Report26Gellnerp3748.pdf

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC GERMANS

IN MARYLAND

By CHARLES R. GELLNER

There is a rather sharply defined be-

ginning to the development of Catholic

German church life in Maryland. Be-

fore 1840 not much of importance was

accomplished by the Catholics of Ger-

man extraction but in that year they

were committed to the charge of the

Redemptorists who initiated almost all

the constructive measures undertaken.

Finally, since the Germans were en-

trusted to the Redemptorists, the growth

of the German parishes is intimately

associated with the history of that order

in Maryland, and more especially in

Baltimore. By the time the parishes

nurtured by the Redemptorists passed

into the hands of diocesan or other

clergy the Americanization of the Ger-

mans had far progressed and, when that

occurs, we may, for the purposes of this

study, sharply curtail the treatment of

their recent history.

The beginnings of the Maryland Ger-

man Catholics were in general insignifi-

cant and inauspicious. About a decade

after the founding of the episcopal see

of Baltimore in 1789 a small band of

Catholic Germans appeared in Balti-

more and was ministered to by Father

F. Caesar Reuter of St. Peter's; which

was then the residence of Bishop John

Carroll and the headquarters of the dio-

cese. Soon Father Reuter, against Bishop

Carroll's wishes, urged his compatriots

to erect a separate German church. The

bishop protested that there were too few

Germans to support a pastor and that it

might interfere with his plans to erect

a cathedral. Disgruntled, Reuter carried

the matter to Rome, accusing Carroll of

trying to Americanize the Germans and

requesting a German church, German

catechism and even a German bishop.

An unfavorable reply was given him on

each count. Rome obviously preferred

to leave the solution of the difficulty in

Bishop Carroll's hands. Meanwhile,

Reuter returned to Baltimore and with

his fellow-Germans established, October

11, 1799, the first Catholic German

church in Baltimore, at Park Avenue

and Saratoga Street, dedicated to St..

John the Evangelist.¹ Unfortunately,

the whole movement was schismatic.²

The breach was healed, however, by

1805 when the parish returned to the

jurisdiction of the bishop and Father

Reuter was replaced by the Reverend

F. X. Brosius.³

The entire episode did not augur well

for the felicitous blending of German

and American life. If the intentions of

Father Reuter and others of his ilk had

prevailed, the Catholic Germans would

have remained for a long time a sort

of self-contained ship in an alien sea

and the amalgamation of German and

American culture would have been in-

definitely delayed. Happily, the upshot

was quite to the contrary.

The parish of St. John's under dio-

cesan priests—except for a short period

under a Jesuit—pursued an even tenor

for the next forty years, gradually grow-

ing in size. By 1840 the pastor, Rever-

end Benedict Bayer, recognized that he

was incapable of reaching all his par-

ishioners (about 4,000) scattered over

the city. As a student in Switzerland

he had learned to admire the members

of the Congregation of the Most Holy

Redeemer

and he magnanimously de-

Peter Guilday, The Life and Times of John Carroll, II, 723-728 (New York, 1922).

Archdiocesan Archives, Baltimore, Reuter to Carroll, September 4, 1801; November 25, 1801;

October 18, 1802. Documents 7A8, 7A9, 7A10. Profession of submission drawn up by Carroll to be

signed by Reuter. Document 9G2.

Cf. St. Alphonsus' Church, Zur Erinnerung an die Centenar-Feier der St. Alphonsus Gemeinde

(Baltimore, 1900).

Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris. A society of missionary priests and lay brothers, founded

by St. Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, Italy, 1732. The only permanent settlement the Redemptorists could

make among Germans was in Austria, whither applicants came from all over Germany for admission.

The first German Redemptorists in America landed in 1832 and were stationed in the diocese of Cin-

cinnati. Cf. Editors of the "Katholische Volks-Zeitung," Zum Andenken an die Goldene Jubelfeier der

Hochw. Herren Redemptoristen-Vater in Nord-Amerika (Baltimore, 1882).

[37]

termined to tender his resignation to the

Most Reverend Samuel Eccleston, the

Archbishop of Baltimore, with the

understanding that the Redemptorists

should succeed him. The prelate agreed

on these terms:

"1. That they (the Redemptorists)

assume charge of the German Catholics

of our archiepiscopal city and of the

whole diocese, employing for this pur-

pose a sufficient number of German

priests who are qualified and compe-

tent missionaries.

"2. That on the same site on which

St. John's Church now stands, they

build a larger church and a house large

enough for the training of students or

novices of the same society.

"3. That in the same place they build

a school for the Germans."

Thus at one stroke all the German

Catholics had been commended to the

superintendence of one religious order.

Almost immediately the Redemptorists

plunged into the task of rearing their

church, novitiate and school. While St.

John's was being razed, the congregation

had to find shelter elsewhere for its

liturgical functions. The Irish church

of Old St. James' on Aisquith and Eager

Streets in Old Town (East Baltimore)

was being vacated at this time for new

quarters on Front Street (St. Vincent's)

and Archbishop Eccleston kindly ex-

tended the use of its facilities to the Re-

demptorists and the flock of St. John's

for the "perpetual use of the Ger-

mans."

Thus was started what was

later to prove the most flourishing and

intensely German parish in the entire

archdiocese. A home was arranged at

St. James' for the community and in

October of 1841 they began their min-

istry.

Meantime, action was seen across the

city on Park Avenue and Saratoga

Street. Rev. Joseph Salzbacher, canon

of the cathedral of Vienna, laid the cor-

nerstone of the new church to replace

St. John's in 1842, and three years later

it was dedicated to the Immaculate Con-

ception in honor of St. Alphonsus, the

founder of the Redemptorists, by Arch-

bishop Eccleston. The pure gothic

structure, a landmark familiar to all

Baltimoreans, was a center of fervent

German activity for many years until

the encroaching business section drove

the parishioners to other residential dis-

tricts. In 1917 St. Alphonsus' was

turned over to the Lithuanians who still

have it.

Concerning St. Alphonsus' parish,

the United States Catholic Magazine of

October, 1847, reported: "But what we

principally designed in this notice, was

to call the attention of the public to the

new schoolhouse now in process of com-

pletion, under the direction of the Re-

demptorists, in Saratoga Street, directly

opposite their beautiful church. . . .

The school is so arranged as to accom-

modate male and female scholars with

separate rooms, and already counts

large classes of German children of

both sexes."

In other words, the first real advance

of the Catholic Germans in Baltimore

was made with a strong stride, although

the road stretched far beyond the hori-

zon and they had just begun to travel.

Over in Old Town the Redemptorists

stimulated the feeble life of St. James'

parish, established a novitiate for

newly arriving Redemptorist candidates

from Germany who were to finish their

scholastic work in this country, and

welcomed Father Joseph Helmpraecht

from Altoetting, Bavaria, who later be-

came the Baltimore provincial of the

Redemptorists, and also Father John

Nepomucene Neumann, from Pitts-

burgh, who pronounced his final vows

at St. James', stayed there a while, and

later rose to be the fourth bishop of

Philadelphia. Father Neumann is be-

yond question the most distinguished

Redemptorist ever to have offered Mass

in Baltimore, where he did noble work

throughout the city. His sanctity of life

Document in the Redemptorist archives, Esopus, New York. Quoted by John F. Byrne, The

Redemptorist Centenaries, 93-94 (Philadelphia, 1932).

Relations of Father Bayer. Quoted by Byrne, 95.

St. James' Church, Centenary, 1834-1934, 9-11 (Baltimore, 1934).

St. Alphonsus' Church, Zur Erinnerung an die Centenar-Feier der St. Alphonsus Gemeinde

(Baltimore, 1900).

[38]

became legendary among the Germans

and at present his cause for beatification

is in process at Rome.

The St. James' priests, house was, in

1847, handed over to the school sisters

of Notre Dame for a convent. There-

after, St. James' was administered from

St. Alphonsus' until 1860. "The Ger-

man Catholics on the west side of Jones'

Falls, which was the line of demarca-

tion, went to worship at St. Alphonsus'

Church and those on the east or in 'Old

Town' remained at St. James'."

The

administrator of St. James', Father

Thaddeus Anwander, a Bavarian, in ad-

dition to his parochial duties, extended

some German kindliness to the colored

Oblate Sisters of Providence by taking

them under his supervision. Due to his

solicitude the scholars patronizing the

sisters in a short time grew from 18 to

over 200." Possibly the crowning

achievement of his ministry was the

founding at St. James' of a branch

of that widespread Catholic German in-

stitution, the Archconfraternity of the

Holy Family, which has produced such

beneficent spiritual results in all Ger-

man parishes in Baltimore.

By virtue of voluntary contributions,

fairs and other activities the parish had

collected enough funds to begin con-

tracting for a new church. The former

church was torn down and by October,

1865, the cornerstone of the rising

structure was blessed before 25,000 peo-

ple in an elaborate ceremony that in-

cluded both English and German ser-

mons. "The style of the architecture

of the church is Lombardic, or early

Roman, the design being highly orna-

mental."

With the erection of the

much larger edifice the church activities

went forward at an ever-increasing

pace. During the New Year's celebra-

tion of 1868 the pastor proposed that

volunteer musicians congregate as a

parish orchestra to play at various func-

tions and at the same time suggested

the training of a juvenile choir.

Through the last testament of Mrs.

Catherine Eberhart, a prominent mem-

ber of St. James' parish, three two-story

houses on North Caroline Street near

Madison Street were donated in 1864

to the Redemptorists for the care of the

sick and infirm. The nuns of the third

order of St. Francis, from Philadel-

phia, took up the work. By 1867 the

institution had expanded so much the

sisters were forced to purchase four

acres of land at Caroline and Hoffman

Streets, the price of which, $24,000, was

furnished by the various congregations

in charge of the Redemptorists. The

joint effort of the three Redemptorist

parishes—namely, St. James', St. Al-

phonsus', and another of which we have

not yet spoken, St. Michael's—in guid-

ing the hospital's destiny may be seen

in that the pastors and two laymen from

each parish were constituted the board

of trustees.

In the following year the

property of "Brown Lane Woods" was

added to the hospital site. In 1872 St.

Joseph's German Catholic hospital offi-

cially opened its doors. In gratitude to

the Redemptorists for their part in the

hospital's foundation the sisters dedi-

cated the four principal wards to the pa-

tron saints of their churches. The chap-

lains of the institution have always been

the clergy of St. James'.

It may be interesting to note that at

one time there was a bona fide college

maintained by the Germans of East Bal-

timore. The Redemptorist preparatory

college, established to give advanced

liberal and theological training for as-

pirants to the Redemptorist order, was

first attached to St. Alphonsus', but in

1869, because of the growing number

of students and the need for larger

quarters, it was transferred to St. James'

hall, where it opened under the title,

Cf. John N. Berger, Life of the Right Rev. John N. Neumann, Fourth Bishop of Philadelphia

(New York, 1884).

St. James' Church, op. cit., 19.

Cf. Grace H. Sherwood, The Oblates' Hundred and One Years (New York, 1931).

St. James' Church, op. cit., 29.

J. F. Byrne, op. cit., 103.

Cf. Sister Mary Barnaba, A Diamond Crown for Christ the King, a story of the first Franciscan

foundation in our country, 1855-1930, 104 ff. (Glen Riddle, Pa., 1930).

[39]

"St. James' College." Later the school

moved to North East, Pennsylvania.

Plans were cast by the parish for the

establishment of a cemetery on Belair

Road which was solemnly blessed by

Father Dauenhauer in 1880 "amid a

vast concourse of people and priests."

On the feast of the Most Holy Redeemer,

1883, a new statue of the Most Holy

Redeemer was placed in a niche over

the entrance and to this day the burial

ground has been known as the Most

Holy Redeemer Cemetery.

As with most Germans those of St.

James' were much addicted to joining

and maintaining societies of every sort,

devotional, social, sick-benefit, and so

on. Possibly the most colorful of those

at St. James' was the Knights of St.

James', organized with the approval of

the pastor, Father Dauenhauer, in 1883.

Trim in their military uniforms, the

knights were intended to enhance spe-

cial gala occasions whether within the

church or in public parades. Frequently

a prize drill was performed in conjunc-

tion with the parish picnic and Muth's

park on North Gay Street often re-

echoed with applause and marching

feet. Of recent years the smartly clad

knights have gradually died off, but St.

James' parishioners will always pause

and remember their gay buttons and

their service to the parish. Most promi-

nent among the benefit societies was a

branch of the Catholic Benevolent Le-

gion which was organized on a state-

wide scale, mostly in German parishes.

Of equal if not of more importance

than any other work of the Catholic Ger-

mans in Baltimore has been their con-

tribution to education. Everywhere the

Germans went they established as an

integral part of their parochial system

a school to instill principles of right

living as well as to supply useful secu-

lar or vocational information. St.

James' was no exception. As early as

1843, according to tradition, the nucleus

of the parochial school was formed in

the basement of Old St. James' Church

in charge of several lay teachers. We

have already mentioned that the novi-

tiate and studentate of the Redemptor-

ists was for a while stationed at St.

James' under the title "St. James' Col-

lege." In 1847 the Redemptorists of St.

James' sold their house to the Notre

Dame sisters who had just come to the

United States from Germany under the

leadership of Mother Teresa. From this

convent the Notre Dame nuns branched

out in all directions, taking charge of

schools one after another. The first of

these was St. James'. The sisters in the

basement school had the care of the

girls, while the boys were still entrusted

to lay professors. A new convent for

the sisters on Aisquith Street was fin-

ished in 1863 and they moved into it,

using the old convent house to shelter

the 562 students.

The cornerstone of a new academy

on Somerset Street was laid in May,

1864. About a year later the Brothers

of Mary were invited to St. James' to

take over the boys' section of the school

and a lot was purchased for them on

Somerset Street whereon they might

erect a residence. The German language

was, of course, a prominent part of the

curriculum for many years. A high-

light of 1879 was a public examination

of all the pupils in the parish hall, an

examination marked by the extraordi-

nary enthusiasm and interest on the part

of the children's parents and friends

who attended.

Since the completion of the new

school on Somerset Street the number

of pupils grew rapidly. By the end of

1878, the list contained the names of

500 boys and 400 girls—900 in all. To

relieve the pressure on the small school

a new hall was built, completed by 1879

and the old hall furnished additional

classrooms for the expanding school

population. By 1885, 1,020 students

were attending St. James' school. As

proof that the quantity of pupils had

not impaired the quality of their in-

struction an examination conducted by

the diocesan school commission in 1891

St. James' Church, St. James' School, Souvenir Album (Baltimore, 1925), 12.

St. James' Church, op. tit., 37.

St. James' Church, 75th Anniversary and History of St. James' Church and Silver Jubilee of

the Knights of St. James (Baltimore, 1908).

[40]

won for them all much praise for their

intelligence and progress.

Needless to say, at the time of the

World War the young men of St.

James' were not shirkers. Only a cen-

tury and a quarter before, the Reverend

Caesar Reuter had resisted all attempts

to weaken the heritage of the Baltimore

German Catholics. Now in 1917 the

Germans of America were at war with

the Germans of Europe. It is illustra-

tive of the degree to which the pristine

German culture had blended into the

new American culture. On April 4,

1918, a service flag was presented by

the Catholic Benevolent Legion to the

school on which were 130 stars, repre-

senting the number of those who were

serving their country.