Benedictine College - Raven Yearbook (Atchison, KS)

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fi- au: ,4'l,g??.H,iJ-:5,- K, ,E X R 26 0 ix V51-2 ffk H1StOfy Q ,VAT ff' V 1 J , f i f jr-1 L ' -T .4-ay .1 fri J' REV. AUGUSTINE WIRTH, O.S.B. First President ST. BENEDICT,S, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE The characteristic marks underlying all true progress are prayer, work. and study. No great work is written, no wondrous discovery made, no barbarous land civilized without pro- portionately great labor, thought, and hope. In the history of the early Benedictines in Kansas we find these qualities already a part of the spirit of St. Benedict's. When hardy pioneers laboriously fought their way into the vast territory of the middle west there arose a real need for missionaries. Not only were the red men to be civilized and converted to the church of Christ, but the spiritual wants of the rapidly growing throngs of early settlers demanded at- tention. Urged on by the spirit of prayer and labor, these Benedictines progressed into the heart of the new country. Nor was this all. Soon there arose an even greater need for educa- tion, for Catholic schools and Catholic teachers. Possessing, also, that third quality of true progress, the spirit of study, these Benedictines were well fitted for any task which awaited them in the territory of Kansas. ln 1856, Father Henry Lempke, O.S.B., was the first of these Followers of St. Benedict to set foot on the Kansas soil. After much patience and zealous labor he erected a small mission church in a rapidly growing town beside the Missouri, known as Doniphan, Kansas. In answer to the urgent necessity for' a Catholic school in the middle west and upon the request of Bishop J. B. Miege, S.J., of Leavenworth, he undertook the tremendous task of establishing a Catholic Institution of learning in this part of Kansas. More Benedictines soon followed him to Doniphan, and the seeds of St. Benedict's College were sown in this frugal beginning. Father Augustine Wirth, O.S.B., one of those Twenty-six

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X N -f'is.,351L-E sr fx A 11--J 6,-Npivx rfyxx XXX,-:Z-vxxf Qi X'f k if--xi-cffk fN? j O IYJY fb K D I REV. PIUS PRETZ, O.S.B., A.M. X Professor of Mathematics REV. FELIX NOLTE, O.S.B., A.B. REV. EDWARD SCHMITZ. O.S.B., A.B. Professor of Biology Professor of Latin fp Qx I V f J fx REV. HUBERT BLOCKER, O.S.B., A.M. MR. LAWRENCE J. QUIGLEY Professor of Chemistry Professor of Physical Education REV. CORNELIUS CAPLES, O.S.B., A.B. DR. W. F. SMITH, M.D. Professor of Latin Attending Physician Twenry-five 1 1 .9 N. v- -N M! ,, Q X

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QC?-lb X N. --qsfggfzlig fx A f ' ' N x , . Af I 2 A ,mf ff I 7 '- , '.- N ix f 'X , hxFvQV-ty'-X Qi X, - X- 1f...v..kx,g5',.t ,Ni--'li-j E555-Hi ' THE PAST who followed Father Lempke to Doniphan, opened a boarding-school at his parish house in September, 1857, with an enrollment of four students. But, Atchison appearing to be a more promising location for St. Benedict's, Father Augustine moved here in 1858, and began the erection of the first College building, later known as the Old Abbey. This two-and-a-half story brick structure still stands, a tribute to the founder of our institution. The following fall fourteen students registered for the year 1859-1860, the first to be educated at Atchison. But, founding the College was only the first step in the progress of St. Benedict's. There began immediately a great movement of expansion. In 1859, a small frame church was erected, In 1860, Kansas was visited by a long and terrible draught. In spite of this plague the progress of the College was not checked. From every quarter people journeyed to Atchison, and gathered at the gates of the Monastery with appeals for assistance. There was no work to be had in the vicinity. In order to aid the people in their pressing needs, Father Augustine resolved to provide them with employment, and in the year 1861, a three-story wing was added to the College. Additions were then made rapidly to accommodate the increasing enrollment of students. During the first nine years the College maintained only a High School or 'College Prepara- tory. On June 28, 1868, however, the College was incorporated under the Kansas Laws and empowered to confer degrees and acedemic honors. During this period the magnificent church now standing, was completed. Theelection of the Rt. Rev. Innocent Wolf, O.S.B., D.D., as first Abbot and fifth President of St. Benedict's, marked the beginning of a period of more rapid progress in the College. During his term of Presidency, three new buildings, the Monastery, Administration Twenty-seven QQ M! k 7 !i 7 O m 0 X 1 H1 L Qi, f x Cv f ll fl if -11 7 J if X M Q Q Y I if