St Francis Minor Seminary - Via Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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DIAMOND JUBILEE 1856 THE MOST REVEREND JOHN MARTIN HENNI, D. D. ffirst CBishop of Wilwaukee 1844-1875 Tfirxt ofIrchbisbop of Wilwaukee 1875-1881 11181

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I93l SAINT FRANCIS SEMINARY - m chi: fol fem: Present Faculty REV. LADISLAUS BEDNARSKI, M.A. REV- WILLIAM P. OCONNOR, PhD. REV. CHARLES KOUDELKA, J.C.D. 1920 1921 1921 REV. WILLIAM BRONNER, S.T,D. REV. BERNARD FELSECKER, B.A. REV. JOSEPH BARBIAN, M.A. 1925 1928 1930 REV. WALTER BELDA M.A.,S.T.B. DR. JOHN GAFFNEY, D D.S. DR. CHARLES F. MCDONALD, M.D. 1930 1929 Howe Phyxician 1929 I171

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89 SAINT FRANCIS SBMINARY t f 2? er , 9; H istorical Sketch of Saint F rancis Seminary The Pioneer Period HE FAMILIAR saying that begin- nings are hard is not contradic- ted by the early history of St. Francis Seminary. Then, too, like A most other beginnings, it was ob- scure. Not to make this sketch a labyrinth of probable and less probable opinions, only the data .- obtained from the best sources 2 is presented, and that without the 5 rs subleties of historical criticism. ---- The need of training priests for America was clearly realized in the first half of the nineteenth century, but the actual satisfying of that need proved to be very diHicult, partly because of the bilingual nature of the parishes, but especially because of the lack of funds. A letter of Bishop Henni to the Archbishop of Vienna, dated December 18, 1845, narrates that the former had succeeded in beginning a Seminary which he had placed under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales. The letter further informs us that it had an enrollment of seven seminarians, five of whom were of German parentage. References made to this institution allow the conclusion that this first Seminary operated at 116 N . Jefferson St., Milwaukee, from its opening in 1845 to the fall term of 1847. When Bishop Henni went to Europe in 1848, the Seminary was closed and it remained closed to 1851. However, in 1847 Dr. Joseph Salzmann had opened a one-room Seminary at Germantown, Wisconsin, which served to prepare Mathias Gembauer, Francis Fus- seder and Peter Deberge. This Seminary was probably closed in July, 1849, and did not again reopen. In the years 1849 and 1850 five students for the Milwaukee diocese were registered at Notre Dame, two at Maynooth, and J M. Norris at the Propa- ganda in Rome. All this time, however, there did not exist a petit Seminary. It seems that the Erst minor Seminary was organized in Milwaukee in 1852, and bore the name 115t. Peteris Academy? St. Peter15 1 was under the direction of Rev. J. W. Norris, D. D., and apparently it offered an extensive curriculum. In 1854 Father I-Ieiss and Dr. Paulhuber opened a school on Jefferson St. which was unquestionably a preparatory Seminary. The major Seminary of Milwaukee, which had been closed for two years, opened again in Milwaukee in 1851, closed in 1852, and reopened in 1853. In 1854 Father Heiss opened a theological school in the Brothers House at St. Francis, and that school open- ed its doors again in 1855. an 1849 two priests accompanied by four Brothers and six Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis came to America from Suabia, Bavaria, intending to settle in the diocese of Milwaukee to promote Catholicity in the newly formed State of Wisconsin. In conformity with Bishop HennFs wishes they settled at St. Francis. The Sisters established a modest convent, and the Brothers erected a small building nearby. A part of the latter structure served as the first Seminary in St. Francis. The Brothers1 House is still to be seen standing southeast of the Salzmann Library. It was moved to its present location when the Library was erectedj Now that we have outlined the antecedents of the Seminary, we shall proceed to sketch the history of the Seminary proper. In the year 1853 St. John1s Cathedral was con- secrated. This solemn event brought Archbishop Cater CardinaD Bedini, Papal Nuncio to Brazil, and Archbishop Hughes of New York to Milwaukee, then a city of about 25,000 inhabitants. The former consecrated the edifice, and the latter delivered the sermon. On August 2nd of that year the Bishop of Milwaukee showed his guests the beautiful scenery surrounding his episcopal city. Coming to Nojoshing tthe Indian name for what is now St. Francis, and meaning 44a strip of land jutting out into the wateFU, the Bishop of Milwaukee and his iIIUStrious guests alighted from their carriage. Together with Father Heiss they crossed the creek and walked up the hill where the Seminary now stands. Msgr. Bedini, as if enchanted by the beauty of the scene, exclaimed, 11Monseigneur, make this spot holy? The scenery of St. Francis had so impressed Archbishop Bedini that upon meeting Bishop Henni in Europe a number of years later, he asked him whether he had made that place holy. With just pride our Bishop could answer in the affirmative. Not very long after Msgr. Bedian visit, the land I191