The Catholic bulletin., 1918-03-16

a Catholic church with a resident
priest-a fact which attracted many
Catholic settlers. Consequently until
| the year 1859 the parish had grown
| to such an extent that the church
was no longer large enough to &C
,commoGate all the members, and it be-
| became necessary to enlarge it. This
was rather a slow process, and was
not completed until the year 1862.
For the purpose of founding a school
a society was organized with the fol-
lowing board of directors: Rev. w..
Sommereisen, John Bruels, Leo Lamm,
| George Kiffe and Michael Humid. Two
years elapsed, however, before this
society had completed it's work; for
in those days there was a great scar
city of teachers, secular as well as
| religious, consequently all endeavors
| to obtain religious teachers for their
parochial school were for some time
unsuccessful The first attempt in
this direction was made in March,
1864, when Leo Lamm, authorized by
the reverend pastor, made a journey
to Milwaukee, Wis, and applied at
the Motherhouse of the School Sisters
de Notre Dame for number of teach
ers to take charge of the school. His
! request, however, could not yet be
granted. Toward the close of June,
1865, Father Sommereisen went to
Milwaukee and secured from Rev.
Mother Caroline the promise to send
Sisters to Mankato, before the open
ing of the new school year. August
80, 1865, three Sisters and a candidate
left their dear Motherhouse at Mil
waukee to set out on their journey
to Mankato. At st. Paul they were
met by Rev. Sommereisen and pre-
sented to the Rt. Rev. Bishop. After
having received his episcopal blessing
they again set out on their mission
encouraged by the kind words of their
good bishop. The news that Mankota
now possessed Catholic school, con-
Quoted by the Sisters, attracted many
Catholic families who settled here to
offer their children the advantages
Of good Christian education. Al
ready in the year 1856 it became eVi-
dent that the church was no longer
large enough to serve it's threefold
purpose CT church, school and convent.
Therefore Father Sommereisen an
nounced a meeting on Sunday, Aug.
. %, 1869, for the purpose Of making
plans for building a new church. A
committee was appointed consisting
Of. a number of prominent men of the
: parish. According to the plan drawn
. up by the pastor himself the new
: church was to be large, beautiful
edifice, a glory to Almighty God, an
| honor and credit to the good Catho
lies of Mankato. In September of the
same year the work was begun, and
with the approach of winter the foun
Fdation had been laid. For certain
reasons the work was not taken UP
again the following spring. In June
Father Commereisen made trip tC
} Europe, and a young priest, Rev. Hol
ger, was appointed by the Bishop tC
? fill his place during his absence
Father Sommereisen expected to re
: turn in fail, and continue the work
2 at the new church. Shortly after his
: arrival in his native country, however
] the war between Germany and France
. broke out, and he was not able to re
j turn to America until June, 1871 In
: the meantime important changes were
Y going on in Mankato. When at the
Y close of 1870 he had not returned, the
PnJy ;chn hot hk
e would return at all, and not wishing
V the parish to be without a pastor any
longer, appointed Rev. P A. Wirth
e o. S. B., as his successor. The new
: pastor entered upon his Office January
q 1, 1871, and after having conducted
q the work of the parish about si1
t months, Father Sommereisen return
Q ed. He remained in Mankato, a few
month, and then went to Yankton
t South Dakota, to take charge of
Y new parish. Rev. Father Wirth hat
l. had come to Mankato, to built the nev
l. church. Soon after his arrival he tool
S UP the work, and to raise funds
d bazaar was held from February 14tl
to 10th. 1t was attended by 1,576 per
u SCuS, anu SuIu OI pl, Wc1o 1Ool
t lied. On the 22nd of the same montl
e new building committee was az
(. pointed. This time John Klein wa
d chosen as president; Stephen Lamm
/ treasurer; J. Hauerwas, secretary
!, Early in the spring Mr.. e. Bafford
/. the architect, began his work. o.
r Sunday afternoon, July %, Rt. Rev
e Bishop Grace laid the cornerstone.
g. very solemn celebration it was, al
IS tended by several priests, and larg
e concourse of people from st. Pau
e Shakopee, New Ulm, and other neigh
g boring places. Two weeks after a
s mass meeting the parish decided t
d build new parsonage on the corne
If of Sixth and Mulberry streets. Will
d the building of the church was Pre-
= crossing, work at the pastors res
n dence was begun, and the new dwell
S ing was soon ready for occupancy
l. During the month of December, 1871
d another bazaar was held lin the ney
It church, at which 100000 were rea
if lied. The total income for the churcl
/ fund during this year was f$11, 4.7C
n Although the interior of the churcl
d was yet unfinished Sunday service