St Mary of the Angels Grand Prairie NE

8/3/2019 St Mary of the Angels Grand Prairie NE

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NEGenWeb Project

Church/Catholic

Franciscans

Activity of the Friars Outside of Columbus, NE

Chapter VIII

St. Mary of the Angels, Grand Prairie Township

The Mother Parish of All German Parishes in Platte County

THE LAY OF THE LAND

The church of St. Mary's is located about four and one-half miles southeast of Humphreyin the township of Grand Prairie, Platte county, Nebraska. Grand Prairie, until about 1872, wascalled "Stearns Prairie", after Mr. O. E. Stearns. The latter, according to I. N. Taylor, settled inthe year 1869, about two miles east of the present St. Mary's church. Mr. Stearns established astore there, followed it with a hotel, and was soon made postmaster of the settlement. Within theyear he was joined by the Regan Brothers and Mr. John Peter Braun, the first Catholic settlers inthe vicinity. Mr. Robert Gentleman, from Canada, was another pioneer Catholic settler.

TAYLOR'S DESCRIPTION OF "STEARNS PRAIRIE"

Mr. I. N. Taylor, the first historian of Platte county, writing in "The ColumbusRepublican" in 1875, described Stearns Prairie as follows: "The prairie has properly taken thename of the original settler, not only from the fact of the first settlement, but from theprominence of this twin sister hill, overlooking the vast area of 100 square miles, and visiblefrom every quarter for a long distance, as also from the record of the proprietor, which is notunworthy of the designation. This prairie is a part of the plain stretching from Shell Creek toTracy Creek, with surface so level that a railroad might be laid along the entire divide withscarcely a cut or a fill. The soil is a deep chocolate loam, underlaid with calcareous clay. It hasalready (1875) become notorious for its fine crops of wheat.

"As to improvements, it is a vast chess board, the even sections or square miles beingcolored, chiefly black by the plow, and the odd ones being railroad land, remaining in theirnative green or brown. At first thought one might complain that half of this great wide expanseshould be out of the reach of the homesteader, and owned by a railroad corporation. But onsecond thought it is plain, that but for the railroad these homesteads would not be here at all, or if here, so distant from all markets that they could scarcely subsist, much less have the blessings of various luxuries, frequent news, and the means of progress." (This article was signed "Eyentee",which was the author's unique way of signing himself--I. N. Taylor.)

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THE FIRST CATHOLIC SETTLER

The first Catholic German settler in Grand Prairie was John Peter Braun, who was born inGermany and immigrated to Wisconsin in 1848, settling about six miles south of Milwaukee,where he purchased twenty acres of land. In 1861 he moved to Dane county, where he hadpurchased 80 acres. About fall (1869) he came to Platte county, settling in Grand Prairie, whichwas then still called "Stearns Prairie". Here he homesteaded and took a timber claim, was one of the organizers of the first parish for German-speaking Catholics in Platte county, and, with hiswife, donated liberally to the support of the church, and, in his influential position, did muchgood until his death, A. D. 1893. Rev. Edmund Roediger, O. F. M., onetime pastor of St. Mary's,called Mrs. J. P. Braun "The greatest benefactress of the parish". Their children, Joseph, Hubertand John, Jr., also deserve mention in the chronicle of the parish.

FIRST TRACES OF CATHOLIC WORSHIP

In the aggregation of people settling in Stearns Prairie, there were about sixteen families,of German, Austrian and Dutch extraction. Most of these people, who spoke German, hadmigrated first to Dane county, Green Bay, etc., in Wisconsin, and thence to their Nebraska home,mostly situated about eighteen miles or more from Columbus. Pursuant to the encouragement of Fathers F. Uhing, of West Point and John Bernard, of Forest City and St. Patrick's on ShellCreek, respectively, both energetic early Nebraska missionaries and often mentioned in thishistory, the German Catholic settlers, at the urging of Rev. F. Uhing, were finally called togetherat the home of Augustine Wieser, for the purpose of building a church. One meeting had beenheld at the Wieser home and another at John Peter Braun's residence. Augustine Wieser andWilliam Eimers each of-

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Rev. Meinolph Schmitz, O. F. M.




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(1) Old St. Mary's Church, Humphrey P. O.;(2) Interior of Second St. Mary's Church;(3) Exterior of Second St. Mary's Church

Rev. Valentine Dorenkemper, O. F. M.

Rev. Anselm Puetz, O. F. M. Rev. Joseph Unger

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fered a strip of ten acres. Wieser offered the identical ground on which the present Tarnovchurch stands. A wealthy French settler, John B. Senecal, who was present at the secondmeeting, offered a ten-acre plot and, an extra $100. When asked whether the $100 meant over

and above what he had already, subscribed, he affirmed the question. Thereupon, J. P. Braunwithdrew his offer, believing that 10 acres and $200 was too big a donation. After considerableparley, the Wm. Eimer site was accepted. A building committee composed of Messrs. John P.Braun, Wm. Eimers and Inatz (sic) Zach was appointed to take charge of the church to beerected.

THE FIRST PARISHIONERS




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In checking over the number of people that lived in the territory of the proposed church,the committee found the following families, all of whom became the first parishioners of St.Mary's:

J. P. Braun, Augustine Wieser, Ignats Zach, John Pfeifer, Mrs. Mary Pfeifer, MatthewFuchs, William Elmers, Leonard Widhalm, Paul Faber, Frank Pfeifer, Anton Pfeifer, WilliamTieskoetter, Richard Olmer, Timothy Tracy, J. B. Senecal, Mr. Kiloran, Robert Gentleman, I.Veith.

Several Iowans aided in building the church by sending money, while still residents of theHawkeye state. They included:

Henry Scheidemantel, Henry Kraemer, Wm. Kraemer, Bernard Konert, Frederick Unger,Joseph Kraemer, Henry Lohaus, Joseph Wemhoff, Mrs. Pleischer.

All of the above mentioned people finally settled in Stearns Prairie and attachedthemselves to St. Mary's parish with the exception of the Kraemers and Mrs. Pleischer. Thebuilding of the church was agreed upon in 1874, but that summer brought the first devastation bythe grasshoppers. By this and the lack of money the building was delayed until the followingyear.

CONDITIONS OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

An important meeting was held on March 22, 1875, and soon after, the structure wascommenced. Strict rules were laid down by the first parishioners. Some of them were: Everylandowner and settler had to give a note, payable in two installments, and drawing a ten per centinterest charge, if allowed to become overdue.

Everybody who desired to call St. Mary's his parish had to make a contribution.

Everyone had to buy a lot in the cemetery.

"He who does not contribute to the priest's salary loses his church membership. If the willof the people designates that everyone must donate money for one or another necessity, everyparishioner must contribute."

"Manual work and teaming must be done by all families, and divided as evenly aspossible."

The voice of the parishioners in assembly is all-powerful, and when a quorum of twentywas present, the entire church membership is bound by the decisions. All movements of a largernature must be voted upon and passed at a regular or special meeting. The following is the listsubscription to the church fund:

John Peter Braun $ 100




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Ignatz Zach 20

Leonard Widhalm 16

Frank Pfeifer 5

Matthaeus Fuchs 16

Mrs. Mary Pfeifer 8

J. B. Senecal 5

Richard Olmer 8

August Wieser 60

Paul Faber 15

Turner's Bank, Columbus 20

Wm. Tieskoetter 5

John Pfeifer 8

(Timothy) Tracy 10

Mr. Kiloran 5

Various contributions 35

THE BUILDING IS COMMENCED

Despite the ruinous visit of the grasshoppers and the loss of a portion of the crop theprevious summer, the church was ordered to be started in June, 1875. A contract was then madefor lumber. Accordingly, the committee on building made a trip to Columbus and bought lumberamounting to $340. Three hundred dollars of this was paid in cash and a note given for the.remainder. There was then $125 left in the treasury.

The settlers all helped to haul the lumber to the new site. John Pfeifer laid the brick foundation and John P. Braun commenced on the frame work. Mr. Glassbrenner, a carpenter,was secured and lodged gratis in the home of John P. Braun. Mr. Glassbrenner agreed to do thework for his board and also wages amounting to $105. When the building was already partly up,several of the parishioners objected that the structure was being built on too low ground. So greatwas the murmur that the 'building was moved about a hundred steps to the south and therecompleted. Work was finished late in the fall of 1875 and the new church named "St. Mary's of the Angels". Rev. Fr. Ryan, Rev. F. Schulack, S. J., Fr. Uhing and John Bernard (later known asFr. Alexius, O. F. M.) held services at intervals. The building committee consisted of John P.Braun, Augustine Wieser and Ignatz Zach.

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DIFFICULTY OF OBTAINING A GERMAN PASTOR




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At first, Fr. Ryan of Columbus held services in the new church, but he was aware that theparishioners greatly desired a pastor speaking their own language. After the first great difficultyof gathering enough to build a House of God, there remained no less a difficulty in securing theservices of a German pastor. Such priests were exceedingly rare in Nebraska at that time. Anappeal was even directed to the Holy Father in Rome, by Mr. J. B. Braun. Meanwhile St. Mary'swas visited occasionally by Revs. O. Groenebaum of Omaha, Rev. J. Bernard and Rev. Schulack (Sulac), S. J., of Chicago, Illinois. The Bishop of Omaha, Rt. Rev. James O'Connor, a man of apostolic zeal, did all in his power to supply shepherds to his rapidly increasing flock. Hisgreatest task was obtaining pastors from various countries of the world for congregationsspeaking chiefly some foreign language. Priests for the Germans, Bohemians and Poles wereexceedingly hard to get.

FRANCISCAN VICTIMS OF THEKULTURKAMPF COME TO THE RESCUE

The rector of St. Mary Magdalene's Church, in Omaha, Fr. Otto Groenebaum, called theBishop's attention to the fact that many Franciscan victims of the Kulturkampf in Germany, hadsought refuge in the United States, going chiefly to Illinois. The Bishop immediately applied tothem (probably in 1876) in behalf of his German and Polish flocks. Accordingly, the Very Rev.Commissary Provincial of the Franciscans in America, Fr. Mauritius Klostermann, O. F. M., of Teutopolis, Illinois, inspected several sites including Fremont, but selected Columbus as thelocation for the Franciscan monastery. At the end of January, 1877, two of their number, Frs.Ambrose Janssen and Anselm Puetz, were sent by the Commissary Provincial Mauritius toNebraska, and Fr. Ambrose arrived at Columbus in the beginning of February, 1877. He took charge of the Germans there as well as of Stearns Prairie.

THE FIRST FRANCISCAN PASTOR ATTENDS

Fr. Otto Groenebaum had just obtained permission to take a trip to Europe to visit his agedparents and Bishop O'Connor delegated Fr. Groenebaum to visit Bohemia and induce priests andtheological students to immigrate and labor in the Nebraska field, where many Bohemians hadsettled.

Fr. Anselm was placed in temporary charge of St. Mary Magdalene's church, Omaha, fromFebruary 2 until about the middle of July. During his administration of the Omaha parish, Fr.Ambrose made several trips to the German church in Stearns Prairie and read Mass there for thefirst time on Ash Wednesday, February 14, 1877; March 14, April 8, and May 6. Fr. SebastianCebulla, O. F. M., is also mentioned as a visiting priest. On May 15, 1877, Fr. Anselm Puetzheld divine service.

THE FIRST REGULAR PASTOR

When Fr. Groenebaum, in July, 1877, returned from Europe, Fr. Anselm Puetz, O. F. M.,was appointed regular pastor of St. Mary's. A youthful and vigorous man, with bubbling zeal, heset about to cement the parts of a promising parish. Already in 1878, he enlarged the miniature




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church on the east side, adding a sanctuary with a turret, a room for the priest and a sacristy, thusdoubling its size and making it resemble a church. This improvement cost about $750. In themonth of November, 1878, Bishop O'Connor came to Platte county and St. Mary's of the Angelschurch was visited. The Sacrament of Confirmation was administered there for the first time. Fr.Anselm kept a record of finances. His report from July, 1877, to the first of the year, 1879 is asfollows:

RECEIPTS

Sunday collections $ 64.17

Pew rent 46.75

Cemetery lots and graves 68.42

By notes 66.42

Pew rent 25.00

Contributions for pastor 242.00Total receipts $512.76

EXPENDITURES

Salary of pastor $209.00

Sundries 143.66

Total expenditures $352.66

Fr. Anselm was an excellent manager, speaker and singer. Years later (about 1910), thekind old man was induced by Rev. Eugene O. F. M., to write his Reminiscences, and to them we

take the reader for the next several paragraphs, knowing that they will be very acceptable andfull of interest.

REMINISCENCES OF REV. P. ANSELM PUETZ, O. F. M.

"Already during my stay in Omaha in the summer of 1877, acting as pastor of St. MaryMagdalene's parish during Rev. Otto Groenebaum's absence in Europe, I had now and then beenin Columbus and vicinity. Thereafter the parish of German farmers in Stearns' Prairie, 18 milesnorth of Columbus, was assigned to me. At first these people had services twice a month,

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soon, three times, and finally, every Sunday and Holy day. On the intervening Sunday I rode inthe stage coach to Madison county, 35 miles north of Columbus, to an Irish settlement calledBattle Creek at the confluence of Battle Creek and the Elkhorn river. The distance fromColumbus varied, according to the location of the farm place where I stayed over night.




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"SANCTA MARIA ANGELORUM", ORMARY, QUEEN OF ANGELS

"Sancta Maria Angelorum", or Mary, Queen of Angels, is the title of the little church inthe high prairie called Stearns Prairie, eighteen miles north of Columbus and about four and one-half miles southeast of Humphrey. The Union Pacific Railroad owned this land on either side of the railroad track. It was given to the immigrants as homesteads. The farms consisted of eightyacres and the land was given to the settler on condition that he reside on the place for fiveconsecutive years. There were also timber claims, so called, because the homestead clausedesignated that 160 acres would be given to the settler on the same conditions, providing that heplant at least forty acres in timber. The reason for this was to provide protection for the countryagainst storms. A third method of acquisition of land was the school land, so called, because bylaw, it was provided that in each township two sections, (Nos. 16 and 36) be set aside and sold,the proceeds of which were to be placed in the school fund. These sections of school land mightbe sold for $500 or leased for twenty-five years. The immigrants now took up homesteads andtimber claims for themselves and their grownup sons, and thus acquired considerable tracts of land.

"The slogan, 'Go West, young man', evidently had been heeded by the settlers of StearnsPrairie. In the neighborhood of St. Mary's a little settlement of about fifty German and Austrianfamilies had been formed. Most of them had come from the vicinity of Green Bay, Wisconsin,where they had wasted much time and energy in clearing up the timber lands. Of the Germansthere were the families of Henry Wilde and his brother Bernard Wilde. Henry later on moved onto Texas. John Peter Braun was the first German Catholic to settle in Stearns Prairie. Of theAustrians, there were the families of Ignatz Zach and Augustine Wieser. Among the Dutch, whospoke German fluently, there were the Menten, Stephen Van Doren, Cornelius Heesacker, Frank Wassenburg and Martin Onkels.

'These and several others had come hither possessed of some money and hence were ableto start unencumbered by indebtedness. Many however, especially among the Germans andAustrians, had come stripped of almost all their earthly means, and usually had enough left tomake a small cash payment, to acquire a homestead of eighty acres. But the older settlers did notleave these to their fate. Victuals were exceedingly cheap in price, because, with Columbus asthe closest market, products were not easily brought to the trade. The first comers aided theirnewer neighbors in building sod houses, and in breaking the soil. This recently broken groundwas then planted with corn and potatoes. Even though the yield of the first year was small, it wassufficient for the subsistence of the planter. The next summer, when the sod was thoroughlydecomposed, the plowshare was used once more. The soil, thus fertilized, then produced anabundant crop.

FUEL

"Fuel was the cheapest imaginable. There was no wood on the vast prairies, and while coalcould be bought in Columbus, its purchase was beyond the wildest dream of most of the settlers,penniless as they were already. The coal at Columbus was monopolized by the Union PacificRailroad, which had the only tracks running in all directions into Omaha and was thus able to




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shut out all competition. The railroad, which owned the bridge across the Missouri at Omaha,would not allow any coal to be brought over it for Western sales, except in a very limitedamount. Although it had only recently found rich coal lands on its property in Wyoming, itwould not bring any of the needed fuel into those places, where it could maintain price control.

"Our farmers found a way to extricate themselves from this plight. In the sloughs amongthe hills there grew a grass similar to a reed, which was tall and was quite tough. This grass thesettlers mowed and after it was dry, handfuls were twisted into a kind of a fagot. This madeexcellent fuel, hot and effective; the labor connected with its manufacture led to the invention of a crude device to twist the slough grass.

"Other settlers burned corncobs, with or without shelling off the corn, depending on theprice paid for shelled corn".--N.B. by Editor: Some people have called this a sinful waste of corn, but there is no doubt that the early setlers (sic) were justified in pursuing the course theydid. The farmers reasoned that the corn sold for less than the equivalent in coal, and after all themany expenses incidental to placing the produce on the market were deducted--planting, caring,picking, shelling, hauling, wear and tear on machines and vehicles, not to mention other lesserlabors connected with it--all

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combined in making the burning of corn the best way out after all. A settler testified that he hadoften taken corn to Madison and sold it for the attractively low price of 12 cents per bushel.. Thesame man claimed he knew of neighbors, who sold their crop in time of dire want for as low as 6cents per bushel. Another settler claims that as late as seven or eight years ago, when corn was19 and 20 cents per bushel, he burned corn in the furnace

FARM IMPLEMENTS

"There was another grave difficulty that confronted the poor pioneers. Where were they toobtain their necessary farm implements? This need was eventually taken care of in a ratherpeculiar and risky manner by some prominent man in Columbus, who owned several hundredacres of prairie land, possessed large herds of cattle and horses, which were tended by cowboys.This man was willing to take a mortgage on the homestead land and to give to the settlers acertain number of cattle and horses, as well as implements for farm use". (N.B. The transactionwas somewhat shady, in as much as the mortgage given by the settler's was on land that did notas yet really belong to them. For under the law of the land the eighty acres of homestead did notbelong to the settler until after five years of care--Editor). "I have observed that neither partyever suffered in consequence of this sort of tramaction, such was the honesty of those days. Butby this method I noticed that even the poorest, by dint of industry and economy, attained to acertain affluence."




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SPIRITUAL PRIVATIONS

"St. Mary's was the only Catholic church between St. Patrick's on Shell Creek and the oneat Battle Creek, beyond Madison. All those who, in this immense district, wished to attendchurch, had to attend St. Mary's. Accordingly, worshippers came from the vicinity of Madison,the territory where St. Bernard is now located, from the present St. Anthony's including anumber of Poles who resided there, and from the east to a distance of twelve or fifteen miles(from the vicinity of the present town of Creston.--Editor). Churches soon began to spring up.The people along Elm Creek erected a church of their own (St. Anthony's, in BurrowsTownship); next, in 1878; St. Bernard sprang up; in December 1880 the Poles near St. Anthony'sbuilt St. Michael's at Burrows, now known as Tarnov. The next in line, was St. Leonard's, about1881, in Madison, for the farmers scattered about Madison vicinity".

HUMPHREY

"St. Francis church at Humphrey, which town seemed to have sprung from the ground in1880, was erected only a few years after the Union Pacific Railroad from Duncan to Norfolk hadluckily crossed the prairie.

Father Anselm speaks of Humphrey as follows:

"At my time there was at Tracy Creek nothing save prairie and a German bachelor by thename of William Tieskoetter, who led a lonely life. An American named Humphrey had aconsiderable farm down the road and also managed a sod house hotel. Already at an early datekeen-witted farmers voiced their opinion that St. Mary's had not been built in the most favorablelocation; it should have been built some miles to the north. The most advantageous places, asindicated by the shrewd farmers, were the present site of Humphrey, and also the place where St.Bernard now stands".

A LITTLE SPECULATION

"That St. Mary's was erected on the site it was is the result of speculation. A well-to-domerchant of Iowa City, Iowa, owned a large tract of land where the church building now stands.To render the land more valuable and to attract immigrants, he donated ten acres for churchpurposes on condition that the church be built on the ten acres. The man's name was WilliamEimers. The building of the church, however, was left by Mr. Eimers in the hands of the farmers.John P. Braun was interested in the proposition and took a prominent part in the construction of the edifice. His land adjoined the William Eimers' property on the south. By some mistake anumber of the graves came to be placed on the Braun farm and had to be later exhumed and re-interred. Upon our arrival here, however, we found all these things to have been settled already".

ANTI-FRANCISCAN FEELING

"The Franciscans came to St. Mary's on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14th, 1877. At first theyfound opposition on the part of a few, who warned against the "Capuchins", who, they claimed,




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would empoverish them. The course of events proved, however, that such was not the case andgradually the opposition subsided, especially when one of the chief trouble-makers was named asone of the church trustees by the shrewd pastor. The neighboring parishioners, especially John P.Braun, Frederick Unger and Gerard Brockhaus, did the Fathers many a favor. Thus, for instance,Joseph Braun, who, it seems, had taught school for some time in the Stearns Prairie districtschool, for a while served as director of the choir as well as organist.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST ST. MARYS CHURCH

"St. Mary's was a structure that well might have been a barn. Its dimensions were 25x40feet and it was commenced by John P. Braun and completed by Mr. Glassbrenner. The buildingwas unplastered and nail kegs formed the support of the boards that served as seats. The altar hadbeen made from the pieces of wash board left over. On the altar stood a brass crucifix, and thefootends of two broken kerosene lamps served as candlesticks. A white cloth lay on the altar.That was all".

"Should one infer from this that the people were unwilling to make sacrifices, he would begreatly in error. The direction of a priest had been lacking and before the advent of a pastor, therehad been a lack of confidence".

THE GRASSHOPPERS--A PROCESSION IS HELD

"The grasshoppers were bad around St. Mary's in 1877. The Rt. Rev. Bishop hadprescribed prayers, public devotions and, where possible, a procession. We too, intended tomarch in procession through the fields. A Catholic procession, however, should be preceded by aprocessional cross. We had none. A farmer manufactured a cross with a long pole, and a smallcorpus was finally discovered somewhere and attached to the cross. An old medicine bottle didservice as a holy water pot. We now set out, and amid prayers and hymns, wended our waythrough the prairie. At four corners of the road we stopped, I recited the customary prayers andexorcisms and sprinkled the fields with the contents of my holy water bottle. Divine Providencebeing favorable, a south wind set in and, as if by command, the grasshoppers arose and flewsouthward. Luckily they had not yet done much damage. That they obscure the sun and fly alonglike clouds I have not observed. But it is an interesting sight to see millions upon millions whilethe sun was shining, their translucent wings gleaming and glimmering through the screen, thick as snowflakes. On walking through the prairie before they took flight, at each step, little cloudsof grasshoppers would alight. But alas! They had already deposited their eggs in the soft dirt of the road, in the newly-plowed ground, in fact, wherever the ground was not too hard".

IN THE WAKE OF THE GRASSHOPPER




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"When the grasshoppers luckily flew away, most of the settlers believed that the dangerwas over, and the eggs left by the pests would cause little trouble the following spring. But theywere in error. The grasshoppers had deposited their eggs everywhere, chiefly in the soft ground"(N.B. but in the hard as well.--Ed.). "The eggs have a life that even great cold cannot destroy.Such eggs have been frozen into solid ice and left therein for weeks and months. When the icewas finally melted, the eggs were as alive as ever. In the spring, fine black spots appeared amidthe fine green wheat. Finally, the whole field was covered, and eventually consumed by thehungry young insects. Luck was partly with the settlers again, for the strong wind from the northand the elements of the heavens conspired to remove the grasshoppers southward: The chief hatching place of the grasshoppers is in the sandy Black Hills of South Dakota, and they travelsouthward by the action of the wind'.

FURNISHING THE CHURCH

"The little church was heretofore poorly furnished. To beautify it, many donations werenecessary and the emulation of the people had to be aroused." The Brockhaus family, one and ahalf miles from church, where I boarded, donated a mission chalice costing ten dollars. Thefollowing Sunday, I exhibited the chalice to the people and mentioned the Brockhaus family asthe donors, with an exhortation to imitate the good example that had been set. This wassuccessful. One was willing to donate six candlesticks; another a worthy processional cross;another, the altar cards, the youngest son of John P. Braun paid for the altar-stone; a youngcouple recently married at St. Mary's gave a missal valued at eighteen dollars. The last twoarticles proved a great relief to my valise. One person donated the cruets; hence I was able todiscard my homely medicine bottle, as a holy water pot with sprinkler was given. Mrs. John P.Braun presented the church with a beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin, since the church wasdedicated to Mary. The statue cost $65 and was imported from Munich, Germany, from thefamous art works studios there.

MORE DONATIONS-VESTMENTS--PEWS, ETC.

The boys chipped in and purchased a statue of St. Joseph. The Ladies' Society donated amagnificent banner bearing the image of St. Anne. The young ladies were also drafted intoservice. I purchased material in the various liturigical colors. Fr. Ambrose was a rather fair adeptin the art of cutting vestments and he prepared the parts, which I gave to the young ladies to sew.Some had to make albs and altar-boys' outfits, others took care of the corporals, purificators andlavabo towels. Nor were the men forgotten. Here Mr. Eimers got ahead of me. One Sunday hewas present. The

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St. Mary's School and Sisters' Convent, Humphrey P. O.

Rev. Edmund Roediger, O. F. M.

Rev. Edmund Roediger, O. F. M.,a Missionary in China

old planks were still doing service as pews. Divine service being over, Mr. Bimers took the mento task in a manner that I would have never ventured. It was effective. Monday morning theywere off at once to Columbus to get the required lumber for new pews. The carpenters set towork immediately and the following Sunday the new pews were ready for occupancy. I tackledthem still more. The fourteen "Stations of the Cross" would be a beautiful ornament to the




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church and many graces were attached to them. I could purchase them at B. Herder's, at St. Louisfor the sum of twenty dollars. If fourteen heads of families would each defray the expense of onestation, we should soon be able to have the Way of the Cross in our church. The fourteen werefound at once, each paid $1.50 and the next Sunday the Way of the Cross was blessed. To makethe celebration more impressive, a pro-

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cession was held around the church during which each donor carried one of the Stations, whichpicture he was later allowed to hang up. What a joy! (These stations were later used in the winterchapel and have recently been sold by Fr. Lawrence to a church in Colorado. --Editor). I orderedfrom B. Herder a quantity of prayer-books, rosaries, steel crosses and glass candle-sticks withsilvery sheen. He furnished all of these at wholesale prices. Everything sold like hot cakes. Eachhousewife was desirous of a little cross with two silvery candle-sticks and a crucifix. I was soonforced to send a second order."

ADDING SANCTUARY AND SACRISTY AND PRIEST'S ROOM TO CHURCH

"The little old church still stood devoid of all gracefulness. In 1878 it was resolved toenlarge the same by the addition of a sacristy and a room for the priest. At the same time the flatceiling was to be replaced by a vaulted one and the whole church was to be plastered. Exteriorly,too, the building was later given a more churchlike appearance by adding a small belfry to theroof and by arching the tops of the windows. Paint was then applied to the whole structure."(N.B. When putting up the triumphal arch over the communion rail, Mr. Gier fell, broke bothwrists and in agony had them bathed in vinegar by Mrs. F. Unger and was then taken toColumbus to have them set by a doctor. The setting was not very successful and Mr. Gier's wristsremained deformed ever after.--Editor).

THE CEMETERY

Part of the ten acres of the church land was fenced in for a cemetery and in the middle of ita large cross was set up which rose eighteen feet above the ground and was visible at a greatdistance. On All Souls' Day the dedication of God's Acre took place. Those who, by mistake, hadbeen buried on Braun's land, had been exhumed and reinterred (sic) in the new cemetery. As wegather from an entry made by Fr. Anselm: "On All Souls Day 1877, the cemetery, which hadbeen fenced in by parishioners, was solemnly blessed. The Rt. Rev. Bishop James O'Connor hadmost readily granted the permission to the priest of the parish. The cemetery is larger than oneacre and lies in the northeast corner of the ten acres which are a donation of Mr. Wm. Eimers.The cemetery is divided crossways into one walk east and west and another running north andsouth. The four parts are divided into sixty family burial lots, each of which can be obtained, if desired, upon the payment of $5 into the church treasury. On the east side there is sufficientroom for single graves. A grave for one adult costs $2, for a child $1, which money is for the




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church treasury. (To the rear of these, still farther east, is a plot of ground, which has not sharedthe ecclesiastical blessing and is destined for the burial of unbaptized children and for theinterment of those who departed without being in communion with the church). By mistakeseveral interments had been made even before the cemetery was platted. Several bodies lay in aplace behind the church, which upon exact platting proved to be without the church property.These bodies were transferred to the blessed cemetery. The names of these persons are: L. T.Carney, a veteran; Mrs. Schneider; Mrs. Rohlmann; Mrs. Weinberger; a child of Mr. Stephenvan Doren; a child of Frank Wassenberg; a child of Richard Olmer; a child of Mr. McDonald; achild of Mr. Paul Klas." This unblessed portion on the east side, Fr. Edmund added to theprocessional road in 1898 and set aside a place for the unbaptized along the south side.

SOLEMN CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION IN THE OPEN

Fr. Anselm continues: "In the same year we also held the Corpus Christi procession. Acanopy was made, and instead of festoons, the ladies had purchased material of different colorsand hung it in long broad stripes from the arches of the vault. Fourteen boys dressed in whitecarried burning candles on poles a yard and a half long. All of the girl first communicants weredressed in white and three of the largest carried the emblems of faith, hope and charity. The newprocessional cross headed the procession and the banner carried by the president of the marriedladies' society was the pride of all the members of the society. The four church directors carriedthe canopy, while other men carried lighted tapers. On the four corners of the processional waythe neighboring ladies had ornamented altars. Everything was befitting and solemn. The peoplehad flocked hither in great numbers and there was a sea of humanity surging about the church.The Irish people had never witnessed such a scene."

THE RT. REV. BISHOP JAMES O'CONNOR VISITS ST. MARY'S

Nov. 18 and 19, 1878.

The time was now ripe for the visitation of the Rt. Rev. Bishop for the administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. The monastery and school at Columbus having been recentlyfinished, the Bishop took that occasion to dedicate them and administer Confirmation on thesame trip. His Lordship arrived in Columbus Saturday afternoon, Nov. 16, accompanied by Rev.Otto Groenebaum. On Sunday morning

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Nov. 17, the dedication of the monastery and school took place in Columbus. High Mass andConfirmation followed. The old church there could not hold all the people. The children had tobe admitted into the sanctuary, lest they be crushed by the jam along the aisles. The Rt. Rev.Bishop invited them to sit on the steps of the throne, so crowded was the church. It was a red-letter day for St. Bonaventures."




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RECEPTION OF THE RT. REV. PRELATE

"Monday afternoon, Nov. 18, the Bishop came to St. Mary's. William Elmers, who had, inthe meantime, opened a big store in Columbus and resided there with his family, himself broughtthe Rt. Rev. Ordinary to the prairie, making the trip in the finest carriage of that day. Our menand young men, mounted on richly trimmed horses, rode forth to meet him across the country.When word came that the Bishop was approaching, we wended our way from the church to meethim. Those to be confirmed, girls dressed in white, and the altar boys made up this welcominggroup. Four girls carried a wide wreath of flowers on ribbons, which had been fashioned arounda hoop. The front of this was open and when the Rt. Rev. Bishop alighted from the carriage, thefour girls with the front of the wreath blocked the way. The Bishop did not understand themeaning of this and asked: "What's this?" Fr. Groenebaum, who stood beside him, said, "Stepin!" and the Bishop entered. Immediately the girls formed a circle around him with the open endin the rear. At the church door the girls carried out a similar maneuvre (sic) and the Bishop wasthen allowed to leave the wreath. In church the ceremonies for the reception of the Bishop wereobserved. After the singing of the "Ecce Sacerdos" he spoke a few heartfelt words from the altar,expressing his satisfaction and, as the day was late, he bade the people "Good night". The Bishopspent the night in the little room beside the sanctuary. In the course of the evening I spoke to himconcerning the rivalry and zeal of the people to do something for the church. He was glad to hearof it and bestowed words of praise."

THE BISHOP ADMINISTERS THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

"The altar pleased the Bishop very much. He declared it was a good idea. I kept my peaceand the thought, "If you had cast a glance behind it, you would speak in a different strain". Theold altar and tabernacle were still existing in their crudeness, but the shabbiness was somewhatcovered with cloth and presented a nice appearance. The long, narrow wooden-box in which theBlessed Virgin had been shipped was placed on end and the statue mounted thereon. The statueoverlooked the altar and thus the whole presented a beautiful sight.

The following morning the five Holy Masses commenced early. Fr. Ambrose celebratedthe High Mass, the Rt. Rev. Bishop delivered an English address and Fr. Groenebaum a Germansermon. Then the Sacrament of Confirmation was administered. Another gala day. The weatherwas most splendid, the mildest imaginable. The day was Nov. 19th, the feast day of St.Elizabeth.

CONFIRMATION AT ST. ANTHONY'S AND ST. BERNARD'S

The next day, Nov. 20, the Rt. Rev. Bishop was escorted by the people of St. Anthony'schurch, on Elm Creek. There he also administered Confirmation. Thence he proceeded to St.Bernard's, which was the pride of Fr. Ambrose. Very well satisfied, the Rt. Rev. Bishop departedfrom the prairie, rejoicing that he had visited such a promising religious community as was thenin Platte county.




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Fr. Groenebaum was not a stranger among the people. It happened this way: BernardWilde, father of a large family, fell dangerously ill and fears were entertained for his life. Theclosest German priest was Fr. Groenebaum of Omaha. Mr. Wilde desired the services of aGerman priest. Accordingly the pastor of St. M. Magdalene's came from Omaha to StearnsPrairie.

Fr. Anselm organized St. Ann's Married Ladies' Society and probably the other societies.At least, we are informed that Fr. Edmund admitted a mistake in his historical sketch of St.Mary's parish regarding the organizer of the societies.

After two years of successful labors Fr. Anselm was transferred to Damiansville, Illinois,there to take the place of the very sick Rev. Lohmann, whose place he filled for several months.St. Mary's owes much to this zealous and energetic pastor.

BIOGRAPHY OF REV. ANSELM PUETZ, O. F. M.

Francis Puetz was a native of Dueren, Diocese of Cologne, Rhineland, Prussia, being bornSeptember 1, 1834. He was raised to the dignity of the priesthood in 1862. For a time he was aDomsaenger (singer in the minster) at Aix-la-Chapelle, for he was gifted with a strong andbeautiful voice. His, it seems, was the finest voice in the Saxonian Province, of the Holy Cross,Germany, for he eventually came to follow the Poverello of Assisi, at Warendorf in Westphalia.There he donned the habit of the Franciscans, October 6, 1870.

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The persecutions of the Catholics in Germany, now known in history by the misnomer of "the Kulturkampf", drove him and more than 120 Patres, brothers and religious candidates to thehospitable shores of freedom-loving America. That was in June, 1875. The graphic description of the journey to Illinois has been published in a translation by Fr. Eugene in "The IllinoisHistorical Review, Volume VIII, No. 1 (July 1925), Page 681, entitled: "The Expulsion of theFranciscans from Prussia and Their Coming to the United States in the Summer of 1875".

Fr. Anselm's first appointment in the New World was to the mission of Green Creek nearEffingham, Illinois. He was one of those fugitive priests of Europe who realized the necessity of learning, above all, the language of this country. Although already forty-one years old, he bentevery effort to acquire the English language as best he might.

On January 27, 1877, he came to Nebraska with Rev. Ambrose Janssen. While Fr.Ambrose was in Columbus laying the plans of St. Bonaventure's parish and monastery, Fr.Anselm ministered to St. Mary Magdalene's in Omaha, probably till about the middle of July of the same year, to allow the pastor, Rev. Otto J. Groenebaum, to make a trip to Germany andBohemia, both to visit his aged parents and to bring priests for the Bohemians and Germans.




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August, 1877, saw Fr. Anselm in Columbus, from whence he attended St. Mary's nearHumphrey, the largest of the missions taken care of by the Franciscans from Columbus. Inaddition to this he made many a missionary trip to Battle Creek, as well as some to the south, tothe Hollander Settlement at Center, Seberger Settlement, etc.

At the request of Fr. Eugene, the aged Fr. Anselm wrote his reminiscences in America andespecially in Nebraska. On these papers Fr. Anselm worked at intervals from 1906-1910. It wasunfortunate that death overtook him before they were completely finished. Leaving Nebraska,the energetic Fr. Anselm, who was small in stature and not overly strong in body, was sent toDamiansville, Illinois, to replace Fr. Lohman, who was very ill. Owing to the constant rains theroads in the neighborhood were very bad at that time and it was there, while battling againstgreat odds in reaching his scattered flock, many of whom were ill and died, that Fr. Anselmcontracted an illness from exposure that gave him constant trouble for the remainder of his life.

Then followed several moves, among them being to Joliet, Illinois; St. Peter's Chicago;Quincy, Illinois; Rhineland, Missouri, where he was pastor and superior; St. Augustine's,Chicago; and Teutopolis, Illinois. Finally, the ever active Fr. Anselm was transferred to St.Joseph's, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he labored zealously as Director of the Third Order of St.Francis and confessor to nuns at several institutions. Fr. Anselm passed to his eternal reward,Jan. 14, 1912. Rt. Rev. Bishop Farrelly, D. D., of Cleveland, sang the Requiem Mass, at whichservice many priests and religious, to whom he had been a prudent confessor and spiritualdirector, assisted. At his own request, there was no funeral sermon.

Fr. Anselm was a preacher of no mean ability. He was a zealous priest, an excellentreligious and edified all with whom he came in contact.

THE SECOND PASTOR, REV. MEINOLPH SCHMITZ,FALL, 1879-JANUARY, 1882

Upon the departure of Fr. Anselm, another Franciscan, Fr. Meinulphus Schmitz wasappointed pastor of St. Mary's. The bulk of the people belonging to the new parish wereGermans, Austrians or Hollanders from the Old World, who were used to having the churchesequipped with bells. Bells have been a popular symbol of Catholicism for centuries and thepeoples of Continental Europe are especially responsive to the joyous peal of the Angelus bell, aswell as to its call to divine services and the tolling of the bell for the lately departed. BernardWemhoff, who lated (sic) became Brother Paul, of the Franciscan Order, saw this need andcontributed the means, whereby it was supplied. The bell weighed 535 pounds and cost $186.75.It was blessed December 31, 1879, and hung in a special belfry near the church. On thefollowing Good Friday the belfry was blown down in a violent storm, but the bell was notdamaged much.

June 15, 1880, was another joyous day for St. Mary's of the Angels. Following the customof most of the friars in the Sacred Heart Province of the Franciscan Order in America, Fr.Meinolphus Schmitz arranged with Rt. Rev. Ordinary canonically to erect "the Confraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Conversion of Sinners". This was a favorite devotion of




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those days and, without doubt, the Confraternity devotions did an immense amount of good inbehalf of immortal souls.

A PAROCHIAL SCHOOL IS BUILT

Fr. Schmitz was a zealous pastor, who realized the need of a parochial school in order topreserve the faith of their fathers in the souls of the rising generation. He brought the expenses of his little country parish to rock bottom and

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then took the step to carry out the wish of his Bishop: to build a Catholic school.

RAISING PARISH FUNDS BY ASSESSMENT

With consent of the parishioners and the approval of the Rt. Rev. Bishop the pastorassessed each family possessing eighty acres, annually $2.50, in order to meet the expendituresof the congregation and to help pay for the school and its maintenance. Later the amount wassomewhat raised. Fr. Meinolph had obtained a contribution of 1000 marks or about $225 fromDoctor Rockerath, probably a brother-in-law, living at Cologne, Germany, and another donationof $130 from the famous Leopoldine Foundation in Vienna, Austria, a missionary society whichhas deserved so well of the Catholics in the United States at a time when money was scarce andCatholics few and poor. Work on the school was begun on September 19, 1881. The cost of theschool was $1,250. Before it was plastered, the Sisters of Lafeyette arrived to take charge.

THE FRANCISCAN SISTERS AT ST. MARY'S

At this time there were two parochial schools in Platte county, one at Columbus, the otherat St. Bernard's, taught by the Franciscan Sisters of Joliet, Illinois. Since the Franciscan Sisters of Lafayette had come to Columbus about March, 1879, to found St. Mary's Hospital, it wasdeemed advisable to turn over the new school to them. The Sister M. Deogratias, local superiorat Lafayette and superior of all the forty-four Sisters (in Columbus, Omaha, etc.) in the UnitedStates, came with Sr. M. Ignatia and Sr. M. Mathea, the teachers, to install them at St. Mary'swhile Sr. M. Magdalene, superior and cook, came about three weeks later. On Dec. 2, the Sistersarrived at Humphrey, consisting then of a railroad station, post office, Eimer's generalmerchandise store and a blacksmith shop. Next morning, December 3, 1881, a wagon took theSisters to St. Mary's. It was snowing and very cold. When they arrived at 10 o'clock, Fr.Meinolph welcomed them and immediately said mass. After mass he directed them to a houseacross the road to get some breakfast, but the lady who had a large family and a small housewould not admit them. Thereupon the pastor took the Sisters over to his boarding place. But Mrs.J. P. Braun held the doorknob in her hand and told the newcomers that she was too old to keepthose fine ladies from the East in her home. The Sisters pleaded that they were just common




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folks like the rest and that they were willing to help with the work until their residence at theschool was finished. Thereupon the really kindhearted Mrs. J. P. Braun received them into herhome. They spent three weeks there helping with the chores and sewing for the church. As soonas Sr. M. Magdalene, the superior, arrived, the Sisters took up their quarters at school, althoughtheir apartments (sic) were not quite ready even then.

REMINISCENCES BY SR. IGNATIA:THE OPENING OF ST. MARY'S SCHOOL

Classes were opened in the new parochial school on the first Monday in January 1882,with an attendance of 44 pupils. Among these were represented as far as Sr. Ignatia can recallchildren of the Eimers, Ottis, Brockhaus, Werner, Steffes, Steiner, Osterhoff, Rohartsch, Wieser,John Schumacher, Rother (Rodder), Loeffelhoz, Partsch, Scheidemantel, Hamling, Krings,Odenthal, Veik, Ripp, Jaixen, Krings families and some from the present Tarnov, whose namesshe failed to recall.

With the exception of the Eimers and Ottis, the parents were all farmers. There was a greatdifference between the pupils in regard to age and size, ranging as they did from six to nineteenyears. Most of the children came to school barefooted. About 1883 diphtheria broke out at St.Mary's and a number of children died. Among them was little Ben. Brockhaus, a very bright boywho had a few days before replied to Fr. Theodore Arentz in answer to the question: "Whatwould you have done, if you had been addressed by the serpent in paradise instead of Eve?"--"Iwould have taken a club and killed it", was little Ben's reply. On Saturday following he was laidto rest in the cemetery.

PIONEER CONDITIONS

One day, before Fr. Theodore's arrival, a terrific blizzard swept the prairies and havingused up all our fuel, we burned boxes and the lumber still on hand and straw from a number of strawstacks. After the worst of the storm was over, we managed to get to Mr. J. P. Braun's andtold him of our predicament. Being director of the district school, he kindly let us have some of the coal and thus we were saved from freezing, during the zero weather following the blizzard.When the new pastor came from Columbus, he immediately ordered a supply of coal for us andschool. As corn sold for seven and eight cents per bushel, people burned not only corn cobs butalso the corn, this being cheaper than buying coal. Conditions at St. Mary's then were certainlyromantic. One man, Mr. Joseph Braun, played the organ loaned to the church by his father, andsang. And while Fr. Theodore preached, the corn burning in the

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