I came across this while looking though microfilm. It is from the February 12, 1873 issue of the Neosho County Journal [1]. The directions — about eight miles east of this city (Osage Mission) — seem odd until you realize there were no real roads at that time. "A NEW TOWN — A town company has been organized and a charter applied for to start a town on the line of the M, K & T Railroad, about eight miles east of this city and one mile west of Walnut Station, on the farm of J. M. Mudd. The location is a good one for a town, it being surrounded by a number of the best improved farms in Southern Kansas. Mr. Jno (?) Burke, who is a member of the company, informs us that arrangements have been made with the railroad company to put in a side track and the Town Company have agreed to build a depot and store house. About forty acres will be laid out into lots as soon as the weather will permit. The neat little Catholic Church, which was built by Father Colleton about two years ago, will be upon the town site, also a good school house. These two institutions are exceedingly good things to start a town with. The name of the new place has not yet been fully decided upon, but Walnut will probably be the name." The timing seems right because it is recorded that Osage Mission Jesuit missionary Philip Colleton started a mission station at Walnut (Station) in Crawford County during 1869. The station was initially started at Mr. Clements home for railroad workers and white settlers. He later built a Church of St. Ann's. 1. The Neosho County Journal is one of three names held by a long-running pioneer newspaper. The paper started in 1868 as the Osage Mission Journal. Later the name was changed to the Neosho County Journal for broader appeal. It ended its ninety-three year run in 1961 as the St. Paul Journal. Not bad in an era when newspaper life-spans were often decided by local elections.
Today Kansas is 157 Years Old!
But relatively speaking, Kansas is a pup — We will turn 171 years old this year. When the Jesuit Missionaries arrived at Osage Mission, on April 28, 1847, Kansas wasn't even a territory. The mission was one of few civilized spots in Kansas south of the Santa Fe Trail. And civilized is also is also a relative term. From the December 24, 1874, issue of The Neosho County Journal: "About 100 men on horseback called on Justice of Peace M. A. Patterson, at Jacksonville, and gave him thirty minutes to rescind a fine assessed against Andrew Olsen. Olsen had been arrested and convicted of participating in the attempt to eject N. F. Garlinghouse from his claim. The complaint was filed by John Sylvester." According to the Journal "The fine was rescinded." Some Reference Information:
“The flimsy frame structures grouped on a slight eminence northeast of the Neosho River and west of Flat Rock Creek were known as Catholic Osage Mission. Much was connoted in the name, although the indifferent exterior of the buildings gave no indication of the potential power within. That power was the dynamic energy which Jesuit missionaries and the Sisters of Loretto expended first on full-blood and half-breed children, then on Indian adults, and later, on the pioneer white settlers of southeastern Kansas.” -- Fitzgerald, Introduction to Beacon on the Plains. Published in 1939, Beacon on the Plains was one of the early books to tell the most interesting and beautiful story of southern Kansas. The author, Sister Mary Paul Fitzgerald of St. Mary’s College [2], did a masterful job of pulling together a large body of information into a compact, well-documented book about Osage Mission and the effect it had on the settlement of a large part of Kansas [3]. I tell people that Beacon on the Plains is “Osage Mission 101.” Reading through the 297-page book is like a self-directed course in the earliest history of Kansas and our hometown of St. Paul. In addition to a well-organized body, the book includes a wealth of reference information. Besides being an interesting read, it is one of the best starting points for individuals or groups who want to learn more about their Kansas origins. The Osage Mission story has the making of a national historical story. Description, Contents & Sources. The book is hardbound in 5-1/2" x 7-1/2" format with 297 pages plus a 7-page unnumbered index. Illustrations include historical drawings and photos, and a fold out map of the Kansas missions. The last 68 pages include appendices and a very detailed bibliography section. The book is available from several on-line and local retail or library sources (See Note 1, below). Contents: Acknowledgments and short author bio. Foreword by former Bishop of Leavenworth, Paul C. Schulte. Introduction that expands the headline at the top of this page. Part I – The Osage in Kansas. A three-chapter discussion of the story of the Osage in Kansas and the beginnings of the Osage relationship with the Jesuits.
Part V – Osage Mission in Retrospect. Further expansion on “successful failure” with a discussion of the mission’s alternative role as the missionary headquarters for the area south of the Santa Fe Trail. Also the work of re-tooling the Osage schools into public and boarding schools for Father Schoenmakers' new “mission town” — the town of Osage Mission, now St. Paul. Appendices. Eight appendices lay out the first part of the 68 page reference information that backs the author’s story. This section includes: a discussion of the Osage in Missouri before moving into Kansas; a copy of the Osage Mission contract; lists of names including missionaries, Indian commissioners, etc.. This section concludes with Appendix H — a list of 110 Kansas missions arranged by county, date, settlement (town) and the name of the credited Jesuit missionary [4) Bibliography including Bibliographical Note – This sections does two things: 1) substantiates the extensive depth of the author’s research; 2) provides a treasure chest of information and research sources for the reader of researcher. It includes dozens of libraries, historical societies, and books. But, peeled down another layer, it references more than 170 individual documents, reports, research papers, organizations, etc. The book also includes an index. * " ... the Osage Mission rendered a signal service. White men and their families residing at trading posts were visited regularly by the Fathers from the Mission during their circuits of the Osage villages or those of neighboring tribes. In the fifties, the Mission was something of a beacon light to the few scouts, weary teamsters, or perplexed travelers who stopped for rest, refreshment and supplies for which they customarily paid nothing." -- Excerpt from Chapter XI Some Reference Information: 1. Sources for Beacon on The Plains. I have seen used copies, from several internet sources, in the $10 to $40 price range. But, the easiest way to purchase an unused copy of the book is through the museum in St. Paul. At last check the price was $16 plus a small book-mail fee (about $4). Locals can stop and buy one from a museum volunteer. The museum website, including hours and email address, is at: www.osagemission.org. It is also available, for loan, from the Graves Memorial Public Library in St. Paul. The book is available in some other southeast Kansas libraries. 2. About the Author. Beacon on the Plains was Sister Mary Paul Fitzgerald’s doctoral thesis, when she completed studies at St. Louis University. Sister Fitzgerald was a Sister of Charity of Leavenworth and was associated with St. Mary’s College, Leavenworth, for thirty years as Professor and Chairperson of the Department of History. She was also Vice-President of the College from 1949 to 1957. The depth of her research, evident in Beacon on the Plains, likely led to her advancement in the St. Mary’s Department of History. Sister Fitzgerald died of cancer on April 16, 1952, only weeks after completing her manuscript on the life of Bishop Jean-Baptiste Miege, S.J., Vicar-Apostolic of the Indian Territory. That voluminous work remains unpublished but is on file in the Kansas Catholic Historical Society archives at Benedictine College, Atchison. Kansas. 3. “Beacon” deals, primarily, with the Osage Mission influence in southern Kansas. But that influence covered a much larger area. The Jesuit missionary work, headquartered in Osage Mission, covered parts of southern Kansas, northern Oklahoma, southwest Missouri, the northeastern corner of Arkansas and as far west as Pueblo. Follow THIS LINK for more information about the wide-spread Jesuit missionary activity.
4. Again, Beacon is focused on Kansas. While the author does mention some of the out-of-state work of the Jesuits, the list of Appendix H only includes the Kansas missions. On October 10, 1847, four refined, well-educated and resilient women completed a long trip from Nerinx, Kentucky, to a remote Catholic mission located 37 miles west of the Missouri border with the Great American Desert. On the day of their arrival they opened the Osage Manual Labor School for Girls. When Mother Concordia Henning and Sisters Mary Petronella VanPrather, Vincentia McCool and Bridget Hayden opened the girl's school, the Catholic Osage Mission became fully functional as the first schools here at present St. Paul. The boy's school had opened five months earlier.
Their new home was nothing like the comfortable Loretto Mother House. The log buildings were poorly built by government contractors. Leaks and structural issues became immediately evident. Like the boy's school, the building was woefully undersized for the growing classes of young Osage girls — but the Sisters made it work. By the time the photo shown above was taken, both school buildings had been enlarged and covered with clapboard siding to provide better weather protection. The precise location of the girl's school is unknown but based on a mapped location of the original log church and other photo information it probably sat just west of the northwest corner of our current church (see illustration below). For more information about Sister Hayden and her trip to Kansas, follow THIS LINK. Sometimes research leads you astray. You are staring at a computer screen or a frame of microfilm looking for a specific piece of information. Then, something in the corner of the screen catches your eye — something more interesting than what you were looking for in first place. For a moment your search is interrupted with “OH! Look at that!” I had an "OH!" experience a few years ago while looking at a 137 year old St. Francis Catholic Church logbook entry. The family that was interested in that entry came to St. Paul three times to celebrate their heritage. It started on April 19, 2011 when Larry Strecker called me. Larry is a Topeka business consultant who was planning a trip to St. Paul. The trip would involve driving from Topeka to Spearville, just north of Dodge City, to pick up his parents Bernard and Eleanor. Then he would drive back across Kansas to visit our museum—and they were coming for a very specific reason. Their branch of the Strecker family tree was formed, by marriage, at Osage Mission during the 1870’s. They were also pretty certain that the marriage of Erick Strecker to Agnes Engles was performed by the prominent Jesuit missionary Father Paul Mary Ponziglione. We set a visit date of May 10 and Larry asked for a favor. Would I please check marriage records to confirm a wedding date he gave me; and the fact that Father Paul did officiate at the service? As it turns out, Larry, Bernard and Eleanor were pretty sure that Father Paul had heard the vows of Erick Strecker and Agnes Engles. In fact, the Strecker’s knew a lot about the Kansas Catholic Church in general. Bernard’s first cousin was Archbishop Ignatius Jerome Strecker of Kansas City from 1969 through 1993 [1]. After his retirement he wrote a book about the history of the Church in Kansas [2]. Bishop Strecker's book discusses the history of Osage Mission and specifically includes his family's Osage Mission wedding. It also includes a couple of sketches of Father Paul that are shown here. Also, at the time of his visit, Larry was on the boards of the Catholic Foundation of Northeast Kansas and Christ’s Peace House of Prayer. The day after our conversation I called the rectory to arrange to see the old marriage books. When I got there Nancy had already found the book. The information I wrote down for the wedding was the 1878 to 1880. We had to search a bit because the actual marriage date was recorded as April 18, 1874—and it was recorded in the beautiful script of Father Ponziglione. I took some photos of the book, thanked Nancy and headed home to clean up the photographs and call Larry with the news. OH! It was during the photo editing that I had my “OH!” moment. On the line below the Strecker’s was recorded a wedding on April 27, 1874; Charley Cooney and Mary Lucretia Davis. My great grandparents were married by Father Paul just over a week later! I had seen the information in a genealogy study done by Jeanie Van Leeuwen; but to see it in Father Ponziglione’s own writing was pretty neat [3]. First Visit. Larry and his parents did visit St. Paul on May 10. Bernard and Eleanor were in their early 80’s and were full of energy and enthusiasm. Another museum volunteer and I gave them information and we learned from them too. They toured the church and St. Francis Cemetery and by late afternoon we all felt like it had been a great day. During our visit Larry told us his consulting business works with the state of Kansas quite a bit and he was familiar with some of the Kansas tourism folks. On the way to the car he was talking about the incredible story of the Catholic Mission and he asked “Ron, what kind of economic impact does your glorious history have on the local economy?” I had to admit that it really wasn’t much. Second Visit. In October of 2013 Larry contacted the museum again. Bernard was aging and Larry told his parents he would like to take them on a trip anywhere they wanted to go. Dad said “Osage Mission!” He wanted to come back to St. Paul. When they arrived in mid-October Bernard seemed more frail and both Larry and his mother showed concern. At the time Eleanor and Bernard had been married for 59 years and she seldom left his side. As I recall we made a late-afternoon trip to Chicken Annie’s, Girard, and said goodbye in the parking lot. A short time later Larry let us know that dad had taken a bad fall and was in the hospital. He passed away on November 30. A Reunion. Several members of the Strecker Family returned to St. Paul in 2014 for a family reunion; but Rosie and I were traveling. We hated to miss it because our memory of the Strecker’s, and the discovery they led us to, will last forever. Some Reference Information:
[1] Archbishop Strecker’s service in Kansas City was his second appointment. In April of 1962 he was appointed the second Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri by Pope John XXIII. When Pope John Paul VI later named him to the Kansas City position, at age 51, he was the youngest prelate of that rank in the United States. As noted, he retired in 1993, published his book in about 2000 and passed away on October 16, 2003. [2] Archbishop Strecker’s book is: The Church in Kansas, 1850 – 1905, A Family Story. The book contains no publisher information or a publish date and I assume it was self-published. I found our copy on eBay and there were several others available on the internet. The 2000 publish date appeared on some of the internet sites. The sketches shown above are on pages 43 and 44 of the book. I mentioned using the sketches here, with Larry, and he saw no reason why I wouldn’t. [3] When I look at the dates in the marriage records a few things came to mind:
For more information about Father Paul Ponziglione follow THIS LINK. Over the past 170+ years our schools have experienced some serious problems: epidemics, grasshopper famines, the Civil War, the loss of two prestigious boarding schools, structure fires and more recently serious storm damage — but we got through them. So when the Sports Complex construction team realized they had to raise the surface of the earth, a lot, they just got 'er done. Track Progress. In May of this year work began on the addition of a track to our existing baseball field and sports complex site. The track field part of the project had begun and a future softball field was to begin by the end of the year. When excavation got started the project hit a snag. The final survey revealed that due to natural drop-off of the terrain, toward Flat Rock Creek, the east portion of the track would have to be raised nine feet to provide a track surface that was level and correct for both training and competition events. That was no small problem. But local planners and our contractor, Track Renovations of Pittsburg, got together and came up with a solution. The appropriate kind of soil was available from two sources, and one source was very close to the track:
Back Underway. A couple of weeks ago Track Renovations started final construction and now progress can be seen daily. The compacted gravel bed is in place and they are currently laying out and excavating for curbs and the drainage system. When this is done, a semi will show up at the site and the track surface will be installed. This slide show will give you an idea of what is happening (best viewed in landscape on a phone screen). Notes:
* If You Would Like to Help With the Project: As you might expect, the "earth raising" added unexpected expense to the track project. If you would like to support this great 170th-anniversary project, contact Joe Smith at Farmers Bank, St. Paul — 620-449-2800. If you are considering a tax-deductible contribution from a brokerage account, such as an IRA, it can be made through the St. Paul Schools Alumni and Friends Association. Again, contact Joe Smith for information. Track Renovations on Facebook: Track Renovations Inc. is posting occasional updates on the St. Paul project on their Facebook page. You can check them out HERE. More About Us. For More Information about our past, including problems and achievements, take a look at OUR STORY. |
Thoughts 'n ThingsSome 'Thoughts' and short articles about past and present-day St. Paul and the Southern Kansas - 4 State Region. Archives
December 2023
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