St Marys College - Dial Yearbook (St Marys, KS)

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HISTORICAL BISHOP MIEGE On the 24th of May, 1851, Rt. Rev. J. B. Miege, S. J., having been raised March 25, 1851, to the dignity of Bishop of Messenia and Vicar Apostolic over the country inhabited by the red man, lying between the Rockies and what might l e called the western boundary of civilization, arrived in St. Mary’s to make the humble mission church his Pro-cathedral. About this time the towns along the Kaw began to spring into being. Father Gailland, writing of this particular period, says: “This region took on a new aspect. Before this it had seemed a vast desert. Now villages and towns are rising on all sides and the country is being filled with a multitude of people. The population of the city of Leavenworth, which on account of its favorable situation surpasses all others, has within the space of two years increased by 2.000. The more important towns that have lately sprung into being are Doniphan, Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, and Osawatomie. On the 9th of August, 1855, Bishop Miege left St. Mary’s to establish the seat of his bishopric in Leavenworth, that flourishing town being more in keeping with the dignity of his office and affording him more ample opportunity for carrying on liis work. Rt. Rev. J. B. Miege, S. J. The little Indian shrine which graces the eastern slope of observatory hill and looks out over the athletic fields was erected during these early mission days. An earnest desire to foster the spirit of Christian piety and to enkindle devotion to the Blessed -Mother of God were the motives which prompted Father Diels, S. J., to erect this modest shrine of the Blessed Virgin. THE CHARTER Again the endless sequence of years mechanically pursue their silent course. Throughout thirty-two years of persevering endeavor, unremitting toil and zealous exertion the mission had continued in its fierce struggle with the vicissitudes of fortune and the unsettled conditions, adapting itself to the needs of the shifting and everchanging character and habits of the race to which it ministered. From 1851 when Kansas was made a territory, and left to decide the slavery question for itself, until the close of the Civil War, the entire community had witnessed the chaotic conditions that accompanied the long and bloody conflict. By 1865, however, peace had finally been established and the constant influx of whites liad metamorphosed the quiet plains, and a thriving town had grown up within the very shadow of the college. It was decided upon, therefore, by the provincial, Rev. Father Cossemans, S. J., that a boarding school should lie founded at St. Mary’s. On May 12, 1869, Rev. Maurice Gailland, S. J. 5 DIAL ANYMUAL One Hundred Seventy-Seven

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 few years the Peorias, the Chippewas, the Piarikeshaws and the Ottawas had been converted and baptized; visits were made by the fathers to the white settlements of Deepwater, Westport, and Council Bluffs; and in June, 1846, a sister mission was established in the Osage reservation at St. Paul, Kansas. In addition a number of prayer books, ‘grammars, and dictionaries in the Pottawatomie language had been printed and distributed. Father Gailland made the translation into the language of the Indian. MIGRATION While returning from Council Bluffs in May, 1846, Father Hoecken was joined by delegates of the American government who were commissioned to purchase the Indian lands of the Pottawatomies. June 17, 1846, saw the signing of an agreement whereby the Pottawatomies were to relinquish their rights to the Sugar Creek lands in return for a sum of money and a reservation on the Kansas (Kaw) river, 30 miles square, on both sides of the river, immediately west of where Topeka now stands. Early in November Father Verreydt, accompanied by a party of Indians, set out to explore the assigned lands with a view to selecting a suitable and central location for the mission; and not earlier than November 11, 1847, the Fathers and Religious repaired to the new location. They did not remain here long, for on June 20. 1848, a site on the north side of the Kaw was definitely settled upon and on September 7th Fr. Verreydt, accompanied by the Religious of the Sacred Heart, crossed over to the new building prepared by Fr. Hoecken and the Indians and there permanently established themselves on the ground where St. Mary’s of today stands. In the transfer and the sale of the Indian lands, no provision had been made by the government for the Fathers and the Religious. The Indians, however, voluntarily contributed $1,700.00 and this sum was considerably augmented by donations and other means. Save during the period of transmigration, the work of education was carried on. We find that in the winter of 1848 five new boarders were received at the mission. The happy news was received November 11, 1848, that arrangements for the erection of a school at the mission had been effected between St. Louis University and the Federal government. Thus ample assurance was given that the work of instruction was to be perpetuated and that St. Mary’s ground was ever to remain sacred to the cause of education. In November, 1849, the first church at St. Mary’s was completed and placed under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. Rev. Felix L. Verreydt, S. J. 5 DIAL ANNUAL One Hundred Seventy-Six

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HISTORICAL g a X ' ' : ■ : X K X X X Rev. Joseph Keller, S. J., arrived at the mission, bringing the first news of the intended ramification. Accordingly plans for a college building were drawn up, a seal, hearing the legend “virtuti et Scientiae” encompassing an image of the rising sun, was designed and engraved and an application for a charter made. On Decemlier 24, 1869, St. Mary’s was empowered under the laws of Kansas to confer degrees and other academic honors. St. Mary’s, though the first school to rear its walls above the level of the plains, was the eighth to receive a charter in Kansas. PRO-CATHEDRAL OF BISHOP MIEGE The college took as its name the title given the humble Pro-cathedral of Bishop Miege, S. J., St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception. Much of the work of instruction in these early days was carried on by Brothers. John Murphy, S. J.; Martin Corcoran, S. J.; John Kilcullin, S. J.; and George Bender, S. J., were efficient teachers. What St. Mary’s boy does not know “Brother George”? He has remained associated with the college through all the intervening years and the mention of his name recalls fond memories to the students of the past as well as the present. Age and years, which have left their heavy impress upon his once agile frame, have failed to cool the ardor of his devotion or dim his recollections of the school where he has labored so long and so well. SODALITY AND PHILHARMONIC SOCIETIES On the feast of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8, 1869), Father Patrick J. Ward, S. J., the president of the newly chartered institution, organized among the students the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin. This organization is affiliated with the Roman Prima Primaria under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin and the patronage of St. John Berchmans. Father Ward acted as its director during its first year. An inspection of the minute hooks show that meetings were sometimes held in the college parlor and sometimes in the various class rooms. Since the erection of the first chapel in 1884 the meetings have been held in the chapel. DIAL ANNUAL v ■ V v - [j A K a « X One Hundred Seventy-Eight