherence of this letter
and its uncouth style. I am writing while on a journey on one of those
boats propelled by steam.
+L. Wm., Bp. of New Orl.
Upper Louisiana, St. Mathias' Day, 1821.
xxin.
BISHOP DU BOURC TO CARDINAL fONTANA, PREFECT OP
PROPAGANDA}
Eminentissime Praefecte.
Etsi per duos continuos annos .Sacram banc Congregationem ini-
pensius rogare non destiterim, ut Coadjutorem mihi. in partem Episco-
palis meae solicitudinis, adciscere dignaretur, numquam tamen, animum
^ Archives of Propaganda. Scritture reierite net Coti<^ressi. Cod. 7. This
is really the "darkest page" in the history of Bishop Du Bourg's administration.
DOCUMENTS 137
vehementius affecerat urgens auxilii hujusmodi necessitas, quani cum
in immensuni succrescentes curae, decrescentesque eadeni ratione vir-j.s,
nionent me solum taiUo oncri sustentando parem diu nou futurum. E
memoria quippe Kminentiae Vestrae excidere nolim Diocesini banc sex-
centis et amplius leucis in longitudinem extendi, cujus utraque extrenri-
tas Episcopi praesentiam prorsus exigit. Sex fere menses nuper ab-
sumpsi in cursoria perlustratione solius inferioris Louisianae, quae lioet
populalionem praccipuam, vix tamen sextam extensione partem Dioe-
cesis constituit. Ducentis supra mille millibus a Nova AureHa distat
oppidum Sti. Ludovici, alterum crescentis in dies populationis centrum.
Interjaccntes regiones disjcctis hac iliac, magnoque tractu, ut pluri-
mum, 'I ^e invicem sejunctis babitationibus componuntur. Unde facile
videre potest Eminentia Vestra Episcopum unum, etsi berculeo robore,
vitamque integram in arduis visitationis laboribus agat, vix ac ne vi>:
quidem, satis muneri suo faccre usquam posse. Ad haec. timor ne, me
intempestive inter tot curas et continua pericula sublato, longa viduitate
affiicta Dioecesis in statum recidat pejorem priore, quiescere animum
non sinit, donee per Coadjutoris institutionem, ipsius et praesenti neces-
sitati et futurae tirmitati provisum fuerit.
Non dififitebor equideni virum aetate provectum panmi tantis soli-
citudinibus aptum esse. Hujusmodi tamen non levis auxilii fuisset,
Sedem suam in alterutro Dioecesis fine constituens vigilantiae saltern et
continuarum peregrinationum onere me partim levassct, praeterquam
quod successionis quasi quoddam extitisset vinculum. Ideo nullum
praesto habens mediae aetatis sacerdotem, quern ad boc onus propo-
rerem, veritusque ne longe majores adversus juniorem exceptiones as-
surgerent, senes duos successive designaveram, Revdos. scilicet An-
tonium de Scdella el Liidovicimi Sibonrd. His objecit Sacra Congre-
gatio, nee conqueror. Restat igitur ut inter juniores unum seligam,
qui maturitate judicii, sincera devotione, aliisque praeclaris dotibus
aetatis defectui abundantius suppleat.
Hunc, ni me fallit affectus, inveni in dilectissimo filio meo Revdo.
Angelo Inglesi. quern Divin.i Providentia mihi consolatorem in angus-
tiis, et baculum ingruentis jam senectutis, mirabiliter deputavit. Dicam
quod res est. Neminem unqnam babui tam unanimem, qui sincera dilec-
tione pro me et ovibus meis solicitiorem se praebuerit. Haec ipsa fuit
solicitudo. quae, cum viderit me subsidiis quasi omnibus, sive ad vitam
sustentandam. sive ad proniovendam Missionum nostrarum utilitatem
indigere, ad Europam ilium abduxit, ut et aere proprio. utique non
modico, et mendicatis fidelibus largitionibus. inopiae nostrae suppleret,
novasque quibus plurimum deficimus, operariorum copias colligeret.
Adeo vere ipsum, praecipuum Dioecesis Fundatorem, a longe salutare
non dubitem. Eminentiam Vestram latere non arbitror quotjanipere-
grinationes hac de causa susceperit, quanta dignitate legatione sua
functus, quantoque honore ubicumque a maximis etiam principibus
variarumque gentium proceribus fuerit cumulatus. Haec sane pru-
dentiam arguunt supra aetatem, nee dubitare sinunt quin novus hie
Timotheus ita se in Episcopali munere sit gesturus ut nemo adolescen-
tiam ejus contemnat. Ouidni igitur non jam votis meis, sed universi
138 DOCUMENTS
cleri et plebis Louisianensis annuatur, qui cum consona voce in Coadju-
torem et successorem meum advocant ?
Forsan obstant Ecclesiae leges, quae quadragesimum annum ad
Episcopatum requirunt. Sed quoties cum ipsis dispensatum jam f uit !
Multum profecto a quadragesimo distabant Titus et Timotheus, quin et
dilectus Apostolus. Et ut ad tempus nostrum veniamus, caeteris pluri-
bus omissis, vix arbitror trigesimo excessisse lUmum. Dnum. De
Quelen, cum ad Archipiscopatum Nazianzenum et Sedis Parisiensis
Coadjutorium nuper est promotus. Parcat Eminentia Vestra. Dicam
quod sentio. Ubi concurrunt in praecellenti gradu, fides, prudenlia,
docilitas et Religionis studium, nedum hujuscemodi promotioni obstare
debeat juvenilis aetas, plurimum e contrario juvare videtur. Hie enim
nondum agitur de potestatis Episcopalis exercitio, sed de ejusdem,
ut ita dicam, tyrocinio, quod, quanto citius incoeptum, quanto longius
protractum, tanto utiliorem experientiam ad futuram administrationem
comparabit. Successorem habere cupio, qui prius quam habenas susci-
piat longo usu jam sacris f unctionibus et gubernio assuefactus f uerit ;
non quod ea sim praesumptione ut putem me capacem esse aliquem
ad tam f ormidandum opus docere, sed quod, divina afflante et auxiliante
gratia, ita praeter spem sucessit methodus quam diuturna et hominum
et locorum notitia mihi suggessit, ut jure verear ne, alia et jam inten-
tata ratione, tam fausta initia pessum itura sint.
Caeterum Eminentiae Vestrae et Sacrae huic Congregationi jam
notum esse puto Revm. Dnum. Inglesi ; Literis enim datis Lutetiae
Parisiorum 23 Februarii decurrentis anni doceor eum tunc proxime in
Germaniam, inde Romam prof ecturum ; unde colligo eum Romae fore,
cum istae ad manus Eminentiae Vestrae pertinent.
Judicio igitur Sacrae Congregationis omnia, ut aequum est, sub-
mitto, vehementer quidem cupiens, ut si ita Eminentissimis PP. vide-
bitur, dictus Revus. Dnus. Romae episcopalis consecrationis ritum
subeat, id enim perfecto legationis ipsius successui non modicum inser-
viret ; sin minus, Eminentiam Vestram persuasam esse volens de mea
ad nutum S. Congregationis integra resignatione. Sperans tamen me
tertia vice repulsam non passurum. unum adjiciam, ut, si contigerit eum
jam Roma discessum ipsius ei institutio per manus Burdigalensis Archi-
episcopi quamprimum dirigatur ut episcopalem unctionem, ubicumque
fuerit, recipere valeat. Sane praevidere debeo eum, pro ingenita mo-
destia, tanto honori repugnaturum ; confido tamen, cum Episcopi et
fratrum suorum votis, tum praesertim consiliis Eminentiae Vestrae et
Mandatis Summi Pontificis Immiliter obtemperaturum.
+LuD, GuiL. Du BouRG, Ep. Neo.-Aurel.
Novae Aureliae, die Maii 3a, 1821.
TRANSLATION.
My Lord Cardinal : —
Although for the space of two years I have never ceased to beseech
the S. Congregation to deign to give, me a Coajutor who could take part
DOCUMENTS 139
of my Episcopal charge, yet never was ever my mind so strongly affect-
ed by the urgent necessity of such a help, as when I hear, from the cares
which increase almost to the infinite, and from my strength waning in
proportion, the warning that 1 shall not be long able to bear alone such
an immense burden. Your Eminence must not forget, indeed, that ihis
Diocese extends to more than six hundred leagues in length, and that
both ends require equally the presence of the Bishop. It has just taken
me almost six months to make a rapid visitation of Lower Louisiana
alone, which though it is the principal portion of the Diocese in regard
to population," is scarcely one-sixth of it in point of area. More than
twelve hundred miles separate from New Orleans the town of St.
Louis, '^ the second center of a population which grows every day. The
territory between is made up of settlements scattered here and there,
and usually at considerable distances from one another. From this
Your Eminence may easily realize that one Bishop, were he even en-
dowed with herculean strength and devoting his whole time to the
arduous labor of the visitations, can hardly — nay, cannot — discharge
all the duties of his charge. Besides, the fear that, should it happen
that, amidst so many cares and dangers, I were suddenly taken away,
the Diocese afflicted by a long vacancy might fall into a condition worse
than before, will not leave any rest to my mind until the appointment
of a Coadjutor provides for the present necessity of the said Diocese
and its future maintenance.
I readily agree that a man advanced in years is little suited for such
a great solicitude. Y'et such a man would neverthless be of great help,
as by fixing his residence in one portion of the Diocese, he would relieve
me of the burden of watchfulness and incessant travel, besides estab-
lishing a kind of bond of succession. Because I have here no priest of
middle age, whom I could propose for this office, and was afraid that
stronger objections would be made against the appointment of a
younger man, I had designated successively two old men, namely, the
Revs. Anthony de Sedella and Louis Sihourd. That the S. Congrega-
tion objected to their appomtment, I do not complain. But then it
remains to me to choose from among the younger clergy one who, by
the maturity of his judgment, his sincere devotion and his other remark-
able qualifications may make up what he lacks in years.
Such a one, unless affection misleads me, I have found in the
person of my most beloved son, the Rev. Angelo Inglesi, whom Divine
Providence has placed by my side to be to me a comforter in my sor-
rows and the staff of my coming old age. To tell plainly the truth,
never did I have anyone so congenial to me, and who ever showed
greater affection for me and greater solicitude for my flock. This so-
licitude it was which, when he saw me destitute of almost every means
either of supporting myself, or of promoting the interests of our mis-
sions, led him to Europe, in order that both with his own fortune, which
is not small, and with the offerings that he would beg from the faithful.
2 Distances were reckoned by the course of the Mississippi River, the only
"highway" then available.
140 DOCUMENTS
lie might supply our want, .aid recruit a new band of laborers that we
are so much in need of. For this reason 1 do not hesitate to salute him
from afar as the chief founder of the Diocese. I believe that Your
Eminence is aware of the journeys he has already undertaken for that
purpose, of how worthily he has acquitted himself of his mission, and
of the honors bestowed upon him everywhere, even by the greatest
princes and the potentates of various countries. All this evinces cer-
tainly a prudence beyond his age and leaves no doubt that this new
Timothy will so conduct himself in the Episcopate that no one shall
despise his youth. Why should not, therefore, this satisfaction be given
not only to my own wishes, but also to those of the whole clergy and
people of Louisiana, who unanimously desire him for my Coajutor and
successor."
Perhaps this is contrarv to the Church's law, requiring forty years
of age for the Episcopal order.* But how often has not dispensation
been given ! No doubt, Titus and Timothy were far from their fortieth
year; farther still the Beloved Apostle. And to speak of our own time,
and without mentioning other cases, I am pretty sure that the Most
Rev. De Quelen was scarcely over thirty years old when he was pro-
moted to the Archbishopric of Nazianza and the Coadjutorship of
Paris. 1 beg "^'our Eminence to pardon me ; but I must tell all that is in
my mind. Where are united in a superior degree faith, prudence, do-
cility and zeal, far from being an obstacle, youth ought to be, on the
contrary, a recommendation. For here there is not yet question of the
exercise of the Episcopal power, but, if I may so say, of the appren-
ticeship thereof ; and the .sooner this is commenced, and the longer it
lasts, the more useful the experience which it will impart for admin-
istration later on. The kind of successor I wish is one who. before
taking in hand the reins, should be fully trained by a long practice of
ecclesiastical functions and government. Not that I am so presumptu-
ous as to think I am able to train anyone to so tremendous a work, but
such unexpected happy results have, with the help of (lod's grace, been
obtained by the method which a long acquaintance with men and places
3 How much "the whole clergy of Louisiana" were desiring the appointment
of Ingle?i as D'j Bonrg's Coadjutor and successor, we may gatlier from the lettor
of Father Martial already quoted above: "A letter which T wrote to him last
winter in reply to his, concerning his asking Fr. Inglesi as Coadjutor, came very
near estranging us. . . . The opposition which manifested itself when it oc-
eanic known that he wished to have Father Inglesi for his Coadjutor so rent his
soul asunder that he issued forth a circular letter to the priests to strike fear into
them. True, he was sorry for it afterwards, when he beheld the effect it had
produced; well, clever men nia'<e sometimes frightful mistakes!" It should be
borne in mind, however, that this was written after the disclosures concerning
Inglesi's reported misbehavior in Rome had reached Louisiana and may be some-
what colored by these revelatiotis. There is perhaps a little, in Father Martial's
tone, of the "I told-you-so."
* Pishop Du Bourg is here apparently mistaken. The old ecclesiastical law
required, like the new one (Cark. .331), thirty years of age, in the candidates f «: r
the Episcopal Order. But this mistake in Canon Law affords to the Bishop the
occasion for a display of eloquent pleading which, in view of later events, is
truly pitiful.
DOCUMENTS 141
dictated to me, that I have every reason to be afraid that, if another
and untried means be adopted, these happy beginnings may turn into a
failure.
At all events, I believe that by this time the Rev. l-'ather Inglesi is
known to Your Eminence and to the S. Congregation. A letter written
to me from Paris on February 23 of the present year advises me that he
was to leave shortly, first for Germany, then for Rome ; hence 1 sur-
mise he will be in Rome when this letter reaches Your Eminence.
Of course, I leave ultimately everything to the judgment of the S.
Congregation ; still I most earnestly desire that, if so please the Eminent
Cardinals, the said Rev. Father may be consecrated over there, as this
would contribute immensely to the complete success of his mission
abroad; if, however, such is not your good pleasure, I want Your Emi-
nence to be fully convinced of my unreserved resignation to the will
of the Sacred Congregation. Hoping, however, that this time — it is
the third time — I shall not meet with a refusal, I beg that, if he hap-
pened to have already left Rome, his brief of institution be sent him
as soon as possible through the Archbishop of Bordeaux, so that he
may receive Episcopal consecration at any place where he may happen
to be. Of course, I m.ust foresee that, in his modesty, he will be reluc-
tant to accept the honor ; I trust, nevertheless, that, in view of the
wishes of his Bishop and of his brother-priests,' and still more, of the
advice of Your Eminence and the command of the Sovereign Pontiff,
he will humbly acquiesce.®
+L. Wm. Du BouRn, Bp. of New Orl.
New Orleans, May 3, 1821.
XXIV.
CARDINAL FONTANA TO BISHOP DU BOURG.'
NO. 15.
Maxima perfusus sum laetitia ex Ampls. Tuae litteris datis die 24
Februarii proxime elapsi, ex quibus non sine admiratione percepi mag-
nam, ac salutarem Novae Aureliae factam esse spiritualium rerum
5 Sec above, Note 3.
" Maitial's letter adds to that story, already sad enougli in itself, a stateinc.it
as disparaging to Bishop Du Bourg as it is distasteful. There seems to h.ave
been a report circulating in Ro'ie that Inglesi himself had asked to be appoin^^sul
Du Bourg's Coadjutor. This is scarcely credible. How much truth there is in
what follows is hard to discern: "Bishop Du Bourg." wrote Martial, "attested
that the proposal that Inglesi be made Coadjutor was made to him by Propa-
ganda ii:=;elf through the Prefect, Card. Fontana ; tliat Fatlier Inglesi refused,
and that the Sovereign Pontiff forced him to accept the Bulls, so that he migiit
be consecrated later on in St. Louis. This last bit of information was communi-
cated to us by the young men from Lyons and Turin which the Count sent us as
missionaries." Bishop Du Bourg's statement must, of course, have been materially
true: only he guarded carefully, in view of the prevailing opposition, from saying
that Cardinal Fontana and Propaganda acted in compliance with his own (D.
B.'s) ea'-nest plea.
^ Original in Archives of St. Louis Diocesan Chancery.
142 DOCUMENTS
commiitationem ; visitationem Tuani non modo benevole, sed etiam lac-
tanter exceptam turn a Parocho Antonio de Sedella, qui prius adeo Tibi
infestns erat, turn a reliqua Catholicorum multitudine, eorum mores
tuorum operariorum studio, ac labore aliquantum reformatos, Syno-
duni celebration, et Ecclesiasticam Disciplinam jam pene collapsam in
pristinum restitutam, Benedictus Deus Pater misericordiarum, qui gratia
sua aberrantes ad bonam f rugem revocare dignatus est ; atque ex faus-
tis hisce principiis sperare licet futurum, ut omnia in posterum feHciter
componantur. Ad Coadjutorem vero tuum, quod attinet, non satis
quidem nobis probatuni erat, ut ad hoc munus deligeretur D. Ludovicus
Sibourd, qui 'i'e provectior aetata est ; neque Amplo Tua vel senectute,
vel valetudinis inconimodis adeo confecta est, ut Coadjutore nunc egeat.
Potius quam Coadjutore, majori quidem Pastorum numero vastissima
ista Diocesis indigere videtur ; non enim in tanta Regionum amplitudine
unus tantum Episcopus tot dissitorum Fidelium Curam exercere facile
potest ; ideoque niaxime profuturum putarem, si Dioecesis ista in Tres
saltern Ecclesias divideretur. quarum una inferiorem Luisianam,
altera Superiorem, tertia J^loridas complecti posset ; et cum ita se res
haberent, Dnus Sibourd, cujus merita tantopere effers, ad unam posset
ex novis ejusmodi Ecclesiis promoveri. R. D. Angelus Inglesi, qui
nunc Roniae versatur, ac de istius Ecclesiae statu apprime certiores nos
fecit, pietate, studio, ac ceteris dotibus satis cumulatus esse videtur ; sed
viridi adhuc aetate, ac missione recens est, ideoque expectandum, ut
adhuc majora praebeat suarum argumenta virtutum, nee non experien-
tiam, ac Populorum fiduciam, et gratiam comparare Sibi possit. Voti
tamen Tui suo loco, et tempore habebitur ratio. Illud interea, de quo
non minus Ampl.o Tua quam S. Congreg.o, valde soUicita est, conver-
sionem respicit Sylvicolarum, qui in Superioribus praesertim Luisianae
Partibus affluunt, quique ex errorum tenebris ad Lumen veritatis facile
perduci possunt, si operariorum copia suppeteret. Equidem sentio,
nuUos magis ad hoc opus idoneos fore, quam Patres Societatis Jesu ;
omnemque propterea navabo operam, ut P. Praepositus generalis faveat
sententiae tuae, nee solum permittat Patri de Barat Burdigalae mo-
ranti, ut se cum aliis, qui e Russia migrarunt, isthuc se conferat, sed
etiam curet, ut duo vel tres ex Marylandia mittantur. Ampl.m Tuam
de rei exitu faciam quamprimum certiorem. Sed necesse est, ut Loca
designes. ac circumscribas, quae PP. Jesuitarum Missioni sint tribuen-
da, ne dissidia. et collisiones postea exoriantur. De his omnibus rogo
Ampl.m Tuam, ut mihi sententiam Tuam aperiat ; atque interim Deum
precor, ut eamdem diutissime servet, ac sospitet.
Ampl.s Tuae.
Romae ex aedibns .S. C'ongnis de Propaganda Fide 2 Junii, 1821.
Uti PVater Studiosissimus,
F. Card. Fontana, Praefectus.
Illmo, ac Rmo D. Eudovico Guillelmo Du Bourg Epo Novae Aure-
liae in foederatis Americae Provinciis S. Ludovicum.
C. M. Pedicini, Sec.rius.
DOCUMENTS 143
TRANSLATION.
Right Reverend Sir : —
An immense pleasure was afforded me by your Lordship's letter
in date of February 24 of this year, in which I have learned, with no
small wonderment, the great and salutary change which has taken place
in the spiritual life of New Orleans^: Your visitation was received not
only with decency, but with gladness, both by the Rector, Father An-
thony de Sedella, who formerly was so stubbornly opposed to you, and
by the Catholics at large ; the morals of the people, thanks to the zeal
and work of your co-laborers, have undergone a change for the better ;
a synod was convened, and ecclesiastical discipline, which was almost
ruined, has gained a new vigor. Blessed be God, the Father of mer-
cies, whose grace has turned the refractory to better sentiments ; from
this happy beginning there is every reason to hope that everything
henceforth will be arranged to satisfaction.
In regard to your Coajutator, I must say we could not see our way
to select for this office Father Louis Sibourd, who is older than you;
moreover, your Lordship is not so broken down either by age or by ill-
health, as to be in need of a Coajutor just now. Rather than a Coad-
jutor, it seems that a greater number of Bishops is what that immense
Diocese seems to want^ ; for in such a vast territory one Bishop alone
can hardly care for the number of the faithful, scattered as they are.
1 should think, therefore, that it would be of the utmost interest of the
Diocese if it were divided into three : one could comprise Lower
Louisiana, another Upper Louisiana, and the third the Floridas. In
this hypothesis. Father Siboiu'd, whose merit you extol so much, might
well be promoted to one of these new churches. As to Rev. Angelo
Inglesi, who is presently in Rome, and has given us at first hand a
report of the state of your church, he seems to be possessed of enough
piety, zeal and the other qualifications ; but he is still quite young, and
recently arrived in your Mission; we must wait, therefore, until he
has a chance of giving yet better proofs of his virtue, acquiring expe-
rience and ingratiating himself into the confidence and good will of the
people. Your wish, though, will be taken into account in the proper
place and at the proper time.
Meanwhile what Your Lordship has no less at hand than the S.
Congregation, concerns the conversion of the savages, who are in great
numbers through Upper Louisiana, and may be easily brought from
the darkness of error to the Light of truth, provided there are laborers.
I indeed feel like yourself that no workers are better fitted for this task
than the Fathers of the Society of Jesus; accordingly I will do my ut-
most to bring the Superior general to consent to your proposal, and
not only permit to Father de Barat, now residing at Bordeaux, to go
' See above, Document XXII, Note 4.
^ This seems to have been something like a deadlock: Bishop Du Bourg in-
sisting all along on having a Coadjutor and opposing the division of the Diocese;
at least, the separation of Upper from Lower Louisiana ; Propaganda, on the other
hand, far from keen about the Coadjutorship, but intent on dividing the Diocese.
144 DOCUMENTS
oVer there with others who came recently from Russia, but also to see
to it that two or three from Maryland be sent. I shall without delay
notify Your Lordship of the result of this negotiation. But you ought
to mention and specify exactly the places to be attributed to the Mis-
sion of the Jesuit Fathers, in order to preclude all misunderstandings
and conflicts for the future.
Concerning all these matters I beg Your Lordship to give me your
opinion. Meantime I pray God to give you yet long years and good
health. Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
F. Card. Fontana, Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congreg. of Propaganda, June 23, 182L
The Right Rev. Louis William Du Bourg, Bp. of New Orleans.
St. Louis, U. S. A.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
XXV.
CARDINAL FONTANA TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
Ilhne, ac Rme Dne.
Quae Ampl.o Tua de Missione erigenda in amplissima ista Diocesi
sul) directione, et Cura Patrum Societatis Jesu ad procurandam Sylvi-
colarum conversionem mihi proposuit, ea Praeposito Gen.li ejusdem
Societatis enixe commendare non defui ; sed ex response, quod ille red-
didit, cujusque exemplum his litteris adjungo, facile intelHges, ilium
pro nunc ob Operariorum paucitatem tam praeclarum opus aggredi
nullo modo posse. Tuum itaque erit, alias persequi vias, quibus lauda-
bile hoc tuum propositum pcrficiatur ; nihil enim est tam sanctum, ac
vere Apostolicum. quam barbaras gentes in errorum tenebris delites-
centes ad lumen veritatis, ac aeternae salutis semitam perducere. Quod
cum pro Tua satis mihi perspecta sollicitudine, ac studio Te minime
neglecturum confido, D. O. M. precor, ut Ampl.m Tuam diutissime
servet, ac sospitet.
Ampl.s Tuae,
Romae ex aedibus S. Congnis de Propaganda Fide 23. Junii, 182L
Uti Frater Studiosissimus
F. Card. Fontana, Praefectus.
111m. ac Rmo D. Ludovico Guillelmo Du Bourg, Epo. Novae
Aureliae Luisiana.
S. Ludovicum.
C. M. Pedicini, Secr.ius.
TRANSLATION.
Right Reverend Sir : —
Your Lordship's proposal concerning the erection of a mission in
your immense Diocese, for the evangelization of the savages, under the
Original in Archives of St. Louis Diocesan Chancery.
DOCUMENTS 145
direction, and in care of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, I did not
fail to recommend warmly to the Superior General of said society.
But from the answer returned by him, a copy of which 1 enclose herein,
you may easily understand that, by reason of the scarcity of laborers,
he is for the present unable to undertake this noble work. It accord-
ingly devolves upon you to adopt other means to bring about the reali-
zation of your praiseworthy design : no work, indeed, is holier and more
apostolic than that of turning barbarous nations, plunged in the dark-
ness of error, to the light of truth and the path of eternal salvation.
What I know of your solicitude and zeal assures me that you will not
neglect these means.
I pray Almighty God to give Your Lordship long years and perfect
health. Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
F. Card. Fontana, Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Cong, of Propaganda, June 23, 182L
To the Right Rev. Louis William Du Bourg, Bishop of New Or-
leans, St. Louis, La.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
XXVL
CARDINAL FONTANA TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
NO. 17.
lUmo, ac Rme Dfie.
Cum ad examen revocata fuerint ea, quae Ampl.o Tua per literas
20. Aprilis elapsi anni exposuit circa liberatatem, quam sibi arrogare
posse arbitrantur plerique istarum Provinciarum Episcopi, Promovendi
nimirum ad Sacros Ordines eos, qui cum alienae sint Dioecesis in
American! proficiscuntur sacro ministerio operam daturi ; non tanti
quidem ponderis visa sunt Emis Patribus allata rationum momenta, ut
id licitum censendum sit. Patenter quippe obstat peroulgata Innocentii
XII. Constitutio Specidatores domus Israel edita die 4. Novembris
anni 1694, quae universani afficit Ecclesiam, et in qua ad evellendos
abusus, et fraudes circa Sacras Ordinationes alienorum subditorum, nee
non ad veteris Disciplinae instaurationem, totiusque Christiani Populi
aedificationem edicitur, nulli Episcopo licere externum quempiam sibi
non subditum ad Sacros Ordines promovere, nisi ille domicilium per
decennium saltem ibi contraxerit, suumque revera esse animum ibi
permanendi jurejurando spoponderit. exhibitis etiam Testimonialibus
litteris Ordinarii, sub quo originem duxit, prout fusius in eadem Con-
stitutione decernitur. Ex quo quidem satis patet, Apl.m Tuam in pre-
movendo non subditos, non servatis iisdem conditionibus in eam inci-
disse poenam, quae per eamdem Constitutionem infertur, ut nempe Or-
dinarii ab Ordinum Collatione per annum, ordinati vera a susceptorum
Ordinum exequutione, quamdiu proprio Ordinario expedire videbitur,
eo ipso suspensi remaneant. Cum vero Emis Patribus satis persuasum
146 DOCUMENTS
sit, Ampl.m Tuam non in spretum Aplicae Constitutionis sed bona fide
illam violasse, censuerunt, supplicandum SSmo, ut tarn Ampl.m Tuam,
quam eos, qui a Te sic ordinati fuerunt, Aplica sua auctoritate, qua-
tenus opus sit, a praedictis poenis absolvere dignaretur ; cui S. Congfiis
consilio Bmus Pater in audientia habita per infraptum Secretarium die
15. hujus mensis benigne annuit. Monitam tamen tum Ampl.m Tuam,
turn ceteros istarum Provinciarum Antistites esse velim, ut in posterum
eidem Constitutioni se plane conferment ; atque interim Deum precor,
ut Te diutissime servet, ac sospitet.
Ampl.s Tuae
Romae ex aedibus S. Congnis de Propaganda Fide 21 Julii 1821.
F. Card Fontana, Praefectus.
lUmo, ac Rmo D. Ludovico Guillelmo Du Bourg.
Epo Novae Aureliae in Luisiana.
S. Ludovicum in agro lUinensi.
C. M. Pedicini, Secr.ius.
TRANSLATION.
Right Reverend Sir : —
On examining the matter submitted by Your Lordship in your
letter of April 20 of last year, namely, the liberty which most of the
Bishops of the United States think they can arrogate to themselves, of
promoting to Sacred Orders those who, belonging to another Diocese,
go to America to exercise there the sacred ministry, their Eminences
did not deem the arguments alleged weighty enough to render the
practice lawful. It evidently indeed runs counter to the well-known
Constitution Speciilatores, of Innocent XII, in date of November 4.
1694, which binds the whole Church, and in which, in view to uproot
abuses and prevent frauds in the matter of the ordinations of alien sub-
jects to Sacred Orders, as well as to restore the old discipline and pro-
mote the edification of the Christian people, it is enacted that no Bishop
can lawfully raise anyone not his own subject to Sacred Orders, unless
the candidate has established there his domicile for at least ten years,
and affirmed under oath that he has truly the intention of remaining
there ; he should, moreover, bring testimonial letters from the Ordinarv
of the place of his birth, as is decreed quite at length in the aforesaid
Constitution.
From the foregoing it is quite clear that Your Lordship, in ordain-
ing men who were not your own subjects, without complying with the
above-mentioned conditions, incurred the penalty enacted by said Con-
stitution, namely, that the Ordinaries are .suspended ipso facto for one
year from conferring Orders, and those whom they ordained, from
the exercise of the Orders received, for as long as shall be deemed ex-
pedient by their Ordinary. As Their Eminences, however, are fully
convinced that Your Lordship broke the Apostolic Constitution in good
faith, and not out of contempt, they were of opinion that the Holv
Father should be beseeched to deign absolve from the afore-mentioned
penalties, by his Apostolic authority, insofar as needs be, both Your
DOCUMENTS 147
Lordship and those who were thus ordained by you. The Holy h'alher,
in the audience granted to the undersigned Secretary on the 15th inst.,
kindly acceded to the request of the S. Congregation. I wish, however,
to warn Your Lordship and all the other Prelates of the United States,
that they should henceforth conform in every point with the above-
mentioned Constitution. Meanwhile I pray God to keep you yet many
years, and in good health. Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother.
F. Card. Fontana, Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congr. of Propaganda, July 21, 1821.
To the Right Rev. Louis William Du Bourg. Bp. of New Orleans,
Louisiana.
St. Louis of the Illinois.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
XXVIL
CARDINAL FONTANA TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
NO. 20r-
Illmo ac Rrfie Dfie.
Semel, atque iterum scripsi Ampl.ni Tuae, ut quoniam Ecclesia
ista tarn ampla est, ut Episcopus unus plenam ipsius curam exercere vix
possait, nimis expedire visum fuerit, eam in tres saltem partes dividere,
quarum una inferiorem Luisianae partem, altera superiorem, tertia
denique Floridas complecteretur. Quoties ad banc divisionem devenire,
ut spero, consenseris, unus ex novis duobus Episcopis maxime idoneus
esse posse videtur Rrhus D. Patritius Kelly Richmondiensis Episcopus,
vir sane pietate, prudentia, atque doctrina maxime commendatus. Cum
enim S. Congo justis. gravibusque de causis ilium ad aliam Ecclesiam
transferre decreverit, nulla opportunior oflferre se posset ad banc trans-
lationem occasio. quam in aliqua ex duabus novis erigendis Ecclesiis.
Dum igitur hac de re consilium tuum sollicite expecto, D. O. M. precor
ut A. T. diutissime servet, ac sospitet.
Amp.dnis Tuae.
Romae ex ^dibus S. Counts de Prop.da Fide die 3. Octobris, 1821.
Uti Frater Studiosissimus
F. Card. Fontana, Praefectus.
R. P. D. Ludovico Guillelmo Du Bourg,
Epo Novae Aureliae.
S. Ludovicum.
C. M. Pedicini, Seer. ius.
' Original in Archives of St. Louis Diocesan Chancery.
2 It may be seen from the number affixed to this Document that Letters of
Propaganda Nos. i8 and 19 are missing.
148 DOCUMENTS
TRANSLATION.
Twice did 1 write to Your Lordship that, as your Diocese is so
extensive that one Bishop can hardly take full care of it, it seemed
most expedient that it should be divided into at least three parts, the
first to include Lower Louisiana, the second Upper Louisiana, and the
third the Floridas. Whenever you consent, as I hope, to come to this
dismemberment, the Right Rev. Patrick Kelly,^ Bishop of Richmond,
would, it seems, be most suitable as one of the two new Bishops : he is
a man highly esteemed for his piety, his prudence and his knowledge.
As the S. Congregation has. for grave reasons, decided to transfer him
to another See, no better opportunity could be found for this transfer
than to put him in one of the new Bishoprics to be established.
While anxiously waiting for your opinion in this matter, I pray
Almighty God to keep Your Lordship yet many years and in good
health. Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
F. Card. Fontana, Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congr. of Propaganda, October 3, 1821.
To Right ivcv. Louis William Du Bourg, Bishop of New Orleans.
St. Louis.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO CARDINAL FONTANA.^
Eminentissime Praefecte.
Plurima laetitia me affecerunt literae Em.ae V.ae mensis Octobris
proxime elapsi, ea potissimum ratione quod mihi spem certam afferant
breve consummandam fore, quam saepius ab Emo antecessore Vestro,
flebilis mem. Card. Litta, imo et a SS.DD. N. enixe postulaveram,
Floridamni a mea jurisdictione separationem. Non solum igitur earum
erectioni in Sedem Episcopalem, quantum ex me pendet, assentio, sed
iterum atque iterum ])recor nt quanto citius executioni mandetur.
Hujus Dioeceseos limites rum qui nunc vocatur Ager Floridarum et
Alabamae Statuni complecti possent. Titulus et Sedes, ut opinor, esse
debet Oppidum Mobilense, utpote utrique parti confine et convenien-
tissime, juxta os praecipui fluminis, Tom-big-bee non longe a mari
situm.
Ouod attinet ad erectionem alterius Sedis in Civitate S. Ludovici
^ Born in Ireland. April i6, 1779; ordained at Lisbon. Portugal, July 18, 1802;
consecrated August 24, 1820. as first Bishop of Richmond, erected in spite of
the opposition of Archbishop Marechal; the Holy See soon realized that the judg-
ment of the Archbishop was correct, and placed the Diocese under the adminis-
tration of the Archbishop of Baltimore, Bishop Kelly being transferred to the
See of Lismore and Waterford (Ireland), in 1822. It will be seen that at the
time of the writing of this letter. Propaganda had come to realize the impossi-
bility of having a See at Richmond. The "graves causae" making the transfer of
Bishop Kelly to another See are now transparent enough ; but they may not have
been for the Bishop of New Orleans.
^ Archives of Propaganda. Scritture referite nei Congressi. Cod. 7.
DOCUMENTS • 149
in Statu Missouriano, nulli certe magis quam mihi ipsi arridere et in
votis esse debet, quippe quae immensis laboribus et curis me liberaret ;
unum tamen me ab ea statim postulanda adhuc remoratur, nempe de-
siderium quo vehementer urgeor, possessiones satis amplas, quas in
dotationem illius Sedis comparavi omni prorsus debito et onere prius
solvendi; quod ante unum annum, Deo juvante, me effecturum confido.
Libentissime tunc partem illam meae solicitudinis in manus Summi
Pontificis resignabo, nulli .sacriiicio parcens, ut novus Antistes in ea
collocatus, temporalibus curis et summa rerum omnium egestate, quae
me per plures annos afflixerant, immunis esse possit. Consummate hoc
opere, me accingam ad praeparandam viam formationi mediae Dioe-
cesis inter S. Ludovicum et Novam Aureliam, quae Statum Mississippi
et Agrum Arcansas complectatur. Sic ex una quatuor, intra paucos
annos, conflabuntur, et si S.tae Sedi placuerit, novam ecclesiasticam
provinciam constituere poterunt. Et quidem necesse duco de hoc
prius cogitare quam ad divisionem quamcumque procedatur. Nam
immensa distantia quae nos a Baltimoro separat, insuperque morum,
indolum et linguarum diversitas quae vastissimam hanc regionem a
caeteris Americae partibus distinguit, non patiuntur ut fractio aliqua
meae Dioecesis Aletropoli illi subjiciatur. Aliunde Novae Aureliae eri-
gendarum Sedium stipiti, tum propter Episcopalem antiquitatem, turn
ob ipsius opulentiam, immensamque populationem longe majore ex parte
Catholicam, tum demum quia caeteris partibus facilis ad eam per com-
mune flumen patet accessus, Metropolitana dignitas jure competere
videtur.
Rev.mis et Dil.mis Fatribus et Collegis meis Bardensi, Mauricas-
trensi et Cincinnatensi me supplex adjungo ad postulandam denuo
erectionem novae Sedis in cppido San-Clarensi vulgo Detroit in Agro
Michigan cum annexa admiviistratione Agri Northwestensis et ad pro-
ponendos ad eam occupandam, 1° loco, Rev.dum Bened.um Fenwick,
S.J., qui nunc Charlestoniae Vicar Gen. ... 2° loco Principem
Ruthenum Rev. D. Demetrinm Augiistinum Galitzin . . .
+LUD. GuiL, Du Bourg, Ep, Neo-Aurel.
Novae Aureliae die 8 Februarii 1822.
TRANSLATION.
Aly Lord Cardinal : —
Much joy was afforded me by Your Eminence's letter of last Oc-
tober,^ because, above all, it gave me certain hope that before long the
Floridas will be withdrawn from my jurisdiction, as I had often ear-
nestly requested your regretted predecessor, His Eminence, Card. Litta,
and even the Holy Father himself. Not only, therefore, insofar as I
am concrned, do I give my consent to their erection into an Episcopal
See, but I repeat my prayer that this be done as soon as possible. . . .
The limits of this new Diocese might include the present Territory of
the Floridas and the State of Alabama. The title and the See, I think,
- The letter referred to is the above Document XXVII, of October 3, 1821.
150 DOCUMENTS
ought to be the town of Mobile, as it is on the borders of both terri-
tories, and situated very conveniently near the mouth of the main
river of that region, the Tom-big-bee, at a short distance from the sea.
As to the erection of another See in the City of St. Louis, Mis-
souri, no one certainly can be pleased with it and desire it more than
myself, as it means for me relief from immense labors and cares. Still,
there is one reason why I delay asking at once for it, namely, the most
earnest desire I have to free from all debts and obligations certain quite
extensive properties which I have bought as an endowment for that
See: I trust that, God helping, I may within a year reach this happy
goal.^ When this is accomplished I shall most gladly resign this part of
my solicitude into the hands of the Sovereign Pontiff, hesitating at no
sacrifice, in order that the Prelate who is appointed to this new See may
be spared the temporal cares and the utmost destitution which were my
lot for several years. When this is achieved I will set to work to pave
the way for the formation of a new Diocese midway between St. Louis
and New Orleans, which may include the State of Mississippi and the
Territory of Arkansas. Thus from one Diocese four shall be made out
within a few years, and if it please the Holy See these may constitute a
new Ecclsesiastical province. As a matter of fact. I think that this
ought to be considered before any division be decided upon. For the
immense distance which separates us from Baltimore, and, besides, the
differences of customs, characters and languages distinguishing this
wide expanse of country from every other part of America, preclude
the putting of any portion of my Diocese under the jurisdiction of that
Metropolitan See. Moreover, New Orleans, the mother Church from
which the Sees to be erected are springing forth, ought naturally to be
given the Metropolitan dignity, on account of the antiquity of this
Church, also of its wealth, and of its immense population, which is
mostly Catholic, and lastly because, owing to the river flowing through
all the other parts, it is easy to reach from every one of them.
I join my request to those of my Right Rev. and beloved Brothers
and Colleagues of Bardstown, Mauricastrum and Cincinnati, to ask
once more for the creation jf a new See in the town of St. Clair (De-
troit) in the Territory of Michigan, to which should be annexed the
administration of the Northwestern Territory. As its incumbent I
would propose, in the first place, the Rev. Benedict Fenwick, S.J., now
Vicar General of Charleston , . . . ; and as second choice, the
Rev. Demetrius Augustine Prince Gallitzin. . . .
*L. Wm. Du Bourg, Bp. of N. Orl.
New Orleans, February 8. 1822.
3 Bishop Du Boiirg was always optimistic, he now asks for a year's respite;
next year he will ask for more delay, and will at last try to have the division
indefinitely postponed. Meantime he almost outdoes Propaganda's intention by
proposing now a fourfold division.
AN APPEAL
HISTORICAL MATTER DESIRED
by the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Books and pamphlets on American History and Biography,
particularly those relating to Church institutions, ecclesiastical
persons and Catholic lay people within the limits of the Louisiana
Purchase ;
Old newspapers; Catholic modern papers; Parish papers,
whether old or recent :
We zvill highly appreciate the courtesy of the Reverend
Pastors who send us regularly their Parish publications;
Manuscripts ; narratives of early Catholic settlers or relating
to early Catholic settlements ; letters :
In the case of family papers zvhich the actual oivners
wish to keep in their possession, zve shall be grateful for
the privilege of taking copies of these papers;
Engravings, portraits, Aledals. etc;
In a word, every object whatsoever which, by the most liberal
construction, may be regarded as an aid to, or illustration of the
history of the Catholic Church in the Middle West.
Contributions will be credited to the donors and preserved
in the Library or Archives of the Society, for the use and benefit
of the members and other duly authorized persons.
Communications may be addressed either to the Secretary,
or to the Librarians of the
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis,
209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
151
ST. LOUIS
CATHOLIC HISTORICAL
REVIEW
Issued Quarterly
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
REV. CHARLES h- SOUVAY, C M., D, D.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
REV. F. G. HOI.WECK
REV. GILBERT J. GARRAGHAN, S. J.
REV. JOHN ROTHENSTEINER
EDWARD BROWN
Volume 11 OCTOBER 1920 Number 4
Published by the Catholic Historical Society of Saint Louis
209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis 155
The Mission of Central Missouri
Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, SJ. 157
The Flat-Head and Nez Perce Delegation to St.
Louis Rev. J. Rothensteimer 183
An Appeal 198
Notes 199
Documents from our Archives 210
(155)
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Established February 7th, 1917
OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES
1920-1921
President — Most Rev. John J. Glennon, D. D.
First Vice-President — Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G.
Second Vice-President and Treasurer — Edward Brown
Third Vice-President — Louise M. Garesche
Secretary — Rev. Edward H. Amsinger
Librarians
and Archivists
TRev. F. G. Holweck
■I Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
[^ Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.
Executive
Committee
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. A. Connolly, V. G., President
Rt. Rev. Mgr. J. J. Tannrath, Chancellor
Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D. D.
Rev. F. G. Holweck
Rev. Martin L. Brennan, Sc D.
Rev. John Rothensteiner
Rev. Edward H. Amsinger
Edward Brown, Secretary
Committee
on Library
and Publications
f Rev. Charles L. Souvay, C. M., D, D.
Rev. F. G. Holweck
•{ Rev. Gilbert J. Garraghan, S. J.
I Rev. John Rothensteiner
l^ Edward Brown
COMMUNICATIONS
General Correspondence should be addressed to Rev. Edward H. Amsinger,
Secretary, 744 S. Third St., St. Louis, Mo.
Exchange publications and matter submitted for publication in the St. Louis
Catholic Historical Review should be sent to the Editor-in-chief, Rev. Charles
L. Souvay, CM., DD., Kenrick Seminary, Webster Groves, Mo.
Remittances should be made to Edward Brown, Treasurer, 511 Locust St.,
St. Louis, Mo.
156
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL
MISSOURI
1837— .U861
I. St. Joseph's Residence, New Westphalia
In the autuini of 1837 Father Verhaegen, Superior of the Jesuit
Mission of Missouri, while returning to St. Louis from the Kick-
apoo Mission near Fort Leavenworth, visited a colony of German
emigrants, most of the mfrom Westphalia, who had settled not far
from Jefferson City on the Maries River about four miles above its
confluence with the Osage.^ Here he found residing with the emigrants
a Catholic priest, the Rev. Henry Meinkmann, who had accompanied
some of them from Germany, but without having obtained the cus-
tomary letters of dismissal from the bishop of his diocese. Moreover,
having failed to apply for jurisdiction to the Bishop of St. Louis, in
whose territory he was now residing, he was disqualified from exer-
cising the sacred ministry and, as a matter of fact, made no attempt
to do so, but confined himself to the simple duties of school-teacher
to the children of the emigrants. Some time after his return to St.
Louis, Father Verhaegen presented Father Meinkmann's case to Bishop
Rosati, who in November 1837 granted the priest permission to exer-
cise the ministry as resident pastor of New Westphalia Settlemenc,
the latter having previously written to his former bishop, Mgr. Droste
of Munster, for the canonical exeat customary in the case of prie-^ts
withdrawing from one diocese into another. Father Meinkmann there-
upon assumed spiritual charge of the Westphalia Catholics who built
1 According to a manuscript note in the Archdiocesan Archives of St. Louis, the first
priest to visit New Westphalia settlement was Father Christian Hoecken, S.J., who celebrated
Mass there probably as early as 1835. However, the baptismal records for his Central Mis-
souri excursions of 1835 and 1836, though revealing his presence at Jefferson City and Cote-
sans-dessein in June, 1835, show no baptisms among the German settlers on Maries Creek
(Registre des Bapt ernes pour la Mission du Missouri, 1832). Father Cornelius Walters, S.J.,
one of the "travelling missionaries" of St. Charles, Mo., is also mentioned as having fol-
lowed Father C. Hoecken in ministering to the settlers in question. Apart from Father
Meinkmann, the first priest whose presence among them is vouched for by contemporary
record is Father Verhaegen, whose visit in the autumn of 1837 is referred to in the text.
"The Germans are most numerous in the neighborhood of JefFerson City. People have
assured us there are almost fifty Catholic families thert. They are pious and in better
circumstances than those of Washington." Verhaegen a Rosati, November 17, 1837. It may
be noted here that the first priest known to have visited the Catholics up the Missouri River
was Father Charles De La Croix, who officiated at Franklin, Howard County, in 1819.
The first recorded death in the Liber Defunctorum of St. Joseph's Parish, Westphalia,
is that of Caspar Anthony Linneman, December 4, 1836. The burial was in St. Louis on
December 6. Mary Josephine Linneman died February 3, 1837, and in default of a Catholic
cemetery was buried in unconsecrated ground.
157
158 REV. G. J. GARR.\GHAN, S.J.
him a small wooden chapel, named for St. John the Baptist, on the
north side of the Maries River.^
In 1835, two years earlier than the incidents recorded in the pre-
ceding paragraph, a party of Catholics from Westphalia in Germany,
many of them of considerable education, had come up the Osage
river and settled on the Big Maries, an affluent of the Osage river.
Dr. Bruns, a physician, together with a brother of his, located at the
bend of the Maries, where the town of Westphalia was later laid out,
while Messrs. Nacke, Hesse, Schroeder, Gramatica, Kolks and Kaiser
took up land in the immediate vicinity. They were followed in a few
months by the families Zellerhoff, Fennewald, .Schwarze, Westermann,
Bartmann and Geisberg. Some of the emigrants, it would appear,
had hoped to establish or associate themselves in some way with an
institution of learning in Central Missouri, but the primitive conditions
they encountered soon disillusioned them and some of their number
returned to Germany. Among these was a Mr. Hesse, who in 1838
sketched a valuable map of the Maries river region indicating the
respective places of settlement of the German emigrant families. In
the course of 1836 Dr. Brtms and Mr. Bartmann opened the first store
in the locality, a picture of which appears on the Hesse map.^
The project of a Jesuit residence in the interior of Missouri had
been under consideration for some time previous to the visit of Father
Verhaegen to the Westphalia emigrants in the autumn of 1837. The
eighteen or more Catholic stations scattered along both sides of the
Missouri River as far as Booneville above Jefferson City were, during
the period 1828-1838, visited four or five times a year by the Jesuits
of St. Charles in missionary circuits averaging from four to six weeks'
duration. But such arrangement w^as not by any means calculated to
meet effectively the spiritual needs of the territory in question; it
2 Father Henry Meinkmann of the diocese of Miinster in Germany was ordained in 1829
at Lucerne in Switzerland. For three years prior to his coming to America in 1836, he
exercised the ministry at Hinsbeck in Miinster. On relinquishing this post he obtained com-
mendatory letters from the cure of Hinsbeck: but, on soliciting a document of like tenor
from the Vicar-General of the diocese of Miinster, was assured by that official, apparently in
good' faith, that no credentials other than those furnished by the cure of Hinsbeck would
be found necessary in America. Father Meinkmann applied to Bishop Rosati for faculties in
April 1837. Father Helias who became acquainted with the peculiar circumstances in which
Father Meinkmann was placed and who speaks of him as "that Israelite in whom there is no
guile," induced Father Verhaegen in November, 1837, to lay the case before Bishop Rosati:
"The Germans of Westphalia, such is t'-e name they give to their colony, said many fine
things aljout the good priest of whom Father Helias speaks: but those of more influence
among them observed to me that he would not suit, as he could not wield over them the
authority and influence which the Sacred Ministry requires and this for the reason that he
has resided so long among them without the usual powers cf a priest, merely as a school-
teacher etc." Verhaegen a Rosati, November 17, 1837. Cf. also Meinkmann ad Rosati,
April 13, 1837 (Archdiocesan Archives of St. Louis); Helias a Verhaegen, November 15,
1837; Litterae Annuae, 1838.
3 Historv of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benfon, Miller, Maries and Osage Counties, p. 679,
Chicago, 1889. "From the mouth of t'-e Maries up the following names appear: Dohmen,
Messerschmidt, Scheulen, Hoecywav, Colson, Kunermann, Zellerhoff, H. Huber, Hocker,
Hesse (jetzt Bossen), Geisberg, Gramatica, Dr. Bnnis Cat site of Westphalia); on the west
fork, David Bruns, Herman Bruns, Fellups and Hilt; on the east fork, Ahrez, Huber, Linrie-
mann. Cons, Hesler and Schwarz: on the west uplands, Ahrez, Clarenbach, Zurmegede,
Chipley (Shipley), Carl Huber, Nacke and Fennewald; on the northeast uplands, F. Schwarze,
Wilson, Lee (Smith's Postoffice) and the McDaniels. It will be seen that those to the nort'i-
east on the map are Americans. On the map, too, is a cut of the first loghouse at West-
phalia, built by Dr. Bruns There had been a few of these stations as early as 1825.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 159
was, perforce, provisional only, pending the establishment of a cen-
trally located headquarters for the missionaries. Already in 1836 the
author of the Annual Letters of the Missouri Mission pointed to the
Catholic settlement of eighy souls on "St. Mary's Creek," the West-
phalia settlement above referred to, as a likely place for a Jesuit
residence. Partly, therefore, to supply the spiritual wants of the
growing Catholic emigrant population of Osage and Gasconade Coun-
ties, and partly to secure a missionary center for the Fathers from
which they could conveniently attend the various Catholic stations of
Central Missouri, Father Verhaegen, with the consent of Bishop
Rosati, decided to open a residence on Maries Creek. April 23, 1838,
at a meeting of the Superior with his official advisers, it was deter-
mined that "Father Helias and Brother Morris be sent to the station
generally known as Westphalia settlement near Jefferson City."
Father Helias, who was thus commissioned to take in hand the
projected residence, is a figure of more than usual interest in the
pioneer history of Missouri. Ferdinand Benoit Marie Guislain Helias
d'Huddeghem came of a noble Flemish family, having been born
August 3, 1796, at Ghent in Belgium in the Prinzen Hof, the same
house in which the Emperor Charles the Fifth first saw the light of
day.'* As a student at the Jesuit College of Roulers in Belgium, he
counted Father Van Quickenborne among his professors. He entered
the Society of Jesus in his native town, Ghent, finished his novitiate
at Montrouge in France, and was ti'ansferred thence to the college
of Brieg in Switzerland. Fram there he came to the United States
in 1833, where he spent the tvv^o following years in the newly erected
Maryland Province, being employed in various charges, among others
that of Assistent-Master of Novices. Transferred to the Alissouri
Mission in 1835 by order of the General, Father Roothaan, he arrived
at St. Louis University August 22 of that year, tiere in the course
of the three following years, he taught French, German, and on occa-
sion Canon Law and Moral Theology, and was, besides, employed
as pastor of the German Catholics of North St. Louis, whom he began
to organize into the future St. Joseph's parish.
Father Helias left St. Louis for his new destination May 3, 1838.
An entry in the house-diary of St. Louis University chronicles the
event :
"May 3. Father Helias set out from this house to take in hand a
mission in a place called Liel-town, a German settlement.^ In that man
burns a tiuly divine zeal, for courageously has he accepted the task im-
posed on him, an arduous one withal, as there are heartburnings and
dissensions to be healed before any good can be accomplished among
the people. A church and presbytery, both of logs, have been erected
in the place.'' ^
4 Lebrocquy, Vie dn R. P. Helias D'Huddeghem de la Comfngnie de Jesus. Gand,
1878, pp.
5 "In 1831 Benjamin Lisle started a settlement named after him. Lisle-town, at the
bead of the Maries Creek. The first post-office in Osage County was here. Owing to the
growth of the neighboring Westphalia, Lisletown proved a failure." Conard, Encyclopedia
of the History of Missouri, (?) The post-office was transferred about 1838 from Lisle-
town to Westphalia, Dr. Bernard Bruns, the Catholic doctor of the place, being appointed
postmaster.
160 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
Father Helias was accompanied on his journey up the Missouri
River by Fathers De Smet, Eysvogels and Verhaegen and Brother
Claessens. Father De Smet was on his way to Council Bluffs, Father
Eysvogels and Brother Claessens were destined for the Kickapoo
Mission, while Father Verhaegen was to make an official visitation
of the Kickapoo Mission. A fellow-passenger of the Jesuits was
Captain Sutter, noted Santa Fe trader and the future discoverer of
the California gold-fields. The steamer coming to a dead stop at least
twice, owing to the complete collapse of her machinery. Father Helias
at length took to land and made the last stgaes of his journey on
horseback. He arrived on May 11, at Cote-sans-dessein, a Creole
settlement on the left bank of the Missouri in Calloway County, near
the mouth of the Osage River and said Mass there in a private house.
The Sunday following, (May 12), the Fourth after Easter and Feast
of the Patronage of St. Joseph, he celebrated Mass in Westphalia and
was duly installed as pastor of the German Catholic congregation.'^
To the log-church, which his parishioners had begun to build the year
before, he gave the name of St. Joseph. Several considerations deter-
mined this choice as his biographer informs us. First, there was the
circumstance that his dear friend, Bishop Rosati of St. Louis, bore
the name Joseph. ?\Ioreover, Father Helias had always cherished a
particular devotion to the foster-father of the Savior, as the patron
of his own Belgium and of the German Empire of the Middle Ages.
Finally, even under the Spanish regime, the district laid out as Gas-
conade County had been organized into an administrative unit known
as the Parish of St. Joseph, with headquarters at Cote-san-dessein.*
Father Helias at once took in hand the cultivation of the exten-
sive spiritual field entrusted to his care, Father Meinkmann at fisrt
assisting him in his labors. The latter appears to have been a man of
excellent intentions, but without tact in dealing with the numerous
parties of German emigrants that made up his congregation. Among
the things charged against him was that he confined his ministrations
to the group of Rhinelanders whom he had accompanied from Ger-
many and neglected the other portions of his flock, the Westphalians
in particular taking umbrage at the line of action followed by their
pastor. As there seemed little prospect of healing the dift'erences be-
tween Father Meinkmann and the Catholics of New Westphalia,
Bishop Rosati transferred him in 1839 to the newly established parish
6 Helias, Memoir es du Rd. P. Ferdinand Helias D'Huddeghem pretre missionaire de la
Compagnie de Jesus en Amerique (Ms.). Contains prefatory letter addressed to Father
De Smet from Taos, Cole County, Mo., St. Francis Xavier, 1867. According to the article
in Missouri Historical Review, 5:87 (July 1915) Fathers Helias and De Smet left St. Louis
for Westphalia on a trip of investigation April 4, 1838. On April 30, Father Helias blessed
the marriage of Gerhard Aufderheide and Anna Mary Schlauermann, the first recorded in
the Westphalia marriage register. Only three days after, May 3, occurred Father Helias's
second departure from St. Louis for Westphalia.
7 Lebrocquy, op. cit., p. 185. "13a Maii Dominica IVa Post Pascham, Festum Patro-
cinii Sti Joseph titular. Westphaliae instalavi me primum huius Paroeciae Pastorem prim-
umque Sacrum dixi." Memorandum of Father Helias indorsed "Dies Memorabiles F. Mac
HeUas S.J."
8 Lebrocquy, op. cit., p. 206. The statement that a civil district or parish named for
St. Joseph was laid out in Central Missouri under the Spanish regime is not supported by
any known historical evidence.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI i6i
of St. Francis Borgia, in Washington, Franklin County.^
Although the colony of Westphalia emigrants settled on Maries
Creek went by the name of New Westphalia Settlement prior even to
the advent of Father Helias, the foundation proper of the town, known
first as New Westphaha and later simply as Westphalia, appears to
have been laid in 1838 under the immediate direction of Father Helias
himself/" In the year named Fathers Verhaegen, DeTheux and
Smedts acquired from Francis Geisberg for a nominal consideration of
five dollars, forty acres of land on the left bank of the Maries River.
Shortly after his arrival Father Helias, with his Superior's approval,
after reserving fourteen acres to himself as a means of support, divided
the remaining twenty-six into lots which he ofifered to the mechanics
and laborers of the German colony, farmers being excluded from the
offer. They were to be given a ninety-nine year lease to their respec-
tive lots, which they were to hold rent free the first five years, and
afterwards on an annual payment of two or five dollars, according
to the value of the lot. The money derived from this source was to
go to the maintenance of the church. Subsequently, to remove all
ground of invidious gossip, the lots were deeded over to the tenants
in fee-simple. Such was the beginning of the town of New West-
phalia.^^
The log-church which served the needs of the Catholics of New
Westphalia until the construction of a fine stone church in 1848 be-
longing to that type of architectural makeshift which includes both
church and presbvtery under a single roof. Bishop Rosati blessed it
on the occasion of his first visit to New Westphalia October 14, 1838,
on which occasion he administered Confirmation to thirty-eight mem-
9 Residentiae Sti Francisci Xavprii Centralis Exordium et Progrcssus, 1838-1848
(Helias Mss), p. 3. Father Helias refers to Father Meinkmann as vir ceteroquin simplex
et cordattis.
10 Father Meinkmann's letter of April 13, 1837, to Bishop Rosati is dated from "New
Westphalia Settlement."
11 Litterae Annvae. 1838. The deed of transfer of the WestpV-alian property from Fran-
cis Geisberg to P. J. Verhaegen. Theodore De Theux and J. B. Smedts under date of
June 25, 183?, was recorded at Mount Sterling, Gasconade County, on July 5 of the same
year. According to the account in Goodspeed's History of Moniteau etc. Geisberg entered
200 acres of public land on the Maries, 40 of which he subsequently donated for the erection
of a Catholic church. Cf. in this connection Father Helias's Latin verse,
Atque novae fundamina fiximus Urbis
Westphaliae.
The forty acres conveyed by Francis Geisberg is described in the deed of transfer as
the N.E. % of S.W. V± of Section 26, Tp. 43. Range 10 W. A forty foot street (Mam
Street) cut it diagonally from Southeast to Northeast. The lots appear to have been
originally leased to the settlers for a ninety-nine year term (1839-1938). The conditions of
the lease were recorded by Father Helias in a Baptismal Register now preserved among the
records of St. Francis Xavier Church, Taos, Cole County. Mo. According to this document,
the to'vn cf Westphalia was laid out in two divisions, the second division being the prop-
erty of a Mr. Gramatica. Fatter Helias's forty acres did not therefore comprise the entire
town-site of Westphalia. The tenant of Father Helias's lots promised ' to keep his house
in good condition, to build a post-fence in a straight direction along the street, and to hold
in his house or on his messuage no people of bad morality reputed as a nuisance and a
public disturber of the people." ^ . ■,-, ■,. ■ , ,
All of the forty acres appears to have been sold by Father Helias with the exception
of the one acre on which the old church, subsequently used as a school-house, was standing m
1861. The property on which stand the present church, convent and school was purchased
from various parties. The present stone church was built on a lot acquired September 18,
1847, from Mrs. Gertrude Fvans. a widow, whose skilful nursing saved Father llelias s
life when the doctors had given him up.
162 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, SJ.
bers of the parish.^- The prelate preached on this day in Enghsh,
while Father Verhaegen, his companion in the visitation of the diocese
which he was then performing, also addressed the congregation in En-
glish.^^ A school-building, also of logs, was put up within a year or
two of Father Helias's arrival. The duties of school-teacher were
discharged for a while by Father James Buschotts, who joined Father
Helias July 27, 1838. Father Buschotts remained in New Westphalia
to September 23 of the following year, when he was transferred to
the new Jesuit residence of St. Francis Borgia in Washington, Mis-
souri. Father Helias was then left without an assistant priest until
the arrival in 1846 of Father James Cotting.^*
Ecconomic conditions among the German settlers of Osage County
in its pioneer period were extremely crude. ^^ The journey to America
had depleted the purse of most of the emigrants ; as a consequence,
they often were without capital in money or tools with which to begin
the struggle for existence in the New World. They were thus forced
to borrow ; but they found the American settlers who had preceded
them into the wilderness, ready to lend. "I have often heard," a
Westphalia pastor, Father Nicolas Schlechter, S.J., wrote in 1884,
"several German families saying that when they came to the county
they were in great poverty and obliged to beg, and that for entire
weeks and months ; but they invariably added : 'The Americans were
good ; they never grew tired of our asking, but simply said : 'take it.' "^®
Good, strong wagons were the thing the farmers needed most of
all. Though these could be obtained in St. Louis, money was scarce
and the cost of shipping the wagons all the way to Westphalia and
other settlements in Osage County was prohibitive. Necessity, how-
ever, suggested to the farmers the invention of a type of home-made
wagon which for years answered all their needs of transportation.
12 "From Jefferson City we went to New Westphalia, 15 miles, in Gasconade County,
a German Congr. F. Helias with F. Buschotts reside there and take care of the Congns.
of Jefferson City and others. I blessed the church last Sunday, gave confirmation to 26
persons, blessed the Graveyard and gave confirmation the next day to 9 persons more."
Rosati to Timon, Oct. 20, 1838. Cf. Lebrocquy, op. cit., pp. 204-207 for some interesting
details in connection with the blessing of the church. "Le souvenir de cette grande joumee
ne s'effaga jamais de la memoire du P. Helias."
13 Litterae Anmiae, 183S.
We subjoin here Bishop Kosati's own account of the event as he described it in his
Diary :
"October 14. XlXth Sunday after Pent. At 8 a. m. said Mass in the church and gave
communion to the people. At 10, we assembled in the church, which I solemnly blessed
according to the rite described in the Roman Ritual. Then Father Buschotts celebrated
Mass solemnly; after the Gospel I preached in English, for most of the Germans know this
language, and there were present a number of American protestants. After Mass and the
singing of the Hymn Veni Creator Sf>irittis, I gave the sacrament of Confirmation to twenty-
six persons of both sexes, whom I exhorted to perseverance. Finally Father Verhaegen
preac' ed in English on Catholic Religion.
At 3 p.m. we assembled at the church, whence we came to the adjacent cemetery, which
I blessed solemnly according to the Roman Pontifical. Returned to the church, I talked to
the people about the blessing just performed, the pious thoughts which the sig'"t of the
cemetery must rouse in the mind of the Catholics, to the persons to whom ecclesiastical
burial is denied; and I requested Father Helias to repeat in German what I had said in
English. At length, in order to return thanks to God for the benefit conferred upon this
parish, we sang the Te Deum."
14 Residentiae Sti Francisci Xaverii etc. p. 8.
15 Osage county was organized out of Gasconade county, January 29, 1841.
16 Father Schlechter was pastor in Westphalia, 1882-83 and in Loose Creek 1883-84.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 163
Not a nail or bit of iron was used in the construction; wooden bolts
held togetther beam, cross-beam, shaft and axle-tree. But the wheels
were the most characteristic feature of this singular conveyance. These
were of one piece, being circular-shaped slices from the trunks of huge
sycamore trees. We may well believe that these curious wagons, as
they were drawn along by plodding oxen, made a hideous clatter,
proverbial throughout the county long after the pioneer stage of its
history had come to an end.
II. Missionary Excursions 1838-1842
Father Helias had scarcely arrived at New Westphalia when he
began from there, as base of operation, the series of periodic mis-
sionary excursions which were to accomplish so much for the upbuild-
ing of Catholicity in Central Missouri. Eleven counties, Franklin,
Gasconade, Osage, Cole, ]\Ioniteau and Cooper on the south side of
the Missouri and Warren, Montgomery, Callaway, Boone and Howard
on the north side, were included in the area traversed.^'''
He said his first Mass at New Westphalia May 13, 1838. On
May 24, Feast of the Ascension, he officiated at French Village and
the day after at Cote-sans-dessein, where a number of adults made
their First Holy Communion. Saturday he was at Hibernia or Hibe-
17 A manuscript account compiled by Father Helias in 1838 (Exctirsiones Missionis
Centralis) contains a census of the Catholic stations along the Missouri with the names in
many cases of the persons in wlose houses divine services were held. The figures indicate
the number of families. South Side of the Missouri: Manchester, St. Louis Co., 10; Wash-
ington, Franklin Co., (Uhlenbrouck's house near the town) 118; Burbus, Franklin Co., 11;
Henry Reed's Settlement, Franklin Co. 5; Bailey's Creek, Gasconade Co., (Jh. Logsden), 22;
French Village, (Louis Leblanc's house near the Osage River), 24; Loose Creek, (Aug.
Pequinot), ; Cadet [Cade?] Creek (J. B. Bonnot), 25 (services in these two places gen-
erally held in the district school-house) ; across the Osage at Herman Nieters, Liberty Town-
ship, 20; Jefferson City, (Henrv Haar's tavern [piiblica taherna], the missionary lodging
with Mr. Withnell, Architect of 'the Capitol); Barry's Settlement, Cole Co., (P. Barry), 10;
Moniteau River (F. Joseph Weber), 40; Booneville (Anthony Fuchs [Fox] and Peter Joseph),
15; Pilot's Grove (on the prairie at Romersbergers [Anthony, Remsberger]), lo; near
Georgetown, Pettis Co., (Dr. Bruhl). North Side of the Missouri: Fayette and Chariton,
(Mr. Post) 5; Columbia, Boone Co., (Mr. Lynch, Jr., and outside the town, Mr.' Lynch, Sr.),
13; Portland, (Priestly Gill), 8; Hancock Prairie, (John Shannon, 10; Cote-sans-dessein
(Widow Roy), 20; Rocheport, 26 [families?]; Lay Creek, 34; Mount Pleasant, 30; Martins-
ville [Marthasville] opposite Washington, 3.
In another list mention is made of a congregation of Irish, perhaps Barry Settlement,
near Marion, Cole Co., not to be identified, it would seem, with St. Patrick's congregation
in Hibernia. Pisgah, Cooper Co., (house of John Fay) also occurs as one of the stations
visited by Father Helias.
Father Helias's census of Catholic families in Central Missouri for April 1, 1839, is
an historical document of value; it does not, however, include all the stations in the mis-
sionary's circuit. We reproduce it from the Missouri Historical Review, July, 1915, p. 85:
Westphalia: Bernard Bruns, Doctor of Medicine; Geisberg, Brockmann, Ottens, Gram-
atica, Walters, Schmitz, Otto, Debeis, Eppen' of, Oldenlehre, Haler, Nacke, Bartmann, Eck,
Knueve, Zellerhoff, Juchmann, Bose, Eckmeier, Kolks, Vennewald, Lueckenhoff, Meierpeter,
Schuelen, Krekel, Dohmen, Stiefemann, Hagenbreck, Boessen, Linnemann, Goetzen, Arzt,
Brockerhoff, Kern, Wilhaupt, Schwartze, Hasslag, Holtermann, Sudhoff, Borgmann, Kuess,
J. Schater, Kolkmeyer, Richters, Hart.
Jefferson City: Withnell, Hannan, Buz, Kramer, Tellmann, Monaghan, Ryan, Gilman,
Corker, Bauerdick, Brand, Doherty. ^ , • c cz -c
Loose Creek: Monnier, Valentin, Cordonier, Brichaud, Besson, Saulmer, btotfen, l-ar-
rell. Reed, Burbus. _.
French Village: Peter Goujon, Louis Goujon, Angelica Mercer, widow; Gleizer, Ficqueur,
Vincennes, Denoyer, Luison, Leblanc.
Cote-sans-dessein: Roye, Faye, Arnould, Nicholas, Renaud
Bailey's Creek: Logsden, Simon, Welch, Howard, Folgs, Serpentin, Miller, Heth.
Portland: Priestly Gill. ^ , . ., r t i. t> ■
Hancock Prairie: Joseph Shannon, Thomas Flood, Anna Catharina, widow of John ITeis.
Columbia: Lynch and Kitt. ^ ^, t. , • r> • i
Booneville: Fuchs, Weler, Fis, Pecht, Fay, Moray, Dr. Heart, Rockwie, Briel.
New Franklin : Matthias Simon.
164 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
nium, some five miles to the northeast of Jefferson City.^® The next
day, Sunday, May 27, he celebrated Mass for the first time in Jefferson
City, in a private house, which is apparently still standing, being
No. 325 High Street.
Nowhere was he given a heartier welcome than in Jefferson City.^^
The Catholic population of the town consisted of about one hundred
and fifty souls, chiefly German and Irish emigrants, most of whom
Vv^ere employed as laborers on the new Capitol building then in process
of construction.^" Father Helias spent a few days among these good
people and afterwards revisited them regularly once a month. Before
the close of 1838, sixteen hundred dollars had been collected among
the Catholics for a church and school to be placed under the invocation
of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Mr. John Withnell, architect of the Capitol
and personally known to Father Helias, offered his professional serv-
ices for the nev^ edifice at a nominal charge. The Irish and German
workmen employed on the Capitol also volunteered their help. The
only difficulty that beset the venture was the lack of a suitable site.
Mr. Charles Dwyer of St. Louis offered Father Helias one of the
twelve lots which he owned in Jefferson City; but the property was
too remote from the heart of the town to serve the purpose of a suit-
able church-site. However, a happy solution of the difficulty presented
itself from a rather unexpected quarter. The old Capitol building,
rendered unnecessary for public business by the construction of the
new one, might perhaps be turned over to the Catholics for a church.
18 Dies memorabiles etc., Wetmore's Gazetteer of Missouri (St. Louis, 1837) lists
Hibernia as a post-office of Callaway County. ("Holt's Settlement [Summit], Hibernia, on
the C. and A. R. R. 20 miles south of Holton," Campbell, Gazetteer of Missouri, p. 97).
According to a status animarum for the Mission of (Tentral Missouri compiled by Father
Helias, "St. Patrick's Congregation in Hibernium" counted only ten souls in 1838-39, a
number which has dwindled to five in 1849. On August 12. 1827, Father Van Quicken-
borne administered four baptisms at "Hibernia near Jefferson", among the recipients being
Francis Pomponius Atticus Dillon, son of Patrick M. and Anna C. Nash, born June 1, 1824.
Baptismal Register, St. Ferdinand's Church, Florissant, Mo.
19 The first Catholic priest mentioned in contemporary records as having visited Jeflfer-
son City was Father Verhaegen, S.J., who preached a mission there in 1828. Supra, p. 157.
A manuscript memorandum in the Archdiocesan Archives, St. Louis, states that he said
Mass in Jefferson City in 1836. According to a sketch of Catholicity in Jefferson City in
the Missouri Volksfreund, October 7, 1896, the first Mass in the place was celebrated by
Father Felix Verreydt, S.j., in 1831. It is certain that Mass was said there at least as early
as this date, though Father Helias in his Dies Memorabiles appears to lay claim to the honor
of celebrating the first Mass in Jefferson City, May 27, 1838. Services on this occasion
were held "in the large hall of the German Boarding House of Mr. Henry Haar," (Memo-
randum, Archdiocesan Archives, St. Louis), probably t^e house 32S High Street, still stand-
ing in 1896. Cf. Missouri Volksfreund, Oct. 7, 1896. The house of Gebhard Anthony Kramer
"near the Capitol" is also mentioned by Father Helias as a place where he held services in
his early visits to Jefferson City. Supra, p. 163, Note 17
The earliest recorded baptisms in Jefferson City appear to be two performed by Father
Christian Hoecken on June 18, 1835, when he baptized George Ward, son of Patrick Ward
and Mary Dillon Ward, and Charles Julius Haebert, son of Caspar and Julia Haebert.
Registre des Baptemes four la Mission du Missouri, 1832). Father Helias's first bantism in
the town was that of Edmund Dougherty, son of Andrew and Helen Douehertv, May 26,
1838. The earliest Catholic burials in Jefferson City, as entered in the Westphalia Liber
Defunctorum, are those of Richard O'Connor, Sentember 11, 1838, and John O'Brien, Sep-
tember 15, same year; Father Helias being the officiating priest on both occasions.
20 Annuae Litterae, 1838. Residentiae S. Francisci Xaverii Centralis Exordium etc.
(Helias Mss.) ^ ^ . • t a
Bishop Rosati, assisted by Father Verhaegen, administered Confirmation m Jefferson
City in October, 1838. "I gave confirmation in the Hall of an Hotel in Jefferson City to
11 persons on a week day: there are two hundred Catholics, not yet a church, but we have
begun to make arrangements to have a decent one in stone. Mr. Withnell, who is building
there the Capitol very kindly received us in his house: he will be of great service in the
building of the church." Rosati to Timon, October 20, 1838 {Archdiocesan Archives, St.
Louis).
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 155
The idea was taken up by some of the Catholic residents of Jefferson
City, who secured a large number of signatures to a petition to this
effect, even among the non-Catholic citizens. The petition was pre-
sented m due course of time to the Legislature. Here a resolution in
Its favor was earned m the Senate bv a unanimous vote but the same
resolution going before the Lower I-Jouse, was defeated by a majority
of four. It was necessary, therefore, to look for another site. During
all this time, hope was entertained by the Catholics of Jefferson Citv
of having a Jesuit College or Academy in their midst. Father Ver-
haegen, Superior of the Missouri Mission, declined, however, to take
any step in this direction, being too much pressed bv the difficulties
of the existing institutions of the Mission, to engage in any such peril-
ous educational venture. But a church was a distinct need of the Cath-
olics of the town and ground for a site having been purchased, a frame
structure under the invocation of St. Ignatius Loyola was erected in
1841 and dedicated Easter Sunday, 1843. It continued to be served
by Father Helias until the arrival in July, 1846, of Father P Murphy
the first resident priest of Jefferson City.^i
Father Helias was the first Catholic priest to minister to the in-
mates of the State penitentiary in Jefferson City.'^ Qne instance, occur-
ring in 1839, of his success in dealing with the prisoners may be cited
here. A young Englishman, Henry Lane by name, of aristocratic con-
nections and a one-time college student, at least so report had it, was
under sentence of death. His desperate antecedents promised small
hope of any spiritual impression being made upon him. Father Helias,
however, undertook to prepare him for death with the result that the
young man underwent a complete change of heart and went to his fate
with the most edifying sentiments of faith and repentance. The crowd
who gathered to twitness the execution looked for a desperate struo-<rle
from the criminal when brought to the gallows. To their surprise
nothing of the kind occurred. On the contrary, he walked to the
scaffold without handcuffs and with a crucifix in his hand, and the
words of warning which he addressed to the spectators on the vice of
drunkenness brought tears to the eyes of many. The breaking at the
last moment of the hangman's rope when it was already around the
neck of the condemned man failed to unnerve him. He persevered
to the end m his pious sentiments, the sacred names of Jesus and Mary
rising to his lips in the brief spell of agonv that preceded death.^^
In the Creole settlements of Cote-sans-dessein and French Village
Father Helias found the fruits of his ministry somewhat meagre ow-
ing to the habitual religious indifference of the people.-* He notes in
in^ 'at Teast"^in"it/in-rT'r ^^^^ Jf^^'J^^- ^^^lias Mss.) gives the date 1841 for the build-
wfli^t'c if-Li" initial stages (fundaUo tsmph), of the Jefferson City church. Father
Sin 18^0 r^nrnK?.-, ^^' ^■%" the date as 1842. The Status Animarum, compiled not later
rl^?,rnl! ;jc ^ ^^ f^J^r? =a^er guide on this point than the much later Memoires. The
er^rt^H T F^.l"'^' w i^^^'c't ^^"''^y- ^?^^- ^" ^^^^^' Sunday the neat frame church
f.nnlr ti,^- ^* t- ""^I'^l ^r^- "^ ^^^ ^'ty °^ Jefferson was dedicated to Divine Worship
under the invocation of St. Ignatius of Loyola." Catholic Cabinet, Vol. I, May 1843, p. 60
22 Status Animarum etc. (Helias Mss.)
23 Litterae Annuae, 1840.
R^„^*/° a/^m''"^ °^ Cote-sans-dessein and French Village, cf. supra p. 163. Dauphine, later
Bonnots Mill, was a sort of second growth of French Village. St. Francis Regis was
patron of the Cote-sans-des§em congregation.
166 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, SJ.
his record for 1838 certain sudden and unhappy deaths among the
more obdurate of the Creoles. One of their number felling an oak on
Christmas Day, was crushed to pieces under the falling tree in the
presence of his wife and mother. The Sunday following, a bitterly
cold day, two men returning home from a tavern late at night in a
drunken condition lost their way and were obliged to crawl along the
ground on all fours in an effort to find the road. One of the men was
frozen to death, the other nearly so, so that it was necessary to ampu-
tate his fingers and toes to save his life. Again, a woman of disedify-
ing life who had listened to Father Helias preaching on the certainty
of death, but without being moved to any attempt to amend her ways,
was, on the very day after the sermon, suddenly stricken down. The
lesson taught by these and other examples of what looked like sum-
mary divine punishment was not altogether lost on the inhabitants
of French Village and Cote-sans-dessein. In pleasing contrast to the
frivolous, irreligious ways of the latter was the strong faith and prac-
tical piety of a group of recently arrived French-Canadians of whom
Father Helias makes mention, and who proposed to start a settle-
ment of their own to be known as New Besancon. There is no record
of such intention having been carried out. -"
A much higher level of Catholic faith and practice prevailed in
the other stations, near and far, which Father Helias was accustomed
to attend in his missionary circuit. The stations nearest to West-
phalia he visited monthly, the more remote ones, twice and three
times a year. Typical of the eagerness of the pioneer Catholic set-
tlers of Central Missouri to welcome a priest in their midst was an
incident that occurred at Portland, Callaway County, a town on the
north bank of the Missouri some miles below Jefferson City. Here
one day the Catholics of the vicinity began to assemble in a private
house to listen to a sermon which Father Helias was announced to
preach. So many, however, had gathered for the occasion that there
was no possibility of accommodating them within the four walls of
the house. The entire congregation thereupon withdrew to an adjoin-
ing field and here under a scorching August sun the missionary con-
ducted divine service. It is recorded that just as Father Helias began
to read the Gospel of the Sunday, a great cloud hid the sun from
view and that at the very moment the services came to an end the sun
reappeared and glared again with great intensity. The people of
Portland were so impressed by Father Helias's visit to them on this
occasion that one of their number was dispatched to St. Louis to offer
Father Verhaegen, in the name of the rest, a purse of $2000.00, to-
gether with five acres of land, as an inducement to the Superior to
establish a Jesuit college in their town- ^'
25 Historia Westphaliae, p. 8. Resideutia SH Francisci Xaverii Centralis Exordium et
Progressus, 1838-48 (Helias Mss.).
26 Litterae Annuae, 1839. Father Christian Hoecken SJ. baptized at Portland June 30,
1835, Mary Ann Gill, daughter of Priestlv Gill and Mary Norris. Registre des Baptemes
pour la Mission du Missouri, 1832. Portland is in Callaway County on the Missouri River,
twenty-four miles southeast of Fulton. At Hancock Prairie, also in Callaway County, a few
miles from Portland, there was a small Catholic congregation.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 157
Something of a clan-system developed among the German settlers
as a consequence of their having arrived in Missouri in successive
parties and from different districts of Germany. The emigrants from
VVestphaha and Hannover clustered together in and around New West-
whaha in the western part of Osage county. Those from the Lower
Khine settled in the northern parts of the county around Loose Creek
as a centre. Finally, the Bavarians took up land in the southern
part of the county near the Gasconade river, their principal settle-
ment being named Richfontain bv Father Helias on account of the
abundance of clear spring water found in the neighborhood. Besides
the settlements named, all of which were within the limits of Osage
county, there was a colony of Belgian and Hanoverian emigrants
numbering in all about two hundred souls, west of the Osage river
in Cole county. It was here that Father Helias, in 1840 built his
second church, that of St. Francis Xavier.
The first visit of Father Helias to this locality, where he was
destined to make his home for the greater part of his career in Central
Missouri, occurred on May 28, 1838, when he celebrated Mass in the
house of one of the settlers, Mr. L. Nieters, there being no church
at the time in the place. " Having secured ten acres of land centrally
situated with reference to the German farmers of the neighborhood
he began to lay plans for the erection of a wooden church. The site',
however, did not commend itself to a certain group among the parish-
ioners, who advocated the purchase of a tract of government land
forty acres in extent. But Father Helias insisted on the choice already
w ^^' u T-'^^ property he had secured lay within easy reach of both,
Westphalia and Jefferson City, was near a public highway and had
the advantage of an agreeable position on rising ground, with a fine
spring of the coolest water at hand. Moreover, there was land enough
for a presbytery and cemetery, both of which would have to be pro-
vided soon. Against the counter-proposition to build the church else-
where, was the further objection that the site suggested besides being
undesirable as a location, would have to be bought and that the
money for this purpose would have to be borrowed : and, as Father
Hehas observes, "borrowed money and a foolish purchase make a
sorry combination." The advocates, however, of a new site were in-
sistent and even carried the case to St. Louis to Father Verhaegen,
at that time Administrator of the diocese in the absence of Bishop
Rosati in Europe. Happily, the controversy was adjusted and Father
Helias was enabled to build the church in 1840 on the site he had
chosen. -^
The village which grew up in the course of time around the
church of St. Francis Xavier owed its origin, in a sense, to Father
27 Dies Mcmorabiles (Helias Mss.)
28 Uttcrae Anmtae 1840. The church property, a tract of ten acres, was conveyed by
Henry and Gertrude Haar Tune 5, 1840, the consideration being five dollars, to Fathers
Verhaegen De Theux and Smedts. It was in N.E. 14 of N.W. H of Section 6, Range 10.
lownship 43 1 he- church and residence stood close to the south side of the Versailles
state-road. 1 he graveyard, one and a half acres, was purchased October 19, 1849, from
John Anthony Eck.
168 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
Helias. As the ground on which the church stood had been acquired
by Father Helias from Mr. Henry Haar, a contractor and builder,
the village went for some time by the name of Haarville. ^^ Later, it
took the name of the post-office of the district, Taos, the post-office
quarters being in close proximity to the church. Taos was three miles
from Lisletown at the junction of the Osage and Maries rivers, six
from the Missouri river and five from Jefferson City.^** Father Helias
thus describes the place in his Memoires. "There are no bilious fevers
here as elsewhere, the parish buildings are more pretentious than in
the other residences established by this missionary; in a word, the
place makes a much better appearance. Moreover, the settlers succeed
better here owing to the nearness of the State capital and of the rail-
road, by which they are enabled to ship their produce to all points in
the state. The land has all been taken up and old farms sell at a high
price, while the soil is less broken up and much more productive than
on the other side of the Osage River." ^^
The same year, 1840, that saw the church of St. Francis Xavier
built in Taos in Cole County, saw also the building of the church of
the Sacred Heart at Richfountain, the picturesque name which Father
Helias gave the Bavarian colony near the Gasconade River.^- Mass
was said by Father Helias in the new church for the first time Decem-
ber 3, 1840.^^ In 1842 or earlier two hundred and fifty families who
had emigrated from Bavaria to escape the unjust Bavarian laws con-
cerning marriage settled in Richfountain.^* Many couples among them
had never been validly married at the time of their arrival in America,
the government restrictions at home having made it impracticable for
them to conform to the marriage laws of the Church. Father Helias,
on learning this state of affairs, promptly corrected the defective
unions of these poor emigrants. The parish of the Sacred Heart at
Richfountain was destined to attain an excellence in piety and regu-
larity of Christian practice which made it, in Father Helias's own
words, "a model for all others." ^^
The first years of Father Helias's life as a missionary priest in
Central Missouri were crowded with adventure and thrilling incidents.
29 "Haarville, Cole Co., St. Francis Xavier — Rev. Ferdinand Helias. He visits also once
a month St. Ignatius, Jefferson City; St. Joseph's Westphalia; Sacred Heart, Richfountain;
Conception of the Blessed Virgin, Cade's Creek; and occasionally the Assumption of the B. V.
Manitou Creek; Booneville, Pilot-Grove, Columbia, Hybernium, Cote-sans-dessein, French
Village etc." Metropolitan Catholic Almanac, 1843.
30 "Taos, a post-office 5 miles south [east] of Jefferson City." Campbell, Gazetteer of
Missouri, p. 168.
31 Memoires, p. 53. Family-names of children confirmed at Taos by Bishop Rosati in
the early forties include those of Schneider, Thessen, Kolb, Wolken, Hoffmeyer, Laux,
Schwaller, Hoecken, Schell, Roeckcr, Ihler, Schulte, Neumeyer, Prenger, Rakers, Kerperin,
Nieters, Bekel, Motschman, Sannning, Rohling, Hermann, Schnieders. Missouri Historical
Review, July, 1915, p. 85.
32 "Un endoit d'eaux, Riche Fontaine." Memoires, p. 53. The land on which the
church was built near his farm and opposite the "riche fontaine," was conveyed by John
Stumpf and Elizabeth, his wife, February 2, 1843, for a consideration of five dollars to the
authorities of the Missouri Vice-Province. The land was originally entered by a John Burns
during the 'thirties. Cf. History of Moniteau etc. Counties, p. 682.
3.T Dies Mcmorahiles (Helias Mss.) Memoires, p. 53.
34 Thus the Memoires, p. 54. Two hundred and fifty for the number of emigrant
families is probably an overstatement.
85 Memoires, p. 54.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 169
The country he moved about in was just emerging from a state of
primitive nature. It was thinly settled and poorly provided with roads.
To reach the stations yawning ravines and swollen streams had fre-
quently to be crossed. It was no uncommon thing for the missionary
to lose his way in the woods and spend the night under the open.
Once, while riding in the dark, he and his horse fell headlong into a
ditch, both, however, coming out of the accident without the slightest
injury. Another time, crossing a stream together with his horse in
a leaking boat, he had perforce to work desperately with the boatman
to bale out the water and only the heroic efforts of the two kept the
wretched craft from being swamped. A kindly Providence seemed
ever on the alert to save the man of God from bodily harm.^*^.
A fellow Jesuit who entered into Father Helias's labors in Osage
County has sketched the tradition of tireless missionary which he
found current in the 'eighties among the German Catholics of Osage
County.^^
"Father Helias was a remarkable man. I have often heard old
people speak of him with enthusiasm. In their feeh'ngs towards him
there is the reverence for the priest blended with the warmth of the
friend. He, the man of noble birth, must have been possessed of great
kindness so that his aristocratic manners became winning in the eyes
of the simple peasantry; and his severe virtue must have been blended
with great cordiality, so that people remote from asceticism, were
cheered by his conversation, while they were instructed."
Father Helias's actual residence in New Westphalia lasted only
four years from his arrival there in May, 1838. In the Spring of
1842 he closed the church and presbytery and returned to St. Louis.
The year 1841 had been a particularly trying one. There was con-
siderable sickness in the settlement, an epidemic of some or other
contagious disease having lasted four months and left behind it
numerous victims. Then there was a severe and protracted drought
which entailed loss of crops and reduced the settlers to dire want.
During these calamities Father Helias did his best to bring his stricken
parishioners all the spiritual and temporal aid he could command,
travelling sometimes one hundred and twenty miles to bring the dying
the consolations of religion. Added to these trials was the opposition
to his ministry which the good priest had to endure from some of his
Westphalian parishioners. What the grounds of this opposition were
is not clear from contemporary records. At all events, certain malicious
persons sought to come between the Westphalian congregation and its
pastor.^® Their efforts were not unavailing. Father Helias notes sadly
36 Littcrae Annuae, 1840.
37 Father Nicholas Schlecliter in Woodstock Letters, 13:360.
38 A sort of anti-clerical party or faction appears to have existed for a number of
years among the German settlers, even Catholic, of Missouri. They were sometimes dubbed
the I.atinians from the circumstance that they had, so it was alleged, studied Latin in the
German gymnasia before coming to America. It was seemingly a group of Latinians who
fomented trouble against Father Helias. {Woostock Letters, 13:23). "The epithet Latin
farmers' has commonly been applied to the scholarly German settlers, who became quite
numerous about the revolutionary periods of 1830 and 1848, a class of cultivated men, yet
frequently unpractical, for whom manual labor proved a hard school of experience. ' Faust,
The German Element in the United States, 1:442.
170 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
in his Historia Westplialiae that some of his most devoted parishioners
who had formerly stood by him in his difficulties were at length won
over to the opposition, intimidated or bribed, he knew not which. He
now took a distinctly pessimistic view of the future, declaring that
the only hope of saving the Faith in Central Missouri lay in the two
parishes of the Sacred Heart at Richfountain and of St. Francis
Xavier in Cole County. The trouble culminated in Father Helias's
giving up his post at Westphalia and retiring to St. Louis, after affix-
ing to the church door a Latin distich of his own composition :
Ardua qui quaerit, riibros cur cnrrit ad Indos
Wesfphaliam veniat, ardua citncta dabunt.^^
'"Meanwhile," says Father Helias's narrative, "the church of St. Joseph
stands deserted and closed against the wolves, a reproach to those who,
though of the number of the sheep, have by contentions, subtlety of
speech and ambition for things beyond them forced the pastor to
retire, reluctantly withal and for only a brief spell — but Westphaliq.
has ceased forever to be a residence." And after these words follows
the colophon, "Here ends the sad history of the colony of Westphalia
founded by me. May 11, 1842." "^
in. Father Helias at Haarville
The pessimistic forecast of the future of Catholicity in Central
Missouri which Father Helias was led to make in consequence of his
difficulties in New Westphalia failed to be justified by the event. The
years were to smooth away the frictions and scandals of the moment
and bring to a golden maturity the harvest which he had sown in
much travail and bitterness of soul. As we saw, Father Helias with-
drew in the spring of 1842 from Westphalia to St. Louis, without,
however, abandoning altogether the spiritual care of the district that
had been consigned to him. From St. Louis he made occasional visits
to the parishes he had started in and around Jefferson City and finally
in the beginning of September, 1842, again took up his residence in
Central Missouri. This time, however, with the approval of his
Superiors, he made his headquarters not in Westphalia, where the
opposition to him was still active, but in Haarville, subsequently Taos,
Cole County, where in 1840 he had built the church of St. Francis
Xavier. Here the missionarv was destined to remain until his death
in 1874. *i
The years immediately following Father Helias's return to his
beloved Mission were marked by the erection at his hand of several
new churches. Though some obscurity veils the beginnings of the
.^9 "Why should the man who covets hardships hie to the dusky Indies? Let him come
to Westphalia and he wil Ifind hardships aplenty."
40 Historia Westphaliae, p. 27.
41 The transfer in 1842 of the headquarters of the Mission of Central Missouri from
Westphalia to Haarville (Taos) is emphasized by Father Helias in the Latin title prefixed
by him to the Westplialia Burial Register, "Liber Dcfu-nctorum Residentiae Sti Toxephi
Societatis Jesu in Nova Westphalia Comitatm Gasconade Status Missouriatii Americae Con-
foederatae borealis ab anno Domijii iS,^7. Moderatov.im consensu ntqiie expressa voluntate
Residentia Centralis ad Sti Frarcisci Xaxerii iranslata est in Cole County, Mo., A. 1842."
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 171
church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Jefferson City, we may accept 1841
as the year in which its construction was begun. Certainly, the church
was in use for divine service in 1843.*^ As only the churches of St.
Joseph in Westphalia, St. Francis Xavier in Cole County and the
Sacred Heart at Rich fountain had been built prior to Father Helias's
retirement from Westphalia in the spring of 1842, we may designate
the Jefferson City edifice as the fourth of the seven churches built by
the zealous missionary up to the end of 1845." A fifth church, that
of the Assumption, at the present Cedron in Moniteau County, was
built before March, 1843." April 6, 1844, the corner-stone was laid
of the new church of St. Francis Xavier in Haarville. The edifice,
60 by 38 feet, could claim the distinction of being the first Catholic
stone church to be built in the interior of Missouri. It was occupied
for the first time on May 11, 1845, Father Helias on this occasion
addressing the congregation in English. German and French. *' To-
wards the end of 1844, the church of St. Thomas the Apostle was
built at Indian Bottom. Cole County, near a bend in the Osage River.*^
Finally, on Ascension Day. May 1, 1845, the church of the Immaculate
Conception at Loose Creek, in Osage County, on the main public road
between Jefferson City and St. Louis, was opened for divine service.*^
Thus by the middle of 1845, Catholic churches had been built at West-
phalia, Haarville, Richfountain, Jefferson City, Moniteau, Indian Bot-
tom and Loose Creek. These seven churches, attesting the progress
42 Supra, p.
43 Cf. Father Helias's Latin epigram (Memoires), p. 58:
nos Gallia, Roma,
"Flandria nos geniiit, docuit nos Gallia, Roma,
Teutoniae Helvetineque sinus peragravitnns omnes ;
Post varios cnsus, terracqiie marisque labores,
Sistimiis : atque no%iae fundaminn fixinnis urbis
Westphaliae, septemque dicatas Nnminis aedes.
44 Historia Westphaliae, p. 28. However, the Meni'^ires, p 55, (as also a Helias's Ms.
dateJ .ibout 1870), assigns the building of this church to 1845, while the Status Animarum
etc. places it as early as 1841. The dates given in the Memoires do not always tally with
those i~i the Historia Westphaliae. The v.'riter has followed generally the latter source ^s
being more or less contemporary with the events recorded. The church of the Assumption
referred to here is in the present Cedron, Moniteau Co., Mo. A second church of the
Assumption appears to have been built by Father Helias in 1857 for a German congregation
in Cole County, not far from Taos, but its location cannot be identified. The property of
the Assumption church ("Cedron) was acquired March 1, 1843, for a consideration of four
dollars, from Ignace and Barbara Backer. It consisted of two acres in N.E. 14 of Section 4,
Tnp. 46, Rr.nge 15 of Cole County, (Moniteau County not yet organized). The church had
been built at the tine the property was transferred.
45 Litterae Annuae. 1845. A tract of four acres, including the site of St. Tnomas's
church, was conveyed, September 8, 1848, to the church authorities by Henry Stumpf and
Christina, his wife. The consideration was five dollars. The tract was in S.W. corner of
N.E. 14 of S.E. 14 of Section 22, Township 42, Range 12 W., Cole County.
46 Historia Westphaliae, p. 28. The dates 1843 and 1846 for the erection of the Indian
Bottom church are also to be found in the Helias papers. Father Helias was led to choose
St. Thomas the patron of this church in deference to the tradition, admittedly of slender
historical value, which credits the apostle with having preached the gospel in America.
Lebrocquy, Vie du P. Helias, p. 228. Indian Bottom, now known as St. Thomas, is eight
miles south of Jefferson City. "The first, pastor. Father Helias came to the place when
there were but three or four families." History of Osage, p. 302.
47 Dies Memorabiles (Helias Mss.) ; Memoires, p. 54. The deed of conveyance of the
Loose Creek church property, September 28, 1843, for a consideration of five dollars, from
Louis Auguste Pequignot and his wife Josephine to Fathers Verhaegen, De Theux, Smedts,
describes it as the "certain tract of land on which the Roman Catholic Church of the Con-
ception and Graveyard is situated." The tract was of six acres and began "at the north of
the State Road of St. Louis to Jefferson City by Bolden's ferry to the North-east corner of
the N.E. quarter of N.W. quarter, Section 5, Township 43, Range 9, West."
172 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
of Catholicity had made in Central Missouri, were abong the results
of Father Helias's first seven years of labor in that part of the St,
Louis diocese. *^
The extent of the ministerial activities of Father Helias at this
period is revealed in his routine itinerary for the year 1843. On the
first Sunday of the month he officiated at St, Francis Xavier's in
Haarville; on the second Sunday at St. Ignatius Loyola's in Jefferson
City ; on the third Sunday in Loose Creek, where, as the church build-
ing was not yet ready for use, services were held in the pubHc school ;
on the fourth Sunday at the Sacred Heart in Richf ountain ; on the
fifth Sunday, or, in default of that day, on some festival occurring
during the month, at St. Joseph's in Westphalia. Besides this monthly
round of visits, services were held three or four tim.es a year at the
Assumption on Moniteau Creek, at St. Thomas the Apostle, Indian
Bottom, Cole County, and at Holy Cross in Pilot Grove, Cooper
County. Moreover, visits were paid once or twice a year to Boone-
ville, Columbia, Hibernia, Cote-sans-dessein and other stations.*^
As there was little money among the settlers, Father Helias had
to rely largely on the charitable donations of friends in Europe for
the means necessary to build and equip his numerous churches. Thus
the church of St. Francis Xavier at Taos, where he spent the last
thirty years of his life, was built and furnished largely through the
munificence of his mother, Marie Helias d'Huddeghem, nee the
Countess of Lens. A remittance of $875.00 made to her son in 1844
and another one of $225.00 in 1845, are recorded as some of the fre-
quent contributions she was wont to make for this purpose. The
Countess died December 4, 1848, enjoining in her will that her heirs
were to provide out of her estate whatever should be necessary for the
complete furnishing of the church, of which, according to her son,
she deserved to be called the foundress. As such, she was entitled to
the special gratitude of the parish and Father Helias accordingly an-
nounced in 1845 that the Litany of Loretto should be recited every
Sunday before services in her behalf and a Mass said annually for the
same intention. After her death, the obligation of an annual Requiem
Mass for the dead benefactress was placed upon the church. ^°
48 The log-church at Westphalia, though begun in 1837, was finished under Father
Helias's direction. He always enumerated it among the seven churches he had built in
Central Missouri. Septem extantcs ecclesias ipse aedificandas curavi.
49 Historia Westphaliae, p. 35. The congregation of the Holy Cross, Pilot Grove,
Cooper County (12 miles southeast of Booneville) was at this period (1843) still without
a church. Father Helias in his letter of Jan. 6, 1845, contributed to the Berichte der Leo-
poldinen Stiftung, XIX, gives a summary of his ministry in the various parishes and stations
of his Mission for rhe period 1838-1844.
1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844
Number of souls 620 700 950 1500 2000 2000 2500
Infant Baptisms 23 36 37 125 150 149 175
Easter Communions 423 560 700 1094 1090 1100 1300
First Communions 9 15 16 20 60 90 100
Conversions 3 4 S 4 4 3 4
Marriages 3 3 14 26 23 27 36
Burials 12 9 17 24 19 50 155
50 Historia Westphaliae, pp. 38, 45, 46. Maria Carolina Guislena Comes de Lens et
Rom. Imperii Helias d'Huddephem Fundatrix domus et ecclesiae jus habet quotannis ad
Anniversarium. Others who helped Father Helias to build and furnish the church at Taos
were the Ladies of the Beguinage of Ghent, his cousin Mile. Rodriguez d'Evora y Vega and
the Canon De La Croix of Ghent. Lebrocquy, Vie du P. Helias, p. 256.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 173
From the Leopoldine Association of Vienna, the object of which
was the support of German Catholic missions in America, the Vice-
Province of Missouri received in 1844 the sum of $1875.00. Of this
sum $375.00 went to Father Helias for the churches he had built or
was about to build. The Father was particularly anxious to receive
aid from outside sources as he was thereby relieved of the necessity
of relying on his parishioners for support. "Thanks to help of this
kind, we can more effectively and with greater liberty announce the
Gospel freely, and what we have freely received, freely give. Indeed,
among the substantials of the [Jesuit] Institute, a gratuitous ministry
is not by any means the last, and nothing is more detrimental to the
good of sopls than Iscariot-like avarice. Moreover, having what to
eat, for Christ Himself has commanded us to eat what is placed before
us, to what purpose are superfluities? Ought the Lord's work to be
given over on this account? Many indeed are most ungrateful. But
let us remember that chief among the concerns of Ignatius was Ger-
many. He founded a college in Rome for German students. He was
ready to recall St. Francis Xavier from distant India to send relief to
the North. Of his first nine companions he gave five to Germany.
Nay, he ordered his children, wheresoever scattered over the face of
the earth, to say a Mass every month for the Northern countries. Let
us not accordinglv, fall below the lofty thoughts of so great a
Father." ''
An incident occurring in 1845 is recorded by Father Helias in
terms that reveal the disappointment of which it was the occasion.
Father Van de Velde, on his return from Europe in that year, brought
with him a great quantity of altar furniture for the needy mxissions
of the Vice-Province. Father Helias was counting on his share of
the treasure and already in anticipation saw his poor mission chapels
decently provided with all the accessories of divine service. But the
steamer bearing the precious cargo, when almost in sight of St. Louis,
unhappily caught fire and sank, a complete wreck. Nothing of Father
Van de Velde's shipment appears to have been saved. To Father
Helias the accident proved a real blow, retarding seriously as it did
the progress of his parishes by depriving them of sorely needed equip-
ment for the proper celebration of Mass and other sacred functions."^
51 Historia WestphaUae. p. 37. A letter from Father Helias, dated Jefferson City, Mo.,
Jan. 6, 1845, to the Leopoldine Association of Vienna gives an interesting account of the
progress of Catholicity in Central Missouri, (Berichte <ier Leopoldinen Siiftuno, 19:66-76,
1846). Considerable light is thrown on Fatlier Helias's early struggles by his account-
books, which he kept with painstaking accuracy and neatness. For the first eight years the
honoraria in the shape of baptismal and marriage offerings, mass-stipends etc. which he
received from the congregations under his care, amounted to the munificent sum of $184.
In 1844 he received from his parishioners $90, the first money which they contributed
directly to his support. "From the beginning the Congregation promised to pay $200.00 as
annuities, but could never give it." In his first year at New Westphalia, 1838, his income
amounted to $725.12%, of which sum $10.00 came from Mother Duchesne, Superioress of
the Religious of the Sacred Heart, and the rest from the estate of Bishop Barrett of Liege
who had remembered the Jesuic Missions of Missouri in his will. Beginning with 1839 he
received almost annually generous donations from his family in Belgium, while occasional
appropriations from the Lyons Association for the Propaeation of the Faith as also from
the Austrian or Leopoldine Association helped towards the financing of his numerous parishes
and stations. Sometimes money would be received for some specific purpose as this under
date Feb. 16, 1841, "Thro P. J. Vcvhaegcn for an expedition to Lexington, where I lost my
horse. $20."
62 Historia WestphaUae, p. 37.
174 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, SJ.
The year 1844 was a calamitous one for Father Helias. The
Missouri river flood of that year, the greatest in the history of the
river, followed by a protracted drought, brought widespread sickness
in its wake.^^ There was no house without its patient, and in most
houses all the inmates were down with disease at the same time. In
one dwelling which he visited, Father Helias found no fewer than
twenty persons in the last stages of disease. The one compensating
circumstance was that it was a season of divine grace for many of the
victims, who found their way back to God's friendship as the shadows
of death crept upon them. Father Helias himself was not to escape
the consequence of the great physical strain and constant exposure to
infection put upon him by the exercise of his ministry at this critical
time. His health broke down and he began to waste away, his skin,
as he expressed it in Scriptural phrase, cleaving to his bone. The
doctors could do nothing for him and despaired of his recovery. And
yet, he passed through the crisis, regained his strength and was able
in time to take up again his burden of parochial missionary duties.
The next year, 1845, he was repeating his experience of the past year,
wearing himself out with attendance on the sick and running every
risk of infection. A second collapse followed and the Father lay on
what seem.ed from every human outlook his bed of death. The most
skillful physicians in the county pronounced him beyond reach of
medical aid. For some days he lay in a coma, a cold sweat bathing
his forehead and the extremities of his body stiff with the icy rigors
of approaching dissolution. Funeral arrangements began to be made
and the parishes were notified to send their quota of pall-bearers. But
at the last moment the skill of a worthy widow, Gertrude Evens by
name, saved the priest's life. She succeeded in forcing a long reed
tube between his firmly clenched teeth, with the result that some needed
medicine v.^as successfully administered. He rallied, grew steadily
stronger and in a short wliile was again performing his customary
round of labors.
But the health of Father Helias was at best a precarious thing,
liable to break utterly at any time under the severe physical and mental
strain he was put to in the exercise of his ministry. And still he kept
at his post, declining the offer made by his Superior to allow him to
return to Belgium. The minutes of the meeting on April 16, 1846,
of the consultorial board of the Vice?Province of Missouri, contain
this item: "Father Helias declines to return to Belgium, desiring to
consummate the sacrifice of his health and life. Let him then remain
where he is." However, Father Helias's Superiors determined now to
send him an assistant-priest, a step that would have been taken earlier,
had the very meagre personnel of the Vice-Province permitted.
Accordingly on December 8, 1846, Father Helias was joined at the
little Jesuit residence in Haarville, Cole County, by Father James
Cotting, a Swiss, v.^ho had been employed in the Vice-Province in
various parochial charges since his arrival in Missouri in 1840. He
53 Barns, Commonwealth of Missouri, St. Louis, 1877, has an account of the Missouri-
river rise of 1844.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 175
was a man of robust health, wth energy and zeal to match, in Father
Helias's own words, "an exceeding zealous and active young mis-
sionary." Father Helias found him an admirable companion and, as
he records, was cheered up more than words can tell by his kind and
sympathetic charity and the efficient service he rendered in the minis-
try. From June up to the arrival of Father Cotting in December,
Father Helias had been subject to a chonic and troublesome fever,
but on the arrival of his companion, the fever disappeared and thence-
forth he enjoyed the best of health. ^*
Even prior to the arrival of Father Cotting, Father HeHas had
begun to enjoy some measure of relief, when, in 1848, the parishes
of Jefferson City and Moniteau were taken over by a secular priest,
the Reverend James Murphy, according to an agreement entered into
between Bishop Kenrick of St. Louis and Father Van de Velde, the
Jesuit Vice-Provincial. With Father Cotting now at hand to share
his labors, the position of the pioneer miissionary was vastly improved.
Semper et perpetuus in equo mobilis, "forever moving about on horse-
back," is the descriptive detail with which Father Helias seeeks to
picture the kind of man he had for assistant. Father Cotting on his
arrival immediately won the favor of the parishioners of St. Joseph
in Westphalia by at once pushing forward the building of the new
stone church which they had already begun at the instance of Father
Helias. The corner-stone of the church was laid on March 19, 1848,
with considerable ceremony. The weather was superb and a great
throng of people. Catholic and non-Catholic, gathered for the occasion.
Some IMexican cannon, trophies fresh from the siege of Sacramento
in the Mexican war, broke the slumbers of the townsfolk at early dawn
with their jubilant booming. Services were held in the old church
from which there was a procession to the site of the new edifice,
vvrhere Father Helias blessed the corner-stone with appropriate cere-
mony. ^^
A sort of anti-clerical faction, dubbed the Latinians from the
alleged circumstance of their having studied Latin in their native coun-
try, was found among the German Catholics of Westphalia. They
were the same faction, it appears, who had fomented the opposition
to Father Helias in 1842, which resulted in the temporary closing of
the parish church. Now their efforts were directed against Father
Cotting, whose authority they sought to undermine by calumny and
abuse. Unfortunately, some unguarded statements of the priest, who
was quick-tempered and frank of speech, were eagerly seized on by
his enemies and turned to his disadvantage. A riotous disturbance
which occurred in Westphalia on February 2, 1848, was laid to his
charge. A law-suit followed at Jefferson City in which the Father
appeared as defendant. The suit went against him and only the inter-
vention of Father Helias with some of the public officials saved Father
54 Historia Westphaliae, p. 52.
55 Historia Westphaliae, p. 61. Father Cotting appears to have resided at Taos with
Father Helias for the greater part of his stay in Central Missouri. It was not until the
pastorate of Father Ehrensberger that Westphalia again assumed the status of an independent
Residence. ..^^,. -^-i
176 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
Cotting from the payment of a heavy fine. Father Cotting was there-
upon removed by his Superior from Westphalia, to which he bade
farewell, January 18, 1849. His connection with the Missouri Vice-
Province ceased at the same time and he spent the remainder of his
days a member of the Maryland Province of his Order. ^^
Father Cotting's place at Westphalia was filled by Father Andrew
Ehrensberger, a Bavarian, one of the exiled German Jesuits who found
a home in the Vice-Province of Missouri in 1848. Father Ehrensberger
took up his residence at Westphalia on November 17 of that year.
From this time forward there were two independent residences in
Central Missuri, Westphalia and Taos. Father Ehrensberger gave
much of his time and attention to the little Bavarian settlement at
Richfountain.^^ Some little skill which he possessed as a painter he
turned to good account by decorating the parish church. Father Helias's
estimate of Father Ehrensberger's capabilities as a pastor of souls
was high. He calls him a "capital preacher," optinnis concionator,
and sums up his record as a pastor of Westphalia in the words, "that
redoubtable companion of Christ has so acquitted himself that no one
can speak ill of him without untruth." Father Ehrensberger left West-
phalia in 1851 to take up the duties of a professor in St. Xavier's Col-
lege, Cincinnati. He was subsequently recalled to Germany where he
achieved distinction as a missionary and preacher.®^
Father Ehrenberger was* succeeded as Superior of the Westphalia
Residence by Father Kalcher of the Austrian Province. Father Helias
syles him "an excellent operarius.^' Thenceforward the line of Supe-
riors at Westphalia down to the period of the Civil War, includes the
names of Father Joseph Brunner, Anthony Eysvogels and John Baptist
Goeldlin. Other Fathers attached to the residence as assistants during
the same years were James Busschots, Joseph Weber, James Bruhl,
John Schult/ William Niederkorn and Henry Van Mierlo, while aiding
the Fathers in the domestic concerns of the house were the lay-brothers
Sebastian Schlienger, Caspar Wohler, Josepb Prasneg, Wenceslaus
Kossnar, Daniel Kochendorfer and Michael Schmidt.
IV. Growth of the Parishes
During the ten or fifteen years that preceded the opening of the
Civil War the Mission of Central Missouri prospered in every way.
We shall touch briefly on the course of events in the more important
of the parishes during that period.
The stiieple of the new stone church of St. Joseph in Westphalia
was not fir.ished until some years later than the dedication of the
church, a circumstance which seemed tot lend point, according to
the author of the "Annual Letters," to the Latin inscription over the
church door, placed there by the architect.
58 Historia Westphaliae, p. 58.
67 He "helped greatly to render the Mission of the Sacred Heart settled b^ his Bavarian
countrymen a model mission by reason of the piety and fervor which distinguish it from all
others."
68 Father Ehrensberger returned to Westphalia as Superior in 1852, remaining there,
however, not more than a year.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 177
Concordia res crescnnt discordia dilabnntur.
Happily the mischief-making tendencies of a part of the congregation
during the early period of its history had been corrected, so that Father
Goeldlin, Superior of the Westphalia Residence, could write in 1862 :
"The spirit of the people is in general, good. They have learned that
in annoying and contradicting their priests there is neither peace nor
the blessing of God." "^^
Four miles to the north of Westphalia was the church of the
Immaculate Conception at Loose Creek. The name Loose is usually ex-
plained as a corruption of the French Pours, bear.*'*' The parish was
composed partly of German Rhinelanders and partly of Creoles, which
latter element, however, appeared to display no very active interest in
the affairs of the congregation. From 1851 on. Loose Creek had its
Sunday Mass by one of the Fathers from Westphaha. 1853 and 1854
were cholera years, the epidemic finding its way into the interior of
Missouri. Among the Irish laborers employed in the neighborhood
of Loose Creek on the construction of the Missouri Pacific Railroad,
there were numerous cases of the dreaded disease. These were attended
to by the Westphalia pastors, not without difficulty, as the latter were
hard pressed to care for the numerous cholera patients in Westphalia
itself. In recognition of the charitable services of the Fathers, the
Irish laborers on the Missouri Pacific contributed generously in 1855
to the interior decoration of the Loose Creek church, besides donating
the two side altars of St. Joseph and our Blessed Lady.
At Richfountain, some five or six miles southeast of Westphalia,
the little frame church of the Sacred Heart, built in 1840, was enlarged
in 1854 to the dimensions 75 by 24 feet and topped off with a steeple.
The village physician, a converted Lutheran, composed a "chrono-
graphus" for the church-bell, which was consecrated to the Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin Mother in memory of the solemn promulga-
tion of that doctrine by Pius IX in 1854.*^^
In 1849, when the cholera was at its height, the congregation of
the Sacred Heart vowed an annual exposition and adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament for ten hours. Fveryone in the parish escaped un-
harmed from the scourge. Accordingly, every year on the Sunday
within the Octave of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, the people were
wont to fulfill their vow with great dveotion. Years after, when cholera
again broke out in the state, no case was reported from Richfountain,
an indication, as the author of the "Annual Letters" observes, of how
59 Missio Missoiiriensis centralis comprehcndens Comitatus Oxage, Cole. Miller, Maries
1852-1862. (Mc). The author is appirently Father John Goeldlin, Superior of the Westphalia
Residence during the period 1857-1872. The present brief summary of the course of events
in the central Missouri parishes during the decade or so of years immediately prior to the
beginning of the Civil War is based largely on this source.
60 See note 17, supra for list of families in Loose Creek, April 1, 1839. showing the
Creole element in the majority at this period. The German settlers came in later.
origin of the name cf. note 47, page 13.
61 Sacrati Dotnini Cordis quae nomine gaudct
Ad ditis static pnrvula fontis apuax
Campanam hancce, Maria tibi, quo consccrat anno
Quod pia credidcrat. credere jussa fuit:
Peccati exsortem solam Te protoparentem
Conceptam patris Consilio esse Dei. . .
178 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
pleasing to the Lord was the pious faith of the congregation. Another
instance of the piety of the parishioners of Richfountain was the an-
nual Solemn High Mass for a successful harvest. The Mass stipend
was made up by small contributions from the farmers. It is related
that one of their number ridiculed the idea of a collection taken up
for this purpose and refused to contribute, saying jocosely that he
would share in the blessings showered on his neighbors' crops. The
harvest of this season surpassed expectation. The skeptic's wheat,
cut and stacked to a great height in his field, made his heart rejoice.
But one day, on a sudden, a storm came up and scattered his wheat
far and wide, leaving nothing of the splendid crop except the straw.
At the same time, the wheat in the adjoining fields lay untouched.
The lesson was not lost on the light-minded farmer. Thereafter, he
came forward every year unsolicited with a generous contribution for
the Harvest Mass.
Though poorer in a material sense than were the other parishes
of the Mission, Richfountain surpassed them in its zeal for Catholic
education. The old school becoming too small for the needs of the
parish, a new one of stone, 35 by 25 feet, was built in 1858 close to
the church. Shortly after the erection of the school-house, the prop-
erty on which it stood was claimed by a disaffected Catholic who pro-
posed, however, to leave it in the hands of the parish on condition that
the new building be used as a public school. Though the claimant
found many to stand by him, most of the parishioners rejected the
proposal indignantly and fought the case in court, with the result that
both school building and property were saved to the parish. The
litigation, however, caused a slight rift in the harmony that generally
obtained among the Richfountain Catholics, while for years after the
debt incurred by the erection of the new school-house lay as a heavy
burden on the hundred families that made up the congregation.
Fifteen miles southwest of Westphalia, near a bend in the Osage
river, was the church of St. Thomas the Apostle. Though situated in
Cole County the limits of the parish extended for some miles into the
neighboring Osage and Miller Counties. In 1844 when the first log-
chapel was built, the families numbered only seven. This nmnber had
trebled in 1854, when a frame church, 30 by 26 feet, was put up, the
old church being utilized as a presbytery. But the location of the
church proved unsatisfactory, for the only approach tto it lay through
the property of an ill-humored farmer, who threatened all the rigors
of the law against the church-goers. Hence both church-building and
presbyter}'- were moved in 1856 to a more accessible site, where a
settlement named St. Thomas was gradually formed. In 1860 the
parish counted no more than thirty-five families, many of the former
parishioners having moved down to Miller County where fertile land
was in abundance.^^
Ten miles south of Westphalia was a settlement originally known
as St. Boniface, from the name of the parish-church, and later as
Koeltztown, from the name of the chief property-owner of the locality.
62 Supra, note 46.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 179
In 1856 the sale of public lands to the south of Westphalia at attrac-
tively low prices induced many of the parishioners of St. Joseph to
move in that direction. A Protestant lady, Mrs. Koeltz, who had pur-
chased several thousand acres of land in the locality in question, con-
ceived the idea that the best means of attracting settlers would be the
erection of a Catholic church. She accordingly offered ten acres of
land for this purpose and, besides, promised to contribute generously
to the building-fund. In 1857 Father Goeldlin, then Superior at West-
phalia, was invited to come down to the new settlement to superintend
the construction of the proposed church. However, the Father was
under strict orders from the Vice-Provincial to open no more stations
and wished, moreover, first to see the site offered for the church, as
an imprudent choice of location had just made it necessary to move
the church of St. Thomas to another place at a considerable outlay of
money. But the promoters of the new church at Koelztown were im-
patient of delay and sent a delegation to Archbishop Kenrick of St.
Louis to offer him the church property, which he accepted. Founda-
tions for an elaborate stone edifice which was to eclipse St. Joseph's
in Westphalia were immediately laid and in July 1858, Father Goeldlin,
at Archbishop Kenrick's request, laid the corner-stone. However, a
young carpenter, who had ventured to play the role of achitect of
the new church, finding himself incompetent to prosecute his task,
made off with a considerable part of the building fund. The original
Ian was thcreuon discontinued and a modest frame church erected,
more in keeping with the humble circumstances of the settlers.
The difficulty of securing a pastor for the new church had now to
be met. The Archbishop of St. Louis had no one to send. The Jesuits
were again petitioned to assume charge of the station, but had to
decline. However, an arrangement was made between Archbishop
Kenrick and Father Coosemans, the Jesuit Vice-Provincial, by which
Koeltztown was to be attended from Westhalia until a diocesan priest
could be found for the post. Accordingly, beginning with June 1861,
the place began to be visited by one of the Westphalia Fathers every
second Sunday of the month."*
Twenty-three miles south of Westphalia in Maries" County was
the town of Vienna, which could boast its own Catholic church, St.
Mary's. In the beginning of the fifties, Vienna was a wilderness. A
widely advertised sale of public lands at a low figure attracted settlers
to the locality, among them a number of Irish Catholic families from
the cities. These were soon planning to secure to themselves the bless-
ing of a church and pastor. As the settlers were scattered over a con-
siderable strech of territory, two stations were formed for their accom-
modation. The settlers in the town and its immediate vicinity were
the first of the two groups to build a church, which was named St.
Mary's. The second station, eight miles distant from St. Mary's, was
after 1862 visited every two months from Westphalia. The neat little
St. Mary's church, a frame structure forty feet long, was attended by
about thirtv-five famiilies. Father Goeldlin remarks in the "Annual
63 "Koeltztown was named after the first merchant, August Koeltz." History of Mont-
teau etc. Counties, p. .
180 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, SJ.
Letters" that when a new station is formed, all things have, so to
speak, to be created anew. Not only does lack of money retard the
work, but the parishioners, however devoutly they may have lived in
the cities, are not easily brought to put up with the inconvenience of
bad roads. The parishioners of Vienna, continues the Father, are
chiefly Irish who give promise of becoming not less fervent than the
rest of their countrymen, nor less generous, provided Heaven blesses
their efforts and brings their good intentions to fruition. ^*
Towards the close of 1861, the Jesuit pastors assumed charge of
another station, about sixteen miles east of Westphalia, known as St.
Isidore's, where a group of French settlers had put up a little church.
The site had been chosen and the building begim by the settlers on
their own initiative and without consulting the Fathers of Westphalia.
Unfortunately the location of the church was a poor one. Moreover,
the church was destitute of proper furniture and vestments, while
the Annual Letters note, "it will require great zeal and labor and a
considerable measure of divine grace to realize any fruit." About the
same time that St. Isidore's was taken in charge, two additional sta-
tions, one six and the other about twelve miles south of St. Isidore's,
were started and attended from Loose Creek. ^'
At Taos, where Father Helias resided ever since his withdrawal
from Westphalia in 1842, he had the satisfaction of seeing his parish
of St. Francis Xavier grow steadily in loyalty to its pastor and regard
for ecclesiastical authority. The old attempt at schism on the part of
a small but agrressive faction which had provoked warning letters to
the congregation from Bishop Rosati and his successor, Bishop Ken-
rick, were no longer renewed. The material condition of the colonists
likewise went on improving. Many of them who had enlisted in the
Mexican War shared in the bounty of the Government, which settled
a quarter-section of land on each of the volunteers when they were
discharged from service at the end of the war. The arrival in the
autumn of 1847 of a party of fifty Belgian emigrants from the neigh-
borhood of Ghent, who came highly recommended by M. Beaulieu,
Belgian Minister in Washington, boded v/ell for the future of the
parish. They had probably been attracted to Central Missouri by a
report published at Brussels by the Baron Van der Straten-Pantholz,
Secretary of the Belgian Legation at Washington. The Baron made
a trip through Osage and Cole Counties in 1845 to ascertain by per-
64 Conard, Cyclopedia of the History of Missouri and History of Moniteau etc. Counties
have brief accounts of Vienna. Among the first Catholic settlers were Mr. Felkner, Ihomas
and Dennis Fennessy and Michael Owen. The first church was built as early as 1859.
65 The church property at St. Isidore, near Linn, a tract of three and a quarter acres,
(S.W. 14 of N.E. 14 of Section 33, Tnp. 44, Range 8, W.)r was conveyed February 18. I860,
by Irene Curtit to the Jesuit Father for $25.00. The church erected by the French was of
logs. The parish of Maria Hilf, Mary Help of the Christians, near Isbell station on the
Missouri Pacific R. R. some fifteen miles north of Westphalia was organized m 1862 by
Father Buschotts, S.J. The church property, two acres, (Sections 2 and 11, Tnp. 44, Range 9),
was acquired May 26, 1873. . ,„,. tj .i.,,
St. Ignatius's parish, Bailev's Creek, was established by Father Buschotts m 1858. l-ather
Verhaegen, visiting the place the fall of 1837, found there some ten or twelve famihes, all
Americans. (Verhaegen a Rosati, Nov. 17, 1837). Th church property, six acres,_ (N.W. %
of S.W. Vz of Section 22, Twp. 44, Range 7 W.), was acquired for a consideration of live
dollars, June 23, 1859, from Peter and Catherine Jordan. A log church was built in 1859.
Bailey's Creek is fifteen miles northeast of Westphalia. .
St. George's parish in Linn, the countv-seat of Osage County, was organized by i-ather
Goeldlin in 1867.
THE MISSION OF CENTRAL MISSOURI 181
sonal observation the prospects it held out to Belgium emigrants. Clad
in a heavy buffalo-robe, for it was the depth of winter, and accom-
panied by Father Helias who was similarly protected, he visited the
various stations of the mission, entering the farm-bouses and chatting
pleasantly with the occupants on the success, or perhaps the lack of it,
that had attended their efforts. Much useful information was in this
way gleaned for the benefit of such of his countrymen as might care
to try their fortune in the New World.''® The actual arrival in Cole
County in 1847 of the party of Belgian emigrants above referred to
gladdened the heart of Father Helias.
"Mr. Pierre Dirckx, an energetic, intelligent and very religious
young man, acts as agent for the emigrants and shows me great con-
sideration. So far our countrymen have escaped the bilious fever of
this country, a sort of Polders fever, but more acute and painful.
The Belgian farmers make themselves favorably known in Missouri
as everywhere else by their industry, methodical habits, perseverance,
love of hard work and incomparable neatness. An air of prosperity
hangs over their places which might serve as model farms for all the
emigrants. When I ask our Flemings how they are satisfied here, they
answer that "they are as happy as King Leopold on his throne".
I am delighted with the new parishioners ; they are good Catholics
and always ready to render me a service. Mr. Pierre Dirckx. my
nearest neighbor, is a constant visitor at the presbytery and shows me
every attention. Together with his partner, Mr. Charles Beckaert. he
runs a successful farm of which he is the owner and which yields him
a handsome income. Their hired men Edouard Van Voeren Frangois
Steippens, Frangois Goessens, etc., are mostly Belgians. These young
fellows are all equipped with trades, not only useful but highly lucra-
tive in a country like this which has just been thrown open to civiliza-
tion. For example, Frangois Goessens is an excellent maker of wooden
shoes. People come from twenty miles around to fit themselves out at
his shop. I have known him to sell as many as five hundred sabots in
a single day. It's a smooth business for wood here costs nothing or
almost nothing. ^7
We may conclude our account of Father Helias and his ministry
at Taos by citing the words in which he pictures the condition of the
parish in the decade immediately preceding the Civil War.
"While in so many localities both of the Old and New World, cor-
ruption, the fruit of wicked doctrines, makes incessant headway, the
moral condition of our settlement recalls the beautiful days of the
primitive church. Here one may without the sl'ghtest risk, go away
from his house, leaving the doors right open. You need have no fear
of theft or trespassing of any kind. Irreligious or licentious publications
fail to reach our excellent people. Libertinism is unknown: God's name
is not, as elsewhere, the object of profanity. My priestly heart experiences
a joy ever new in seeing our churches crowded on Sundays and feast-
days, with throngs of faithful souls who emulate one another in singing
the praises of the Lord." "^s
66 Historia Westphaliae, p. 47.
67 Lebrocquy, Vie du P. Helias, p. 254.
68 The "Mission of Central Missouri," as described in the Annual Letters, (1853-1862),
had an area of 2500 square miles lying between the Missouri, Osage and Gasconade Rivers
and a line fifty miles south. It took in all of Osage County and part of Maries, Miller and
Cole Counties. The Catholic population numbered three thousand. The Residence of St.
Francis Xavier at Taos, with its dependent stations, lay outside the limits 9f the "Mission
of Central Missouri" proper, the headquarters of which were at Westphalia. Here there
were generally three Fathers attached tothe Residence, a fourth being added in 1860. At a
later period, Richfountain, Loose Creek and Linn had resident Jesuit pastors, who, however,
remained under the authority of the Westphalia Superior, whom they were required to visit
personally once a week.
182 REV. G. J. GARRAGHAN, SJ.
Thus did the course of events in the Jesuit parishes of Central
Missouri run on calmly down to the dark days of the Civil War, when
they were made to face the invasion of political passion and strife.
Father Helias's Historia Westphaliae ends about 1861 with the fervent
apostrophe :
"O Ferdinand, why so dumb? Everything proceeds A. M. D. G.
and without change, as from the beginning. Why therefore should I
repeat? Of one thing, however, I must make mention A. M. D. G., to
wit, the singular favor wrought by St. Francis Xavier. who cured sud-
denly my friend and guest, Charles Louis Bekaert, a settler of sixty
years, of a cancer which had fairly eaten through his hand, and besides,
freed me in an instant of acutely painful rheumatism. Moreover. I
have experienced over and over again and hereby gratefully acknowl-
edge A. M. D. G. the most visible assistance of my Guardian Angel.
O God ! Thou hast given thine Angels charge over me, that they may
keep me in my ways."
The purpose of this article has been to sketch the beginnings of
Catholicity in Osage and Cole Counties, Missouri, with the narrative
brought down to the period of the Civil War as a convenient stopping-
place. Subsequent to that period the pioneer Jesuit parishes of the
counties named were resigned one by one by their founders into the
hands of the diocesan clergy, the last of the group, Toose Creek, being
ceded in 1886. The outstanding figure throughout this well-nigh half-
century of Jesuit parochial activity in Central Missouri was, it need
not be said. Father Ferdinand Helias, who, after witnessing the seeds
of Catholicity which he had planted in much travail of sottl and body
take root and grow unto the ripened harvest, died at Taos, Cole County,
August 11, 1874. He was indeed a veritable apostle of the Faith in
these parts and the incidents of his strenuous missionray career will
ever remain a chapter of fascinating interest in the story of the up-
building of Catholicity in the great state of Missouri.
Bibliographical Note. Material for a history of the early Catholic missions
of Osage and Cole counties, Missouri, is more abundant than is usually the case
in ecclesiastical beginnings due largely to the fact that Father Helias, founder
of these missions, wielded a facile and ready pen. Among manuscript sources
may be mentioned, in addition to the usual parish registers of baptism, marri-
ages and funerals, the annual reports (Littcrae Anniiae) forwarded by Father
Helias to his Superiors in St. Louis, Historia Westphaliae, a Latin narrative
of some seventy pages and a French autobiographical Memoir drawn up in 1867,
Memoires du Rd. P. Ferdinand Helias DHuddeghem, prctre missionaire de la
Compagnie de Jesus en Ameriajie. Father Francis Eraun S.J. left an exhaustive
manuscript account m German especially valuable for its lists of early Catholic
settlers in Central Missouri. Printed sources include Rev. F. Holweck sketch
of Father Helias in the St. Louis Pastoral-Blatt, March, 191Q, by far the best
biographical account in print ; Lebrocquy, Vie du R. P. Helias DUiiiddeghem
de la Compagnie de Jesus, Gand, 1878, a work based largely on Father Helias's
letters to his family in Belgium; Berichte der Leopoldinen-Stiftung im Kaiser-
thume Oesterreich, 1843-1850 (cf. Catholic Historical Review, July, I9IS)>
Missouri Historical Review, 5:83 (iQTi), article. Recollections of the First
Catholic Mission IVofk in Central Missouri, by Rev. Joseph B. Schmidt ;_ History
of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan. Benton. Miller, Maries and Osage Counties, Mis-
souri, Chicago, Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
GILBERT J. GARRAGHAN, S.J.
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE
DELEGATION TO ST. LOUIS
1831-1839
Towards the close of the year 1831 a delegation of four Indians
from beyond the Rocky Mountains reached the city of St. I.ouis.
Their language^ was different from all the Indian dialects with which
the inhabitants had some acquaintance. Yet, as these visitors gradually
made themselves understood, it was learnt that they had come to
obtain religious teachers for their people, the Flat-Head and Nez Perce
tribes- near the Pacific Ocean. They visited the Catholic Cathedral,*
and attended divine service with all possible reverence. Owing to the
change of climate and the unwonted life in a city, these children of
the wilderness grew ill ; two of them were baptized on their death bed
by Fathers Roux and Saulnier of the Cathedral, and were buried
with all the rites of the Church. The other two started in the Spring
of 1832 on their return voyage, but only one reached his home, as the
other died on the way. These are the simple facts of the occurrences,
similar in many ways to numerous other delegations sent to St. Louis
by the Indian tribes round about for the purpose of obtaining a Black
Robe as their guide and teacher. Yet this visit is specially remarkable
in our early annals, not only on account of the vast distance these
seekers after God had traveled, but even more so on account of the
great and lasting results it eventually matured in the Catholic missions
of Oregon. There is another point of interest connected with this
embassy, namely the legendary embellishment it has found up to the
present day, in the Protestant missionary story of the saving of Oregon
1 Most of the Indians that had come in contact with the people of St. Louis were of
the Algonquin linguistic stock, so the various branches of the Illinois, the Sacs and Reynards
of the North, Indians of New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Kansas
and Osages were of Siouan linguistic stock. But these newcomers from beyond the Rocky
Mountains belonged to the Salishan group, which had no affinity with any of the Eastern
and Central linguistic groups. General Clark, indeed, had been in their country for an
extended period, but had conversed with them by means of an interpreter. Cf. Palladino,
Indian and White in the Northwest p. 6.
2 Flathead and Nez Perce (Pierced Noses) although these Indians did not indulge in
the practices which their names might indicate. They called themselves Salish. "The country
of the Flatheads," says Palladino, "was that part of Montana lying west at the base of the
main range of the Rocky Mountains. It was called in tlieir language Spetleman, which means
'place of the bitter root,' whence the name of the Bitter Root Valley." Indian and White in
the Northwest, ch. I, p. 1.
3 The Catholic Cathedral of 1831 was Bishop Du Bourg's church of brick on Rue
de I'Eglise (2nd Street) near Market, which was used for divine service until October 1834,
when the new Cathedral, on Walnut Street was consecrated by Bishop Rosati. The old
dilapidated structure was consumed by fire on the night of April 6, 1835.
183
184 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
for the Union, or as it is called by later historical writers, "the Marcus
Whitman Legend."*
The legendary story takes account of the facts as we have related
them, with one exception. Not for Black gowns, Catholic missionaries,
did the Flat-Head and Nez Perce come from the far-away Pacific slope,
but for the Book, the Book of Heaven, the Bible. And if they asked
Governor Clark for a missionary, it was not a Catholic priest they
desired but a Protestant preacher. After two had died, and been
buried in the Cathedral Cemetery, the two remaining delegates were
entertained at a banquet by General Clark ; at which the Old Chief,
a Nez Perce, is introduced as delivering the following lament .'^ "1
came to You, the Great Father of the White Men, with but one eye
partly opened. I am to return to my people beyond the mountains of
snow, at the setting sun, with both eyes in darkness, and both arms
broken. I came for teachers and am going back without them. I came
to You for the Book of God. You have not led me to it. You have
taken me to Your big house, where multitudes of Your children assem-
ble, and where Your young women dance as we do not allow our
women to dance, and You have taken me to many other big houses
where the people bow down to each other and light torches to wor-
ship pictures. The Book of God was not there. And I am to return
to my people to die in darkness." This parting speech of the Nez Perce
chief, was first published by the Rev. H. H. Spalding in the Walla-
Walla Statesman, February 16, 1866, about thirty-four years after
the supposed event. The Reverend Mr. Spalding further stated, that
the lament was overheard by a young man of the Methodist Church;
but that he himself had "received it from the only surviving one of
the delegation." In 1870 the Reverend Mr. Spalding wrote a slightly
different version of the Lament for the Chicago Advance. In 1883
we find the Lament beautifully amplified and indianized in the Rev.
William Barrow's "Oregon" : 'T came to You over the trail of many
moons from the setting sun" . . . and so on in the vein of Brand and
Logan, "My people sent me to get the white man's Book from Heaven."
"You took me where they worship the Great Spirit with candles, and
the Book was not there. . . . You made my feet heavy with burdens
of gifts, and my mocassins will grow old in carrying them, but the
Book is not among them." These are only a few samples of the Rev.
William Barrows amplifications of the Rev. Mr. Spalding's account
of the young Nez Perce's report of the old Nez Perc^ chief's lament
to General Clark, concerning "the Book that was not there." This
4 A vast and tangled mass of literature has grown up around this remarkable visit of
the Flat-Head Indian Mission. To separate truth from legend was not an easy task. Non-
Cat'^olic writers are in the ascendancy, as far as quantity is concerned, but the Catholic
writers are far superior, in regard to quality. Father Palladino's book "Indian and White
in the Northwest. Baltimore. 1894" outweighs all the Spaldings, Barrows, Nixons, Lees,
Eels, Mowrys, Bashfords of the Protestant side. Bancroft, in his History of Oregon is
reliable though not exhaustive. H. Addington Bruce is fair and judicial. The myth that
Marcus Whitman saved Oregon for the Union is exploded long since. The American Cath-
olic Historical Researches contain two articles of great importance on this question. Vol.
XVI: "The Story of Marcus Whitman refuted," by H. N. Beadle, and Vol. XVIII: The
Legend of Marcus Whitman" by E. G. Bourne.
6 Cf. the interesting monograph, "The Evolution of a Lament" by C. T. Johnson (F. M.
EUiott), reprinted from IVashington Historical Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 3.
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 185
might do as a speech in a Leatherstocking Tale but is a blot on the
page of history. Yet Mowry in his Marcus Whitman and the Early
Days of Oregon, 1901, goes one step further, in his eagerness to secure
this gem of oratory as the historic cornerstone of the Protestant Mis-
sions on the Pacific slope. In his introduction Mowry states: "This
book is a history, not an embellished story . . . from first to last it
has to do with facts." Here is one of the facts intended to bolster up
the authenticity of the Indian chief's lament: "One of the clerks in
General Clark's ofdce took down at the moment the speech of the
Indian as it was interpreted to General Clark, and it began to be cir-
culated." Mowiy offers not a single authority for this assertion; he
seems to thinl< that a fact does not need any proof, proof sufficient
that it is a fact. He makes his statement in 1901, the fact is supposed
to have occurred in 1832, that is about sixty-nine years ago, and in
all these years no one, not even the Rev. Mr. Spalding ventured to
assert that the lament had been circulated in writing immediately after
the event. Yet in Mowry's book the romantic address is printed in
full as an authentic fact of history, thus leading Edwin Eels to make
the dramatic statement : "These were the words that saved Old Oregon
and the Pacific Northwest to the government of the United States."^
I have dwelt at greater length on the so-called Indian Lament
because it has been used by Protestant writers to clinch the argument
in favor of the view that the purpose of the Flat-Head and Nez Perc6
delegation to St. Louis was to obtain teachers of the Protestant brand
of Christianity, together with their book, the Bible, and not, what
Bishop Rosati offered them, Catholic missionaries, and the holy Mass.
Now what are the real facts of the case? Or what are the his-
torical grounds for the Catholic version of this interesting episode in
our missionary annals? The supporters of the Protestant version,
with one exception, were not eyewitnesses of the occurrences during
the Indian delegation's stay in St. Louis, in fact had not met them at
any time, but only spoke from hearsay. The young half breed Wyan-
dot, indeed, a member of the Methodist Church, of whom we shall
have more to say ere long, spoke with the Tetes Plattes and Nez
Perces : but on the point at issue he appeals to the authority of General
Clark, and Clark himself must be considered a witness for the Cath-
olic side. All the other Protestant authorities can, at best, only say
"relata rcfero.'[ But the witnesses for the Catholic side of the question,
namely that this delegation from beyond the Rocky Mountains came
to seek, not a Book, nor a Protestant missionary, "but a living Black
gown, a Priest of the Catholic Church, the witnesses for this version
are well able to tell us true because they saw and heard what was
going on at the time, and they will tell us true because they, both
Protestants and Catholics, are men of highest character for veracity
and honesty of purpose.
Joseph Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis, was a most exact and pains-
8 Ibidem, at the end.
186 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
taking recorder of contemporary events. In his Letter Book for 1831
he notes under date of December 31, that he had sent a letter to Mgr.
P^lagaud, of Lyon, with information in regard to two savages, Tetes
Plattes, baptized and subsequently buried in St. Louis.
This letter was published in the Annals of the Association of the
Propagation of the Faith. Under date of December 31, 1831, Bishop
Rosati wrote as follows :
"Some three months ago four Indians who live across the Rocky
Mountains near the Columbia river (Clark's Fork of the Columbia),
arrived at St. Louis. After visiting General Clark, who, in his celebrated
travels, has visited their nation and has been well treated by them, they
came to see our church and appeared to be exceedingly well pleased
with it. Unfortunately, there was not one who understood their lan-
guage. Some time afterwards two of them fell dangerously ill. I was
then absent from St. Louis.
"Two of our priests visited them and the poor Indians seemed to be
delighted with the visit. They made signs of the cross and other signs
which appeared to have some relation to baptism. The Sacrament was
administered to them ; they gave expressions of satisfaction. A little
cross was presented to them. They took it with eagerness, kissed it
repeatedly and it could be taken from them only after death. It was
truly distressing that they could not be spoken to. Their remains were
carried to the church, and their funeral was conducted with all the Cath-
olic ceremonies. The other two attended and acted very becomingly.
We have since learned from a Canadian, who has crossed the country
which they inhabit, that they belong to the nation of Flat-Heads, who,
as also another called Black Feet, had received some notions of the
Catholic religion from two Indians who had been to Canada and who
had related what they had seen, giving a striking description of the
beautiful ceremonies of the Catholic worship and telling them that it
was also the religion of the whites. They have retained what they could
of it, and they have learned to make the Sign of the Cross and pray.
These nations have not yet been corrupted by intercourse with others.
Their manners and customs are simple and they are very numerous.
Mr. Condamine (Rev. Matthew Condamine was one of Bishop Rosati's
clergy attached to the Cathedral) has offered himself to go to them
next spring with another. In the meantime we shall obtain some further
information of what we have been told and of the means of travel." ''
The Book of Sepultures 1781-1832 of the St. Louis Cathedral, con-
tains the entries of Baptisms and Burial of the two members of the
delegation, the one signed by Benedict Roux, the other by Edmond
Saulnier.^
S. A. Clark," in his "Pioneer Days of Oregon History"' quotes
another letter of Bishop Rosati sent to the General of the So-
7 Cf. Palladino. /. c. p. p. 11 & 12.
8 Book of Sepultures 1781-1832 of St. Louis Cathedral, kept at Chancery of Archdiocese
of St. Louis, has these two entries:
Le trente et un d'Octobre mil huit cent trente et un, Je sousigne ai inhumane dans le
Cemetiere de cette Paroisse le corps de Keepeellele ou Pipe Bard du Nez Perce de la tribu de
Chopoweck Nation appellee Tetes Plates age d'environs quarante quatre ans, administre du St.
Bapteme venant de ia riviere Columbia au dela des Rocky Mountains.
EDM. SAULNIER, PR.
Le dix sept de Novembre mil hui^ cent trente et un, Je sousigne, ai inhumane dans le
Cemetiere de cette Paroisse le corps de Paul sauvage de la Nation des Tetes Plattes venant
de la riviere Columbia au dela des Rock Mountains, administre du St. Bapteme_ et de I'ex-
treme onction. ROt'X, PR.
9 Clark, S. A. "Pioneer Days of Oregon History, Portland, 1905."
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 187
ciety of Jesus at Rome, saying that as early as 1816 some Catholic
Iroquois from Canada had settled among the Flat-Heads and taught
them religion, and that about 1830, again in 1832, and once more in
1839 Flat-Heads or Iroquois-Flatheads came to St. Louis for more
light. It is to be regretted that our authority for this extract, James
W. Bash ford, does not give the entire letter of Bishop Rosati, for
then he might have been enabled to correct the dates given by Clark
1831-32, and 1835, leaving 1839 as it is.
We will insert the original letter, as we find it reprinted by C. B.
Palladino, S.J. It is dated St. Louis, October 20, 1839, and addressed
to the Father General of the Society of Jesus at Rome i^''
"Reverend Father:
"Eight or nine years ago (1831) some of the Flat-Head nation came
to St. Louis. The object of their journey was to ascertain if the religion
spoken of with so much praise by the Iroquois warriors was in reality
such as represented, and above all, if the nations that have white skins
had adopted and practiced it. Soon after their arrival in St. Louis they
fell sick (two of them), called for a priest and earnestly asked to be
baptized. Their request was promptly granted and they received the
holy baptism with great devotion. Then holding the crucifix they
covered it with affectionate kisses and expired.
"Some years after (1835) the Flat-Head nation sent again one of
the Iroquois nation to St. Louis (Old Ignace). There he came with
two of his children, who were instructed and baptized by the Fathers
of the College. He asked missionaries for his countrymen and started
with the hope that one daj' the desire of the nation would be accom-
plished, but on his journey was killed by the infidel Indians of the Sioux
nation."
"At last," continues Bishop Rosati, "a third expedition (Left-
Handed Peter and Young Ignace) arrived at vSt. Louis, after a voyage
of three months. It was composed of two Christian Iroquois. These
Indians, who talk French, have edified us by their truly exemplary
conduct and interested us by their discourses. The Fathers of the
College have heard their confessions and today they approached the
holy table at High Mass in the Cathedral church. Afterwards I ad-
ministered to them the sacrament of Confirmation and in an address
delivered after the ceremony I rejoiced with them at their happiness
and gave them the hope to have soon a priest.
"They will depart tomorrow : one of them will carry the good news
promptly to the Flat-Heads ; the other will spend the winter at the
mouth of the Bear river, and in the spring he will continue his journey
with the missionary whom we will send them. Of the twenty-four
Iroquois who formerly emigrated from Canada only four are still liv-
ing. Not only have they planted the faith in those wild countries, but
they have besides defended it against the encroachment of the Prot-
estant ministers. When these pretended missionaries presented themselves
among them, our good Catholics refused to accept them. 'These are
not the priests about whom we have spoken to you,' they would say to
the Flat-Heads, 'they are not the blackrobed priests who have no wives,
who say Mass, who carry the crucifix with them !' For the love of God
my Very Reverend Father, do not abandon these souls !' "
On the very date that this letter was written. Bishop Rosati made
the following entry in his Diary:
1839 Oct. 20. Dominica XXII post Pentecosten. . . . Post_ Missam
pontificalibus vestibus assumptis, et hymno Veni Creator Spiritus can-
10 For the full letter cf. Palladino, /. c. \i. p. 31 & 22.
188 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
tato, sermonem habni ad Confirmandos. Confirmationis Sacramentum
administravi duobus indigenis, Ignatio Ootstagleave, et Petro Okassaweita
ex natione Iroquois. Hi in Canada ex Catholiois parentibus nati, et in
Catholica Religione instructi, ante tres et viginti annos ad regiones quae
intra oras pacifici Oceani et Montes petrosos continentur niigrarunt,
apud tribum quae tetcs plaites (Flathead) dicuntur constiterunt, et ex
illorum foeminis uxores dnxerunt, Religioni addicti illam nedum obliti
fuerunt sed et infideles apud quos degebant docuerunt. nunc post trium
mensium iter hue advenerunt, et petunt Sacerdotem Missionarium, qui
apud gentes illas Evangelium praedicet." ^^
These accounts written by Bishop Rosati in 1839, about eight
years after the first Flathead and Nez Perce delegation, refer, for the
most part, to the later developments of the event under discussion ;
yet they throw a bright light on the origin and the purpose of the
delegation of 1831.
Twenty-four Iroquois braves, members of the fierce warrior-tribe,
but now tamed by the Catholic religion under the leadership of Ignace
La Mousse, or Old Ignace, had joined the Flatheads and intermarried
with them as early as 1816. They had not only not forgotten their
religion, but had instrticted the heathens among whom they lived in
its tenets, and caused the petition to be made for a missionary to
teach them the Gospel.
These documents further state that the prime movers in this
religious effort did not lose courage after the first failure, but had
sent one of their own number, the Iroquois (Did Ignace, with his two
sons^- as the second delegation to St. Louis. This second embassy
certainly did not ask for the "Book" but for living missionaries, Jesuit
Black gowns. It must be noted here that Old Ignace was killed by
the Sioux, not on his homeward journey but on the third embassy,
which set out from the Flathead country in the summer of 1837, but
never having reached its destination is generally omitted from the
count. Bishop Rosati's letter also gives promise of fulfilling the ardent
wish of these men of good will. The reason that the Flatheads and
Nez Perces had to wait some years longer for the advent of the desired
Black gown is the scarcity of priests in the vast diocese, a circumstance
which Bishop Rosati hopes will be relieved by the intervention of the
General of the Society of Jesus. On the 7th of October 1832 Father
Condamine was appointed Pastor of Kaskaskia, and on the 8th of
August, 1836, he died in Cahokia.
But now we must return to the forlorn Flatheads and Nez Percys
of 1832, awaiting the opening of the season for travel, mourning their
dead comrades and being entertained at a banquet by General Clark.
General Clark, in company with Meriwether Lewis, was among
the first white men that came to the country about the Columbia River
11 Diary of Bishop Rosati, Oct. 20, 1839.
12 Old Ignace was the leader of the third Flat-Head mission in the summer of 1837.
His band, only five in number, was attacked by a war-party of 300 of the Sioux. Old Ignace
was told to stand aside, being an Iroquois, with whom the Sioux had no quarrel, but the brave
fellow chose the lot of his adopted brethren and fell fighting. "Thus perished he who may
justly be called the apostle of the Flat-Heads, and through them also of many of the other
Indian tribes of the Rocky Mountains." Palladino, /. c. p. 20 & 21.
THE FI.AT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 189
Sept. 1805. At the time of which we are writing, 1831-1832, he was
Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the West. He was a man of un-
tarnished honor, and highly respected by all. His interest in the Indians
was generous and unselfish. Our Flathead and Nez Perce delegation
called on him, as a matter of course, and enjoyed his hospitality. The
death of the two members occurred at his house. Let us hear what
General Clark has to say on the purpose of the embassy. As we have
not his direct testimony on the matter, we must elicit it from the
testimony of others. William Walker Jr., a halfbreed of the Wyan-
dotte nation, member of the Methodist Church, and government Indian
agent, came to St. Louis in 1832 and called on his chief. General Clark.
Being told of three Indians from the West lying ill, in another room,
he visited them at General Clark's request, and learnt, as he himself
states, that they had come 3000 miles on foot (should be 2000 miles
on horse back) to consult their Great Father on very important
matters.
What were these important matters? The Wyandot Christian
Walker, the chief witness of the Protestant side, does not claim that the
Indians themselves, but rather the Superintendent of Indian Affairs,
told him about them. Walker in his letter to S. P. Disoway of Pitts-
burg, dated Upper Sandusky, Jan. 19, 1833, makes the follov/ing
statement :
General Clark related to me the object of their mission, . . . and I
will here relate it briefly as well as I can : It appears that some white
man had penetrated into their country and happened to be a spectator
at one of their religious ceremonies, which they scrupulously performed
at stated periods. He informed them that their mode of worshipping
the Supreme Being was radically wrong, and instead of being acceptable
and pleasing, it was displeasing to Him; he also informed them that the
white people away toward the rising of the sun had been put in posses-
sion of the true mode of worshipping the Great Spirit. They had a
book containing directions how to conduct themselves in order to enjoy
His favor and hold converse with Him ; and with this guide, no one
need go astray; but everyone that would follow the directions laid down
there could enjoy, in this life, His favor, and after death would be
received into the country where the Great Spirit resides, and live for-
ever with Him.
Upon receiving this information, they called a national council to
take this subject into consideration. Some said, if this be true, it is
certainly high time we were put in possession of this mode, and if our
mode of worshipping be wrong and displeasing to the Great Spirit, it
is time we had laid it aside. We must know something about this —
it is a matter that cannot be put off — the sooner we know it the better.
They accordingly deputed four of the chiefs to proceed to St. Louis
to see their great father. General Clark, to inquire of him, having no
doubt but he would tell them the whole truth about it.
They arrived at St. Louis and presented themselves to General
Clark. The latter was somewhat puzzled, being sensible of the responsi-
bility that rested on him ; he, however, proceeded by informing them
that what they had been told by the white man was true. Then he went
into a succinct history of man, from his creation down to the advent of
the Saviour; explained to them all the moral precepts contained in the
Bible, expounded to them the decalogue ; informed them of the advent
of the Savior, his life, precepts, his death, resurrection, ascension, and
the relation he now stands to man as mediator — that he will judge the
world, etc,"
190 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
The letter of Mr. Walker, published in the Christian Advocate,
the leading Methodist publication, March 1, 1833, was the occasion
of a sudden and widespread movement among the Protestants of the
East in favor of a missionary establishment among the Flatheads.^*
Many a writer's enthusiasm improved the occasion by letting his
imagination supplant laborious investigation ; and so we have a vast
bulk of so-called historical literature clustering around this Indian
cry, that "the white people had a book containing directions how to
conduct themselves." The inference drawn by later writers that the
Indian delegation came to get this book and to carry it back to their
people is certainly not warranted, much less is it indicated by Walker
liimself.
It will be noticed that the passage I have cited is given, not on
the direct authority of the Indians, whose language the Wyandot very
probably did not understand, but on the authority of General Clark
Walker's testimony is, therefore, only a resum^ of what Clark had told
him. Now, did Walker give the true sense of General Clark's words?
A gentleman of St. Louis, Mr. E. W. Sehon, as Bishop Bashford^*
informs us, submitted the Christian Advocate of March 1, 1833, con-
taining Walker's letter, to the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, ask-
ing him whether the account of his conversation with Walker was
correct. ''General Clark informed me/' says Mr. Sehon, "that the
publication was correct, and that the cause of the visit of the Indians
was : Two of their number had received an education at some Jesuit-
ical School in Montreal, Canada, and had returned to the tribe, and
endeavored, as far as possible, to instruct their brethren how the
whites approached the Great Spirit. A spirit of enquiry was aroused,
a deputation was appointed, and a tedious journey of three thousand
miles was performed to learn for themselves of Jesus and Him cruci-
fied." Of course, "Jesuitical" for Jesuit, and "three thousand miles"
for two thousand are not slips of the tongue of Governor Clark, but
slips of the pen of Mr. Sehon. There are other slight discrepancies
from the full and correct accotmt of Bishop Rosati which may be or
may not be due to General Clark. In any case, Mr Sehon's report of
General Clark's explanation establishes the fact that the delegation
was sent under Catholic auspices, and therefore could not have come
lor Protestant missionaries and their Book of Directions, but only for
Catholic Priests, who would teach their nations the religion they had
learnt to love and practice in Catholic Canada.
The Reverend Samuel Parker in his Journal of an Exploring Tour
Beyond the Rocky Mountains, is quoted by James W. Bashford as
attributing the first knowledge of Christianity among the Nez Percys
to Pierre C. Pambrun, a Roman Catholic, but this testimony is not to
the point, as it refers to a somewhat later date, when the Americans
were already swarming through the wild, cold mountains.^^ Yet it is
13 Reprinted in full in C. T. Johnson's The Et'ohition of a Lament, p. p. 8-10.
14 Cf. Bashford, The Oregon Missions, p. 3.
16 There is a brief note on Pierre C. Pambrun in Bancroft's History of Oregon, Vol. I,
p. 35, with a reference to Blanchet's Catholic Church in Oregon. Cf. W. Irving, Captain
BonneviUe, p. 301. Chapter 34.
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 191
not only possible, but more than probable that the Flat-Heads and Nez
Percys received some early knowledge of the Christian religion from
the trappers and traders of the Northwest and Pacific Fur Companies,
the rank and file of whom were, as Chittenden says, "staunch Roman
Catholics," who certainly would not help in promoting a scheme of
introducing Protestant missionaries anywhere, least of all in their
own wild haunts of the Rocky Mountains.
But whatever persons. White or Indian, were instrumental in
bringing the earliest knowledge of the Christian religion to the tribes,
on the Columbia River, it is plain that to them, teachers as well as
disciples, Christianity meant Catholicity, and furthermore that their
instructions had fallen on good ground. Bancroft in the History of
Oregon has a long note^*' in further elucidation of the acknowledged
fact, that the Flatheads were in the habit of placing a wooden cross
at the head of the graves of their dead, giving a number of religious
ideas and practices of the natives. "It will be remembered," says
Bancroft, "that the Dalles people observed Sunday as a holiday, in the
manner of the Catholic Church. ... So well advanced in the Christian
religion were they (the Flatheads, Nez Perces and their neighbors),
according to Bonneville, that they would not raise their camps on
Sunday, nor fish, hunt or trade on that day, except in case of severe
necessity, but passed a portion of the day in religious ceremonies, the
chiefs leading the devotions and afterwards giving a sort of sermon
upon abstaining from lying, stealing, cheating and quarrelling, and
the duty of being hospitable to strangers. Prayers and exhortations
were also made in the morning on week days. . . . Besides Sundays
they likewise observe the cardinal holidays of the Roman Catholic
Church." Of the Flatheads John Wyeth, a companion of Captain
Bonneville, says: "I have never known an instance of theft among
them, neither have I known any f|,uarrelling nor lying. . , . They have
a mild, playful, laughing disposition, and this is portrayed in their
countenances. They are polite and unobstrusive. With all their quiet-
ness of spirit, they are brave when put to the test, and are an over-
match for an equal number of Black feet, their inveterate enemies."
All these traits had been observed among the Flatheads and Nez
Perces long before any missionary, Catholic or Protestant, had been
seen among them, and find their best, T may say their only satisfactory
explanation in the fact that as early as 1816 Catholic Iroquois had
instructed them, as best they could, in the tenets and practices of the
Catholic religion.
We have seen from the testimony so far adduced, that two of the
St. Louis party of four Flatheads and Nez Perct^s received Baptism
at the hand of the priests of the St. Touis Cathedral and, having died,
were buried with the Catholic rites. What became of the two remain-
ing members of the embassy? In 1841 there appeared the celebrated
work of George Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs
and Conditions of the North American Indians, written during the
16 Bancroft, /. c. vol. I. p. p. 116-118.
192 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
eight years of travel from 1832-1839. Letter No. 48 in Volume II
refers to these Indians, who as Catlin states, "were a part of a dele-
gation that came across the Rocky Mountains to St. Louis a few years
since to enquire for the truth of the representation which, they said,
some white men had made amongst them, that our religion was better
than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did not embrace it.
Two old and venerable men^^ of this party died in St. Louis, and I
traveled 2000 miles (companion of these two young fellows) toward
their own country, and became much pleased with their manners and
dispositions. The last mentioned of the two died near the mouth of
the Yellowstone River on his way home, with disease he had con-
tracted in the civilized district ; and the other one, I have since learned,
arrived safely among his friends, conveying to them the melancholy
intelligence of the deaths of all the rest of the party; but with assur-
ances at the same time from General Clark and many Reverend gentle-
men that the report which they had heard was well founded, and that
missionaries — good and religious men — would soon come amongst
them to teach this religion, so that they could all understand and have
the benefits of it. When I first heard the report of the object of this
extraordinary mission across the mountains I could scarcely believe
it, but on conversing with General Clark on a later occasion, I was
fully convinced of the fact."
It will be seen that George Catlin's report of what he heard from
the two surviving members of the Nez Perce and Flathead Indian
delegation, agrees substantially with that of Bishop Rosati, except
that the first bringers of Gospel tidings according to Rosati were "two
Indians" ; according to Catlin, "some white men" ; but this difference
is not necessarily contradictory, but rather complementary, in as far
as some of the Indians may have first heard of the Christian religion
from some Catholic woodranger or trader, whilst others depended for
their information on their Iroquois friends from Canada.
Another account, namely that of the trader with whom Catlin
and the two Indians made the homeward journey, is recorded by
Marcus Whitman himself in his Journal of 1835. It gives one new
fact which fits in perfectly with the accounts we have so far seen. But
we must give it entire:
The following is the history of these Indians that came to St. Louis
to gain a knowledge of the Christian reh'gion, as T received it from the
trader^s under whose protection they can^'C and returned. He says, their
object was to gain religions knowledge. For this purpose the_ Flat-Head
Tribe delegated one of their principal chiefs, and two of their principal
men, and the Nez Perce tribe a like delegation, it being a joint delega-
tion of both tribes. In addition to this delegation a young Nez Perce
came along. When they came to Council Bluffs, two of the Flat-Heasd
17 It has been objected that the description "two old and venerable men" does not fit
the two Indians that died in St. Louis in 1831, as one of them is described by Edmcnd Saulnier
as being about forty-four years old. Yet, in the estimation of a mere boy, as the narrator
was at the time, forty-four years may have seemed to be sufficiently advanced to merit the
epithets old and venerable. And tbe Indian called Paul may have been much older for all
we know, his age not being mentioned in the Record.
18 Who the trader was we cannot say, but as the great majority of them were French
Catholics, we may assume that the one mentioned was of the Faith also.
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 193
and one of the Nez Perce returned home, and the other Flathead, the
chief, and the Nez Perce chief, and the remaining one of the delegation,
and the young Indian (Nez Perce) came to St. Louis, where they re-
mained through the winter. At St. Louis two of them died, and the
only remaining one of the delegation died on his return at the mouth
of the Yellowstone, so that there was no one to return but the young-
man."
According to this there were originally six delegates, three from
the Nez Perc6, Choppunich, and three from the Flat-Heads (Salishan)
together with the Nez .Perce youth, seven all told. But as two Flat-
Head and one Nez Perc(5 delegate returned home from about halfway
of the journey, there were only two Nez Perce and one Flat-Head
left of the delegation, four in all, if we add the Indian companion. Of
these one Nez Perce and the only Flat-Head left were baptized on
their death bed and buried in St. Louis. The two remaining Nez
Perces left St. Louis in the Spring of 1832, but the only remaining
delegate dying on the way, the volunteer companion alone returned
to the expectant tribes.
We have one more testimony to offer, one we have never seen
quoted, by the Rev. P. J. Verhaegen, S.J., Provincial of the Western
Province of the Society of Jesus, written on May 3, 1840:
We had it in contemplation to open a new mission among the
Flathead Indians, on the other side of the Rocky Mountains. During
the administration of the Rt. Rev. Bishop Du Bourg, (Rosati) a deputy
from them arrived in St. Louis, for the purpose of procuring a priest.
This deputy died shortly after his arrival at this place. In 1835 a sec-
ond deputation of a father and his two sons, reached the University of
St. Louis. We could not, at that time, entertain the project, on account
of the paucity of our numbers and the limited means at the disposal of
the Superior of Missions. We therefore beheld with the deepest regret,
the deputies returning to their remote country, without having accom-
plished their object. In the month of October 1839 a third deputation
of two Indians, arrived at the University, having the same object in
view. Moved by the ardent desires of these distant and desolate chil-
dren, who called so perseveringly for those who might break the bread
of life to them, we resolved to gratify their v/ishes and to send two
Fathers in the Spring. The two deputies left St. Louis, full of joy at
the happy prospect — one of them remained at Westport, (now Kansas
City) to await the arrival of the Fathers, the other returned to the
nations beyond the Rocky Mountains, by whom he had been sent, to
report to then the success of his mission and to prepare a band pf
warriors, with whom he was to return in the Spring to meet the mis-
sionaries and his companion at a designated point. At the opening of
Spring, the time appointed for the fulfilment of our promise, when the
Caravan of the Fur Company was about to start for the mountains, the
want of the necessary funds rendered it impossible for us to send two
Fathers. The scarcity of money was so great, that we could not ob-
tain, on loan, the small amount of one thousand dollars, required for
the outfit. In consequence of these difficulties we were enabled to send
only one Father (De Smet). He left us on the fifth of April to accom-
pany the caravan of the Fur Company.^^
19 Father Verhaegen's Report To the Most Rev. Archbishop and Right Rev. Bishops in
Provincial Council assembled, May 3, 1840. MS. in Archives of Catholic Historical Society
of St. Louis.
194 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
It will be noticed that Father Verhaegen speaks of but one dele-
gate of the Flatheads arriving and dying in St. Louis. According to
Whitman's account there was but one Flathead, the other three being
Nez Percys, and Father Verhaegen is speaking exclusively of the
Flathead mission. The second deputation was on its way, when Whit-
man wrote, and the third and last brought permanent results in the
mission established among the tribe by Father De Smet, S.J.
It is hardly necessary, in the face of this testimony corroborating
Bishop Rosati's account as contained in his letter of Dec. 31, 1831, to
advert to the legendary story with a slight foundation in fact, that
these Indians really came to secure a Book, the Protestant Bible, and
departed with the wild lament, that they had come for the "Book of
Heaven," the "Book of God," but that the Book was not there where
General Clark had brought them ; that they had been loaded with
gifts, but that the Book was not among them, that no white man would
go with them, and no white man's Book would make the wav plain.
This Protestant embellishment of the historical facts, originating as
we have seen, with the Wyandot half-breed William Walker Jr., who
stated that the Flatheads and Nez Percys on the far away Columbia
River had been told, that the white men far to the rising sim had a
book containing directions "as to the way of pleasing the Great Spirit."
Here was a call for Protestant enlightenment ; for, of course, the
Catholics of St. Louis, had not the Book, or at least would not give
it.^° The Protestants of St. Louis, at that time, must also have been
short of Bibles : for living at St. Louis about half a year, and being led
here and there, the white man's book, alas, was not among the gifts
they had been loaded with, and the "Book of Heaven" would not
make their way plain. The whole story has such an unnatural tone,
and is so plainly gotten up for a special purpose, thtit the author of
The Evolution of a Lament^'^ comes to the conclusion that, "in the
historical garden of the Pacific Northwest, in the course of years,
these rootless flowers will die out, and there will yet remain strength
and beauty in abundance." Mr. Elliott's words seem but an echo of
the prediction made by one of the early Fathers in these missions,
the Rev. F. X. Kuppens, S.J. : "These rocky hills will bloom like a
garden of roses."
The real flowering and fruitage of these remarkable embassies
are to be found in the celebrated Catholic Oregon Missions founded
by Father Peter De Smet, S.J., in 1840, and continued to the present
day by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus of the California Province.^*
It would be a most pleasant task to sketch the origin and the
early triumphs and vicissitudes of the Oregon missions : yet that sub-
ject is a very wide one, and has been ably treated by such historians,
20 Of course, there was no shortage of Bibles in St. Louis at the time, at least not
among the Catholic priests and people. But what good would a Bible in any of the languages
of the world, except, perhaps the Salishan tongue, bave done the poor Indians, who could
very probably neither read nor write? The talk about the Book which the Indians came to
get and carry with them is mere camouflage, i. e. an untruth with a sinister purpose.
21 C. T. Johnson, or rather J. M. Elliott.
22 Cf. L. B. Palladino, S.J., Indian and White in the Northwest, Baltimore, 1894, of
which noble monument of a noble work, we understand, a new edition is in preparation.
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 195
as Father Palladino,^^ Bishop Blanchet," Father Van Rensselaer,^'
Ronan,-° Chittenden and Richardson," and by the Founder, Father
De Smet-® himself. These authors give us a comprehensive view of
the grandest missionary work of the nineteenth century in its religious,
social, economical and political aspect. In regard to its civilizing in-
fluence I would quote the generous words of a man, who for many
years held the highest position of honor and trust our State could
confer, and whose name is enrolled among the truly great men of the
nation. Senator George G. Vest. It was in the summer of 1884,
shortly after my ordination, that I had the honor of making the
acquaintance of Senator Vest. Impressed as I was by the historical
importance of a former member of the Cabinet of President Jefferson
Uavis and the present United States Senator, I was, of course, de-
lighted when a few weeks later, in my quiet country mission of
Portage des Sioux, I received a copy of a speech delivered by him in
the Senate on the burning question of the appropriations for the Cath-
olic Indian Schools. From this speech I would quote a few passages
of praise and just acknowledgment of what the Jesuit Fathers of the
Oregon Mission have accomplished in civilizing and christianizing the
Indians in the Oregon country, and what they would have accomplished
in the Indian Territory as well, if they had been given a free hand and
a little more generous support. Senator Vest had been apointed a
member of a Special Committee sent out to investigate the Indian
Reservations in the West. On May 12. 1884, the question as to the
appropriation for the schools came up in the United States Senate,
and the Senator from Missouri made his report in an impressive
speech, from which I quote:
"Tn all my wanderings in Montana last summer I saw but one ray
of light on the subject of Indian education . . . the system adopted by
the Jesuits is the only practical system for the education of the Indian,
and the only one that has resulted in anything at all.''
Realizing that there was an anti-Catholic feeling at the bottom
of the opposition to the Jesuit Schools, Senator Vest thought proper
to state his own position in regard to the Catholic religion :
I was reared in the old Scotch Presbyterian church ; my father was
an elder in it. and my earliest impressioxis were that the Jesuits had
horns and hoofs and tails and that there was a faint tinge of sulphur
in the circumambient air whenever one crossed your path Some years
ago, I was assigned by the Senate to duty upon the Commitee of Indian
23 Indian and White in the Northwest. L. P,. Palladino, Baltimore, John Murphy, 1894.
24 Blanchet, Notes on the Oregon Mission, Portland, Oregon, 1883.
25 Van Rensselaer, S.J., Sketch of the Catholic Church in Montana. American Catholic
Quarterly Review, Phil. 1887.
26 Ronan, P., History of the Flathead Indians. Helena, Montana, 1876.
27 Chittenden and Richardson, Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet,
S.J. 1801-1873. (Four Volumes). New York, Francis Harper, 1905.
28 Of De Smet's works, the most important in this connection are the Letters and
Sketches, Philadelphia, 1843, The Origin, Progress, and Prospects of the Catholic Missions
of the Rockv Mountains, Philadelphia, 1843, Oregon Missions and Travels over the Rocky
Mourtains 1845 and 1846, New York, Edward Dunnigan, 1847, and lastly. New Indian
Sketches, New York, Sadlier (1885).
196 REV. J. ROTHENSTEINER
Affairs, and I was assigned by the committee, of which Mr. Dawes was
then the very zealous chairman, to examine the Indian schools in
Wyoming and Montana. I did so under great difficulties and with
labor which I could not now physically perform. I visited every one
of them. I crossed the great buffalo expanses of country, where you
can now see only the wallows and trails of those extinct animals, and
I went to all these schools. I wish to say now what T have said before
in the Senate, and it is not the popular side of the question by any
means, that I did not see in all my journey, which lasted for several
weeks, a single school that was doing any educational work worthy the
name of educational work unless it was under the control of the Jesuits.
I did not see a single government school, especially these day schools,
where there was any work done at all.
Something has been said here about the difference between enroll-
ment and attendance. I found day schools with 1500 Indian children
enrolled, and not ten in attendance, except on meat days as they call it,
when beeves were killed by the agent and distributed to the tribe. Then
there was a full attendance. I found schools where there were old,
broken-down preachers and politicians receiving $1,200 a year and a
house to live in for the purpose of conducting these Indian day schools,
and when I cross-examined them, as I did in every instance, I found
that the actual attendance was about three to five in the hundred of the
enrollment. I do not care what reports were made, for they generally
come from interested parties. You cannot educate the children with
the day school.
The Jesuits have elevated the Indian wherever they have been
allowed to do so. without interference by bigotry and fanaticism, and
the cowardice of insectivorous politicians, who are afraid of the A. P. A.,
and the votes that can be cast against them in their districts and their
states. They have made him a Christian, and, above even that, they
have made him a workman able to support himself and those dependent
upon him. Go to the Flathead Reservation in Montana and look from
the cars of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and you will see the result
of what Father De Smet and his associates began and what was carried
on successfully until the A. P. A. and the cowards who are afraid of
it struck down the appropriation.
Go through this reservation and look at the work of the Jesuits,
and what is seen? You find comfortable dwellings, herds of cattle and
horses, intelligent, self-respecting Indians. I have been to their houses,,
and found under the system adopted by the Jesuits that after they have
educated these boys and girls, and they had intermarried, the Jesuits
would go out and break up a piece of land and build them a house, and
that couple became the nucleus of civilization in the neighborhood. They
had been educated under the system which prevented them from going
back to the tepee after a day's tuition. The Jesuits found that in order
to accomplish their purpose of teaching them how to work and depend
upon themselves, it was necessary to keep them in school, a boarding
school, by day and night, and to allow their parents to see them only
in presence of the brothers or the nuns.
These Jesuits are not there, as one of them told me. for the love
of the Indian. Old Father Ravalli told me, lying upon his back in that
narrow cell, with the crucifix above him: "I am here not for the love
of the Indian, but for the love of Christ." He was there without any
pay except the approval of his own conscience. If you send one of our
people, a clergyman, a politician even, to perform this work among the
Indians, he looks back to the fleshpots of Egypt. He has a family, per-
chance, that he cannot take with him on the salary he receives. He is
divided between the habits and customs and luxuries of civilized life,
and tlie self-sacrificing duties that devolve upon him in this work of
teaching the Indians,
THE FLAT-HEAD AND NEZ PERCE 197
The Jesuit has no family. He has no ambition. He has no idea
except to do his duly as God has given him to see it; and I am not
afraid to say this, because I speak from personal observation, and no
man ever went among these Indians with more intense prejudice against
the Jesuits than I did, when I left the city of Washington to perform
this duty.
These brave words of Senator Vest, whilst placing the seal of
condemnation on our narrow-minded national policy in regard to
the Catholic Indian schools, open, at the same time, a bright vista into
a most interesting historical field. We, however, must stop here, with
the conclusion, from w^ell established facts, that the purpose of the
first as well as of the second and third Indian delegation to St. Louis
from the Pacific slope, was not to get "the Book," but rather to get
a Black gown, in other words, was not a Protestant but a Catholic
venture, leading to great results for the Country as well as for the
Church.
JOHN ROTHENSTEINER
AN APPEAL
HISTORICAL MATTER DESIRED
by the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis
Books and pamphlets on American History and Biography,
particularly those relating to Church institutions, ecclesiastical
persons and Catholic lay people within the limits of the Louisiana
Purchase ;
Old newspapers; Catholic modern papers; Parish papers,
whether old or recent :
We zvill highly appreciate the courtesy of the Reverend
■ Pastors who send us regularly their Parish publications ;
Manuscripts ; narratives of early Catholic settlers or relating
to early Catholic settlements ; letters :
In the case of family papers which the actual owners
zvish to keep in their possession, zve shall be grateful for
the privilege of taking copies of these papers;
Engravings, portraits. Medals, etc;
In a word, every object whatsoever which, by the most liberal
construction, may be regarded as an aid to, or illustration of the
history of the Catholic Church in the Middle West.
Contributions will be credited to the donors and preserved
in the Library or Archives of the Society, for the use and benefit
of the members and other duly authorized persons.
Communications may be addressed either to the Secretary,
or to the Librarians of the
Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis,
209 Walnut Street, St. Louis, Mo.
198
NOTES
HISTORICAL
The question as to the exact spot within the present city limits of
St. Louis, where the sacrifice of the Mass was first offered, may not
seem so easy of solution.
Edwards, in his Great West, seems to imply that it was the "Church
block" between Market, Walnut, Second and Third streets, probably on
account of the fact that it really did contain the first church edifice ever
erected in St. Louis. Father L. Kenny, S.J., in establishing the claims
of the long-forgotten village of "La Riviere des Peres" as the earliest
white settlement in Missouri, and incidentally placing it on the north
bank of the river of that name, must, of necessity, claim that the first
Mass in St. Louis was celebrated by some Jesuit Father at the mouth
of the River des Peres about December 3, 1700.
But there was an earlier encampment of priests, though only a
temporary one, on the site of St. Louis, when the Priests of the Foreign
Missions, Montigny, Saint-Cosme, Davion and Thaumer de la Source
voyaged down the Mississippi in 1699. We quote from Saint-Cosme's
letter to the Bishop of Quebec: "The next day (i. e., December 7,
1699), about noon we reached the Tamarois. ... As they had
given trouble to some of Mr. de Tonty's men, a year before, they were
afraid, and all the women and children fled from the village (Cahokia) ;
but we did not go to it ; as we wished to prepare for the Feast of the
Conception, we cabined on the other side of the river. Mr. de Tonty
went to the village and, having reassured them a little, he brought us
the chief, who begged us to go and see him in his village (Cahokia).
We promised to do so, and next day, Feast of the Conception, after
saying our Masses, we went with Mr. de Tonty and seven of our men
armed. . . . The Tamarois were cabined on an island lower down
than their village." (Shea, Early Voyages up and down the Mississippi,
p. 66).
Now, the village of the Tamarois was in the neighborhood of the
present Cahokia, opposite about the foot of Arsenal street; the island
on which they cabined at the time was our Arsenal Island. The place
where the first Mass was said in St. Louis is the river bank somewhat
north of Arsenal Street, and the day was December 8, 1699, Feast of
the Immaculate Conception. Four priests were in the company : Mon-
tigny, Saint-Cosme, Da,vion and Thaumer de la Source ; and most prob-
ably, all four celebrated the holy sacrifice on that day, two hundred and
twenty-one years ago next December.
Various references are made to Father Angelo Inglesi in the corre-
spondence exchanged between Bishop Du Bourg and Propaganda dur-
199
200 NOTES
ing the years 1821 and 1822, published in the pages of the Review.
Little is found there, however, touching the activity of the Bishop's
envoy on behalf of the Louisiana Mission. To his credit must be
ascribed in part the organization of the Lyons Association for the
Propagation of the Faith, and the sending to America of several bands
of zealous laborers, one of whom was to occupy a place of prominence
in the American hierarchy as first Bishop of Galveston and Archbishop
of New Orleans — John Mary Odin. Inglesi secured money, too : dona-
tions and loans. Of the latter one, the "Montmorenci loan," indirectly
at least, was to play a part in the financing of the Cathedral on Walnut
Street. The story of this loan is a curious aftermath of Inglesi's
embassy.
While in France, Bishop Du Bourg's envoy who, thanks to his
family connections, obtained entrance into the most exclusive circles
and rubbed elbows with the nobility, contracted with Duke Matthew of
Montmorenci and his consort for a loan of 30,000 francs ($6,000) in
the name of his Bishop. There was, it appears, an understanding be-
tween the prelate and his agent that the latter would eventually, after
his return to America, pay off the debt out of his own patrimony. For
reasons sufficiently explained in the Notes accompanying the Corre-
spondence, Inglesi did not come back west ; he remained some time in
Philadelphia, where he became involved in the Harold controversy,
and left shortly afterwards for Haiti, where he died June 13, 1825,
of yellow fever contracted in attending the patients stricken with the
epidemic.
His estrangement from Bishop Du Bourg in 1823, and still more
his death, put the prelate in a rather delicate position. The Montmo-
renci loan had been negotiated in his name ; and, indeed, as soon as he
had received the money, he had invested it in the purchase of a piece of
property on the River des Peres, which he intended as an endowment
for the See of St. Louis. After his return to France in 1826, in one of
his first letters he promised to Bishop Rosati to make over to him all
that he had acquired for the Mission. Months passed, however, before
he spoke again of this settlement. The reason was that he considered
himself in honor bound personally for the Montmorenci debt ; and
though no mortgage had been given, he regarded it as a matter of equity
that the land in St. Louis County should be kept by him as a guarantee
of the loan. From Montauban he confided his scruples on this score to
Bishop Rosati on April 22 and November 29, 1827 :
I carry in France a heavy debt, contracted in iny name by Father
Inglesi, the amount of which (it was to be paid back by him) was used
for the purchase of the St. Louis land. It is a matter of 30,000 francs
($6,000). I have devoted to its payment all that I hope to get from my
patrimony in San Domingo. But how much will this bring. I know not;
still, on the other hand, I must not neglect a transaction wherein my
honor is involved. Now, this will eat up all my savings for years.
. . . Fortunately, the deal was made with people of high rank, very
rich and very pious, who do not want me to bother myself about it, and
ask for no interests, although they do not renounce the principal. . . .
I consider the land on the River des Peres as mortgaged de jure (al-
though it is not de facto) to the Montmorenci family, which furnished
the money for it — until I am able to pay it back.
NOTES 201
As time rolled on Bishop Du Bourg saw that savings he could
realise none, as, despite the strictest economy (he even lived some time
in his seminary to save expenses), the paltry salary which the French
royal government doled out to its Bishops was but a miserable pittance,
scarcely enabhng them to live. Moreover, it became every day more
evident that nothing was to be expected from San Domingo. He had
not as yet made conveyance to Bishop Rosati of any of his American
holdings, and the St. Louis prelate felt all the more uneasy that he was
then planning his Cathedral. On January 28, 1829, Du Bourg wrote to
him:
I have qualms of conscience on the matter of leaving the Mont-
morenci family without any other security to cover the 30,000 francs
which I mentioned tot you, but the land on the River des Peres. It
would be a sorry return for their zeal and generosity Hitherto I had
reckoned on my savings to gradually pay off that debt. But I am not
yet out of the debts I had to make for settling here. . . . The in-
demnity which I had been hoping to receive in compensation for our
losses in San Domingo will, it seems, dwindle down to nothing. For
these reasons have I hesitated to make a pure donation of the various
holdings I still have in America.
He accordingly proposed that Rosati buy from him the property
on the Des Peres, "Henry's family" (of negroes), his library^ and what-
ever articles of furniture he had left behind— the whole for 20,000
francs, payable in four yearly notes of 5,000 francs each, in favor of
the Montmorenci family. There would thus remain to him (Du Bourg)
only 10,000 francs to pay, for which he deemed the furniture of his
episcopal residence to be sufficient security. Thib was, he added, for
the Bishop of St. Louis an excellent bargain, as the whole was prac-
tically worth twice as much as the price asked for.
The offer looked good to Rosati ; he accepted it, and early in the
summer, 1829, sent the four notes payable March 1, 1830, 1831, 1832
and 1833 (the date of maturity of the last three notes was, the follow-
ing year, on Du Bourg's advice and for reasons of convenience, changed
to July 1st). Still Bishop Du Bourg in return did not release the prop-
erty on the Des Peres, as we learn from his letter of September 25,
1829: ^
I am forwarding your four notes to the Duchess Matthew of Mont-
morenci, together with two from myself, to complete the 30,000 francs
due her and thus put an end to a matter of honor which has caused me
much trouble. . . . Life's uncertainty, however, compels me to
mamtam the mortgage on the property until the last cent is paid.
Rosati's first note was honored at maturity by the treasurer of the
Association for the Propagation of the Faith, out of the allowance to
the Diocese of St. Louis. The arrangement was that the other three
notes would be paid in the same way. During the first months of 1831,
however. Bishop Rosati found himself in sore need of money for push-
j \'^'yi^- ^'^ Bishop Du Bourg's library become the possession of the Bishops
and Archbishops of St. Louis. It forms the bulk of the "St. Louis Diocesan
Library the home of which was formerly at St. John's Rectory, and is now
at the Kennck Seminary.
202
NOTES
ing on the work of the Cathedral. In such circumstances, $1,000 yearly
meant a great deal. On March 12, 1831, he proposed to Bishop Du
Bourg a new arrangement in regard to the remaining two notes.
"I see," replied the latter on June 13, "your great difficulty to get
ready money for the construction of your Cathedral, and I realize how
critical your position is. ... I shall neglect nothing in order to help
you. According to your wishes, I will assume your obligation for your
two notes (July i, 1832 and 1833) yet due to Mrs. de Montmorenci, that
is, 10,000 francs. I am going to try to sell some government bonds left
me by my poor brother, Louis ^ to the amount of 20 to 22,000 francs,
in order to put the proceeds at your disposal. I trust I may be able to
sell them without difficulty. . . . The whole means a loan to you of
the sum of 30 to 32,000 francs (about 6 to 7,000 dollars), for which I am
willing to take as payment a bonded interest of 6 per cent, covered by a
mortgage on the interest of the Church property you have just sold to
Morton, of St. Louis. In other words, you will be selling me for 30,000
francs, for instance, 1800 francs of the interest owed you by Morton on
said property, and so on in proportion to the funds I may procure you ;
for it is possible that there are still some large outstanding notes due to
my brother Louis, in which case I shall be happy to put eventually the
returns at your disposal. But as, on the other hand, the inheritance
of this dear brother was given me only in trust on behalf of some of our
nephews who are in poverty; and, on the other hand, French government
bonds yield now at least 6 per cent, I should be guilty of injustice in
their regard, did I not stipulate for this interest.
Three months later Bishop Du Bourg announced to Father Saul-
nier, who was his proxy in this business, that, instead of 30,000, it was
35,000 francs which he put at the disposal of Bishop Rosati ; for this
sum Saulnier could draw at once on Mr. Huguenin, of Bordeaux; for
the remainder of the Morton loan on half of the Church property (the
whole loan represented a principal of 44,(XX) francs), he (Saulnier)
would sign two notes of 4,5(X) francs each, payable, the one after one
year, and the other after two years. In the beginning of August, 1832,
all these transactions were concluded, and Bishop Du Bourg sent the
following statement to St. Louis :
Dr. L. W. Du Bourg, Bishop of Montauban, to Rt.
Rev. Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis, Mo.
Cr.
To sale of a land interest at
6 % of 2640 francs 44,000
To yearly interest payable
April I, 1833 2,640
Balance due to
Bourg
L. W. Du
. 1,095
47,735
By
By interest at 6 % on 35,ooo
from April i, 1831, to
April I, 1833 (two years) 4,200
d° on 6,000 francs since
April r, 1833 (i year
and 9 months) 450
By d° on 2,000 francs from
July I, 1832 to April i,
1833 : 80
By principal paid at above-
mentioned dates 43,000
47,735
2 Louis Joseph Du Bourg, "le Beau Du Bourg," as he was surnamed in New Orleans,
was, after his return to Bordeaux, the unofficial, but most active agent in France for the
Louisiana Mission. He died at the old family m.ansion, 7 Rue St. Seurin, at Bordeaux, on
November 4, 1830. As he was a bachelor, his estate went to the Bishop, his sole surviving
brother.
NOTES 203
Agreed on the amount of the present account, amounting to forty-
seven thousand seven hundred and thirty- five francs, whereby, beside the
interest of 2640 francs, maturing on April i, 1833, there remains due to
L. W. Du Bourg a balance of one thousand and ninety-five francs, which
he begs Bishop Rosati kindly to accept as an humble offering for his
Cathedral. Montauban, August 13, 1832.
^h. Wm. Du Bourg, Bp. of Montauban.
But what of the Montmorenci notes? It will be recalled that Du
Bourg, besides the two which he took in 1831 from Bishop Rosati, had
subscribed two in his own name. The two turned over from St. Louis
matured on July 1, 1832 and 1833, respectively; his own were payable
in 1834 and 1835. He paid at maturity the Rosati notes ; but when he
died at Besanqon, on December 12, 1833, his own notes were still due.
We must, therefore, turn to his last will, dictated to Canon Querry, his
secretary, from his death-bed, just a week before his demise, to find
out his dispositions in regard to this debt :
I owe two notes of 5,000 francs each, which I, out of an excessive
tenderness of conscience, which I have much regretted, consented to
' the widowed Duchess of Montmorenci, maturing, the one about next
May or June, and the other a year after. Believing I am about to appear
before God, I do not hesitate to declare solemnly to said Lady, that, in
conscience, she has no right to that money. A few reflections on the
origin of this pretended debt will suffice, if needs be, to convince her of
that. My executor shall make for her a copy of the present article of
this, my last will ; if My Lady insists on the payment of these notes,
my signature must be honored ; at all events, he should not neglect to
take back the notes.
Whether "My Lady" insisted or not on the payment of these notes,
we know not. At any rate, the issue, one way or the other, was not to
benefit any either Bishop Rosati or the Diocese of St. Louis : a codicil to
Archbishop Du Bourg's will stipulated that, in case the Montmorenci
notes were canceled. Father Leclerc and Canon Querry were to receive
one thousand francs each out of that money, the remainder going, ac-
cording to the tenor of the will, to the Archbishop's niece, Caroline Du
Bourg de Sainte-Marie, who was a widow and in very moderate cir-
cumstances.
From Card'nal Gibbons' book, A Retrospect of Fifty Years, we
will quote the following words in just appreciation of our great Arch-
bishop Kenrick, with whom he was on intimate terms : In describing
the proceedings of the Vatican Council, he says :
Archbishop Kenrick of St. Louis was among the most noteworthy
prelates from the United States. Archbishop Kenrick spoke Latin with
most admirable ease and elegance. I observed him, day after day, re-
clining in his seat with half-closed eyes, listening attentively to the de-
bates without taking any notes. And yet so tenacious was his memory
that, when his turn came to ascend the rostrum, he reviewed the speeches
of his colleagues with remarkable fidelity and precision without the aid
of manuscript or memoranda.
204 NOTES
In regard to the question that the Vatican Council had to settle as
to where the true seat of infallibility lies, he again refers to Archbishop
Kenrick, who was opposed to the definition of papal infallibility, but
when the council decided in favor of it, "then he most nobly accepted it
and published it in his diocese. Years afterward somebody spoke of
the Archbishop to Pope Leo XIII, and criticised his attitude during the
Vatican Council to the Holy Father, upon which the Holy Father re-
pHed, indignantly, "The metropolitan of St. Louis was a noble man and
a true Christian Bishop. When he sat in council as a judge of the faith,
he did according to his conscience and the moment the decision was
taken, although it was against him, submitted with filial piety of a
Catholic and a Christian." And from this Cardinal Gibbons comments
upon the theory of some that the Catholic Church has no freedom of
thought. He quotes Archbishop Kenrick again as saying that "the Pope's
power was given for edification, not for destruction ; if he used it for
love of domination scarcely will he meet with obedient populations."
In this connection it is proper to refer to the fact that Cardinal
Gibbons is the last "living Father of the Vatican Council.'* "Now
alone upon this earth," he says, "I can report what happened within
these sacred walls." It will prove interesting to compare the Cardinal's
opinion with that rendered by Father Granderath in his great History
of the Vatican Council.
To Mr. Scannell O'Neill, who kindly contributed the interesting
Notes on Sister Mary Theonella Hite and her Family, published in our
last number (pp. 97 — 100), we are once more indebted for the follow-
ing, dealing with a member of one our old St. Louis families — the
Garesche famliy, so well represented to this day among the Catholics of
our city. This genealogico-biographical note was first printed in The
Catholic Columbian (Columbus, O.), of July 30, 1920:
THE CATHOLIC DAUGHTERS OF LOUIS McLANE
In the year iSii, James Peale, the famous American painter, placed
on enduring canvas the "Rencontre Between Colonel Allen McLane and
Two British Horsemen." Colonel McLane (i 746-1829) was a valiant
patriot of the Revolutionary era who took an active part in many of its
principal battles. In personal combat with three British dragoons near
Frankford, Penna., he killed one, wounded another, and compelled the
third to flee. Two of Col. McLane's granddaughters, Juliette and Mary,
have peculiar interest for us, for the reason that both of them became
Catholics. Juliette McLane Garesche and Mary McLane Hobbins (let
their names be held in reverent affection) were the daughters of Louis
McLane (1786-1857) and Catherine Mary Milligan. Their father, whose
handsome features adorn our old Treasury Notes, was successfully
member of Congress, United States Senator twice Minister to England,
on the last occasioin of which he had as his Secretary of Legation no
less a personage than Washington Irving; Secretary of the U. S. Treas-
ury, 1831-1833; Secretary of State, 1833-34, and president of the Balti-
more & Ohio Railroad. They were the sisters of Robert M. McLane
(1815-1898), member of Congress, envoy to Japan, China, Korea,
etc., Mmister to Mexico, Governor of Maryland and Unitetd Statws
Mmister to France; of Rebecca, wife of Philip Hamilton, son of the
NOTES 205
great Alexander Hamilton; and of Lydia, wife of General Joseph E.
Johnston, the noted commander of Confederate forces during the Civil
War.
Juliette McLane was born at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1826, and
died at St. Michael, La., in 1885. The prospect of marriage with a Cath-
olic gentleman of St. Louis, Mr. Bauduy P. Garesche, brought her into
intimate relations with her future sisters-in-law, who endeavored to en-
lighten her concerning the saving truths of the Catholic religion. Find-
ing that she was unable to reply to their criticisms of Protestantism,
Miss McLane procured books and began a long and systematic study of
the controversy between Protestantism and Catholicity. The result was
that she lost faith in her own creed and absented herself from the serv-
ices of her denomination. Her parents, noting her change of views, sug-
gested to their parish clergyman that he do something to bring her to a
knowledge of the "error of her ways." To this end he one Sunday
preached a virulently anti-Catholic sermon. To show her disapproval.
Miss McLane arose right in the middle of the sermon and walked out
of the church. Her family spent the following winter in New York City,
where Juliette followed with closest attention and profit to herself the
eloquent sermons then being preached in the Cathedral by Archbishop
Hughes. Her doubts now having been entirely set at rest, she was, with
the reluctant consent of her parents, received into the Church by the
Archbishop in the following spring. Her father was shortly afterward
appointed United States Minister to England, and while resident in
London. Miss McLane came to know and to reverence the Religious of
the Sacred Heart. Her marriage to Mr. Garesche occurred on Septem-
ber 25, 1849, after which she left Baltimore, to which city her family
had returned, to live in St. Louis. Two of her daughters — Lily and
Catherine — having become Religious of the Sacred Heart, and Mrs.
■ Garesche now being a widow and her other two children in the bosom
of God, she entered the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Grand Coteau,
La., on May 5, 1876, pronounced her vows in St. Louis in 1878, and made
■. her solemn profession at the Mother House of her Order in Paris in
1881. After having served God faithfully in this country and New Zea-
land, Madame Garesche closed her eyes on the world at St. Michael,
La., in 1885.
Madame Garesche's sister, Mary, married Dr. Joseph Hobbins
(1816-1894), founder of the Medical Department of the University of
Wisconsin, and eminent as a horticulturist, to whose efforts Madison,
Wisconsin, owes the possession of so many fine trees. Dr. Hobbins
was a native of England and became a Catholic through the influence of
his future wife. Indeed from the day she was received into the Church
Mary McLane Hobbins was ever a most zealous apostle of Jesus Christ,
and to her edifying life and example many owed their grace of con-
version. She often recounted her recollections of the great men and
women she met in her father's house in London, including Tom Moore,
and of having as a child sat entranced on the lap of Washington Irving
as he spun his fascinating stories of the Alhambra and Sleepy Hollow.
Mrs. Hobbins died at Madison, Wis., in 1897.
The above note supplements excellently those given on the Gar-
esche family by Joseph Willcox in elucidation of the Extracts from the
Diary of Rev. Patrick Kenny, published by him in the Records of the
American Catholic Historical Society (Vol. IX, No. 3, pp. 338 and
foil.). ' ' t^f
206 NOTES
From the Registre des Mariages of the parish of St. Landry of
Opelousas, La., was culled the following entry :
1812. September 16.
CHARTRAN, Louis, a native of St. Louis, of the Illinois, legitimate
son of . . . {paper water-worn) . . . Chartran and Marie
Gerardin, was united in matrimony to Zoe Courtableau, daughter
of James Courtableau and . . . widow of Mr. Luke Collins.
Michael Bernard B.\rriERE, Rector.
We are in receipt of The Catholic Citizen's Golden Jubilee Sou-
venir. This is, in size, a tiny booklet, but its few pages, as a short in-
scription on an historic landmark, brim over with the nervous energy
which has inspired the valiant Catholic editors from the now long-
distant day when the Star of Bethlehem arose over the green waters of
the Bay of Milwaukee (October 1, 1869), and the Catholic Vindicator
came forth, armed cap and pie, from the Rectory of Rev. John Casey, at
Monroe, Wis. (November 3), 1870). Fifty years is a long span of life
for any newspaper ; and for a militant Catholic organ to attain this ma-
ture age is in itself evidence of a powerful vital principle animating the
whole being. Humphrey J. Desmond has been, for well-nigh thirty
years. The Catholic Citizen^s life-principle. To the able, valiant and
staunchly Catholic Editor and to the newspaper to which he has conse-
crated the best of his life, we offer our sincere congratulations and our
earnest wishes.
Perhaps of all the charitable organizations of to-day none is so
well known and so widespread as that of the St. Vincent de Paul So-
ciety. Founded upon prinicples of charity laid down by the illustrious
Saint whose name it bears, as a kind messenger, it has brought and is
still bringing help and succor to the needy of every color and creed
throughout the world. Far back in the sixteenth century there was born
in Pouy, Gascony, France, Vincent de Paul, whose charity and love of
the poor has confounded the world. Led on by a true love of God,
which is best evinced in the love of neighbor, he devoted his best en-
deavors to the service of the needy and the afflicted. Calling about him
bands of noble men and women, he formed them into conference and
through them collected and distributetd the necessaries of life to the
starving thousands of Paris and its surrounding regions. It is his spirit
and principles that have guided the Catholic charities since his time.
It was not, however, until May, 1833, that the organization that bears
the name of St. Vincent de Paul was founded and elevated to its present
high standard and efficiency. Frederick Ozanam, a brilliant young law-
yer and author in Paris gathered about him seven of his youthful com-
panions and formulated plans for the organization of a society whose
object should be to administer to the wants of the poor and thereby
answer the taunts of an irreligious world which was proclaiming the
death of the Christian spirit of charity. The rules then formulated
upon the principles of St. Vincent are those by which our conferences
NOTES 207
are governed to-day. The society quickly gained in membership; new
conferences were erected, so that to-day it can claim over two hundred
thousand members, and there is no country on the globe whose poor do
not feel its kind and benevolent influence.
Just twelve years after the inauguration of this noble work, Dr.
Timothy Papin, returning from his studies in Paris, enthused by the
achievements of the society in France and aided by Mr. Bryan Mullan-
phy, called together the prominent Catholic laymen of St. Louis, and in
the same room in which the present Conference of the Old Cathedral
meets, was organized the first Conference of the St. Vincent de Paul
Society in America, Thursday evening, November 20, 1845. In the min-
utes of this meeting, still extant, we read that Bryan Mullanphy pre-
sided; an election of officers took place. Dr. M. L. Linton was elected
president ; Bryan Mullanphy, first vice-president ; Dennis Galvin, second
vice-president ; James Maguire Jr., secretary, and Patrick Ryder, treas-
urer. Glancing over the roster of members we find there many names
pominent in the history of our city.
Missouri, though a de facto State since 1820, was admitted as such
into the Union in 1821 by the proclamation of President Monroe. Ad-
mission into the Union was the necessary seal set upon the people's
action by the national authorities. In 1820 Missouri had elected, as
Walter B. Stevens remarks, "State officers who entered upon their
duties. It had a Legislature which passed statutes. It chose, in due
form, senators and representatives in Congress. It created a code
which was interpreted by a Supreme Court. Congress, however, de-
layed the final recognition while statesmen wrangled over the techni-
calities of a compromise on the slavery question." The coming year,
1921, is, therefore, the Centennial year of our Statehood. A great civic
celebration is contemplated to mark the auspicious event. The Church,
that has proved itself the greatest civilizing influence in the State during
its long and varied course will, no doubt, have a leading part in the pro-
posed festivities.
The following account of the finding of the petrified body of a
priest on the banks of the Arkansas River cannot claim any degree of
historical certitude, as neither the correspondent's name, nor the precise
locality of the incident are given ; yet as a possible clue to further in-
vestigations it may prove of interest and value. We copy from the
Sunday Visitor:
PETRIFIED BODY OF MISSIONARY
Acorresponclent of an Eastern paper gives this account of the
finding of the petrified body of a Catholic Missionary on the bank of the
Arkansas (in 1890) :
"The laborers on a farm near this place exhumed jesterday the
petrified body of a man clothed in the habit of a Roman v^atholic priest.
The dress and shoes and hose had also become stone, and the figure
might have passed for the cunning handiwork of some great master of
sculpture. The two hands were clasped about an ivory crucifix, which
208 NOTES
hung from a rosary suspended about the neck, while the head of an
arrow still protruding from the breast told the story of how the worthy
Father met his death; and the fact, so plain to be seen., that the body
was hastily buried without coffin, and the grave, unmarked by the small-
est token, showed that he and his brethren, or some faithful friend, were
fleeing from the Indians when he was killed. The petrified body was
removed to the church, where it is now visited by crowds, and when it
will shortly be given burial in consecrated ground. The face is that of a
young man of refined and intellectual features, and the hands and leet
are of elegant proportions. Those who profess to know declare that his
shoes are of a fashion worn in the latter part of the seventeenth cen-
tury."
Now the fact of the finding and its circumstances being admitted
for argument's sake, further enquiry would undoubtedly lead to the
Paste of Arkansas, the earliest settlement of whites within the territory
of Arkansas, situated at the confluence of the Arkansas and Mississippi
Rivers. There was a Jesuit Mission established here among the Qua-
paw Indians on July 7, 1727, by Father Poisson, though the beginnings
of the Arkansas Mission date back as far as November 26, 1689, when
Tonty gave to Father Dablon, the Superior of the Canada Missions, a
strip of land on Arkansas River, a little east of his fort, about eight
acres, for a chapel and mission house. The Mission was to begin in
November, 1690 (Cf. SHEA, Catholic Missions, p. 439).
The Librarians of the Catholic Historical Society of St. Louis are
happy to report the following additions to the Library of the Society,
and to express their thanks to the generous donors :
Gilbert Garraghan, S.J., Catholic Beginnings of Kansas City, Missouri. An
Historical Sketch. Loyola University Press, Chicago, II!. 1920. Donated by the
Author.
Hepner, Adolf, America's Aid to Germany in 1870-71. St. Louis, Mo., 1905.
Gift of Rev. F. G. Holweck.
_ Wm. Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay, A Popular History of the
United States. Four Volumes. New York, Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1878.
John R. Spears and A. H. Clark, A History of the Mississippi Valley, from
Its Discovery to the End of Foreign Dominion. New York, A. S. Clark, 1903.
The Future of Foreign-Born Catholics. St. Louis, Mc. B. Herder, 1884.
P. Oswald Moosmueller, O.S.B. Bonifaz Wimmer, Erzabt von St. Vinzenz
in Pennsylvania. New York, Benziger Brothers, 1891. Donated by Rev. J. Wael-
termann.
Pastoral Instruction of the Bishop of Alton. Issued April 12th, 1875. .Alton,
111., 1875. Donated by Rev. P. Kaenders, Venice, 111.
Pastoral Instruction of the Bishop of Alton. Issued February., the 23d, 1880.
Alton, 111., 1880. Donated by Rev. P. Kaenders.
SS. Patriarchae Benedict! Familiae Confoederatae. Romae, Typis Vaticanis,
1905. Gift of Conception Abbey, Mo.
Annuario Pontificio. Roma, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana. Seven Volumes,
1913-1919. Donated by Rev. F. G. Holweck.
Progress of the Catholic Church in America and the Great Columbian Cath-
olic Congress of 1913. Fourth Edition. Chicago. J. S. Hyland & Company. 1893.
NOTES 209
The United States. A Catalogue of Books relating to the History of its
various States, Counties and Cities. Cleveland, O. The Arthur H. Clark Com-
pany, 1920.
The Catholic Advance. Christmas, 1919. Commemorating the Golden Jubi-
lee of the Rt. Rev. John J. Hennessy, D.D., Bishop of Wichita.
Canon Glancey. Orbis Catholicus, A Year Book of the Catholic World.
First Year of issue, 1916. London, the Courier Press.
J. B. Mueller, Schematismus der deutschen und deutsch-sprechenden Pries-
ter in den Ver. Staaten Nord-Amerika's. St. Louis, B. Herder, 1882. Donated
by Rev. Dr. J. Molitor, Columbus, O.
Geo. F. Houck, The Church in Northern Ohio and in the diocese of Cleve-
land. Cleveland, Short and Forman. 1888. Donated by Dr. Jos. Molitor, Colum-
bus, O.
Anuario Ecclesiastico, 1917. Ano HL E. Subirana, Barcelona. Gift of
Rev, F. G. Holweck.
Deed of Transfer of some property at Gravois (Kirkwood), St. Louis Co.,
from the United States to Rev. Peter R. Donnelly. St. Louis, Mo. Gift of Rt.
Rev. Msgr. Tannrath.
Souvenir Book, Jasper, Indiana. 1916. Donated by Rev. Basil Heusler.
O.S.B.
St. Michael's Church, Brookville, In. Official Year Book, 1920.
Louis De Cailly. Memoirs of Bishop Loras, First Bishop of Dubuque, Iowa.
New York, 1897. Donated by Rev. F. A. Marks, Collinsville, 111.
DOCUMENTS FROM OUR
ARCHIVES
Correspondence of Bishop Du Bourg with Propaganda
XXVIII.
CARDINAL CONSALVI TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
No. 28.
Illme ac Rme Domine
Quae nobis A. T. de florente statu, in quo res Catholica Loysia-
nae^ superioris versatur, ac non exiguis tarn infidelium, quam hetero-
doxorum conversionibus novissime significavit, ea Emos Patres lae-
titia, ac solatio maximo affecerunt. Quare dum Deo Patri miseri-
cordiarum debitas pro tanto beneficio gratias ago, tuam etiam sol-
licitudinem, ac sedulitatem plurimum in Domino commendo ; ac licet
Ampdo Tua stimulis non egeat, earn tamen etiam atque etiam ex-
citare non desum, ut quod tanta laude coepisti, id pari semper alacri-
tate, ac studio perficere velis, diligenter curans, ut et sylvicolae, apud
quos Missionem instituisti, in sinum S. Matris Ecclesiae, opitulante
Domino, perducantur, et incolae Novae Aureliae, ubi intemperantia,
et multa vitiorum seges invaluit, ad rectam semitam revocentur.
Quod S. Sedes peragere potuit in auxilium indigae istius Dioecesis,
id quidem praestare non defuit munifica quatuor millium scutatorum
Romanorum largitione, quorum mille jam accepisse te arbitror per
Rmum D. Guillelmum Poynter Vicarium Aplicum Londinensem, cui
tutius visum est banc pecuniae summam mittere ; reliqua vero su-
binde per camdem viam ad te perferri curabo. Accepi autem epis-
tolae exemplum, quae scripta fertur a muliere Perret Dno Inglesi :
sed quamvis etiam ipse justificari vellet a crimine, quod illi (nescio
an vere, vel perperam) imputatum est, alia tamen is praebuit levita-
tis, ac paucae modestiae specimina turn in choreis agendis, tum usu
vestium, quae Ecclesiastico viro minime congruunt. Quamobrem
licet ipse dexteritate, ac rebus agendis magnopere praestet, non eum
tamen tanti facias velim, ut vigilare non debeas, ejusque spiritum
^ Original in the Archives of the St. Louis Archdioc. Chancery.
2 The uncoir.nion spelling Loysiana, as well as the handwriting of this nocu-
ment stamp it as the work of a new minutante.
210
DOCUMENTS 211
diligenter probare. Quod aiitem attinet ad amplissimae istius Dioe-
cesis divisionem, ea, quae proposita sunt, non satis adhuc matura
videntur. Unum est, cui sine mora prospiciatur oportet, nempe neg-
lecta Floridarum cura, quam Ampdo Tua, ut declaravit, ob magnam
illius Provinciae distantiam gerere nullo modo potest. Quid autem
consilii circa Floridas S. Cong, susceperit, de hoc quamprimum te
faciam certiorem. Interim Deum precor ut Ampdm Tuam diutis-
sime servet, ac sospitet.
Ampdnis Tuae
Romae ex i^dibus S. Congnis de Propda Fide Die 11. Januarii,
1822.
Uti Frater studiosissimus,
H. Card. Consalvi, Pro-Prf.
R. P. D. Ludovico Guillelmo
Du Bourg Epo Novae Aureliae
in Loysiana / S. Ludovicum in Statu Missouri /
C. M. Pedicini Secrius.
TRANSLATION.
Right Reverend Dear Sir : —
Your Lordship's latest report^ of the flourishing condition of
Catholicity in Upper Louisiana ,and of the numerous conversions
of both infidels and heretics, has greatly rejoiced and consoled Their
Eminences. Wherefore to God, the Father of mercies, I return due
thanks for these benefits, whilst your solicitude and activity I most
highly commend in the Lord; and although Your Lordship stands
in no need of the spur, yet again and again I must urge that what
you have so laudably begun, you should determine to achieve with
the same eagerness and zeal, working diligently in order to bring,
with the help of God, the savages among whom you have estab-
lished missions* into the bosom of Holy Mother Church; and also
in order that the people of New Orleans, among whom intemperance
and a plentiful crop of vices are prevalent, may be turned back to
the right path-
What the Holy See found itself able to do in order to help that
destitute Diocese, it has not failed to accomplish by a magnificent
donation of four thousand Roman scudi; I reckon you have received
already one thousand through the Right Rev. William Poynter, Vicar
Apostolic of London, through whom it seemed a surer way to send this
money; I will attend shortly to the forwarding of the balance through
the same channel.
3 We are not in possession of this report.
* Clearly an allusion to the mission of Father De la Croix among the Osage
Indians. See J. Rothensteiner, Early Missionary Efforts among the Indians in
the Diocese of St. Louis, St. Louis Catholic Hist. Review, 1920, p. 66 foil.
212 DOCUMENTS
I have received copy of a letter supposed to be written by the
Perret woman to Father Inglesi^; but even if the latter would try to
*> This is undoubtedly the letter of which Bishop Du Bourg gave the gist to
Father Martial : "You will be glad to learn that these infamous machinations are
the result of the most abominable intrigue; but God has permitted that the
woman who played therein the leading role entered into herself, and made in
writing to Father Inglesi, after the latter's departure from Rome, full confession
of the whole matter. I have that letter in my possession. The main point of the
intrigue is as follows : Father Inglesi had received $10,000 from the Torlonia
Bank in settlement of some family business, which sum of money was destined
for the payment for his brother's inheritance. One of the clerks of the bank
concocted a plan on the basis of this. He insinuated himself into the familiarity
of Inglesi, showed him many courtesies and repeatedly oflfered his services; and
as Fr. Inglesi expressed to him his desire of finding lodgings in a healthy and
quiet part of the city, the fellow offered him board and lodging in his own home.
Fr. Inglesi accepted, and had his belongings and his money carried there. A few
days later the clerk in question absentetd himself on purpose one evening, after
arranging with his wife that the latter was to go about 9 p. m. to Fr. Inglesi's
apartment, do what she could to seduce him, and manage some way or other to
remain with him until about 11 o'clock, when he himself would come as to catch
them by surprise, and would frighten Inglesi into buying him off with all the
money he had. Divine Providence permitted that, on that very evening Fr. Inglesi
returned from town only a short while before 11. At once the woman went to his
quarters, and whether on purpose or because she was horror-struck by her crime
she fell upon a trunk, saying she was fainting. Just as Fr. Inglesi \vas rushing to
his wardrobe for a bottle of cologne water, her husband came in in a great fury.
However, he was somewhat disconcerted by what he saw, and hence manifested
some embarrassment. Fr. Inglesi profited by this hesitation to skip out of the
room and leave the house. Early in the morning he sent for his trunk, which
the clerk refused to give; then, without delay, he (Inglesi), went to Card. Con-
salvi, who ordered the trunk to be given back to its owner. The scoundrel, whose
plan was foiled, lost no time in spreading the slander, which was eagerly taken up,
aand received admittance even with many good people — for good people are often
as credulous as others in regard to such stories. Such are the details confessed
by that woman, whom remorse has prompted to trust in the generosity of Father
Inglesi to give, if he wishes, publicity to tthis letter." (Archives of Propaganda.
Scritture refenite net Congressi. Codice 7. In letter of Martial to Billard, Octo-
ber 20, 1822). It should be noted that, whilst the Cardinal's judgment remained
in suspense \n regard to the truth or untruth of this affair. Bishop Du Bourg had
no such hesitation: "I am confident," he wrote to Father Martial "that he
(Inglesi) is fully justified."
Bishop Du Bourg, by the time he received this letter (probably some time
in April, 1822) was long since acquainted with the misdemeanor of Fr. Inglesi in
Rome, for Propaganda has reported it to him in a letter in date of September 22,
1821 (see next letter, XXIX). He evidently disbelieved entirely the report. At
any rate, writing to Father Rosati on Easter Sunday (April 7), 1822, he spoke
of Inglesi in the following terms: "Father Inglesi will bring us recruits. He is
not a Bishop, neither does he wish' to hear of it. He was sorry to have written to
me a certain letter which I communicated to you. He announces he will be here
about the beginning of the year (1823). I cannot tire of admiring his devotedness
and zeal. But as you may imagine, this disappointment (clearly that Inglesi was
not made a Bishop) causes me some uneasiness. But it matters not ! God
knows what is best. We ought not to lose courage." Four months later, and
certainly after he had received this letter, speaking of the unecclesiastical behavior
of Inglesi ,and recommending watchfulness, his enthusiasm had not yet abated.
On August 7 he wrote to Father Rosati : "Good news ! Five or six subjects have
just arrived from France for the Seminary. One of them is Subdeacon; the
others have Minor Orders. There is, moreover, a Deacon, who, I believe, is ready
DOCUMENTS 213
justify himself of the grave misdemeanor which is imputed to him
(right or wrong, I know not), still, he exhibited other signs of levity
and impropriety, both by taking part in dances and by a mode of
dress in no way befitting an Ecclesiastic. For this cause, clever and
most skillful in business though he be, yet I do not wish that your
high estimate of him should dispense you from watching and from
carefully investigating his character.
In regard to the division of your vast Diocese, the proposals
made do not appear to have as yet attained maturity. One thing,
however, should be attended to without delay, namely the fact that
the Floridas are not taken care of, as Your Lordship has declared
that, owing to the great distance of that territory, you are totally
unable to look after it. Whatever course of action the S. Congr. re-
solves to take about the Floridas, I shall let you know at the first
opportunity. Meanwhile I pray to God to keep Your Lordship yet
many years, and in good health.
Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
H. Card. Consalvi, Pro Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congr. of Propaganda, January 11, 1822
To the Right Rev. William Du Bou.rg, Bishop of New Orleans,
Louisiana.
St. Louis, Missouri. C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
XXIX.
CARDINAL CONSALVI TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
No. 21.
Ill.me, ac R.me D. ne.
Jamdudum est, ex quo proposita fuit Amplit.i Tuae vastissimae
istius Dioecesis divisio ; non enim in tanta dissitarum regionum ampli-
tudine unus tantum Episcopus adauctorum Fidelium curam exercere
facile potest ; ideoque maxime prof uturum visum est, si Dioecesis ista
in tres saltem Ecclesias divideretur, quarum una inferiorem Luisianam,
altera superiorem, tertia Floridas complecti posset. Cum vero nullum
adhuc habitum f uerit abs te responsum, vereor, ne Sac.ae Cong.nis Lit-
terae ad te pervenerint. Quare Ampl.m Tuam rogo, ut quid de hujus-
modi divisione sentias, mihi quantocius indicare velis ; et quoties in ea,
ut spero, convenias, mens esset Sacrae Cong.nis, ut, una ex iis a te
for Ordination. . . . This reinforcement which has just come to us from
Europe is but the forerunner of another including four or five, perhaps even ten,
priests. You understand that it is the indefatigable Father Inglesi v^^ho is sending
them to me. I expect him towards the end of this year." The following month
(September 6), very much the same note is sounded. "I am in a quandary in
regard to St. Genevieve" (it was only a few days after the death of Father
Pratte). "The thought came to my mind to keep that place for Father Inglesi.
I have strong reasons for so doing."
1 Original in Archives of St. Louis Archdioc. Chancery.
214 DOCUMENTS
retenta, duabus aliis praeficeretur vel D. Ludovicus Sibourd Vicarius
tuus Gn.lis, cujus merita tantopere extulisti, et quern primo in tuum
Coadjutorem postulasti, vel etiam D.nus Rosati, aut Dnus Rossetti, qui
ita probati sunt, ut nulla in eos cadere videatur exceptio. Quoad D.
Angelum Inglesi, accepisse te arbitror Sacrae Congnis litteras datas die
22. 7mbris elapsi anni, quibus certiorem te fecimus, quanto dedecore
idem Romae se gesserit, ideoque non est, cur de illo promovendo jam
cogites. Quod vero valde me angit, illud est, quod nobis ex Nova Aure-
lia nunciatum est, nimirum diffusa ibi voce, quod Amplitude Tua ilium
sibi Coadjutorem adscire vellet, magnam in tota Luisiana perturba-
tionem obortam, omnesque operarios ita animo cecidisse, ut aliqui ex
ista provincia migraverint, alii vero, pristino posthabito studio, ac soUi-
citudine, remisse atque incurie se gerant. Quamobrem Ampl.m Tuam
hortor in Dno, ut perniciosam banc vocem dissipare cures, clerumque
ad officium revocare, ne quod tanto labore, et cura aedificasti hac de
causa ruat. Quod dum sedulo te praestiturum esse confido, Deum O.
M. precor, ut Ampl.m Tuam diutissime servet, ac sospitet.
Amplitudinis Tuae.
Romae ex aedibus Sacrae Congnis de Propaganda Fide die 27.
Aprilis 1822.
Uti Frater studiosissimus,
H. Card. Consalvi Pro Praef .
R. P. D. Ludovico Guillelmo Dubourg
Neo-Aurelianensi Episcopo in
America Septli.
S. Ludovicum in Territorio, Illinensi
C. M. Pedicini, Secrius.
TRANSLATION
Right Reverend Dear Sir : —
Some time ago was proposed to Your Lordship the division of your
most extensive Diocese,^ for the reason that in such a large territory
with places far apart it is difficult for one Bishop to take care of the
increasing number of the faithful ; wherefore it was deemed that it
would be for the interest of that Diocese if it were divided into at least
three Churches, the one including Lower Louisiana, the second Upper
Louisiana, and the third the two Floridas. As, however, no answer of
yours has been as yet received, I am afraid that the letter of the Sacred
Congregation failed to reach you. For this reason I beg Your Lordship
to let me know as soon as possible your opinion about this division ; and
in case it is agreeable to you, as I hope, it is the intention of the S. Con-
gregation that, while you shall keep one of these Churches, to the other
two should be appointed either Fr. Louis Sibourd, your Vicar General,
whose meriL you have so much commended and whom you first asked
2 Reference is here made obviously to Letter No. 15 of Propaganda in date
of June 2, 1821 (St. Louis Catholic Historical Review, Vol. IL Nos. 2-3, pp.
141, foil.).
^ DOCUMENTS 215
for your Coadjutor, or even Father Rosati, or Father Rossetti,^ who
have given such proofs of their sterling qualities that no objection can
be raised against them. In regard to the Rev. Angelo Inglesi, I reckon
you are now in possession of the letter of this S. Congregation in date
of September 22 last,* in which we informed you of his improper de-
meanor in Rome; hence you must no longer be thinking of his pro-
motion. One thing in this connection vexes me very sorely, namely that
we heard from New Orleans^ that, as the rumor was spread there that
Your Lordship wanted him as Coadjutor, a great deal of trouble arose
throughout Louisiana, and all the missionaries were so downhearted
that some left the Diocese, while others, forgetful of their former zeal
and solicitude, became slack and careless in the discharge of their duties.
Wherefore 1 earnestly beg you in the Lord to do everything in your
power to suppress that evil rumor, and to recall the clergy to their duty,
in order that what you have built up with so much pain and care may
not, on this account, fall in ruins. Trusting that you will spare no
efforts to this end, I pray Almighty God to keep Your Lordship yet
many years, and in good health.
Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
H. Card. Consalvi, Pro-Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congr. of Propaganda, April 27, 1822.
To the Right Rev. Louis William Du Bourg, Bishop of New Orleans,
North America. St. Louis of the IlHnois.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
3 On Father John Mary Rossetti, see above, Vol. II! No. i, p. 50, note 4;
also below, the end of Letter XXXI.
* This letter is not extant. It must have been the Propaganda Letter No. 18
or 19, which, as was noticed above (p. 147), are missing frorn the collection. The
fact is that none of the documents dealing ex profcsso with the Inglesi affair
have been preserved. Bishop Du Bourg either destroyed them, or else kept them
in a secret place with other personal papers. Why he should have done so is
easy enough to understand.
5 There can scarcely be any doubt that the information referred to here was
furnished by Father Martial, who was in correspondence with one Billard, a
friend of his at the French Embassy. Several letters of Martial to Billard, writ-
ten with ultimate purpose that their contents should be made known to the eccle-
siastical authorities, are preserved in the Archives of Propaganda. In one of
them, dated July 13, 1822, Martial alludes to a former letter written some months
before to Billard "for himself alone," for, as he adds : "I did not think you
cared to communicate it. lest the friendship between Bishop Du Bourg and
myself should be altered." This letter apparently had nevertheless been handed
to Propaganda. At any rate Martial adds: "The opposition which manifested
itself at the time when it became known he (Bishop Du Bourg) wished to have
Father Inglesi for coadjutor rent his soul asunder to such an extent that he ful-
minated a Circular Letter to frighten the priests; but he was very sorry for it
when he saw the effect it had produced ; clever men may sometimes make great
mistakes. There remains in the heart of some missionaries a wound which vv^ill
be hard to heal. I tried, but in vain, to stotp some from going away; they replied
to me: 'One's first duty is to save one's self. Assure us that in exercising the
ministry as we do here, we can save ourselves. . . ." There can be no doubt
that the infatuation of the Bishop for the clever young priest, and his well-
known desires in regard to his promotion caused a great deal of dissatisfaction
among the clergy of Lower Louisiana.
216 DOCUMENTS
XXX.
CARDINAL CONSALVI TO BISHOP DU BOURG.^
No. 24.2
Illme ac Rme Domine.
Perjucundae mihi fuerunt Litterae Tuae, ex quibus intellexi
Ampdm Tuam ultro assentiri, ut tarn Floridarum provinciae, quam
Louisiana superior a Neo-Aurelianensi Dioecesi distractae, in novas
erigantur Ecclesias. Tua enim accepi consilia, nimirum ut nova pariter
Episcopalis Ecclesia instituatur in Oppido Sanclarensi, vulgo Detroit in
Agro Michigan ; et altera etiam in media Louisiana, quae Missisipi
statum complectitur, et Arcansas, postquam A. T. ea omnia paraverit,
quae ad constituendum ibi antistitem necessaria sunt ; demum ut Nova
Aurelia in Metropolim erigatur. Haec omnia Emorum PP. judicio
quamprimum subjicienda curabo, et inde Ampdm Tuam de illorum sen-
tentia certiorem facere non praetermittam. Petitam interim tibi ad-
jungo renovationem facultatis, dispensandi scilicet in secundo cogna-
tionis gradu ad sexaginta casus extensam, nee non dispensationem in
primo affinitatis gradu, quae ex Summi Pontificis indulgentia benigne
concessa est pro Laurentio Millaudon et Maria Francisca Stella, ac te
monens, ut conditionibus, quae in utroque documento appositae sunt, te
accurate conformes, D. O. M. precor ut Ampdm T. diutissime servet, ac
sospitet.
Ampdnis Tuae
Romae ex Aedibus S. Congnis de Prpa Fide Die 28. Septembris, 1822.
Uti Frater studiosissimus
H. Card. Consalvi, Pro-Prf.
R. P. D. Guillelmo Du Bourg,
Epo Neo-Aurelianensi in
Louisiana. | Novam Aureliam |
C. M. Pedicini, Secrius.
TRANSLATION
Right Revei end Dear Sir : —
The greatest pleasure was afforded me by your letter^ from which
I understand it to the perfectly agreeable to your Lordship that the State
of Florida and Upper Louisiana* be dismembered from the Diocese of
1 Original in Archives of St. Louis Archdioc. Chancery.
2 Again two letters from Propaganda are missing. It may well be that one
at least contained no more than the renewal of certain Episcopal faculties.
3 Card. Consalvi has unquestionably in view Du Bourg's letter dated Feb-
ruary 8 of that same year, 1822, given in our last issue, pp. 148 foil.
* With regard to the erection of a new Episcopal See in Upper Louisiana
Bishop Du Bourg had, however, requested a delay — one year at the outside. The
next letter iiitorms us that shortly after advising Propaganda on February 8,
of his consent to the dismemberment, he had retracted it. Evidently this subse-
quent communication had not yet reached Rome. Another was sent from St.
Louis during the first days of September. Of this new letter the Bishop wrote to
Rosati, on September 12: "I have written again to forestall the division of the
DOCUMENTS 217
New Orleans and erected into new churches. I have taken good note
of your recommendations, to wit : that a new Episcopal See should be
likewise instituted in the town of St. Clair (Detroit) in the Territory
of Michigan; and another in Central Louisiana, comprising the State of
Mississippi and that of Arkansas, when Your Lordship has prepared in
that district everything required for the establishment of a Bishop; also,
that New Orleans be erected into an Archbishopric. I shall see to it
that all these recommendations are submitted at the first opportunity to
the judgment of Their Eminences, of whose opinion I will not fail to
advise Your Lordship. Meanwhile I herewith enclose the renewal you
asked of your faculty to grant dispensation of the second degree of
relationship — this faculty extends to sixty cases — ; I add also the dis-
pensation of the first degree of affinity, kindly granted by the Sovereign
Pontiff in favor of Lawrence Millaudon and Mary Frances Stella ; and
enjoining you to conform most exactly with the conditions marked in
these two documents, I pray Almighty God to keep Your Lordship yet
many years, and in good health.
Your Lordship's Most Devoted Brother,
H. Card. Consalvi, Pro-Prefect.
Rome, Palace of the S. Congr. of Propaganda, September 28, 1822.
To the Right Rev. William Du Bourg, Bishop of New Orleans, Louis-
iana. New Orleans.
C. M. Pedicini, Secretary.
XXXI.
BISHOP DU BOURG TO THE CARDINAL PREFECT OF
PROPAGANDA.^
Eminentissime Cardinalis :
Baltimorum urgentissimis meae Dioeceseos negotiis vocatus, ab
Arch, nuper reduce, summo cordis dolore, audivi Rev.um Rosati ad
administrationem Statuum Alabamae et Mississippi, cum titulo Epis-
copali a Sac. Cong, nominatum. Longius ab eo distans, nescio quae
fuerit mentis ejus conditio, cum ad eum hujusmodi nuntius pervenerit;
sed probe r.ovi quis futurus sit hujus acceptationis effectus. Ruet in
tota Louisiana Missionis Cong, quae jam ejus cura multum florescere
coeperat, et cui nullus alius praeter eum adhuc praeesse potest. Ruet
seminarium clericorum, unica spes immensae illius regionis ; ad illam
ruinam perculti undequaque dispergentur Sacerdotes et alumni, quos
ego tot sumptibus comparavi. Quod ad me spectat, videns conatus
meos f rustratos, sin dolore conficiar, certe desperatione tabescam. Oh !
Diocese, as premature. My letter is very strong. It is the fruit of the most
serious reflections ; and my soul is much quieter since I wrote it. A Coadjutor is
all that we will need for a long time. Fortunately, even in case the division
should already be made. I am sure that Fr. B. (who is this Fr. B.?) would not
accept the appointment."
1 Copy by Bishop Du Bourg's own hand (sent to Rosati in a letter to the
same), in Archives of St. Louis Archdioc. Chancery.
218 DOCUMENTS
Eminentiss. Patres! quid fecistis? Quis vobis suasit hujus modi con-
silium, ut a pauperrimo Episc.o adimeretis ultimam et unicam suae spei
anchoram ? Episcopatum una hac lege susceperam, quod mihi Congre-
gationis Miss. Sacerdotes in auxilium darentur. Duos solum qui earn
in Dioecesi mea efformari possent accepi DD. de Andreis et Rosati.
Unus morte ablatus est, et nunc alterum a me surripitis, postquam ego
immensos labores et sumptus maximos in ipsorum Societatis funda-
tionem absumpsi. Una die pereunt sudores et conatus septem annorum.
Jam satis est ; si ad effectum perducatur ilia nominatio, nihil mihi am-
plius sperandum, nihil ultra moliendum. Sedens sedebo, lugens ruinam
aedificii quod jam, Deo juvante, tanto labore meo assurgere coeperat.
Sed quidni potius sperarem humillimis meis supplicationibus profusis-
que lacrimis movendas esse Eminentias Vestras? Certe cum agebatur
Romae de subtrahendo a R.mo Ep.o Bardensi ipsius unico et praecipuo
coadjutore Rev.o D.o David, quem ad Sedem Philadelphiensem pro-
movere volebant, venerandi Praesulis exauditae sunt querelae. Mutata
est mens Sac. Cong, et quem ab eo auferre cogitaverant, ipsi in Coadju-
torem dederunt. Ita unione duorum illorum virorum in dies floret Bar-
densis Dioecesis. Eminent. imi Patres, meis precibus similiter annuetis.
Ecce me prostratum habetis pedibus vestris, ejulatus edentem super
contritione filiae populi mei ; non surgam donee nominationem illam
retractaveritis. Coadjutorem mihi date eumdem Rev.um Rosati ; et
alio, quo placuerit, modo, providete Statibus Mississippi et Alabamae.
Cur destruetur Louisiana ad fovendam alibi Ecclesiam, quae forsan
cum formari coeperit, similiter in foetu praefocabitur?
Sed attendant Eminent.ae Vestrae sequentibus observationibus.
Florida Episcopali Sede procul dubio indiget, sed huic, propter
propinquitatem annecti convenit Statum Alabamae, in quo nunc per-
pauci sunt Catholici, ferme omnes in oppido Mobiliensi. In Statu Mis-
sissippi, unica est cathol. cong., scilicet in civitate Matches, triginta ad
summum familiis constans. quae cum duorum solummodo dierum spatio
a Nov. Aurelia distet, facillime potest ab Ep.o istius urbis, vel ab ipsius
Vic.o gen. administrari. Praedictis duabus congregationibus, sive in
Notches, sive in Mobili jam provideram, optimo in utraque sacerdote
constituto. Quid amplius faciet Administrator Episcopali caractere
insignitus? Sed undenam ipse, non dicam dignitatis subsidium, sed
communem victum comparabit, cum hi duo sacerdotes aegre ab illis
catholicis sustentari possint?
Jam de erigenda Sede Floridiensi mecum pluries egit Sac. Cong.
Huic propositioni non solum annui, sed eam saeoius ipse suggesseram,
ut testantur varia scripta mea, quae in scriniis Sac. Cong, forsan asser-
vantur. Non ita pridem mentem meam aperui de variis ad hujus sedis
erectionem postulatis, et sacerdotem ad eam implendam proposui,
nempe R.um Enochum Fenwick Marylandiensem Soc. Jesu, alias Rev.-
issimi Arch. D.ni Joan. Carroll Vic. gen., nunc praesidem Collegii Geor-
giopolitani. His omnibus peractis, putabam finem mox illi negotio datum
iri ; sed mihi maximam admirationem fecit quod a Rev.mo Arch.o
Marechal nunc audio, nempe dubium Romae exortum fuisse utrum
Florida meae an Havanensi Sedi pertineret, cum constet in Bulla erec-
DOCUMENTS 219
tionis Sedis Neo Aurelian. (data 27 ap. 1793) earn ipsi, postulante
Hisp.ae Rege, ami expresso Havanensis Episcopi consensu, annexam
fuisse. Equidem post deditam Foederatis Statibus Louisianam, et
translatum ab ea Episcopum Hispanum D. de Penalver, Jussu Regis
Hispaniarum, Episcopus Havanensis utpote vicinior, jurisdictionem in
Floridas resumpserat, virtute, ut opinor, concordatorum inter illam co-
ronam et Sanctam Sedem, quibus sancitum est ne unquam Episcop.s
alienigenainullamHispaniDominii partem jus dicere valeat. Sed tandem
Floridis Americanae jam Foederationi unitis, renunciavit dictus praesul,
et suos ab eis sacerdotes retraxit. Nihil igitur remanet quod yel levis-
simo dubio locum dare queat, nihil quod erectionem illius Sedit debeat
remorari, cum ego, solus earum partium Ordinarius, ipsi toto corde as-
sentiam.
Rebus ita constitutis, supererit peragenda ulterior divisio meae
Dioecesis, in duas partes, Inferiorem scilicet et Superiorem Louisianam.
Jam, importunitatibus victus, consensum hue dederam, quern paulo post
retractavi. In hac ultima mentis dispositione, gravissimis fretus ra-
tionibus, persevero, nempe quia nondum consolidatis fundationibus
quas in utraque jacere coepi, praematura mihi videtur divisio et Reli-
gionis utilitati summe adversa. Haec in posteriori Epistola fusius ex-
plicavi, supplicans ut mihi daretur Coadjutor in partem immensi mei
laboris. Si his annuat Sac. Cong, spondeo ante quinque annos omnia
parata fore ad propositam divisionem, sin minus, certo sciat Sac. Cong,
omnia in confusionem casura.
Jam vos pro Coadjutore D. Brute Sacerdotem S.ti Sulpicii bene-
meritissimum postulaveram, verens ne D. Rosati, si ad illud munus
eligeretur, a regimine suae Soc. arceretur. Nunc autem quoniam ad
episcopatum iste jam nominatus est, peto ut posthabito D.o Brute Ipse
D. Rosati mihi Coadjutor assignetur, et simul Cong, suae praeesse per-
gat donee alius praesto sit, qui ipsi in hoc officio suffici valeat. Ita facili
negotio, omnia conciliabuntur. In Superori Louisiana residens D. Ro--
sati, quae suae Cong, et Seminarii sedes est, illam partem, Episcopali
auctoritate, meo nomine administrabit, simulque nascentem Societatem
suo sinu fovebit. Ego inferioris Louisianae praecipue curam gerens,
simul exiguo gregi Mississipiensi providere pergam ; demum Alabamae
et Floridarum Catholic! proprium Episcopum habebunt.
De D.nis Sibourd et Rossetti quorum mentionem pluries fecit Sac.
Congr. unum dicam : prior jam aetate provectus, et viribus fractus, poly-
pio insuper in naribus afflictus, Episcopatus laboribus penitus impar
evasit. Posterior nulla neque corporis nee animi dote, huic digmtati
unquam aptus f uit. Multo minus ex quo prorsus amens f actus est, quod
duobus retio annis summo omnium nostrum dolore et molestia evenit.
Post annum itegrum in illo deplorabili statu transactum, ratione partim
recuperata, non Religionis sensu, quem in amentia conspuerat, Mediola-
num sua sponte regressus est ubi eum incolumem appulisse precor.
220 DOCUMENTS
TRANSLATION
My Lord Cardinal : —
Being now in Baltimore, where I was called by most urgent affairs
concerning my Diocese,^ from the Archbishop just returned from
abroad, I have heard, to my heart's most grievous sorrow, that the S.
Congregation has appointed the Rev. Rosati to the administratorship,
with the title of Bishop, of the State of Alabama and Mississippi.^ As
I am far away from him, I know not what he will think when he re-
ceives this news* ; but I know full well what will surely be the conse-
- The object which induced Bishop Du Bourg to undertake this journey is
explained by him in a letter to Propaganda March 29, 1823. But before he started
even with his friends he was scarcely ever more explicit than he is here as to
his purpose. Thus, for instance, writing to Father Brute from St. Louis on July
6, he said : "We shall have the opportunity to converse os ad os, for affairs of the
highest importance will oblige me to visit your quarters this coming fall." (Orig-
inal in Catholic Archives of America, Notre Dame, Indiana. Case Bishops of Neiu
Orleans). In his letters to Rosati we find no allusion to this intended journey;
but, no doubt, the subject was discussed during the two visits made by the Bishop
to the Barrens during the summer. The trip commenced rather ominously. From
Bardstown, where he stopped a few days, Du Bourg wrote to Rosati on October
30: "So far I have had a most unpleasant trip; the roads were in a wretched
condition, and the weather was abominable for several days, a circumstance which
detained us three days in an inn. But it's an ill wind that blows no one good :
this rain gave the Ohio water enough for the steamboats to run. I am sailing to-
night for Wheeling, and, barring any mishaps, we expect to be in Baltimore some-
time between the loth and the 15th of November" (Archives of St. Louis Arch-
dioc. Chancery). It was, by the way, during this stay of Bishop Du Bourg in
Kentucky that for the first time was broached the subject of bringing to Missouri
a colony of Sisters of Loretto. Here is what the Bishop says of this project,
which was to come to realization the following year, on his trip back to tSt. Louis :
"I noticed the great use which the Bishop (Bishop Flaget) is making of the Sis-
ters, especially those of Father Nerinckx. And the thought came to my mind to
ask some of these Sisters for the Barrens. These nuns would be a treasure of
edification: they would teach the young girls and, moreover, they would supply
the seminary with clothes, and all this practically at no cost, for they also do some
farming. I did not wish to do anything without consulting you; if you wish to
have them, talk it over with your parishioners, and write to Father Nerincks. A
few buildings would have to be put up for them, but I think that the parish would
be glad to help you. The matter is worth thinking over. — Another great advan-
tage which would accrue from these holy women is that, as they would multiply,
we could find among them some for the domestic department of our colleges.
The Bishop has seven of them in his establishment of Bardstown."
3 The Brief appointing Father Rosati was issued August 13, 1822. It was
confided to the care of Archbishop Marechal, then in Rome, who was to forward
it, together with a number of other papers, to the Vicar Apostolic elect. It
reached the Barrens on November 20, almost two weeks before Bishop Du Bourg
heard of the appointment. Archbishop Marechal seems to have had a great deal
tot do, if not with Rosati's appointment, at least with the creation of the new
Vicariate Apostolic (See Manuscript Life of Rosati, quoted in Catholic Historical
Review, Vol. Ill, No. i, p. 13).
* We know Rosati's feelings from a letter written by him to Father Baccari,
V. G. of the C. M. at Rome the very next day after he received the Brief of his
appointment : "Yesterday evening I received your letters sent me through the
Archbishop ot Baltimore. The joy and delight first experienced on reading them
have given place to the greatest affliction, which assailed me on unfolding a
document from the S. Cong, of Propaganda despatched to me through the same
channel, notifying me that I have been appointed Bishop in partibus and Vicar
DOCUMExNTS 221
quence, if he accepts. It is the downfall, in all Louisiana, of the Con-
gregation of the Mission, which, under his care was beginning to
flourish nicely, and at the head of which no one, besides him, can be put
for the time being. It is the downfall of our Ecclesiastical Seminary,
our only hope for this immense country; and this downfall will bring
about the dispersion of excellently trained priests and of the pupils,
whom I had secured at so great a price. As to me, seeing my endeavors
frustrated, if I do not die of sorrow, I will at least languish in de-
spondency.° Oh ! Your Eminences ! What have you done ? Who ever
prompted you this advice to take from the poorest of Bishops the last
and only anchor of his hope? I had accepted the Episcopate only on
the condition that priests of the Congregation of the Mission would be
given me to help me. I got only two capable to build up that Congrega-
tion in my Diocese, Father De Andreis and Father Rosati. One was
taken away by death, and now you are depriving me of the other, when
I have consumed immense labors and a great deal of money for the
foundation of their Society. In one day are annihilated the fatigues
and efforts of seven years. It is all over: if that appointment takes
effect, there is nothing more for me to hope, nothing to attempt. De-
jected I shall sit, bemoaning the ruin of the edifice which, with the help
of God, my labors had begun to erect. But why should I not rather
hope that my most humble supplications and my abundant tears shall
move Your Eminences ? It gives me courage to think that, when there
was question in Rome of taking away from the Right Rev. Bishop of
Bardstown his only and main co-laborer. Father David, then destined
for the See of Philadelphia, the complaints of the venerable Prelate
were graciously heard : the S. Congregation changed their minds, and
the very man whom they had thought of taking from the Bishop was
Apostolic of the Territories of Mississippi and Alabama. That was "truly for
me a thunderbolt. I did not hesitate for a moment to resolve to refuse a burden
which is beyond my strength in every regard. To this end I warmly recommend
myself to you, in order that you may obtain that the Holy Father and His Emi-
nence Card. Consalvi grant me the favor of accepting my refusal." (Archives of
the Procurator General C. M., Rome. America, p. ii, Monsig. Rosati, pp. 31-32;
quoted in Catholic Historical Rcviezt.', Vol. HI, No .1, p. 14). The letters sent
through Archbishop Marechal, reached the Barrens before Du Bourg's letter
of December 3, which was mailed only after Dec. 6.
^ To Father Rosati Bishop Du Bourg wrote (December 3) : "I pray God to
direct you in your answer; but in my opinion all is lost in the whole of Louisiana
if the thing comes to effect. And, besides the damage caused to Religion, what
an injustice to me ! and what motive of despondency for all the Bishops ! God
preserve me from ever believing that this affair may be consummated ! Did I
believe it I would not go back to my Diocese, but I would go and tender my
resignation at the feet of the Pope" (Archives of St. Louis Archdioc, Chancery).
The thing, in so far as Rosati was concerned, was already settled : On November
26 the Bishop-elect had written to Card. Consalvi : "Knowing my strength, and
feeling it to be absolutely unequal to bear the burden of the Episcopate, I cannot
persuade myself that it is safe for me to assume it. Therefore, most instantly
do I pray and beseech Your Eminence to spare my infirmity and to have some-
body else appointetd to the government of the churches of Mississippi and Ala-
bama."
222 DOCUMENTS
given him as Coadjutor. And thus, thanks to the union of these two
men, the Diocese of Bardstown is flourishing more and more. Your
Eminences, you shall likewise, I trust, accede to my prayers. Behold me
prostrate at your feet, loudly moaning for the destruction of the daugh-
ter of my people : I shall not arise until you revoke this appointment.
Give me for Coadjutor that same Father Rosati, and provide any other
way you wish for the States of Mississippi and Alabama. Why should
Louisiana be sacrificed in favor of another Church which shall perhaps,
when it begms to take shape, be likewise ruthlessly strangled ?
At any rate, may it please Your Eminences to take into considera-
tion the following observations :
Florida, no doubt, needs an Episcopal See ; but to that State it will
be good to add, because of the nearness, the State of Alabama, in which
there are now very few Catholics, practically all in the town of Mobile.
In the State of Mississippi there is only one Catholic Congregation,
namely in the city of Matches; it consists of at most thirty families, and
as it is only two days from New Orleans, it may be very easily looked
after by the Bishop of this place, or by his Vicar General. As a matter
of fact, I had provided for the two aforementioned parishes, namely of
Natchez and of Mobile, by establishing in each of them an excellent
priest. What more may do an Administrator with Episcopal char-
acter? Nay, wherefrom will he get, I shall not say wherewith to up-
hold his dignity, but simple maintenance, when these two priests can
scarcely be supported by those Catholics ?*^
Several times already has the S. Congregation mentioned to me
the erection of a See in Florida. This proposal, not only did I consent
to, but in fact I had repeatedly suggested myself, as may be seen from
various letters of mine possibly preserved in the Archives of the S. Con-
gregation. Not long since I spoke quite plainly concerning several
things demanded for the erection of that See, and even proposed a can-
didate for it, namely the Rev. Enoch Fenwick, S.J., from Maryland,
former Vicar General of the Most Rev. Archbishop John Carroll, and
now President of the College of Georgetown. After having done all
this, I thought that this afifair was to be finished shortly ; but I am im-
mensely surprised to hear from Archbishop Marechal that doubts have
been raised at Rome as to whether Florida belonged to my Diocese or
to that of Havana. It is clear from the Bull of erection of the See of
New Orleans, in date of April 27, 1793, that Florida was annexed to
this See, at the request of the King of Spain, and zvith the express con-
sent of the Bishop of Havana. True, after the sale of Louisiana to the
United States, and the transfer from New Orleans of the Spanish
Bishop, the Right Rev. De Pefialver, the Bishop of Havana, being the
* On December 8, writing again to Father Rosati, the Bishop expressed him-
self somewhat more sharply on the same subject: "Truth to tell, I do not under-
stand anything in the decisions of Propaganda. It seems to them they need only
to appoint Bi';hops and to send them, without inquiring whether there are par-
ishes to receive and support them, and without providing them with any means,
even to work. What, pray, would you do as a Bishop in Mississippi and Ala-
bama, and what would become of you there?"
DOCUMENTS 223
nearest Bishop, resumed, by order of the King of Spain, jurisdiction
over Florida, by virtue, I suppose, of the Concordats between the Span-
ish Crown and the Holy See, whereby it is enactetd that no foreign
Bishop can ever have jurisdiction over any part of the Spanish Do-
minion. But when finally Florida was added to the United States, the
Bishop of Havana renounced his jurisdiction over it, and recalled his
priests who were there. There remains, therefore, no room for the
slightest doubt, no impediment capable of delaying the erection of that
See, inasmuch as I, the sole Ordniary of that territory, am giving my
hearty consent.
When this is settled, there will remain to effect the further division
of my Diocese into two parts, to wit: Lower and Upper Louisiana.
Already I hj-d, yielding to imortunities,^ given my consent to this divi-
sion ; shortly afterwards I retractetd it.^ Very grave reasons urge me to
remain in the latter disposition of mind, and the reason is that, as the
foundations I have startetd in both parts of the Diocese are not yet well
grounded, the division appears to me premature and most prejudicial
to the interests of Religion. These motives I explained at length in my
last letter,^ begging that a Coadjutor be given me to share in my im-
mense labors. If this request is granted by the S. Congregation, I
promise that within five years everything will be in shape for this
intended division ; but should my request be turned down, the Sacred
Congregatioi ■ may consider it as certain that everything will be thrown
into confusion.
In a former letter I asked that Father Brute, a Sulpician priest of
the highest merit, be given me for Coadjutor,^" as I was afraid that if
Father Rosati were appointetd he would be taken away from the supe-
riorship of his society. But now that he has already been designated
for the Episcopate, I ask that he be given the preference over Father
Brute for the Coadjutorship,^^ and may continue at the same time to
"^ It must be confessed that Du Bourg's letter of February 8, 1822 (St. Louts
Catholic Historical Review, Vol. II, p. II. p. 148 foil.), does not leave the im-
pression he was then "yielding to importunities." His words are worth recalling:
"As to the erection of another See in the City of St. Louis. Missouri, no one
certainly can be nleased with it and desire it more than myself (nulli certe mazis
quam ntihi ipsi arridere et in votis esse debet), as it means for me relief from
immense labors and cares. Still, there is one reason why I delay asking at once
for it namely, the most earnest desire I have to free from all debts and obliga-
tions certain quite extensive properties which I have bought as an endowment
for that See: I trust that. God helping, I may within a year reach this happy
goal. When this is accomolished. I .shall most eladlv res'gn this part of my solici-
tude into the hands of the Sovereien Pontiff (libentissitiie tunc partem illam
meae solicitiidinis in inanus Sttmmt, Pontificis resignabo) , hesitating at no sacri-
fice in order. . . ."
* We do not know when this change of views was manifested the first time;
it was pointed out above that the Prelate wrote again in that sense from St. Louis
in the first days of September.
9 The one just alluded to in the preceding Note (September, 1822).
1° When this proposal was made to Rome, we do not know, but we do know
from the Bishop's letters to Brute, that he was anxious to have him come west.
^^ In view of this and of the many proposals made to Rome at different
times in regard to the Coadjutorship since the question was first agitated, one
224 DOCUMENTS
be Superior of his Congregation until someone else may take his place
in this office. This is an easy way of reconciling every interest. Father
Rosati, residing in Upper Louisiana, where are the headquarters of his
Congregation and the Seminary, will administer, in my name, with Epis-
copal authority, that portion of the Diocese, while at the same time he
will foster the progress of the infant society. I, on the other hand,
shall principally take care of Lower Louisiana, and continue to provide
for the little flock in Mississippi ; finally, the Catholics of Alabama and
Florida will have their own Bishop.
Touching Fathers Sibourd and Rosetti, who were repeatedly men-
tioned by the S. Congregation I have only this to say : The former, who
is now advanced in years and infirm, is, moreover, afflicted by a polyp
of the nose, so that he has become quite incapable to stand the work of
the Episcopate. As to the latter,^- he never had the bodily and mental
qualifications fitting one for that dignity. Still less since he has become
insane, a calamity which, to the extreme sorrow and annoyance of us all,
occurred two years ago. After one full year of this deplorable con-
dition, as he recevored partly his reason, but not the sense of Religion,
which in his period of madness he had cursed, he determined to return
to Milan, where, I trust, he arrived safely.
cannot helo feeling the good Bishop was slighlty overstating the truth when he
wrote to Rosati from Washington on February 6, 1823 : "The ill-wind will blow
us some good, if all these transactions bring you to the point whither I have been
— unknown to you — working steadily to lead you. I then received a formal re-
fusal; no motives were alleged. . . . Your actual promot'on cannot but end
as I desire." (Original in Archives of St. Louis Archdioc. Chancery).
12 See St. Louis Catholic Historical Review. Vol. II, No. i. p. 50. Note 4;
also above, Letter XXIX; already from St. Louis, two months before, October i,
Bishop Du Eourg had written (we have only a short excerpt from this letter
taken in 1882 by Father Van der Sanden : this is the reason why we have not
assigned to these few lines a place and number apart in the correspondence) :
"To discharge this office (of Coadjutor^ the Rev. L. Sibourd is now too old and
broken down. As to Father Rossetti. from Milan, thefact that the Sacred Cn-
gation has tvnce already proposed him to me as Coadjutor is clear enough evi-
dence that this priest is verv little known to it. Indeed, besides being disgraced
by a deformity of body which would make the mere sight of hjm an object of
ridicule to our Americans, he is woefully devoid of all culture, either profane or
ecclesiastical, and incapable to speak either French or English. But, what is still
worse, two years ago. to the extreme sorrow and annoyance of us all, he became
completely insane believing he was the king of England, and forgetful of all rules
of decency and Religion. Finally, after a whole year spent in this deplorable con-
dition, as he partly recovered his reason, he wished to go back tojiis native coun-
try, where I hope he must, a*^ the time of this writing, have arrived safely." In
Catholic Historical Rcricw (Vol. III. No. i, p. 10) , part of this letter was quoted
and assigned the date October i, 1821 ; this is a misprint, and should be read 1822.
INDEX.
Aelen, H. G., SJ., Rev., 89, 90.
Allouez, Father, 57.
American Cath. Hist. Society, 32.
Apalaches, 59.
Arkansas Indians, 119.
Arkansas Post, 7, 14, 114.
Arkansa River, 1 14-122.
Arsenal Island, 199.
Bailey's Creek, 163, 180.
Balize, 59.
Bancroft, 191.
Barnevilles, 19.
Barrow, Rev. William, 184.
Bartman, Mr., 158.
Barrens, 7.
Barry's Settlement, 163.
Baccari, Father, 64.
Bashford, James W., 187, 190.
Baudouin, Pere, 59.
Bayou La Fourche, La., 128.
Belcour, Mr., 61.
Bernard de Limpach, 121.
Bible Society, 18-25.
Bienville, Gov., 117, 120.
Bigeschi, Father, 128.
Biloxi, 116-120.
Blanchet Bishop, 195.
Bolton, Herb. E., 126.
Booneville, 163.
Bouillier, Rev., 14.
Boulenger, Pere, 59.
Brickwedde, Father, 94.
Brown, Edward, 29.
Bouhl, James, Rev., 116.
Brunner, James, Rev., 176.
Bruns, Bernard, Dr., 158, 160.
Brute, Simon, Bishop, 91.
Brute, Simon, Father, 21.
Buschotts, James, S.J., Rev., 162,
176, 180.
Burbus, Franklin Co., 163.
Cadet Creek, 163.
Cahokia, 199.
Cahokias, 59.
Caldwell, Billy, 89.
Calhoun Secretary, 69.
Capuchins, 58-59.
Carondelet, 30, loi.
Catholic Citizen, The, 206.
Catlin, George, 191.
Cecile, Pere, 59.
Champigny, Chev., 121.
Chapitoulas, 59.
Charlevoix, 120.
Chichipe-Outipe, 91, 92.
Chissemenitu, 63.
Chittenden & Richardson, 195.
Chopoweck Nation, 186.
Chouteau Cyprian, 84.
Francis, 80-84.
Frederick, 84.
Claessens, Brother, 160.
Clark, General, 181-190.
Clark, William, Gov., 76.
Colucci, C. M., Father, 45.
Columbia, Boone Co., 113.
Columbia River, 186.
Compagnie des Indes, 117, 118.
Condamine, Rev., 14, 188.
Connor, Jer., 6.
Consalvi, Cardinal, 211, 213, 214, 21D.
Coosmans, Father, 179.
Cote des Allemands, 1 14-122.
Cote-Sans dessein, 157, 160, 163, 165,
166.
Cotting, James. S.J., Rev., 162, 174,
175-
Cottonwood Creek, 31.
Creoles, 17, 114.
Dablon, Father, 208.
Dalles, 191.
Davion, Father, 199.
De Andreis, 6, 62, 64, 66.
D'Arensbourg, Karl F., 118-121.
Dauphine Island, 116, 120.
De Barat, 71.
Deiler, Hanno, 1 14-122.
De Nekere, Leo, 7-1 1.
De La Croix, Charles, Rev., 157.
Delor Deterchet, 30.
De Smet, Peter, S.J., Rev., 71, 89,
160, 194, 195, 196.
De Theux, Theodore, S.J., Rev., 161.
De Tonty, Mr., 199.
De Maillet, 71.
Diary of Sisters of St. Joseph, lOl.
Didier, 61.
Dirckx, Peirre, lor.
Disoway, S. P., 189.
Donnelly, Rev., 17.
D'Outerleau, Pere, 59.
Droste, Msgr., 151.
Du Bourg and Biblical Soc, 18.
Caroline de Sainte, Marie,
203.
Louis, Bishop, 5. 12, 18, 19,
20, 22, 43, 46, 49, 51, 61, 62, 66,
68, 69, 70, 71, 85, 128, 130, 132, 136,
141, 144, 145. 147, 148. 193. 199,
(225)
226
INDEX
211, 213, 214, 216.
Marie, 203.
Philip, 204.
Dudemaine, Dufresne, 119.
Dunand, Jos., 5.
Dussaussoy, Rev., 13.
Dwyer, Charles, 164.
Edwardsville, 13.
Ehernsberger, Andrew, Rev., 176.
Eisvogels, A., S.J., Rev., 88, 95, 160,
176.
Elet, John, 71.
S.J., Rev., 13.
Elias, Mr., 117.
Engages, 115-119.
English Sermon, 5-17.
Turn, 114.
Ercolani, Augustine M., 44.
Evans, Mrs. Gertrude, 161, 174.
Favorcs Celestiales, 126.
Fennewald, Mr., 158 .
Fenwick, Edward, Bishop, 68.
Fislier, P. J., Rev., 16.
Flaget, Bishop, 60, 61.
Florissant, 72.
Flynn, Rev., 5.
Fontana, Cardinal, 43, 46, 70, 132,
134, 136, 141, 144, 145, 147, 148.
Fort Chartres, 57.
St. Louis, 57.
French Sermon, 5, 17.
Village, 163, 165, 166.
Gallagher, Hugh, Rev., 104.
Garesche, Juliette McLane, 204.
Garraghan, Gilbert, S.J., Rev., 77, 36,
125, 182.
Gaspard, Pere, 59.
Geisberg, Mr., 158, 161.
German Coast, 114, 122.
Creoles, 114, 122.
Engages, 117, 121.
Names, 122.
Sermon, 14.
Gibbons, Cardinal, 203.
Gidding Salmon, 11.
Goeldlin, John Baptist, Rev., 176, 177.
Gramatica, M., 158.
Gravier, 57.
Griffin, Martin I. J., 18.
Guilday, Peter, Dr., 32.
Guimereau, Pere, 59.
Guenne, Pere, 59.
Haar, Henry, Mr., 167, 168.
Haarville Cole Co., 168, 170, 171, 172.
Halwyl, Capt., 115.
Hamilton, Alexander, 205.
George, Rev., 17.
Hancock Prairie, 163.
Haydel Family, 122.
Helias Ferdinand, B.M.G., Rev., 158
to 182.
in Westphalia, 157.
missionary excursions, 163.
at Haarville, 170.
Henry Reed's Settlement, 163.
Hesse, Mr., 158.
Hibernia, 163.
Hite, Hans J., Baron, 97.
George, Capt., 97.
Thos., Col., 97.
Sister M., 97.
Hobbins, Mary McLane, 204.
Hoecken, Rev. Chas., S.J., 90, 94, 157,
164.
Holweck, F. G., Rev., 17, 36, 75.
Huguenin, 202.
Hunt, Ann L., 61.
Hyacinthe Pere, 59.
Ignace, Young, 187.
Indian Bottom, 171, 172.
Indian Territory, 91.
Indian Tribes —
Arkansas, 119.
Cherokee, 84.
Chickasaw, 84.
Chippewa, 84.
Choctaw, 84.
Creeks, 84.
Delawares, 84, 183.
Flat-Head, 183 to 197.
Foxes, 84.
Iriquois, 187.
Kansas, 76.
Kaskaskias, 88.
Illinois, 65.
lowas, 83, 84.
Kickapoos, 84.
Miamis, 84.
Missourians, 84.
Nez-Perce, 183 to 197.
Omahas, 84.
Osage, 65.
Otoes, 84.
Piankshaws, 88.
Peorias, 88.
Pawnees, 84.
Pottawatomies, 84, 91.
Quapaws, 75.
Seminoles, 84.
Senecas, 84.
Shawnees,-84.
Tamarois, 199.
Tete-Plattes, 185, 186.
Weas, 88.
INDEX
227
Wyandotts, 185.
Inglesi, Angelo, Rev., 199, 200.
Irving, Washington, 204.
Jackson, General, 24.
Jamison, Rev., 15.
Janin, Rev., 5.
Jeanjean, Rev., 14.
Jefferson City, 157, 163, 164, 165, 166,
170, 175.
Jesuits, 58.
Flemish, 14, 17.
Johnston, Jos., Gen., 205.
Kahokia, 6, 13.
Kaiser, Mr., 158.
Karer, Capt., 115.
Karlstein, 119.
Kaskaskia Mission, 57.
Kassmar, Wencelaus, Brother, 176.
Kearney, Col., 89.
Kelly, Father, 104.
Kenny, Lawrence, S.J., Rev., 27, 31.
Kenrick, P. R., Bishop, 16, 17, 175,
179, 180, 203.
Kenrick Seminary, 202.
Kickapoos, 87.
Kino, P., S.J., Rev., 12b.
Kochendorfer, Dan., Bro., 176.
Koeltztown. 178, 179.
Kohlmann, Anthony, S.J., 71.
Kolks, Mr., 158.
Kuppens, F., S.J., Rev., 194.
Lac des Allemands, 116.
La Charente, 118.
Lacroix, Father, 65, 66, 71, 86.
La Garonne, 117.
La Gironde, 117.
La Harpe, Manager, 119.
La Loire, 117.
La Marie, 117.
La Mousse, Ignace, 188.
La Alutine, 118.
La Platte, 118.
La Sanone, 118.
La Seine, 117.
La Venus, 117.
Law, John, 114, 119.
Lay Creek, 163.
Leavenworth Camp, 78, 81, 84, 87, 157.
Lebeau, Mrs., 14.
LeDromadaire, 117.
Lefevre, P. P., 15, 16.
L'Elephant, 117.
Leopoldine Association, 173.
Le Profond, 117.
Lej Deux Freres, 116, 117.
Le Traversier, 117.
Levens, Mr., 119.
Lewis, Mcrriwether, 188.
Liberty, 87, 95.
Linn, 180.
Linneman, Gasper Anthony, 157.
Mary, 157.
Lisle, Benjamin, 159.
Lisle-town, 159.
Litra, Cardinal, 45.
Little Rock, 74.
Loisel, Regis, Rev., 12, 13.
Loose Creek, 162, 171, 177.
Lucida, Sister M., loi.
Lutz J. A., Rev., 14, 17, 75, 76, 83.
McLane, Allen, Col., 204.
Catholic daughters of, 204.
Louis, 204.
Robert, 204.
McNair, Dunnay, Mr., 80, 83.
Manchester, St. Louis Co., 163,
Maries River, 157, 158.
Marquette, Pierre, Rev., 57.
Mass, First in St. Louis, 199.
Martinsville, 163.
Mathias, Pere, 59.
Maximin, Pere, 59.
Maxwell, Rev., 5.
Maynard, Mr., 117.
Mazelli, Brother, 89.
Meinkmann, Rev. Henry, 157.
Mercier, Pere, 59.
Miami s, 86, 88.
Miege, John, S.J., Bishop, 95.
Mik's, George, 89.
Mills, Samuel L, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25.
Missionary, Petrified body of, 207.
Missions of Central Missouri, 157.
Michaud, Father, 66, 67.
Missouri Centennial, 207.
Missions from St. Louis, 57.
Monica, Sister, 112.
Moniteau Crock, 171, \7-£.
Montigny, Father, 199.
Montmorenci, Matthew, Duke, 200,
202.
Duchess, 202, 203.
Loan, 200.
Morris, Brother, 159.
Mount, Pleasant, 163.
Murphy, Rev. P., 165.
Nacke, Mr., 155.
Natchez, 58, 59.
Neale, Archbishop, 60.
Nerinckx, Charles, Rev., 71.
New BesanCon, 166.
New Franklin, 163.
New Madrid, 74.
New Orleans, 18, 20, 59, 114, 122.
New Westphalia, 162.
First Mass, 162.
Niederkorn, William, Rev., 176.
228
INDKX
Niel, Francis, Rev., 6, 9.
Nieters, Herman, 163.
O'Neil, Scannell, 100, 204.
Odin, John M., Rev., 7, 15, 65, 66, 69,
74, 200.
Okassaweita, Petro, 188.
Omaha, Neb., 103.
Olivier, Don., Rev., 5.
Oostagleave, Ignatio, 188.
Osages, 65, 66, (ij.
Osage Village, 75.
Ottawas, 83, 88.
Ouabache River, 58.
Palladino, C. B., S.J., Rev., 187, 195.
Palatinate, 115, 116.
Pambrun, Pierre, 190.
Parker, Samuel, Rev., 190.
Pedicini, Msgr., 44, 51, 52.
Pelagaud, Mgr., 186.
Penalver, Bishop, 5.
Penicaut, 60, 117.
Peter, Left Handed, 187.
Phillippe, Pere, 59.
Philip, P., O. M., Capp., 120.
Petit, Pere, 59, 90, 91, 95.
Philibert, Pere, 59.
Pilot's Grove, 163, 172.
Pimeteoui Lake, 57.
Pine Bluff, 74.
Pise, Father, 15.
Plattsburg, 87, 95.
Poisson, Father, 59, 208.
Portefaix, 118.
Portland, Mo., 163.
Post of Arkansas, 75.
Pottawatomie Creek, 90.
Mission, 95.
Prairie a Catalan, 31.
Prairie du Rocher, 57.
Prairie du Chien, 75.
Prasneg, Joseph, Brother, 176.
Pratte, 61.
Primm, Judge Wilson,
Prud'homme, 16.
Quapaw Indians, 75.
Raphael, Pere, V.G., 59.
Ravalli, Father, 196.
Red Church, 120, I2i.
Reed's Settlement, Henry, 163.
Richard, Gabriel, Rev., 68.
Richfountain, 167, 168, 171, 176, 177,
Riviere aux Liards, 32.
Riviere des Peres, 199.
Rocheport, 163.
Rocky Mountains, 186, lOi.
Ronan, P., 195.
Rondot, Rev., 14.
Rosati, Bishop, 6, 14, 30, 32, 64, 74,
76, 17, I57» 160, 161, 167, 183, 185,
187, 201, 202.
Rosetti, John Mary, Rev., 50.
Rostelli, Settimo, Rev., 45.
Rothensteiner, John, Rev., 96, 123.
Roux, Benedict, Rev., 185, 186, 14.
St. Charles Parish 116, 122.
St. Cyr, Father, 89.
St. Genevieve, 57, 61.
St. Isidore, 180.
St. John the Baptist Parish, 116. 122.
St. John Facemaz, Mother, loi.
St. Joseph, Mo., 91.
St. Louis Diocesan Library, 201.
St. Louis Republic, 29, 30.
St. Louis University, 75, 159.
St. Mary's Chapel, St. Louis, 14.
St. Mary's Church, St. Louis, Mo.,
16.
St. Mary's Creek, 90, 159,
St. Patrick's Day, 6.
St. Thomas' Church, 178.
St. Thomas, Mo., 171, 172.
Salpointe, J. B., Rt. Rev., lOi, 113.
San Diego, 105.
Sans-Nerf, 65, 66.
Sarpy, 61.
Saulnier, Edmund, Rev., 7, 11, 31,
76, 183, 186, 201, 202.
Savine, Rev., 5.
Schon, E. W., 190.
Schlechter, Nicholas, S.J., Rev., 162.
Schlienger, Brother, 176.
Schroeder, Mr., 158.
Schultz, John, 176.
Schmidt, Michael, Bro., 176.
Schwarze, Mr., 158.
Sedella de Anthony, Rev., 18, 24, 25.
Sidney, 103.
Smargd Rock, 119.
Smedts, J. B., S.J., Rev., 71, 116.
Smith, Rev. Mr., 19, 199.
Sothui Indians, 119.
Souel, Pere, 59.
South Bend, 88.
Souvay, Charles, CM., Rev., 25, 36.
Sicardi, Father, 63.
Spaulding, Rev. H H. 184.
Sugar Creek, 85, 88, 90, 91.
Sutter, Capt., 160.
Swiss Soldiers, 117, 119.
Tallon, Patrick W., Msgr., 27.
Resolutions, 29.
Tamarois, 59.
Tannrath, J. J., Msgr., 27, 29.
Taos, 168, 172, 176.
Tartarin, Pere, 59.
INDEX
229
Thaumer, Pere, 59, I99-
Theonella, Sister, 97.
Theodore, Pere, 59.
Timon, Bishop, 8, 12, 15, 74.
James, 8, 12.
Troxler, Jacob, 122.
Tucson, loi, 108.
Urbain, Guillet O., Cist., 5.
Ulloa, Gov, 118.
Van Asshe, Jodocus, 71.
Van de Velde, S.J, Rev, 14, I73, 175-
Van der Straten, Pantholz, Baron,
180.
Van Lommel, P., S.J., I4-
Van Mierlo, Henry, Rev., 176.
Van Quickenborne, S.J., Rev. 17, 71,
73. 75, 85, 159- ,
Van Rensselaer, Father, 195.
Vasquez, Baronet, T;, 78.
Verhaegen, Peter J., S.J., Rev., 14, I7,
71, 87, 90, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161,
162, 164, 165, 166, 193.
Verrcydt, Felix, L., S.J., Rev., ^\, 89,
164.
Vest Senator, 195, 196.
Vide Poche, 7, 13, 30, 3i-
Vienna, 179, 180.
Village Allemand, 59.
Vivier, Father, S.J., 59, 62.
Victorin, Pere, 59.
Walker, William, Jr, 189.
Walsh, Peter, 8.
Walters, Cornelius, Rev., 157.
W^ard, George, 164.
Washington, Franklin Co., 161, 163.
Weber, Simon, Rev., 127, 176.
Westerman, Mr., 158.
Western Co., 114.
Wesphalia, Mo, 157, 160, I75, 176,
177-
White Marsh, 71.
White Plume, 75, 79, 80, 82, 83.
Whitman, Marcus, 185, 192.
Willcox, Joseph, 205.
Withnell, John, Mr., 163, 164 .
Wohler, Casper, Brother, 176.
Wyeth, John, 191.
Zellerhofif family, 158.
Zweig (La Branche), 122.
CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION
3 0311 00156 4157
'
BX
SOI .S26
1920
V
.2
St.
. Louis
Catholic
hi
Btoirica
1
review.
157