REVEREND PHILIP
ST. LOUIS
PIONEER
MISSIONARY OF NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN
C. LUKE LEITERMANN
Thesis
submitted in
partial fulfillment
of the requirements
for
the degree of
Master of Arts
St. Francis
Seminary, St Francis, Wisconsin
January 29, 1934
CONTENTS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii
INTRODUCTION
- ST. LOUIS ANTECEDENTS . . . . . . . . . .
. . 1
CHAPTER
I - GADIOU, DIT ST. LOUIS . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 4
CHAPTER
II - PHILIP ST. LOUIS: YOUTH . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 9
CHAPTER III -
PHILIP ST. LOUIS: SERVITE . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 11
CHAPTER IV - PHILIP
ST. LOUIS: MISSIONARY . . . . . . . . . . . 16
CONCLUSION
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
ii
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DOCUMENTS:
Green Bay Diocesan Archives, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Letters of Miss Ethel St. Louis, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Letters and documents of Reverend Philip St. Louis.
GENERAL AND SPECIAL WORKS:
Alphonse, Sister M., O.S.P., The Story of Father Van den
Broek, O.P.,
(Chicago; Ainsworth & Company,
1907), 94p.
Dessureau, Robert M., History of Langlade County, Wisconsin,
(Antigo:
Berner Brothers Publishing Co.,
c1922), 352 p.
Helyot, Reverend, Dictionnaire des Ordres Religieux ou
Historie des Ordres
Monastiques, Religieux
et Militaires, (Paris, 1849), 4 vols. These
are
volumes 20-23 of Migne, Encyclopedie
Theologique.
Heming, Harry H., History of the Catholic Church in
Wisconsin, (Milwaukee:
Catholic Historical Publishing
Company, 1895-98), xiv-1181 p.
History of Northern Wisconsin, (Chicago: The
Western Historical Company, 1881),
1218 p.
Leitermann, C. L., History of St. John the Evangelist
Church, Antigo, Wis-
consin, Golden Jubilee,
1880-1930, (Antigo: Berner Brothers Publishing
Company, 1930), 139p.
Marquette College, A Quarter Century: 1881-1906,
(Milwaukee; 1906), 127 p.
McDonnell, Reverend P. J., Souvenir of the Solemn
Dedication of St. Mels
Church, ... November
26, 1911, (Chicago, 1911), 84 p.
Moreri, Reverend Louis, Le Grand Dictionnaire Historique ou
le Melange
Curieux de
LHistoire Sacree et Profane, (Basle: Jean
Louis Brandmueller.,
1711-1740), 6 vols.; Supplement,
(Basle: Jean Christ, 1743-45), 3 vols.
ODonnell, Reverend John Hugh, C.S.C., The Catholic
Hierarchy of the United
States, 1790-1922,
(Washington, D.C., 1922), xiv - 223 p.
Our Lady of Sorrows, 1874-1924, (Chicago, 1924),
120 p.
Tanguay, Abbe Cyprien, Dictionnaire Genealogique des
Familles Canadiennes
depuis la Fondation de
la Colonie Jusoua nos Jours, (Montreal:
Eusebe
Senecal & Fils, 1881-90), 7
vols.
iii
PERIODICALS:
Annals of St. Joseph, (De Pere,
Wisconsin, 1888 - ).
Catholic Directory:
The Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laitys
Directory, (Baltimore:
Myres, 1834-37, Lucas, 1838-58;
Murphy, 1859-61).
American Catholic Almanac, (New York: Dunigan,
1858-60).
Catholic Almanac and Ordo, (new York: Sadlier,
1864-66).
Catholic Directory, Almanac and Ordo, (New York:
Sadlier, 1867-96).
Catholic Directory and Clergy List Quarterly,
(Milwaukee: Hoffman, 1886-96).
Catholic Directory, (Milwaukee; Wiltzius,
1897-1905).
Official Catholic Directory, (Milwaukee; Wiltzuis,
1907-11).
Official Catholic Directory, (New York: Kenedy,
1912- ).
Antigo Daily Journal, (May 2, 1932).
Our Parochial Schools, (Phlox and Green Bay,
1887-1894).
Star of Bethlehem, (Milwaukee, 1869-71).
INTERVIEWS:
Mr. Arnold Menting, Phlox, Wisconsin, September 4, 1932.
Mr. John Menting, Antigo, Wisconsin, September 4, 1932.
Mr. John Mollen, Little Chute Wisconsin, September 6, 1933.
Mrs. Joseph Lenz, Little Chute, Wisconsin, September 6, 1933.
INTRODUCTION
ST. LOUIS ANTECEDENTS
The unassuming little town of Little Chute, Wisconsin, lying on
the north bank of the Fox River, has, during the past century,
played a really remarkable role both in the civic and religious
progress of the state. It was here that great projects were
confected toward the development of the Fox River for river
traffic; here the Reverend Theodore J. Van den Broek founded a
pioneer Catholic parish out of a handful of Indians and white
settlers; here Ephraim St. Louis settled in 1837 as one of the
pioneers; and here also was born his son, Philip St. Louis, the
subject of this sketch.
The early history of Little Chute is centered to a great extent
around that saintly figure, The Reverend Theodore J. Van den
Broek.1 Born and reared in Amsterdam,
Holland, ordained and later received as a member of the Dominican
Order, active for many years in pastoral work in Holland, he set
out from Antwerp on July 5, 1832, for Baltimore, in the company
of six other missionaries who deigned to consecrate their lives
to heroic missionary work in America. He arrived at
Baltimore on the fifteenth of August and then proceeded almost
immediately to Ohio. After some pastoral work here Bishop
Rese of Detroit sent him to Green Bay where he arrived on the
fourth of July, 1834, finding here not more than nine or ten
houses, but many Indians.2 He labored
here over two years. What followed he himself informs us:
On the 6th
of December, 1836, the Bishop [Rese] sent three Redemptorist
Fathers in my place
(Fr. H. Haetscher,
Simon Saenderl, Jas. Prost., C. SS. R.) And I betook myself 24
miles higher up the
river into the
woods, to the Indians, at a place called La Petite Chute (Little
Chute), a small waterfall near
Grand Cocalin
[Kaukauna] - an Indian name meaning rapids. (In the
Chippewa language it means the home of the pike Okakaning
meaning pike). An Indian woman at once built me a hut or
wigwam, about fifteen feet long and six feet high; it was
finished in half a day. I lived in it from Pentecost to
October (1837), meanwhile, with the Indians, I began to build a
church and parsonage. For six months the wigwam was both my
house and my church. My congregation soon increased to
fifty Christians who heard Mass in the open air; it did not take
long until the number had reached two hundred. You can
easily imagine there was no dearth of timber here. In the
meantime I succeeded, with the help of the newly converted, in
building a church 30 feet long and 22 feet wide without any
money. The first year, 1837, the church was under roof
covered with bark.3
To the above might
be added what Father Van den Broek wrote in another account:
I had to help
the Indians myself to build. There were no carpenters to be
had, and if one was to be had he asked 10 florins a day and
board. I succeeded in making carpenters out of some of the
Indians, so that it was not long before we had a little church
erected although not finished. At first we had to use the
floor joists for benches.
In the course of
time some settlers from Canada.4 joined us;
among these were some workmen so that wages were now one dollar a
day (fl. 2.50).5
Such were the early activities and the humble beginnings of what
promised to be in due time a thriving and truly Catholic
community. Such also was the scene which greeted Ephraim
St. Louis and his little family as they entered the settlement in
the fall of 1837.6
Lured on by a great desire of adventure, Ephraim St. Louis,
together with his wife and four children, left Canada, their land
of birth, and journeyed in 1837 by way of the St. Lawrence River
and the Great Lakes to Green Bay and thence down the Fox River to
Little Chute. We can safely presume that Father Van
den Broek gladly welcomed the newcomers, for the ensuing winter
was passed in the missionarys own rude hut. Out of
this early close association arose a lasting friendship,
particularly between Father Van den Broek and Ephraim
St. Louis, which
was outwardly manifested on no few occasions during their lives.
Ephraim St. Louis was pleased with the location, despite the
large numbers of Indians who inhabited the locality, and took a
claim on the north bank of the Fox River.7 Although
the locality was well populated with Indians and had often been
traversed by fur traders, missionaries, and homestead seekers,
yet the signs of the white mans civilization were wanting
considerably. It was almost like starting life anew, and
thus Ephraim
St. Louis and his
family were forced to endure all the hardships, inconveniences,
trials, and difficulties that fall to the lot of a pioneer.
He remained firm in his desire to found a new home for himself in
a land of romance, and to this end was given considerable
encouragement by his lately acquired friend, Father Van den
Broek. It is pleasing to think thereon, to envisage that
pioneer home with all its romance, and the children gaily
prancing about at the waters edge, unaware of the hardships
being undergone for their welfare by their beloved parents. That
success awaited the loving labors of these pioneer parents is
evident from what the future had in store for them, - the rearing
of a large family, of which the youngest child became a priest, a
civic and religious leadership, successful business undertakings,
and finally longevity of life, breathed forth in the presence of
their priest-son.
FOOTNOTES FOR
ANTECEDENTS -
1. Sister M. Alphonse, O.S.D., The Story
of Father Van den Broek, (Chicago, 1907); Note Book
of Rev. Theo. J. Van den Broek, O.P., in Annals
of St. Joseph, (De Pere, Wisconsin), XI (1899-1900), nos.
11, 12., XII (1900-01), nos. 1, 2 Life of Rev. Theo.
J. Van den Broek, in Annals of St. Joseph,
XII (1900-01),
nos. 5-12, XIII (1901-02), nos. 1-7.
2. Sister M. Alphonse, O.S.D., op. cit.,
p. 43; Annals of St. Joseph, XIII, 168.
3. Sister M. Alphonse, O.S.D., op. cit..,
p.43, 44; Annals of St. Joseph, XII, 168.
4. In his narrative, Judge George W. Lawe writes;
In 1839 I moved with my family from Green Bay to Kaukauna.
I found living here with their families: Charles A Grignon and
his brother Alexander, who traded produce with the Indians for
hides; also Mr. St. Louis and his family, Joseph Lamure, Paul A.
Beaubien, and some Germans whose names I do not remember. Mr.
Beaubien had a new saw and grist mill on the south side of the
Fox river, and this was very convenient for the settlers. -
Quoted in: Sister M. Alphonse, O.S.D., op. cit.,
p.15; Annals of St. Joseph, XI, 76.
5. Annals of St. Joseph, XI 186.
6. Obituary of Ephraim St. Louis (a newspaper
clipping apparently from a Kaukauna, Wisconsin paper.)
7. A United States Re-emption certificate (No.3867),
dated May 10, 1848, in the name of Ephraim St. Louis, describes
the claim as Lot number Four of Section Twenty-two, in
Township Twenty one North of Range Eighteen East, in the District
of Lands subject to Sale at Green Bay, Wisconsin Territory,
containing Fifty Eight acres. (Original in Neville
Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin)
CHAPTER I
GADIOU, DIT ST. LOUIS
The St. Louis relationship, introduced into Wisconsin upon the
arrival of Ephraim St. Louis and his family at Little Chute in
1837, and since then increased to several hundreds, traces its
ancestry to Brittany and Normandy. Here, and also for some
time after the immigration to Canada during the latter half of
the seventeenth century, the family bore the name
Gadiou, later changed to St. Louis.1
It seems that the family was introduced into Canada, into the
province of Quebec, in the person of Gilles Gadiou, who was born
in 1649, and buried at Ste. Famille, Ile dOrleans, on the
fourth of November, 1699.2 His wife,
Marie Anne De Lougre, daughter of Jacques De Lougre and Marie
Taupier, was born at Chateau Richer on the fourteenth of June,
1665, and was buried at Montreal on the third of June, 1704.
To this marital union six children were born, namely, Francois,
Jean Baptiste I, Charles, Marie-Madeleine, Louise, and Genevieve.
Records show that of these children three were married: Jean
Baptiste I to Marie Josette Duret at Quebec on the twenty-fifth
of June, 1715; Charles to Angelique Baudoin at Repentigny on the
seventeenth of October, 1729; and Marie-Madeleine to Francois
Phenis at Repentigny on the sixth of October, 1721. Charles
died without progeny, and
Marie-
Madeleine is discounted here since thru her the Gadiou name would
hardly be propagated. Thus to
Jean Baptiste
I, son of Gilles Gadiou, devolves the credit for preserving and
propagating the family name.
Jean Baptiste I Gadiou was born at Repentigny on the
twenty-second of December, 1690, he was buried at Beauport on the
fourteenth of January, 1760. As already noted, he married
Marie Josette Duret at Quebec on the twenty-fifth of June, 1715.
She was born at Quebec on the twentieth of March, 1695, the
daughter of Jacques Duret and Catherine Jamein. This union
was blessed with a numerous progeny, fifteen children, namely,
Jean Baptiste II, Marie Joseph Francoise, Charles, Jacques, Marie
Francoise, Dominique, Marie Angelique, Michel Marie, Jean
Baptiste, Marguerite Louise, Jean Joseph, Anonymous child,
Nicolas Joseph, Antoine, and Jean Roger.
In his scholarly work the Abbe Tanguay notes only Jean Baptiste
II, Nicolas Joseph, and Antoine among the boys as having married.
Only the last two, however, had male offspring. Nicolas
Joseph was born at Quebec on the twenty-fifth of March, 1736, and
married Charlotte Lemaitre Rivard, widow of Joseph Rivard and
already the mother of four children, at Yamachiche on the fourth
of November, 1760. Three boys were born to this union, all
at Yamachiche; Joseph Louis (was baptized) on the nineteenth of
January, 1762, Jean Baptiste III on the fourteenth of March,
1764, and Antoine on the thirteenth of July, 1766.
Antoine, the brother of Nicolas Joseph, was likewise born at
Quebec, on the twenty-fifth of October, 1737; he was buried at
Quebec on the twenty-first of April, 1764. At Beauport, on
the nineteenth of October, 1761, he married Catherine Lamotte
(dit Laramee), the daughter of Louis Lamotte and who was born on
the thirtieth of May, 1732, at Beauport. Of their two
children, Catherine and Noel, the later was born at Quebec on the
twenty-sixth of December, 1763.
The reader might wonder at the reason for the enumeration of all
these names and dates. The wonderment will soon vanish.
At this writing the name of the father of Ephraim St. Louis could
not be determined. The line of descent has been traced
above and by an elimination process only four names remain as the
possible father of Ephraim St. Louis, namely Joseph Louis, Jean
Baptiste III, and Antoine, the sons of Nicholas Joseph, and Noel,
the son of Antoine. It is quite certain that one of these
four is the father of Ephraim St. Louis, but only further
investigation will determine this exactly. It is not a
matter of a want of a name but rather of determining a particular
name.
The change of the family name from Gadiou to St. Louis next
merits consideration. As a note to the name of Jean
Baptiste I Gadiou, Abbe Tanguay adds the phrase dit St.
Louis.3 With him the additional
appellation first appears, and is likewise shown in connection
with the names of his several married children, among them Jean
Baptiste II, from all of which it seem that with them St.
Louis became the family surname. The exact reason for
the change remains unknown. However, there is a tradition
current among members of the St. Louis relationship which claims
that one of the ancestors was at one time an officer in the
French navy and had been decorated and honored as a Chevalier of
the Order of St. Louis, and from this the family is said to have
derived its new name.4
Under the name of Jean Baptiste II, Abbe Tanguay, in addition to
the dit St. Louis, has a note that this gentleman was
a sailor (navigateur), and in 1746, was a prisoner of war in
England.5 This information seems to
substantiate the family tradition. It seems very probable
therefore that Jean Baptiste II Gadiou, a sailor and very likely
an officer in the French navy, and in 1746, a prisoner in
England, was for some outstanding achievement, heroic deed, or
bravery, honored as a Chevalier of the Order of St.
Louis.6 It seems that by the
repeated use of the term St. Louis, in connection
with Gadiou, the man and the honor were so closely
identified that the real family name Gadiou was
gradually dropped in favor of St. Louis. Another
explanation for the change in name is suggested by the fact that
in going from one country to another the immigrant often assumes
a different surname. In Abbe Tanguays work, the
dit appears rather frequently. In the case in
question this explanation does not seem plausible.
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Ephraim St. Louis was born in Canada in 1809, and as already
noted, was a descendant of a family emigrated from France
sometime during the latter half of the seventeenth century.7
His father, it is claimed, possessed vast estates, and dying
while his son Ephraim was a child, the property was left in the
custody of the oldest son who held it in trust for his brothers
and sisters during their minority. Unfortunately this older
son invested in a line of steamships to navigate the St. Lawrence
river. On one occasion the sparks of one of the steamers
set fire to the city of Three Rivers, Province of Quebec, Canada,
a considerable portion of which was burned. This almost
meant ruin for the family since a great part of their wealth went
to pay for the ravages caused by this accident. Being
comparatively impoverished, Ephraim, the youngest son, was
apprenticed to a shoemaker. While quite a young man he
traveled in the eastern states and after having learned his trade
thoroughly he returned to Canada.8 Here,
in 1831, he was married to Marie des Anges Manseau, likewise a
descendant of an early French immigrant, and of this union twelve
children were born, namely Joseph, Olivine, Mary, Helen, Thomas,
Margaret, John, Angeline, and Philip. The first four
children were born in Canada while the remaining eight were born
at Little Chute, Wisconsin.9
As already noted, Ephraim St. Louis and his family first lived
with Father Van den Broek upon his coming to Wisconsin. From
this first close association sprang an intimate friendship which
persisted even after the latters death. In 1847
Father Van den Broek journeyed to his home in the Netherlands.
Before departing, however, he appointed his friend, E. H.
St. Louis, in whom he had implicit confidence, as overseer over
his property.10 A further
indication of this intimate friendship is evidenced in the fact
that Ephraim St. Louis acted as administrator of Father Van den
Broeks effects after the death of the latter.11
He likewise acted as trustee of the St. John Nepomucene church at
Little Chute for about twenty-seven years.12
Ephraim St. Louis was identified principally with lumbering,
government contract work, and public improvements. He did
much of the work connected with the improvement of the Fox fiver
for river traffic. Politically he was a staunch democrat.
By his integrity he accumulated considerable wealth. He
reared a large family and gave his children all the advantages,
educational and otherwise, that circumstances would permit.
All his children save one were married, and had a prolific
progeny, so that at the time of his death on the twenty-seventh
of May, 1892, at Phlox, Wisconsin, whither he had moved in 1881,
the descendants numbered ninety-nine grand children and
eighty-six great grand children. Speaking upon a time at a
meeting of the pioneers of Outagamie county he stated that these
descendants were his gift to his country and he hoped that they
would grow up to be true loyal American citizens.13
The mortal remains of Ephraim St. Louis are buried in the
cemetery adjoining St. Joseph church in Phlox, Wisconsin, the
grave being marked by a tin covered cross which was originally on
the church.
FOOTNOTES ---
CHAPTER I
1. Letter of Ethel St. Louis to C. Luke Leitermann,
April 21, 1932.
2. Abbe Cyprien Tanguay, Dictionnaire
Genealogique des Familles Canadiennes, (Montreal,
1881-90, 7 vols.) I, p. 244; IV,
p. 117. The following genealogical data is taken from the
same scholarly work.
3. Tanguay, op. cit., IV, p.117.
4. Letter of Ethel St. Louis, as above; Obituary of
Ephraim St. Louis (newspaper clipping); Sketch of the life of
Ephraim St. Louis (newspaper clipping).
5. Tanguay, op. cit., IV, p. 117.
6. The Chevaliers de l Ordre de Saint
Louis originated in France in 1693 by King Louis XIV,
whereby he wished to show his gratitude in a special way to the
officers of his army and navy who distinguished themselves in a
special way in victories and conquests. Only a Roman
Catholic who had served in the capacity
as an officer for at least ten years, either
on land or sea, and because of virtue, merit, and distinguished
services showed himself worthy, could be a member. The
honor was conferred by the King himself, and special insignia
were given. Those admitted received special revenues and
pensions, which increased in proportion as the individuals
rendered themselves worthy by their conduct. Certain duties
were prescribed for members, and if not performed, except for
good reason, would result in a privation of the honor. The
Order was permanently dissolved in July, 1830. cfr.
R. P. Helyot, Dictionnaire des Ordres Religieux of Histoire
des Ordres
Monastiques, Religieux et Militaires,
(Paris, 1849, 4 vols.), II, col. 796-802; Reverend Louis Moreri, Le
Grand Dictionnaire Historiques ou le Melange Curieux de
LHistoire Sacree et Profane,
(Basle, 1711-1745, 9 vols.), VI, p. 242.
7. Obituary of Ephraim St. Louis (newspaper
clipping).
8. Sketch of the life of Ephraim St. Louis
(newspaper clipping).
9. Letter of Ethel St. Louis, as above.
10. Annals of St. Joseph, XIII, p. 53.
11. Ibid.. P. 103.
12. Obituary of Ephraim St. Louis (newspaper
clipping).
13. Sketch of the Life of Ephraim St. Louis
(newspaper clipping).
CHAPTER II
PHILIP ST. LOUIS: YOUTH
In 1847 Father Van den Broek asked the superior of the St. Joseph
Dominican Convent near Somerset, Ohio, for an assistant. The
request was granted and the Reverend Mannes DArco, O. P.,
an Italian priest, accompanied by a lay brother named Peter, came
to assist him.1 He then prepared himself
and left for a visit to his home at Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
While Father Van den Broek was gone on his trip, the joy which
reigned in the home of Ephraim
St. Louis a
large brick house on the north bank of the Fox river and still
standing, was now increased at the arrival of the twelfth
child on April 15, 1848. Again displaying his loyalty to
God, the father presented the infant boy for baptism to the
Reverend Mannes DArco, O.P., on the next day, April 16, and
the name Philip Manasses was given to the babe. Mrs.
Charles Grignon of Kaukauna acted as godmother on this memorable
occasion.
Concerning the childhood and early youth of Philip little is
known. His elementary schooling was received at the
district school since there was no parochial school in Little
Chute at the time. The community was almost entirely
Catholic and thus the district engaged two of the Sisters of St.
Agnes, who resided in the old Van den Broek house.2
Some of his elementary training was also received under the
tutelage of Mr. Martin Gerits, a very able teacher.3
Sometime between the years 1864 and 1872 we find the youth Philip
attending the St. Gall academy 4 in
Milwaukee conducted by the Jesuits and superintended by the
Reverend J. F. Kuhlman, S. J.5 In 1869
two of Philips brothers, George and Thomas, began and
conducted the publication of a monthly periodical, the Star
of Bethlehem.6 Philip often helped
in the printing office,7 originally located at
the corner of what are now North Water Street and East Wisconsin
Avenue in Milwaukee.8 It was here that he
received his first experience in the field of journalism and
printing which he so ably developed in later years.9
The youthful Philip was not one who catered to idleness. He
was of a mechanical mind. He was especially proficient in
woodwork, which is borne out by his increased activity in this
line during his many years as a priest. For some time,
perhaps about 1872, he worked in a nearby lumber mill at Little
Chute.10 Miss Anne Mollen (now Mrs.
Joseph Lenz), living two doors away, was wont as a girl to carry
the lunch for her brother and Philip St. Louis who were working
at the mill.11
An interesting incident is told by Mr. John Mollen of Little
Chute. On one occasion Philip St. Louis was making some
maple syrup and maple sugar in a woods across the river from
Little Chute. A few young men, among them his brother, were
good consumers of the precious product. Philip detected the
thievery and resolved to put an end to it. He took a
certain bark and some leaves and mixed them with some syrup, and
the mixture, when taken, served as an effective laxative. The
thieves partook freely of the mixture and suffered the natural
consequences, much to the delight of Philip. He outwitted
his playful thieves and henceforth remained unmolested.12
FOOTNOTES ---
CHAPTER II
1. Annals of St. Joseph, XIII, p. 53; Catholic
Almanac, (Baltimore), 1848,P.191.
2. Interview with Mr. John Mollen, Little Chute,
Wisconsin, on September 6,1933.
3. Letter of Ethel St. Louis to C. Luke Leitermann,
October 16, 1933.
4. Ibid., April 21, 1933, October 16, 1933.
5. Marquette College, a Quarter Century,
1881-1906, (Milwaukee, 1906), p. 6.St. Gall Academy, a
secondary school, which might be considered a successor to the
St. Aloysius Academy, was opened in 1864, and was located beside
the St. Gall church on the property now occupied by the Public
Service Building on Michigan Avenue between Second and Third
Streets in Milwaukee.
6. The Star of Bethlehem, as it seems,
was the first English Catholic periodical published in Wisconsin.
It continued for two years, from October 1869 to September 1871,
twenty-four issues, of sixteen pages each. It was then
merged with the Catholic Vindicator, which in 1878
became the Catholic Citizen, still published in
Milwaukee, the largest weekly paper in the state of Wisconsin in
paid circulation figures. Early in 1871 the partnership
between Thomas and George St. Louis was dissolved. Beginning
with the issue for February 1871, the periodical was published by
George St. Louis alone. A complete file of the Star
of Bethlehem, recently acquired from Miss Ethel St.
Louis, Colorado Springs, Colorado, daughter of the co-publisher,
George
St. Louis, is to be found in the Salzmann
Library, St. Francis Seminary, St. Francis, Wisconsin.
7. Letter of Ethel St. Louis, as above, October 16,
1933.
8. Star of Bethlehem,
(Milwaukee, 1869-71), I. p. 8. During the year 1870 the
office was located at 86 Mason Street and beginning with January
1871, at 112 Mason Street.
9. Our Parochial School,
(Phlox and Green Bay, 1887-94).
10. The Bartow mill was originally built by George
St. Louis as a hub and spoke factory and saw mill, with money
received from a railroad company as compensation for an accident.
The location was near the dam, on the north side of the river at
Little Chute.
11. Interview with Mrs. Joseph Lenz, Little Chute,
September 6, 1933.
12. Interview on September 6, 1933.
CHAPTER III
PHILIP ST. LOUIS: SERVITE
In the summer of 1870 a group of Servite Fathers (Servants of
Mary), the Reverends Austin Morini, Andrew Venturi, and Bonfilius
Baldi, and a lay brother, Joseph Camera, arrived from Italy and
established their first American convent on Doty Island, Menasha.1
To them Bishop Melcher assigned the property and entrusted the
care of St. Charles church (later St. Patrick), over which they
had charge until 1882, when the property was re-deeded to the
Right Reverend Francis X. Krautbauer, Bishop of the Green
Bay diocese.2 Philip St. Louis soon
joined the group as a student and candidate.3
Under the able tutelage of the Reverend Fathers, especially
Austin Morini and Andrew Venturi, he pursued his theological
studies.4 We might presume that great
care and attention were lavished upon him by the Fathers for he
was to be the first priest ordained in America for the community.
It must have been a most happy occasion, not only to his parents,
brothers, and sisters, but also the Servite community, when
Philip St. Louis was ordained to the priesthood on April 7, 1876,
by Bishop Krautbauer of Green Bay, this being the first time
since his elevation to the episcopate that the prelate had been
called upon to perform that duty.5 A
thankful and merry group participated at his first Mass
celebrated in St. John Nepomucene church at Little Chute.6
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In the early spring of 1874, Fathers Morini and Venturi and
Brother Joseph Camera gave with the permission of Bishop Foley
[of Chicago], a mission to the Italians of the city [Chicago].
This they held in the basement of St. Patricks church.
It was quite a success, for at its conclusion Bishop Foley asked
the Fathers to remain and form an Italian parish. This they
did; but after several attempts they were forced to report to the
Bishop that time was not propitious and nothing could be done for
the present. The Bishop, however, urged the Fathers
to locate in the diocese and suggested that they establish a
place in the western part of the city, as yet undeveloped. Father
Morini yielded to the suggestion and then made an inspection over
the western prairie.7 Thus the
parish of Our Lady of Sorrows was established on June 25,
1874, for on that date the deed for the property was signed.8
The task now devolved upon the Fathers, especially Father Morini,
the superior and pastor, to supervise and complete the
organization of the parish, erect suitable parish buildings, and
quite naturally also provide a home for themselves. On
August 30, 1874, the building of a combined church and house was
started. The structure was of brick, two stories high, 102
x 38 feet. The church proper was 78 feet in length, the
remaining 24 feet constituting a residence of the Fathers,
Students, and Brothers, and comprising nineteen small rooms.9
The building
was sufficiently completed to warrant its occupancy at Christmas
time, 1874, and henceforth rapid strides toward success were
made.
Because of the poverty of the Green Bay diocese and the greater
possibilities held out to the community in Chicago, the Fathers
now desired to transfer their novitiate from Menasha to Chicago.
A rescript of the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda dated
February 28, 1875, granted the necessary permission.10
To this end,
however, the present accommodations were insufficient, and hence
more adequate provisions were required, which of course involved
the building of a separate convent. The necessary
preparations advanced slowly, so that it was only on June 2,
1878, that the new convent, three stories high, 31 x 43 feet, was
started. It was completed on January 4, 1879.11
Toward the close of the year 1878 the novitiate was thus
transferred from Menasha to Chicago.12
In September, 1876, following his ordination, Father St. Louis
went upon assignment to the Servite convent in Chicago on West
Jackson boulevard. Here he made his home and this was the
scene of his activity for the next few years until 1880.13
His ability and ambition for work had not waned and of this his
superior was well aware, for he was soon engaged in drawing the
plans and later superintending the erection of the above
mentioned new convent. Nor was this all. He likewise drew
the plans and superintended the erection of
St. Philip Benizi
church in Cicero, Illinois, and during this time likewise acted
as pastor of St. Mary church at Lyons, Cook county, Illinois.14
All this work, while undertaken and accomplished in a truly
unselfish spirit, nevertheless must have been a considerable
strain on the young priest. He sought a change of
atmosphere wherein he could relax and rest a bit after the trying
days in Chicago. He gives his own impressions, writing;
I thought I was tired - tired in body and in mind -
attending a congregation ten miles from Chicago, building a
church and a large convent, looking to the masons and carpenters,
working until midnight drawing plans, and (without explanations)
I was sacristan, treasurer, and procurator; work and
responsibility weighed heavily upon me. A man strong in
mind and body could have borne it, but not I. Perhaps it
was a want of will, but I thought I was tired.15
His superior granted his request for a removal and apparently
during the later part of 1879 or early 1880 he returned to the
convent at Menasha where he was stationed until 1882.16
While he made his home and headquarters at the convent in
Menasha, he was henceforth busily engaged in Missionary work at
nearby and outlying missions. His return to Menasha marks
the beginning of the missionary career with which most of his
life was henceforth occupied. Beginning in April, 1880, he
attended monthly from Menasha the missions at Phlox and Antigo,
which he started, and for a time also that at Tigerton, and
continued to do so until the early summer of 1882 when he was
relieved of all except that at Phlox, of which parish he became
the first resident pastor.17
Before considering his missionary activities we will yet treat
the subject of his secularization. Sometime during the year
1885 the Very Reverend Appoloni, O. S., Visitator General of the
Servites, was in the United States visiting the houses of the
community.18 To him Father St. Louis
confided his desire to quit the Servite community and become
secularized. What his reasons were we do not know. Could
it have been that his aged parents, now living at Phlox, needed
his help and support? The matter was arranged between the
Visitator General and Bishop Krautbauer, who in turn referred it
to the General of the Servites in Rome. What followed is
contained in a letter of the Reverend Austin Morini to Bishop
Krautbauer: I have the honour to forward to Your Lordship
the enclosed Rescript of the S. C. De Propaganda sent to me by
our Most Rev. Fr. General. The Rescript has reference to
the secularization of Rev. Fr. Philip St. Louis, of which the V.
Rev. Fr. Appoloni, O.S., Visitator General, spoke to Your
Lordship. From the Contents of the Rescript I have judged
that the document has to be forwarded to your lordship.19
Bishop Katzer, successor to Bishop krautbauer, apparently because
he had been insufficiently informed on the matter, wrote to the
Reverend Austin Morini. The reply letter to Bishop Katzer
is rich in information and we quote at length: In
answer to your venerated [letter] of March 30th I beg
to say that the matter of the secularization of Fr. St. Louis was
arranged between the Visitator General and the late Bp.
Krautbauer, and I had nothing whatever to do with it and know
nothing about the understanding arrived at between our Visitator
General and the late Rt. Rev. Bishop. I know however that
said Rev. St. Louis wrote the petition to Propaganda for
secularization, as it is manifest from the Rescript of Propaganda
reported by Your Lordship in the letter. I received the
document from our Fr. General with order to send it to the Bishop
for the execution, which I did send him. Not seeing any
acknowledgment of said document I wrote to Rev. St. Louis asking
him if he received any communication from the Bishop. He
answered me that the only communication he had was that the
Bishop wrote to him that he should not wear any longer the
religious habit, but he should dress as a secular priest. It
seems to me that having Rev. St. Louis asked and obtained the
faculty of becoming a secular priest, and the late Rt. Rev.
Bishop having kept the Rescript of Propaganda and given orders to
said Rev. St. Louis to dress as a secular priest, it remains with
the Ordinary to see that he conforms himself to the general
discipline of reciting the Roman breviary and wearing the dress
of a secular priest.20
That the secularization was carried out is quite evident, for the
remainder of his life Father St. Louis spent as a secular or
diocesan priest, having only few associations with the Servites
during this time. The Catholic Directory as late as 1894
adds the letters O. S. to his name, yet this can be
discredited, since much of the data was carried over from year to
year.
FOOTNOTES ---
CHAPTER III
1. Green Bay Diocesan Archives (henceforth,
G.B.D.A.): Two letters of introduction from
the Reverend Joannes Angelus M..,
Prior General, dated June 22, 1870; Harry H. Heming,
History of the Catholic Church in
Wisconsin, (Milwaukee, 1895-98), p. 690; History
of Northern Wisconsin, (Chicago, 1881) p. 1180.
2. Heming, loc. cit.; G.B.D.A.:
Letters of Reverend Austin Morini to Bishop Krautbauer, dated
March 31, May 10, May 18, June 3, 1882.
3. This was very probably in 1872, since the Catholic
Directory for 1873 (data for 1872) on page 204
indicates one novice as present at the Servite convent in
Menasha.
4. Letters of Ethel St. Louis, as above, February
17, 1931, October 16, 1933; Heming, op. cit., p.
635.
5. Heming, op. cit., p. 635; Bishop
Krautbauer was consecrated by Archbishop Henni in Milwaukee on
June 25, 1875. cfr. Reverend John ODonnell, C.S.C., The
Catholic Hierarchy of the United States,
1790-1922, (Washington, D.C.,
1922), p.172. A nephew of Philip St. Louis, the Reverend
Francis Laurent, the first of the Servite scholastics to be
ordained from the convent in Chicago, sang his first Solemn Mass
on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 1881. His, however, was a
short life as a priest, for on January 23, 1882, at 7:17 A.M. he
died a victim of smallpox, contracted while administering to the
sick during one of the epidemics raging at the time in Chicago.
cfr. Our Lady of Sorrows, 1874-1924, p.50.
6. Interview with Mr. John Mollen, Little
Chute, Wisconsin, September 6, 1933.
7. Our Lady of Sorrows, 1874-1924,
(Chicago, 1924), p.19.
8. Ibid., p.19.
9. Ibid., p. 20.
10. G.B.D.A.: Morini to Krautbauer, September 27,
1878.
11. Our Lady of Sorrows, 1874-1924, p.
46.
12. G.B.D.A.: Morini to Krautbauer, September 27,
1878; Catholic Directory, 1879 (data for 1878)
states on page 275: The Servite Fathers have transferred
their Novitiate from Menasha to Chicago on account of the poverty
of this diocese [Green Bay].
13. Heming, op. cit.; p. 635; Catholic
Directory, 1877-80.
14. Heming, loc. cit.; Our
Parochial Schools, X (1894), p. 145; Catholic
Directory, 1877-83; Reverend P. J. McDonnell, Souvenir
of the Solemn Dedication of St. Mels Church,
(Chicago, 1911), p. 5, 45.
15. Our Parochial Schools, X (1894),
p.145.
16. Ibid., p. 145; Catholic
Directory, 1880-84.
17. Heming, op. cit., p. 635, 710; Catholic
Directory, 1880-84; G.B.D.A.: Reverend Philip St. Louis,
Ms. Account of activities from 1880-1893 (henceforth MsA);
Reverend Philip St. Louis, Ms. chronological outline of
activities and major expenditures from 1880-92 (henceforth MsCA),
(original from Miss Ethel St. Louis).
18. G.B.D.A.: Morini to Krautbauer, September 26,
1885; Morini to Katzer, May 31, 1887.
19. Illegible Footnote
20. G.B.D.A.: Morini to Katzer, May 31, 1887.
CHAPTER IV
PHILIP ST. LOUIS: MISSIONARY
His departure from Chicago and his transfer to the Servite
convent in Menasha in late 1879 or early 1880 marks the beginning
of a new period in the life of Father St. Louis. Henceforth
he manifested his labors and zeal as a missionary, not indeed in
the sense that he now left his homeland and departed for a
foreign land, but as one who traveled into parts of our own state
hitherto unvisited by a shepherd of souls. His home indeed
was the convent at Menasha but the scene of his labors was among
the sparsely scattered settlers in the timber regions about one
hundred miles to the north and northwest. His cherished
mission was Phlox, no doubt because many of his relatives lived
here; his parents moved there in 1881. He was closely associated
with the early development and history of Phlox, especially in
the religious phase.
The village of Phlox in Langlade county of today is hardly an apt
picture of the Phlox of fifty or more years ago when trees
abounded everywhere and the lumbering industry served to boom the
village. Its early history is unique. In May,
1877, Joseph St. Louis, Moses St. Louis [sic?], Louis Bergeon,
and Joseph Bergeon, residents of Little Chute, Outagamie County,
cut a trail through the wilderness from Leopolis, Township 27,
Range 14 East, to Township 30, Range 12 East. These four
prospectors staked homesteads in county infested by nothing but
animals - the deer, wolf, bear, and lynx. Only an
occasional Indian trail gave any evidence of man. Returning
to Little Chute these adventurers told of the country in
the north woods and in August, 1877, Albert Menting, Joseph
St. Louis, John Menting, and Mr. And Mrs. Frank St. Louis (Mrs.
St. Louis was the first white woman in Norwood) moved in with
teams. . . . . Arriving at section 26, all the
newcomers began building the first log cabin in Norwood township
on section 26 the old Frank St. Louis homestead. All
these pioneers lived in the St. Louis dwelling until they could
roll up cabins on their own homestead claims.1
Within the next few years many others settlers arrived from
Little Chute, Menasha, Buchanan, Bay Settlement, and other
southern communities.2 These first
settlers, most of whom were Catholic, comprised the community
first known as Town 30, Oconto county, but in due time designated
as Norwood and eventually as Phlox. The name Norwood was
used as late as 1886, although the name Phlox was also used as
early as 1883.
In the spring of 1878 a number of these people endeavored
to reach Little Chute, a distance of eighty miles, for the
purpose of attending Mass, but the roads were in such an
execrable condition that the attempt proved unsuccessful and they
were compelled to return.3 The
roads in those early days were but jagged trails, only wide
enough to permit a wagon to pass, which had been cleared of trees
and logs but with no attempt at grading, and with the stumps not
uncommonly standing a foot above the ground. To ride meant
to be jostled along after an ox team in the heaviest timber
wagon, and be jolted by the wheels catching a tree now on this
side and then on that side over root and stump.
In July, 1879, the Reverend Amandus Masschelein, resident pastor
at Keshena, Shawano county, was called to visit a sick person,
Mrs. Louis Morrison, and while at Phlox celebrated Mass in the
little log cabin of Henry St. Louis. The distance from
Keshena to Phlox at that time was thirty miles over rough Indian
trails, which was traversed by the good priest on horseback.4
This is perhaps the only time that the settlement was visited by
him, although the Catholic Directory for 1880 and 1881 (data for
1879 and 1880 respectively) shows Town 30, Oconto county, as
being attended from Keshena.5
In May 1879, Father St. Louis, while on a visit to his home at
Little Chute, undertook a visit to relatives in Town 30, and
administered to the spiritual wants of the people.6
Concerning this visit he wrote in a letter addressed to Miss Anna
Deleglise of Antigo, dated February 27, 1893, as follows:
I came
here for the first time in the month of May, 1879, and said Mass
in Mr. Joseph St. Louis old log house. I left Little
Chute in the train and went as far as Clintonville [at that time
the northern limit of the railroad] and there took a team
and wagon and drove to Phlox. It took us two days and had
to sleep in the woods.7
According to the statement of Mr. John Menting of Antigo, we must
credit Father St. Louis with a second visit in 1879. He
states that it was in July 1879 when mother came here for
the first time to visit. On the way coming here we stopped
and stayed over night at Jones. While we were
unhitching the horses we heard some crackling in the brush, and
we soon found out that Father St. Louis, walking from Menasha,
had caught up to us. We asked him to stay over night with
us at Jones and share with us the few simple rations we had
left. The next morning we got up at 5 oclock to
continue our journey, but Father St. Louis had already left and
maybe was many miles ahead at this early hour. His very
first visit to our little village was in May of 1879, and this
time he walked [sic? see above] from Clintonville.8
In the latter part of April, 1880, he paid his next visit to
Phlox. One account states that he came this time to
administer religious comfort to the settlers who had been
afflicted with an epidemic of diphtheria, and that he
remained for a period of four weeks, saying Mass and
administering the Sacraments in the house of John Jansen.9
The nearest doctor in the surrounding territory was located at
Clintonville, and because of slow communication between
settlements, the toll of lives taken by the epidemic was very
heavy. He had in the meantime learned of the settlement at
Antigo, twelve miles to the northwest, and on this trip paid it
his first visit. He said the first Mass there in the log
cabin of Mr. Francis Deleglise on May 2, 1880, which cabin and
the bureau used as an altar are still preserved on the grounds of
the public Library in Antigo.10 Mr.
Arnold Menting, still residing at Phlox, acted as altar boy for
this memorable occasion.11
At the time of his first visits the railroad reached only to
Clintonville, and the remaining forty miles to Phlox had to be
traversed on foot, or if so fortunate, with horse and wagon.
Twice he made this trip on foot.12 Late
in 1880, when the railroad had advanced to Eland Junction, the
walking distance was reduced to twenty-four miles and in 1881,
with the railroad reaching Elmhurst, the distance was reduced to
fourteen miles. During these first years until his
permanent residence at Phlox, he carried the necessary articles
for the celebration of Mass and the administration of the
sacraments in a rubber cloth upon his back. His jaunts
through the wilderness must have been quite romantic, yet on no
few occasions caused him considerable anxiety.13
The truly heroic zeal and determined effort of Father St. Louis
on such occasions is aptly exemplified in the following account
from his own pen, wherein he describes his experience on a trip
from Appleton to Phlox.
I left Appleton on Friday on the train and went as far as
Eland Junction. Thence I walked to Birnamwood, there being
no railroad then, and slept there at Mr. McDermotts
boarding camp. It was a stormy night and there was fear
that some trees would be blown down on the camp. In the
morning the weather was raw, and a cold rain was drizzling.
The McDermott family tried hard to detain me from going to Phlox
on that day, (a distance of 24 miles), but mass had to be said at
Phlox on Sunday: I was determined to go. The kind woman
lent me a short but waterproof cloak which was found of great
service. With this cloak and my bundle I started on the
surveyors line for the right-of-way of the Lake Shore
railroad, and at about ten oclock I reached the place,
where is now the village of Elmhurst. There, seeing the
marks of the Governments survey on a tree, and thereby knowing
that Phlox could be reached by traveling straight east, I turned
to that direction. By that time the rain had turned into
snow, and it was falling thick and fast: I was soaked clear
through my clothing except the shoulders protected by the welcome
cloak. It was no easy task to keep in the right direction;
a small compass, in my possession was not working on account of
being soaked with water. . . . .
Having entered a
large swamp and advanced a short distance I took the pocket
compass, shook it, and bit it, trying to take out the crystal,
and finally lost it in the snow and moss. It was a
thoughtful moment; wet and cold, without matches to light fire,
and the probability of passing the night in such a place . . .
. . . . The swamp seemed endless, in fact I did not
cross it but followed it in all its length, having arrived, after
four hours traveling half a mile out of my way. I had
traveled at the rate of one mile per hour. I now found a
settler, and from there was a road to Phlox, where I arrived
after dark.14
Because of the loss of his compass, his return trip was made with
considerable difficulty also, yet by his ingenuity he survived
the ordeal. He left Phlox early in the morning and walked
to Eland Junction. Here he waited till midnight for the
freight train which he boarded, and arrived at Appleton at six
oclock the following morning, - one day spent in traveling
a distance now negotiated in two or three hours.15
A further incident is recounted in a letter to Miss Anna
Deleglise under date of February 27, 1893. On one
occasion I had a sick call six miles beyond Antigo; that was the
first time a cutter ventured from Phlox to Antigo. We
capsized once, and came very near it many other times. We
left Phlox at 2 p. m., arrived at the sick person after dark,
returned to Antigo at 10 p. m. I walked to Phlox and
arrived at 2 a. m. I could give a whole volume of such
experiences if they were interesting.
According to his own statement, Father St. Louis said the first
Mass in Antigo on May 2, 1880, and attended it monthly until May,
1882.16 At the time he relinquished the
mission in May, 1882, in favor of the Reverend Peter J. Lochman
of Clintonville, he had already commenced the erection of a frame
church. He made the plans and superintended the erection of
the greater part of the church himself. He writes of it as
follows:
As I expected that Antigo would grow to be a city I
favored a small church because the people could not build large
enough for even the immediate future. The church therefore
was about 24 x 40 feet, with two rows of windows, to be used
later on for a school house, by dividing it up into two
stories,17
For some time he also attended the mission at Tigerton, commenced
in 1881 by the Reverend Theodore Richard from Wausau. Here
too he started the erection of a church, but did not see its
completion because the mission passed to the care of the Reverend
Peter Lochman shortly before the mission at Antigo also passed to
the care of the latter.18
During the year 1880, five acres of land were donated at Phlox
for church purposes, of which one-half acre was cleared during
the same fall.19 The Catholic families in
this settlement numbered twenty-four at the time, which number
however was more than doubled during the next ten years. All
of them, though very poor, were earnestly interested in the
progress of church affairs. With considerable difficulty
they brought together sufficient funds and means for the erection
of a church, 34 x 50 feet. Quite differently from what he
had done in Antigo, Father St. Louis wished to build the church
in such a way that it could be conveniently enlarged when needed.
He had to use a great deal of tactics to gain his point, because
the people wanted a log church 20 x 30 while he insisted upon a
building 34 x 60. A compromise was brought about at 34 x
50, and for such a sized church Father St. Louis immediately drew
the plans.20 In 1881 the frame of this
building was erected, roofed, and enclosed in rough, and a
portion finished off for use during the winter of 1881-82. During
the summer of 1882 the church was quite well completed and
equipped within and without. In the course of the next
years, an addition was made, a stone foundation put under the
whole church, and the outside brick veneered, and other
improvements made so that at the time of his departure on
September 12, 1893, Father St. Louis could leave a well equipped
and completed church to the custody of his successor.21
His heart was further set on Christian education. Seeing
that, as quite generally occurs in new places, the young people
were very profligate, he thought that one of the best remedies
was to raise a pious generation by attending assiduously to the
moral education of the young and therefore he wished to have the
children under his immediate supervision. For this reason
he conceived the necessity for a parochial school. The idea
seemed ridiculous to the majority of the people. A Catholic
schools for a handful of scattered Catholic families! Yet
in the summer of 1883 was seen the completion of a two story
school building, 26 x 27. Several years later its size was
doubled. The public school committee, being all Catholics,
suggested a union of the Catholic and the public schools, but
over this Father St. Louis refused his authority. The
Catholic school was, therefore, maintained by the congregation
for two years, after which public money was received without
derogation to the authority of Father St. Louis over the school.
This continued until 1891, when the parish again was obliged to
support its own school.22 The
first teacher in the parochial school was Miss Zoe Grignon, now
Mrs. Edwin Strong of Milwaukee.
Besides the church and the school, Father St. Louis
building activities also included the erection of a priest house,
a hall for the young men and boys, a home for himself which he
later sold, and also a printing office. He was an
indefatigable worker, ever ready to be of service at the call of
a parishioner or of any member of the community. He exerted
himself to the utmost when a matter of a spiritual or a physical
nature presented itself. He founded and organized a number
of societies among his parishioners, societies for the ladies and
the men, the young ladies and young men, and even for the
children, all of which were intended to raise the congregation to
a good moral condition and increase the spiritual life of his
people. At the time of his departure the members of the III
Order of St. Francis alone numbered about seventy. The
monthly communions ranged between fifty and seventy. During
his thirteen years at Phlox, Father St. Louis had but one mixed
marriage and one to patch up. He likewise
organized a library of which he printed a catalogue listing one
hundred and thirty volumes.23
Besides performing the regular duties as a pastor, Father St.
Louis undertook an enterprise of unusual significance both in his
own life and in the history of the village of Phlox, namely the
establishment of the Pioneer Press in 1882. An ambition of
many years was realized when, on March 1, 1877, the first issue
of Our Parochial Schools appeared, - a Catholic
journal devoted to Catholic religious elementary education.
Shortly thereafter the Langlade County Special made
its initial appearance. This was a weekly newspaper and
contained much of the local news. The Special,
begun by Father St. Louis and printed in his presses, later had
Mr. John Menting as its publisher. In 1891 several
gentlemen from Antigo bought out the paper, moved it to Antigo,
and here continued its publication. In August, 1898, it was
discontinued as a distinct publication, being merged with the
Weekly News Item of Antigo. The Our
Parochial Schools, originally a monthly, was published as a
weekly for a time. Its existence, however, was a precarious
one, and it was only with the greatest of sacrifice and patience
that Father St. Louis published it so long as it continued.24
FOOTNOTES --- CHAPTER IV
1. Robert Dessureau, History of Langlade
County, (Antigo, 1922), p.222.
2. Dessureau, loc. cit.
3. Heming, op. cit., p.710.
4. Heming, loc. cit.; Interview with
Mr. John Menting, Antigo, Wisconsin, on September 4, 1932.
5. Catholic Directory, 1880, p. 275;
1881, p. 297.
6. Heming, loc. cit.; Dessureau, loc.
cit.; Our Parochial Schools, X (1894), p.
146;
Interview with Mr. John Menting, September
4, 1932.
7. Letter in possession of Mrs. Thomas
Morrissey (Anna Deleglise), Antigo, Wisconsin.
8. Interview, September 4, 1932.
9. Heming, loc. cit..
10. Letter of Reverend Philip St. Louis to Reverend
Conrad Saile, dated December 3, 1897; Heming, loc. cit.;
Dessureau, loc. cit.; C. Luke Leitermann, History
of St. John the Evangelist Church, Antigo, Wisconsin, Golden
Jubilee, 1880-1930, (Antigo, 1930), p. 27-28.
11. Interview with Mr. Arnold Menting, September 4,
1932.
12. Letter of Reverend Philip St. Louis to Miss Anna
Deleglise, Dated February 27, 1893.
13. G.B.D.A.: MsA; Letter of Reverend Philip St.
Louis to Mrs. Sophia Leslie of Antigo, dated July 14, 1924; Our
Parochial Schools, X (1894), p. 146.
14. Our Parochial Schools, X (1894),
p. 192-93.
15. Ibid., p. 170-71.
16. St. Louis to Saile, as above.
17. G.B.D.A.: MsA.
18. Heming, op. cit., p. 711.
19. Heming, op. cit., p. 710;G.B.D.A.:
MsA, MsCA.
20. G.B.D.A.: MsA.
21. G.B.D.A.: MsCA; Heming, loc. cit.;
Dessureau, loc. cit.
22. G.B.D.A.: MsA.
23. G.B.D.A.: MsA., MsCA; Heming, loc. cit.,
Dessureau, loc. cit.
24. G.B.D.A.: MsCA; Heming, loc. cit.;
Dessureau, op. cit., p. 145;
Antigo Daily Journal, May 2,
1932.
CONCLUSION
On September 12, 1893, Father St. Louis was transferred, upon
request of his ordinary, to Green Bay. He moved his presses
and paper to this city and here established the printing
department in connection with the St. Joseph Orphanage. His
failing health, however, soon sounded the death knell for his
school journal which appeared for the last time on May 1, 1894,
after seven years of a struggling existence. His love for
the orphans is immortalized in his many benefactions for them,
both material and spiritual. For two years he supervised
the orphanage printing shop, at the same time acting as chaplain
at the Our Lady of Charity convent (Good Shepherd) in Green Bay.
Finding all this work harder than that pertaining to parochial
duties, he obtained an appointment as pastor of the Immaculate
Conception parish at Florence, Wisconsin, the duties of which he
assumed on October 10, 1895. In 1899 he was transferred to
St. Patrick church at Lebanon, from which place he attended St.
Bridget church, a mission at Northport. Two years later he
took charge of Holy Cross church at Mischicot where he remained
until he was transferred to St. Patrick church at Stiles, in
Oconto county, in 1909. From this place he attended a
station at Abrams, also in Oconto county.
Father St. Louis health was failing rapidly and in 1914,
having received the necessary permission from Bishop Fox of Green
Bay, he repaired to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he spent
the last years of his earthly sojourn. The dry invigorating
air of Colorado, combined with the altitude, was of great benefit
to him. He received a new lease on life and renewed
strength to labor for fourteen more years in the vineyard of the
Lord. To his energy and zeal is due the erection of several
churches and also a large school for the Mexicans.
But as with all else mortal, such intense activity could not be
forever. During Holy Week and on Easter Sunday, 1928, he
assisted at the services held in St. Mary church in Colorado
Springs. On Easter Monday he was taken ill. For six
weeks he lingered between life and death, but finally on May 25,
following a heart attack, at the advanced age of eighty years,
the angel of death called him to his Maker. Almighty God
has granted his oft repeated wish to die in the harness,
serving his Master until the end. His mortal remains
were interred in the priests lot in the Evergreen cemetery
at Colorado Springs. The memory of him, however, was not
interred with his bones, for many people are now wont to speak of
him as that wonderful old man, or dear old
saint.
The above is but a cursory life picture of Father St. Louis, -
the man, the priest, the missionary. From the morning of
his life even until its evening, his was a living labor of
sacrifice. But it was a sacrifice of love, a sacrifice
undertaken for love of his Creator and God, a life consumed for
love of hungry hearts and thirsting immortal souls.1
1. Antigo Daily Journal, May 2, 1932.