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A dedicated man, an indifferent puhlic, and the founding of a pioneer school: a story different from many but related to all efforts to make a beginning. . . .
St. Peter's Church
The Antecedents of St Francis Seminary in Milwaukee
by Consignor Peter Leo Johnson, D. D.
In the present year St. Francis de Sales Semi¬ nary celebrates the hundreth anniversary of its opening. A true pioneer among American pri¬ vate schools, the seminary has made an in¬ fluential contribution to the material and spiritual heritage of the Middle West. But, the history of the seminary antedates its for¬ mal opening. One of the most interesting as¬ pects of its annals is the story of its genesis, its provisional beginnings, its first attempts and its first failures. The institution had its origins in Milwaukee proper, where, for a short period —from 1845 to the fall of 1847—a seminary was conducted on Jefferson Street. It was re¬ moved to Germantown (Goldenthal) and op¬ erated there from October, 1847, until it was closed in the spring of 1849. Revived in Mil¬ waukee in 1851, it was operated intermittently for the next four years. On January 29, 1856, on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop John Martin Henni, first bishop of the diocese of Milwaukee, dedicated and formally opened a seminary built upon the crest of a hill over¬ looking the deep blue waters of Lake Michi¬ gan.^ Though if was yet unfinished, this semi-
^Salesianum, 25: 46, 49 (April, 1930).
nary was destined to play an essential role in the extension of the Catholic Church into a large part of the Middle West.
The preparatory steps in the foundation of the seminary were undertaken primarily through the zealous efforts of Bishop Henni himself. Even before he had been raised, in 1843, to the episcopacy of the newly created diocese of Milwaukee, Henni, with providen¬ tial foresight, keenly realized the necessity of a special seminary for native American clerical recruits. He felt that only a native seminary could guarantee a supply of priests for the diocese, principally because the number of in¬ coming clerics from Europe fluctuated too greatly to allow any certainty about their meet¬ ing the needs of the future. While Vicar-Gen¬ eral of the diocese of Cincinnati, he had secured permission to establish such a semi¬ nary at Covington, Kentucky, but the realiza¬ tion of this dream was prevented by his appointment as bishop of Milwaukee.^
Milwaukee, in 1844, a year and a half be¬ fore its incorporation as a city, had less than 10,000 inhabitants. Its population consisted
'Ibid., 24: 18, 19 (October, 1929).
39
Object Description
| Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 40, number 1, autumn, 1956 |
| Article Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 40, number 1, autumn, 1956 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | State Historical Society of Wisconsin |
| Series | Wisconsin Magazine of History ; v. 40, no. 1 |
| Format-Digital | xml |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol40no010000 |
| Description | This issue includes articles on the revitalization of the University of Wisconsin extension service, the settlement of the Stockbridge Indians in Wisconsin, and the role of the grand jury on the American frontier. |
| Volume | 040 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year | 1956-1957 |
Description
| Title | 39 |
| Page Number | 39 |
| Article Title | The antecedents of St. Francis seminary in Milwaukee |
| Author | Johnson, Peter Leo |
| Page type | Article home; Image |
| Format-Digital | jpeg |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol40no010041 |
| Description | The Antecedents of St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee: This brief article recounts Catholic Bishop John Martin Henni’s (1805-1881) decade of struggle to establish the St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, formally opened in 1856. It describes life and study in the seminary in a provincial Milwaukee with a growing German population. Between 1845 and 1856 Henni faced serious recruiting, financial, and cultural challenges, as well as a cholera outbreak. The seminary's major importance to Catholicism in the Mid-West is described as well. (6 pages) |
| Volume | 040 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year | 1956-1957 |
| State/Province | wisconsin |
| County | milwaukee county |
| Community | milwaukee |
| Subject | Religious education; religion; schools; german Americans; catholics; missionaries |
| Full Text | A dedicated man, an indifferent puhlic, and the founding of a pioneer school: a story different from many but related to all efforts to make a beginning. . . . St. Peter's Church The Antecedents of St Francis Seminary in Milwaukee by Consignor Peter Leo Johnson, D. D. In the present year St. Francis de Sales Semi¬ nary celebrates the hundreth anniversary of its opening. A true pioneer among American pri¬ vate schools, the seminary has made an in¬ fluential contribution to the material and spiritual heritage of the Middle West. But, the history of the seminary antedates its for¬ mal opening. One of the most interesting as¬ pects of its annals is the story of its genesis, its provisional beginnings, its first attempts and its first failures. The institution had its origins in Milwaukee proper, where, for a short period —from 1845 to the fall of 1847—a seminary was conducted on Jefferson Street. It was re¬ moved to Germantown (Goldenthal) and op¬ erated there from October, 1847, until it was closed in the spring of 1849. Revived in Mil¬ waukee in 1851, it was operated intermittently for the next four years. On January 29, 1856, on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop John Martin Henni, first bishop of the diocese of Milwaukee, dedicated and formally opened a seminary built upon the crest of a hill over¬ looking the deep blue waters of Lake Michi¬ gan.^ Though if was yet unfinished, this semi- ^Salesianum, 25: 46, 49 (April, 1930). nary was destined to play an essential role in the extension of the Catholic Church into a large part of the Middle West. The preparatory steps in the foundation of the seminary were undertaken primarily through the zealous efforts of Bishop Henni himself. Even before he had been raised, in 1843, to the episcopacy of the newly created diocese of Milwaukee, Henni, with providen¬ tial foresight, keenly realized the necessity of a special seminary for native American clerical recruits. He felt that only a native seminary could guarantee a supply of priests for the diocese, principally because the number of in¬ coming clerics from Europe fluctuated too greatly to allow any certainty about their meet¬ ing the needs of the future. While Vicar-Gen¬ eral of the diocese of Cincinnati, he had secured permission to establish such a semi¬ nary at Covington, Kentucky, but the realiza¬ tion of this dream was prevented by his appointment as bishop of Milwaukee.^ Milwaukee, in 1844, a year and a half be¬ fore its incorporation as a city, had less than 10,000 inhabitants. Its population consisted 'Ibid., 24: 18, 19 (October, 1929). 39 |