Our History

History of the Province

The Early Years - A New Century

(12) New Foundations

The brief sketch we have given of the Ellis County missions, though far from exhaustive, is nevertheless extended enough to show the progress the Order has made in the West during the thirty years our Fathers have labored in Kansas. Passing over the missions of Schoenchen, Pfeifer, Wallace, Collyer, Angelus, Park, Oakley, and others which have either been founded by our Fathers or at least attended by them for a number of years, and which as soon as they were deemed self-supporting, were placed in charge of diocesan priests, there are at present ten churches in charge of the Order, attended by fifteen priests. All of these churches have been built and some of them rebuilt by our Fathers, and all but three, whose foundation is of recent date, have parochial schools attached to them, with a total attendance of nearly a thousand pupils. There are numerous parish societies, all of them affiliated to the great Catholic Federation; and, last not least, there is the new St. Joseph's Classical and Commercial College at Hays City, the crowning gift of the Order to Ellis County.

In order to make our account of the Capuchin missions in Kansas complete we have now to chronicle the establishment of our Fathers in Marienthal. This mission is situated in the Diocese of Wichita, in the county of the same name, and was taken over by the Order at the urgent request of Bishop Hennessey, in August, 1905. The work our Fathers have done in Ellis County, in the seventies and eighties of the last century, is likely to be repeated in Wichita County, though perhaps with far slighter chances of success owing to the insignificant number of Catholics in Marienthal, in the settlement of St. Teresa, the towns of Bazine, Ness City, Nonchalanta, Ransom and Healy, and the counties of Scott and Greely, all of which are for the present in charge of our Fathers. In none of the latter places are there more than twenty Catholic families and in most of them by far fewer, and only three of them boast of "churches." However, the Fathers in charge (Leo, Patrick and Anthony) are bravely holding the fort. With much labor and sacrifice they have built themselves a little monastery, and having now "a place to stand on" they hope, like Archimedes of old, to "move the world," that is to say, that portion of it lying between Rush County and the State of Colorado. To describe their mission trips and the labors and hardships connected with them would be but to repeat the story told and retold in the lives of the pioneers of the West. In later years a more eloquent pen will, no doubt, better describe their successes than we could anticipate them.

And now we must return to the East and briefly tell the story of the remaining foundations of the Capuchin Province of Pennsylvania in the States of West Virginia and Ohio. As we remarked, the period of the twenty-five years following the elevation of the Pennsylvania mission to the rank of a province, in August, 1882, is void of stirring events. The personnel of the new province increased steadily from year to year, owing partly to new arrivals from Europe, partly to accessions from the Seraphic School at Herman.

On January 1, 1884, the Province, upon the request of the Rt. Rev. Bishop J. J. Kain, undertook the pastoral charge of the German church of St. Alphonsus in Wheeling, W.Va. Although two new parishes, St. Michael's, Edgington Lane, in 1896, and Sacred Heart, North Wheeling, in 1902, were formed of the original territory of St. Alphonsus Church, the congregation still numbers about 500 families, and the parochial school, taught by ten Sisters of Divine Providence, has an attendance of some 500 pupils. Four Fathers are generally stationed at St. Alphonsus. From 1886 to 1890 they also attended the mission of Bridgeport in the Diocese of Columbus.

St. Alphonsus Parish, whose first church was built under the immediate supervision of Bishop Richard V. Whelan, in 1859, and had from that time until the advent of the Capuchin Fathers been in charge of the Rev. Peter Kreusch, has since had the following Capuchin pastors: Father Felix Maria, O.M. Cap., from January to August, 1884; Father Hyacinth, O.M. Cap., from August, 1884, till August, 1885, again from August, 1886, to August, 1890, and for a third term from August, 1897, to August, 1900; Father Anthony Maria, O.M. Cap., from August, 1885, to August, 1886; Father Maurice, O.M. Cap., from August, 1890, till August, 1897; Father Joseph Anthony, O.M. Cap., from August, 1900, till August, 1903; and Father Herman Joseph, O.M. Cap., since August, 1903.

The present church, which was thoroughly renovated, and consecrated by Bishop Donahue on November 25, 1905, on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the parish, was built in 1886-1887, under the administration of Father Hyacinth. The parish has its own orphan asylum, which was erected under the administration of Father Mau. rice, in 1891.

St. Alphonsus Parish has given almost fifty young ladies to various Sisterhoods; three of its sons have joined the secular priesthood, four are priests of the Capuchin Order (Fathers Alphonse Maria, Richard, Maurice and Edmund), three are pursuing their theological studies in the clericate of the Order, and three have joined the Order as lay brothers (Brothers Salvator, Crispin, and Elzear), while a number are still at St. Fidelis College.

In 1884 the Province of Pennsylvania was for the first time in its history represented in the councils of the Order, when Father Provincial Hyacinth and the two Custods General Father Gregory Maria and Father Anthony Maria went to Rome to attend the sixty-fifth Capuchin Chapter, held May 9-16. In the same year Father Hyacinth was likewise present, in his official capacity as Provincial, at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, held November 9 to December 7.

The happy progress of the Seraphic School at Herman, Pa., necessitated the erection of a new college building which was begun in August, 1886, and solemnly dedicated on April 26, 1887. The old college was subsequently turned into a parochial school. The new college was considerably enlarged in 1893 and now contains room for seventy-five students. In 1897 a beautiful Gothic chapel was erected on the college grounds, the basement of which was equipped as an auditorium for literary purposes.

In April, 1886, the Rt. Rev. Bishop Watterson of Columbus invited the Capuchin Fathers to take over the charge of St. Joseph's Parish in Canal Dover, in the County of Tuscarawas, Ohio. The first Catholic church of the place was built in 1849 and until the arrival of the Capuchin Fathers remained in charge of diocesan priests. The first Capuchin pastor of Canal Dover was Father Maurice, O.M. Cap. Under the administration of Father Herman Joseph, O.M. Cap., a beautiful new church was built in 1897-1898. The present monastery was erected in 1897. After its completion the old rectory was given over to the Sisters of Divine Providence, who taught the parochial school since September, 1886, and the old church was turned into a school. The congregation numbers about 145 families, mostly of German descent.

In 1894 the Catholics of New Philadelphia (the county seat of Tuscarawas), who had hitherto formed part of St. Joseph's congregation, Canal Dover, bought the old German Lutheran church of the town, which was formally dedicated as a Catholic church on June 9, 1895. The first pastor was Father Peter, O.M. Cap. The Fathers who have since been in charge are: Father Mark, O.M. Cap., 1897-1900; Father Lawrence, O.M. Cap., 1900-1905, Father Francis, O.M. Cap., 1905-1907, and Father Bonaventure, O.M. Cap., who is about to erect a parochial school in the place. A beautiful cemetery plot was bought last year and will be dedicated sometime this month. The congregation numbers about sixty-five families.

In 1903 Father Lawrence, O.M. Cap., built a church in Vickers (Klondyke), where a number of Italians, Polanders and Croations were employed in the coal mines of Tuscarawas County. This church, which was solemnly blessed by Bishop Hartley on July 2, 1904, and placed under the patronage of St. Elisabeth, was given in charge of a secular priest a few days after its dedication, as was also the mission of Sherrodsville, which had been attended by our Fathers from 1899 till 1904. The Fathers of Canal Dover also attended St. Peter's (near Bolivar) from 1888 till 1897, and Marges.

Fr. Joseph Ziegelmayer, OFM Cap

Fr. Herman Joseph Peters, OFM Cap

Fr. Alphonse Hillenbrandt, OFM Cap

Fr. Maurice Ackermann, OFM Cap

Fr. Edmund Trischler, OFM Cap

Br. Salvator Mitsch, OFM Cap