|
|
|
Old St. Mary's Parish Here are a few excerpts from the History of St. Mary’s Parish in Cincinnati (1942). This was the parish where my ancestors, Herman D. [Theodore] Bunker and Elizabeth Niegengert Heitmeyer, were married on June 1, 1945, and where their first son, Herman Bunker, was baptized in June 1846. "WHILE WARS AND SPOILS OF WARS were being shifted about during the Napoleonic Era of Europe’s history, emigration to America took on significance. The people, particularly of Central Europe, yearned for something more than the unstable ambitions and powers of royal families and boundary lines of Austria, Prussia, France, Belgium, Saxony and Italy. They simply were tired of war and military training. It took the best years of a man’s life—years when he could love and build his castle; years when he could work and buy acres for his garden, his crops and his cattle; years when he could read andprepare for the mission fields of other lands. 'Wasted years!' 'Youthful opportunities gone'—he thought." Migration: "The Old World began to migrate to the New. Two strong currents of immigration were moving to America—the Irish and the German. Divergent sources and causes impelled themigrations, but the same hopes and visions of freedom and livelihood were calling them from home and family bonds. To the heart of the Middle West, they went. . . ." "Cincinnati, a little town of twenty-five hundred people, in 1811, was to become the great 'Queen City of the West.' They amazingly looked on while the first steamboat, Orleans, puffed on its way down the Ohio to Louisville. The Directory of 1819 refers to Cincinnati’s population as 'a mixed assemblage composed of emigrants from almost every part of Christendom. The greater part of the population is from the Middle and Northern States. We have however many foreigners among us, and it is not uncommon to hear three or four different languages spoken on the street at the same time . . .'". Dedication of St. Mary Church. "On July the 3rd, 1842, the structure was dedicated to God, under the title of the Annunciation, on which feast day the cornerstone was laid. It was the largest church thus far erected in the Mississippi Valley, being 142 feet long, 66 feet wide, the tower reaching the height of 170 feet." "At an early hour that historic Sunday morning, the procession arrived at the church. It was the first Catholic demonstration of this kind held in Cincinnati. The procession left Holy Trinity Church and marched through the downtown streets to St. Mary’s. Heading the procession was an acolyte, bearing a beautiful gilt crucifix, accompanied by two torch-bearers; following these were the following societies:St. Peter Benevolent Society for destitute female orphans, St. Aloysius Orphan Society, German Catholic Relief Society, Reverend Pastors vested in surplices, together with the school children dressed in white, finally the entire congregation, all marching four abreast . . . The sermon on this grand occasion was preached by Rev. M. Henni, who preached almost two hours, and held the audience spellbound for this length of time due to his oratorical ability. The Bishop also gave a short instruction in English, beseeching God to shower His blessings upon the congregation; that all who here received the cleansing waters of Baptism might be true to their vows; those approaching the sacred table might ever communicate worthily; and their priests might ever remain faithful to their sacred calling. . . ." The Trustee Uprising: "It was about this time too that Catholicism in Cincinnati was passing through a critical period. It is well to mention this in this history, as it was at St. Mary’s that plans were adopted which successfully put a stop to this uprising. A party had been formed, which was to take in hand all church property and control it; likewise all church funds; they were to depose and install priests at will, in fact take to themselves the government of the church; all this was to be done on a form of trustee system. To show how powerful it had become, it had received the approval of 1,600 signatures and the date had already been set when it was to make arrangements to file a claim for incorporation under the title of 'German Catholic Congregation of Cincinnati.'" "The date for making these arrangements was set for January 27th [1844], at the Court House. The Rev. M. Henni, however, received word of this intended meeting and he himself called a general meeting of the Catholics of the city for January 26th, at St. Mary’s. Over 2,000 men responded to the call and a counter organization was formed, of which Michael Leib was elected President and Bernard Enneking, Secretary. The Revs. Henni, Ferneding, Tusch and Luhr addressed the assembly on this occasion and showed the madness and baseness of such a corporation. Resolutions were then framed and plans made, which successfully checked the impending upheaval. . . ." The New Rectory. "At this time another new church took its origin from St. Mary’s and was erected in the near vicinity. Naturally, for convenience sake, many attended there; likewise too the number of school children decreased, and one classroom was discontinued. The school attendance at this time was 35 boys and 225 girls. At the end of the school term of this year Messrs. Anton Hemann and H. Schulthoff, teachers, resigned. In this year too an additional lot was purchased for the erection of a new parsonage. In this same year many beautiful donations were presented by the various church societies. St. Ann Married Ladies’ and St. Joseph Young Ladies’ Societies furnished two side altars, two large oil paintings for the main altar, some wall decorations as well as many beautiful and costly vestments, and St. John Married Men’s Society a handsome ciborium." "To get an adequate idea of the size of the parish at this time, it is well to look over the church records. There were two confraternities, namely that of the "Living Rosary" and the "Precious Blood," having a total of 2,500 members. In this same year, 1846, there were 432 baptisms, 188 marriages and 250 funerals; the number of those who approached the sacred table was 10,000, a very large number, considering that Holy Communion was not received as frequently as now. In September of the year 1847, the services of lay teachers for the school were discontinued and three Sisters of the Notre Dame took charge of the children, who numbered 600. During the year 1849, the Revs. P. Kroeger, M. Deselaers and W. Dieters were assistants here in the order named." To learn more about Old St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cincinnati, click on: http://www.oldstmarys.org/archives/1942history.html
|