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. After the armis-

tice a solemn military Mass was cele-

brated in thanksgiving for peace. The

church had never been filled with so

much khaki before. In 1919 a memo-

rial tablet was unveiled in the vestibule

of the church which tells of the 274

young men from St. James' who served

their country and of the seven who died

across the sea.

By 1845 the priests of St. James'

realized that it was a too great hardship

for the German children living in the

vicinity of Fell's Point to come all the

way to St. James' to attend school. Con-

sequently, through the efforts of Father

Albert Schaeffler, the cornerstone of a

school was laid at Pratt and Regester

Streets in that same year. The bricks

for the school had traveled all the way

from Bremen, Germany, as ballast in

the hold of a ship.

The two-story, four-room structure,

which had been named in honor of St.

Michael, was attended after 1847 by the

Notre Dame sisters who for seventeen

years traveled daily from the convent

on Aisquith Street and generally made

the way on foot. The school was the

focal point of an ever-increasing num-

ber of German immigrants who made

their homes near the school rather than

some place else because of the educa-

tional advantages it afforded their chil-

dren.

In answer to the petition of 172 Ger-

man Catholics, Father Gabriel Rumpler,

then pastor of St. Alphonsus, undertook

to build a church in connection with the

school and by 1852 the new church was

blessed by the Rev. Bernard Hafken-

scheid, provincial of Baltimore. The

growth of the new-born parish of St.

Michael's school rose from about 300

in 1852 to a little less than 500 at the

beginning of the Civil War.

The following description of a cer-

tain piece of land appears under the

date, April 10, 1796, in an inventory of

Catholic property in Baltimore: "That

square of ground bounded on the north

by Dulany (Baltimore Street), on the

south by Smith (Lombard Street), on

the west by Wolfe Street, was given by

Mr. William Fell to the Catholics of

Baltimore City for a burying ground."

That "burying ground" was old St.

Patrick's cemetery. Only five years after

the dedication of St. Michael's church,

room for the parishioners was so scant

that old St. Patrick's was purchased, the

bodies were removed, and a new St.

Michael's church was erected. Previous

to this, St. Michael's had been minis-

tered to by the priests dwelling at St.

Alphonsus' or St. James', but hereafter

the parish was to have its own pastor.

A new school was built at the same

time.

The turn of the century saw such a

crying need for a hall to accommodate

the bustling parish societies that work

was started and Cardinal Gibbons

blessed the new hall in 1901. The school

was quite fortunate in 1870 to gain the

talents of the Marist brothers, who took

over various boys' classes. The heights

of attendance was attained in 1897 when

the rolls included over 1,600 pupils. St.

Michael's, at one time, was the largest

Cf. St. James' Church, St. James' School (Baltimore, 1925).

Ibid.

St. Michael's Church, Diamond Jubilee, 1852-1927 (Baltimore, 1927), 13, ff.

Cf. Byrne, of. cit., 100-101.

The Catholic Church in the United States, III, 49. St. Michael's Church, op. cit., 23.

Ibid., 24, ff

[41]

Redemptorist parish in the United

States.

During the years from 1835 to 1840

when the tide of German immigration

was at its flood, the Redemptorists and

other priests returning to Germany from

America besought German nuns to come

to the new nation to instruct the young

German children in American schools.

One of these groups of sisters, the Notre

Dame nuns of Bavaria, at the behest of

King Louis I of Bavaria, determined to

make the long journey. The king con-

tributed to their expenses and told them,

"I shall not forget you in America. I

shall not forsake you."

On July 31, 1847, one novice and five

sisters, including Mother Teresa (Caro-

line Gerhardinger), the superioress, and

Sister Mary Caroline (Josephine

Friess), who later was to do such her-

culean work in the United States, ar-

rived in America and proceeded to St.

Mary's, Pennsylvania, whither they had

been invited by certain Redemptorists

of that locality. But conditions there

did not prove promising,

and Mother

Teresa with two other sisters came to

Baltimore where she found a mother-

house very near to St. James' Church.

In a short time the three sisters had as-

sumed charge of St. James', St. Alphon-

sus' and St. Michael's schools.

This is not the place to trace the

spread of the Notre Dame sisters all

over the continent but we may say some-

thing of both the Institute of Notre

Dame and Notre Dame College of Mary-

land, the two outstanding schools this

German community established in Balti-

more.

The exact beginning of the Institute

of Notre Dame on Aisquith Street can-

not be ascertained. However, it is usu-

ally placed in 1849. By 1857 there

were about 70 students.

The original

convent-school soon became too small

for the demands made upon it and, since

the sisters had to vacate the premises

anyway to make way for the new St.

James' church, they decided to build

close by and on September 8, 1862, the

foundation was laid.

Criticisms came

fast and furious for their rashness in

building during the war period, but in

several months the school was ready for

occupancy. Only 26 girls appeared for

classes in September, 1863, but they

must have been well trained, for, when

the chapel was dedicated in December

of the same year, Mozart's Twelfth

Mass, with piano and harp accompani-

ment, was sung by the students.

The

first public commencement was held on

July 24, 1864, From this period dates

the signal interest shown by Archbishop

Spalding as a friend of the institute.

The arrival of Sister Clarissa in 1864

and her subsequent appointment as

superioress in 1873 marked the begin-

ning of a rapid expansion of the

academy. "Sister Clarissa was the soul,

the dynamic power of the establishment

from this day to that of her death. . . .

Ever alert to progressive movements, in

educational matters, she was well able

to judge between worth while advances

and mere fads; appreciative of classical

excellence, she did not fail to minister

to practical trends."

Consequently,

the institute, long before many other

schools, introduced a very practical

commercial course; music and art were

always exceptionally well cultivated.

Extensions in 1894 included a chapel,

an auditorium, more class rooms, music

and art studios. At the time of Sister

Clarissa's death in 1924 there were

about 250 pupils. In 1926 a final build-

Byrne, op. cit., 101.

A School Sister of Notre Dame (Sister Dympna), Mother Caroline and the School Sisters of

Notre Dame in North America, I, 26 (St. Louis, 1928).

Frederick Friess, Life of Reverend Mother Mary Teresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, 169-170 (Balti-

more, 1942).

Father John Nepomucene Neumann was responsible for Archbishop Eccleston's invitation to the

Notre Dame nuns to reside in the archdiocese of Baltimore. See Archdiocesan Archives, Baltimore,

27 A U3.

House Chronicle of the Institute of Notre Dame.

Ibid.

Sister Dolorette of the Institute of Notre Dame to the author.

Ibid.

[42]

ing was erected that brought the entire

group to Ashland Avenue.

On North Charles Street at Homeland

Avenue a lot was purchased in 1871 by

the Notre Dame sisters to which were

added contiguous tracts, Villa Montrose

and Sheridan's Discovery, in 1873.

From the surrounding countryside the

mansard roof of the new building could

be seen "resting as it were, on the tree

tops." And "above this was a graceful

tower—"the highest building within

many miles of Baltimore, a pre-emi-

nence it still holds." The school opened

in 1873 and President U. S. Grant be-

nignly crowned with laurel the first

graduates in June, 1876. Notre Dame

of Maryland was the first Catholic

women's college in the United States.

Another venture successfully at-

tempted by the Notre Dame nuns was

St. Anthony's orphanage. It is recorded

that in 1847 the Notre Dame sisters of

St. James' parish had taken in two or-

phans of German parentage. By 1854

the Redemptorists had purchased a plot

of ground on Central Avenue and Eden

Street and had erected thereon an or-

phan asylum for German children. A

corporation, composed of the two Ger-

man pastors in Baltimore at that date

and two laymen from each parish, was

invested with the property, but the

actual charge of the homeless children

was committed to the Notre Dame

order.

In the early fifties a certain Society

of St. Paul, the members of which lived

in the vicinity of Federal Hill, sent a

delegation to the Reverend Francis

Seelos of St. Alphonsus', beseeching

him to establish a church in their neigh-

borhood.

Rev. Seelos first suggested

that they seek a site for a school, a task

which presented them little trouble, for

Mr. Joseph Kaufman, at his own ex-

pense, remodeled numbers 51 and 53

Brown Street (now 7 and 9 Cross

Street) and donated the buildings as the

first Catholic school on Federal Hill. It

opened in September, 1855, to over 60

children under the tutelage of two un-

married ladies. The children and parish-

ioners still attended St. Alphonsus' for

church services. In March, 1857,

ground was broken for the erection of

a larger school building, although local

Know-Nothing opposition at the time

rendered the whole undertaking risky.

The Katholische Volks-Zeitung (Jan-

uary 31, 1865) says: "This congrega-

tion, in spite of war and depression,

makes constant progress and that

silently and without pomp. The school

that at its founding numbered scarcely

70 children now numbers 300, so that

it was necessary to enlarge the building,

a gallery was erected in the church and

a new organ installed."

Although founded and organized by

the Redemptorists, the parish on De-

cember 19, 1869, was turned over to

Father Ludwig Vogtman, a secular

priest who was brought directly from

Westphalia. It was he who engaged the

Sisters of Christian Charity to conduct

the school. These sisters, founded by

Pauline von Mallinckrodt at Paderborn,

in 1849, took charge of about 350 chil-

dren at Holy Cross in 1886. When

Father Charles Damer was installed as

pastor in 1890, he put into execution a

plan for a cemetery on Annapolis Road.

He also erected a new school, modern

in every respect, complete from kinder-

garten to high school, a social center-

hall, bowling alleys, conference and

club rooms.

Of unusual interest is the existence of

a society at Holy Cross which is a

branch of the famous "Gesellenvereine"

founded by Adolf Kolping in 1849 at

the Cathedral of Cologne in Germany.

It spread over Germany, Austria-Hun-

gary, Holland, Belgium and France,

having for its purpose the religious and

House Chronicle of the Institute of Notre Dame.

A School Sister of Notre Dame, op. cit., I, 229, ff.

St. James' Church, op. cit., 21-23.

Next to Father Neumann, Rev. Francis Seelos possessed the greatest reputation for sanctity

among the Redemptorists. Coming from his home in Bavaria, he was ordained in Baltimore and then

sent to Pittsburgh. Later pastor at St. Alphonsus in Baltimore and then stationed in Annapolis, he

died of yellow fever in New Orleans in 1867.

Holy Cross Church, Diamond Jubilee, 1860-1935, 13-14 (Baltimore, 1935).

[43]

vocational improvement of traveling

journeymen. Although it met with rapid

success among German Catholic youth

in the "old country," owing to different

social conditions, it has not developed

so well in the United States. Neverthe-

less, in 1873 various members of Holy

Cross parish, including John Snyder

and Werner Rieve, formed a branch of

the movement and entitled it "Father

Kolping Casino of South Baltimore."

Active ever since, the Casino possesses

a spacious clubhouse on William Street.

For many years the nearest place of

worship for the German Catholics of

Canton (as Highlandtown was then

called) was at St. Michael's Church.

As their number expanded, the Rev.

Joseph Müller of St. Michael's was com-

missioned in 1870 to begin collecting

funds for the foundation of a new par-

ish. Two years later the Redemptorists

were able to purchase a lot on Snake

Hill, former site of Fort Marshall of the

Civil War days and present location of

Sacred Heart Church near the corner of

Eastern Avenue and Conkling Street.

By 1873 both school and church services

were started in the basement of what

was to be the first church.

Replacing those lay people who had

taught in the school from the beginning,

the Sisters of Notre Dame took over the

classes in April, 1876, moving into a

new convent erected for their conveni-

ence. Even though the Sacred Heart

parishioners had their own church, con-

vent and school, they still had to rely

on St. Michael's for their priests, be-

cause they were unable to support a

pastor of their own.

The coming of

the first permanent pastor in 1878

marked a determined rise in the for-

tunes of the parish. Under the second

pastor, Father Francis Eberhardt, a new

priests' house and school additions were

built. Father Henry Urben, a new

pastor who arrived in 1887, was ap-

pointed especially because of his inter-

est in a new duty entrusted to the

Redemptorists of Sacred Heart by Arch-

bishop Gibbons of Baltimore, the

spiritual care of the inmates of Bay

View Asylum. This guardianship the

Redemptorists exercised with extraordi-

nary zeal for many years. Father Urben

also completed a parish hall in 1888

and founded a parish cemetery, plots

for which were purchased between the

years 1888-1892. The cemetery is situ-

ated on German Hill Road.

At the urgent request of Cardinal

Gibbons a new church and rectory were,

begun in 1908. The church was com-

pleted in 1921.

Seeing the necessity of a church and

school for the German Catholics of

West Baltimore, Father Joseph Wissel,

pastor of St. Alphonsus', in 1869 invited

all German-speaking Catholic men liv-

ing west of Pearl Street to a meeting to

discuss the possibilities. Results were

quickly apparent. By May, 1870, ex-

cavation was begun on a lot on Mount

Street between Lombard and Pratt

Streets for a church and school. Arch-

bishop Martin Spalding of Baltimore

dedicated the church in January, 1871,

in honor of the Fourteen Holy Martyrs.

The Benedictines replaced the Redemp-

torists as ministers of the parish in

1874. In 1880 the Benedictine nuns

from Chicago took charge of the school

but were later replaced by the Notre

Dame nuns. The cornerstone of a new

church was laid in 1902 by Cardinal

Gibbons.

Closely connected by origin with

Baltimore is the "Central Verein of

North America," a union of all kinds

of German societies. Spreading from

Rochester and Buffalo, where various

German Catholic beneficial societies had

united into one master organization

called the "Central Verein," the move-

ment was formally organized in Balti-

more during the year 1855 in St.

Alphonsus' Hall. The organization

which was intended to be nation-wide

has been described as "the oldest Cath-

olic organization in the United States

devoted primarily, if not exclusively, to

the study and solution of moral and

social problems. Its official organ, Cen-

Archdiocesan Archives, Baltimore, Helmpraecht to Bayley, November 9, 1875. Document 40 H1.

Sacred Heart Church, Golden Jubilee, 1873-1923, 16 ff. (Baltimore, 1923). Also see Byrne,

op. cit., 104-106.

Wilfrid Frins, History of Fourteen Holy Martyrs' Church, passim, 39 (Baltimore, 1903).

[44]

tral Blatt and Social Justice, was the

first Catholic journal in this country

to undertake the cause of Catholic

reconstruction...."

For a time the "Central Verein" gave

aid to German immigrants and ap-

pointed special agents to look after their

interests in Baltimore and other cities.

Although founded in Baltimore, the

Maryland branch of the "Central

Verein" seems, for some reason or

other, to have lapsed for a while. Then,

through the efforts of Reverend William

Kessel, a Redemptorist, at a certain

meeting in Holy Cross parish, "the date

of which cannot be ascertained,"

the

societies of St. James', St. Michael's,

Holy Cross and Sacred Heart banded

together to form the Deutscher Roem-

isch-Katholischer Verband von Balti-

more und Umgegend, which in 1910

affiliated with the "Central Verein of

North America."

A question that is of utmost im-

portance in connection with the Catholic

Germans of Maryland is that of their

Americanization. Possibly the most re-

liable index of this process of Ameri-

canization is the use of the German

language. It is safe to say that down

to the end of the nineteenth century

German was in general use in all the

German parishes. It was taught in the

grammar schools together with English

and was widely used in the churches

for sermons and so on. It was always

customary to memorize the catechism

in German. At least two publications in

the German language were started by

the Catholics of Baltimore in the nine-

teenth century that were eminently suc-

cessful, Die Katholische Volks-Zeitung

and Die Katholische Kirchenzeitung.

Die Katholische Volks-Zeitung was de-

scribed in 1874 as "the most successful

Roman Catholic paper published in the

United States," having a weekly circu-

lation of over 24,000 numbers "in all

parts of the United States and Canada."

The editor was John Schmidt; it was

published by Kreuzer Brothers, who

also published many other Catholic

Books, pamphlets, catechisms, etc. The

first number was issued on Saturday,

May 8, 1860.

Die Katholische Kirchenzeitung was

edited by a convert Lutheran minister,

John James Max Oertel, who started

it in Baltimore, in 1846 but moved it

to New York in 1851. "It was long the

leading Catholic weekly of the United

States."

The period of decline in the use of

German was from about 1900 to 1914,

when the advent of the world war ad-

ministered the coup de grace, so to

speak. For example, Die

Katholische

Volks-Zeitung was discontinued in

1914.

The German language has so

much fallen out of use today in the

Catholic German parishes that in gen-

eral it is used in only one church service

a week and occasionally in the confes-

sional for the few who desire it.

Outside of Baltimore the only other

important settlement of Catholic Ger-

mans was in Cumberland. Annapolis,

as we shall see, although there was

posted in that city a very important

community of German Redemptorists,

contained few German Catholics. Vari-

ous small towns and villages in Western

Maryland contained small groups of

Catholic Germans which were consid-

ered as missions by the German priests,

but none were of great significance.

The Catholics of Cumberland first

came tinder the care of the Redemptor-

ists in 1841 when the latter began the

routine of traveling every three months

by wagon from Baltimore to Cumber-

land in order to furnish the large colony

of German, as well as other, Catholics

with religious service in a church on

the site of the present St. Patrick's. At

last the Cumberland Germans dis-

patched Mr. Michael Wiesel to Arch-

bishop Eccleston to beseech him for a

Catholic Historical Review, VI (1926), 557.

See "Central Verein," Catholic Encyclopedia.

Holy Cross Church, op. cit., 59.

J. Thomas Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore, 107 (Baltimore, 1874).

Historical Records and Studies, U. S. Catholic Historical Society, XXVIII, 239.

Apollinaris W. Baumgartner, Catholic Journalism: A Study of its Development in the United

States, 1789-1930, 17 (New York, 1931).

[45]

German priest and a separate German

parish. Archbishop Eccleston wrote to

Father Obermayer, then pastor of the

English-speaking Catholics of Cumber-

land, June 18, 1847, "It is my wish to

place all the German Congregation of

my Diocese under the charge of the Re-

demptorists. There may be some little

inconvenience in the employment of

Regulars, but situated as the Germans

are, a Religious Order offers to them

and to me advantages that cannot be

expected from other sources...." Mr.

Wiesel also received a copy of the same

document.

Zealously in the spring of 1848 the

German people began work on a church

on lots at the corner of Plumb Alley

and Fayette Street, thoroughfares on

Academy Hill (formerly Fort Hill).

When the church was dedicated to Sts.

Peter and Paul by the Rev. Bernard J.

Hafkenscheid, Provincial of the Re-

demptorists, on September 23, 1849,

two priests and two brothers were al-

ready stationed in the parish.

By 1850 the Germans had purchased

a large tract for a cemetery on Fayette

Street next to the Episcopal Rose Hill

Cemetery. Michael Wiesel was un-

doubtedly the most distinguished mem-

ber of the parish. As organist, he served

the church for many years; he was quite

accomplished also on the piano, violin

and flute. After emigrating from his

native Bavaria to Baltimore he organ-

ized and directed an orchestra and brass

band there. He had the honor of com-

posing the funeral march at the death

of President Harrison. His son, Henry,

conducted the choir from 1860 to 1864

in which latter year "he entered the

college at Baltimore."

At the close of 1849 the brother in

charge of the school had fifty-six pupils.

Three years later an old public school

house nearby was purchased and turned

into a parochial school. In 1855 the

Redemptorists at Sts. Peter and Paul's

opened a college for the young members

of the order. Theology and philosophy

were the principal courses of study.

Although most of the students had been

born in Germany, agitation was begun

in 1857 by Isaac Hecker and some

others for an English-speaking convent.

Father Hecker's parents had come from

Prussia but he himself was American-

born and it seemed to him that Ameri-

can priests should forsake the foreign

training that so many were receiving

even after they had landed on American

soil. The dispute was carried to his

Redemptorist superiors in Rome who

expelled him from the order. Pope

Pius IX dispensed him from his Re-

demptorist vows and he returned to

New York where he organized the

Paulist Fathers.

The Redemptorists, desiring a college

and novitiate much nearer to Baltimore,

abandoned Cumberland in 1866. The

Carmelite Fathers from Straubing, Ba-

varia, led by Father Cyril Knoll, suc-

ceeded them. During the next several

years bricklayers went to work on a

new school and sisters' house for the

convenience of the Ursuline Nuns who

arrived in 1870. An academic exhibi-

tion of the following year "met such a

hearty approval that upon request its

performance was repeated. Three days

were devoted to the examination of

children."

Another shift in pastors occurred in

1875 when the Capuchin Fathers re-

placed the Carmelites. Driven from

Westphalia by the oppressive May Laws

of 1875, they sought refuge in Cumber-

land where they wanted to use as a

novitiate the college abandoned by the

Redemptorists. The first mention of a

dramatic entertainment occurs in 1876.

Annually thereafter there are repeated

notices of parish plays, most of which

were performed at four favorite times—

at Christmastide, on Shrove Tuesday, at

Easter time and in June.

On three noteworthy occasions the

Catholic Germans of Cumberland al-

lowed their charity to be extended out-

side of the parish. A sum of money was

sent to yellow fever sufferers in New

Orleans in 1878. Five years later finan-

cial aid was extended to flood victims

in Germany, and in 1886 "a consider-

For complete information on Isaac Hecker see The Catholic World, vols. LI-LIV (1890-1891);

Walter Elliott, Life of Isaac Thomas Hecker (New York, 1894); Katherine Burton, Celestial Home-

spun, The Life of Isaac Th. Hecker (London-New York, 1943).

[46]

able sum was contributed for the relief"

of the citizens of Charleston, S. C., at

the time of the earthquake there.

The year 1889 marked the celebration

of the centennial of Washington's elec-

tion as first President which was com-

memorated with a Solemn Mass and

other elaborate ceremonies. The fact

that only a year later Solemn Mass was

also sung for Ludwig Windthorst, the

Catholic champion in Germany, reveals

how closely the Germans kept in touch

with both their native and adopted

lands. More and more, however, the

links with the old country were given

up. Although German had been used

in both the school and church, by the

time of the World War its use had been

abandoned.

The city of Annapolis is not by any

means conspicuous for the number of

its German residents, Catholic or other-

wise. But the German order of the Re-

demptorists did establish a community

and parish there that was of some im-

portance in the history of the Maryland

Germans. Through the kindness of the

Marchioness of Wellesley, daughter of

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a small

chapel on Gloucester Street had been

put at the disposal of the handful of

Catholics before the Redemptorists

appeared.

Not long after the Redemptorists had

been well established in Baltimore the

Rev. Bernard Hafkensheid, Provincial

of the Redemptorists, perceived the

necessity of a new novitiate for the in-

creasing number of applicants for ad-

mission into the order. Meantime, the

old Carroll Mansion in Annapolis on

the banks of the Spa River, fallen into

decay and smothered with weeds, had

come into the hands of a Miss Emily

McTavish who offered it to the Redemp-

torists of Baltimore.

By the middle of 1853 a community

of over twenty Redemptorists—fathers,

brothers, students and novices—had re-

furnished the old mansion, cleared

away the weeds on the lawns, and had

taken full possession. For a very short

time the Rev. Roger Dietz, S.J., con-

tinued his pastorate of the small church

on Gloucester Street, but soon turned it

over to the newcomers.

The citizenry of Annapolis, Protest-

ant almost to a man, in general looked

with interest and, indeed, respect upon

the Catholic "Monks" in spite of the

Know-Nothingism firing America at the

time. But there is one incident that

points to the presence of at least one

bigot.

In June or July of 1853, Jef-

ferson Davis, Secretary of War, re-

ceived a note from Annapolis written

with a burnt match. The note claimed

to have been written by a man impris-

oned in the cellar of the Redemptorist

convent, where he was going to be mur-

dered as others already had been. The

writer implored the Secretary to ex-

amine into the iniquitous proceedings

of the Redemptorists, who kept him

confined with the design to murder him.

It was pretended the letter had been

thrown out of the cellar window with

instructions that the finder forward it

to Washington. The Secretary, though

skeptical, instructed the Commandant of

the Naval Academy to make a routine

investigation. He and Mr. Humphrey,

the President of St. John's College,

called on Father Gabriel Rumpler, pro-

testing their doubts of the whole story

and their mere blind obedience to

orders. Father Rumpler took them all

over the house except through the

cellar. He did not show them that be-

cause there was none. Thereafter

friendly relations between the Redemp-

torists and the people of Annapolis

were more strongly cemented than ever.

The superiorate of Father Michael

Mueller, 1857-1862, was one of the

most important eras of the Annapolis

house. It was he who erected the prin-

cipal buildings of the Redemptorist

settlement in the Maryland capital. The

Provincial had reluctantly given Father

Mueller permission to build a church

if he could raise an initial sum of

$2,000. His appeal from the pulpit was

the object of much skepticism because

Details from Fifty Years of S.S. Peter and Paul's Church (Cumberland, 1898).

Cf. Henry Borgmann, History of the Redemptorists at Annapolis, Md., 22 ff. (Ilchester,

Md., 1904).

[47]

of the paucity of Catholics. But soon

after he set forth on a begging expedi-

tion among the citizens of Annapolis.

"And behold! In an hour he had col-

lected one thousand dollars!"

It was not long before sufficient funds

were on hand, mostly through the gen-

erosity of Protestants, to start work.

Stone was transported from Port De-

posit and the brothers and novices

helped dig the foundation and lay the

bricks themselves. By October, 1859,

the work was complete and the An-

napolis Gazette could write:

"A grand concert will be given in the

new St. Mary's Church. . . . The best

talents of Baltimore, including some of

the members of the Baltimore Cathedral

Choir, have kindly volunteered their

services for the occasion. Mr. Cour-

laender, pianist to the King of Den-

mark, will preside at the piano."

Even before the church was dedi-

cated, it was decided to construct a

convent much larger than the crowded

Carroll Mansion. Since excavation was

to begin in July, Father Mueller was

unable to find laborers willing to work

in the sun. Consequently the brothers

and novices themselves went to it with

pick and shovel, digging up and haul-

ing away 40,000 cubic feet of earth.

They also unloaded and counted

500,000 bricks. This example of self-

sacrifice was extremely edifying to the

Annapolitans.

With the Civil War came the trans-

formation of the Naval Academy into a

military hospital, while an army parole

camp was set up nearby. The ministry

of the German Fathers among the sol-

diers may be instanced from the follow-

ing in the chronicle of the institution

for 1864:

"Burnside's corps was here for some

time and, after they left, the hospital

began to be filled with sick and wounded

soldiers, and later with paroled pris-

oners. Sometimes the Fathers were

called to their assistance several times

a day. Mass was often said in camp,

and also in the Naval School Hospital.

Hundreds of the dying received the Last

Sacraments, and hundreds of others had

recourse to the sacred tribunal of pen-

ance. Many of the Fathers often spent

whole days ministering to the soldiers."

The popularity of one Father Jacobs

at this time led the most prominent

citizens of Annapolis to invite him to

make the customary Fourth of July

speech in the State House in 1861. His

clever and tasteful acquittal of his task

at so delicate a time won him universal

applause.

In 1862 it was decided to move the

novices to Cumberland and to convert

the Annapolis convent strictly into a

house of studies. After the necessary

changes had been made, the community

numbered 93, the majority of whom

were devoted solely to study, "from the

lower grades of humanities up to the

highest of philosophy and theology."

In 1863 twenty Redemptorists were or-

dained to the priesthood. At the time

it was the largest group of Redemptorist

ordinandi in America, the first ordina-

tion in the capital of Maryland and the

last ordination by Archbishop Kenrick

of Baltimore.

Such a brief account as this, it goes

without saying, cannot give an adequate

picture of what the Catholic Germans

have accomplished in Maryland. Per-

haps the physical monuments of their

endeavors — churches, schools, halls,

etc. — although superficially the most

impressive, have been the least of their

contribution. Far greater are the "im-

ponderables," as another famous Ger-

man would call them, namely, their

religiousness, their passion for organi-

zation, their zeal for education, and

their facility in adapting their German

qualities to "the American way of life."

[48]