A Gazetteer of Kansas Catholic Places and History.

Angelus to Xavier, Catholic Place Names in Kansas.

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Tim Wenzl

Tim Wenzl is a writer, a historian and a Catholic.  From his book: "In 1984, following his mother's advice to "get a job with an established company" he began working for the Church."  Since then he has worked as the archivist for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City, served as the editor of the Diocese newspaper, Southwest Kansas Register, and has done freelance writing.  His freelance work includes writing books for parishes celebrating centennials.  One of his larger, personal projects was Priests on the Prairie, which tells the stories of 317 priests and bishops who served the 28 county area that is now the Diocese of Dodge City.  Interestingly, two of those priests were Osage Mission Fathers, Paul Ponziglione and Philip Colleton.  They traveled from southeast Kansas to Fort Larned, Fort Dodge and beyond to minister to soldiers and railroad workers who were converting the Santa Fe Trail into a modern means of transportation.

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Tim's twenty-first book is a compact guide that documents the names of communities, geographic locations and characters across the state that have Catholic meaning.  Angelus to Xavier, Catholic Place Names in Kansas, Obvious & Obscure includes saints, popes, a cardinal, bishops, priests, monks, missionaries, religious sisters, explorers, frontiersmen and ordinary Catholics.   In reading though the volume the reader will understand the role that the Catholic Church, Catholic Immigrants and Catholic Missionaries played in the Settlement of Kansas. 

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Osage Mission Played a Significant Part in Frontier Settlement.
The book is 6" x 9" format, 145 pages plus front matter (5 pg).  Some pages include six to eight topics or places — others one or two.  But three southeast Kansas locations, or characters, rated more than ten pages.  In addition to three full pages on Osage Mission and St. Paul; Father Ponziglione's section includes an overview of his life and the probable role he played in naming the city of Paola.  Tim also mentions Sam Gilmore's Gilmore Town and Castle Thunder.[2]  Greenbush has a full page article with photo.  The St. Mary's, Sugar Creek Mission site and Mound City story is told with five pages. [3]   Also, as you read about several churches and communities that were settled during the 1800's you see the names of Osage Mission missionaries who helped them get started.  Fathers Ponziglione and Colleton are discussed frequently.   We say time-and-again, in this website, our little town has exerted a lot of influence during it's 170+ years.

Another Local Influence.
​There is another name in the book will tug at a few local heart-strings.  In addition to family, Tim has dedicated the book to St. Paul native Sister Denise Sevart.  In addition to teaching, Sister Sevart served as the librarian at St. Mary's of the Plains College at Dodge City.  Later she was diocesan archivist for both the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City and the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.  She also helped with early archive work at the Osage Mission-Neosho County Museum in St. Paul.  Sister Denise passed away on June 13, 2017

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At the risk of spilling some beans, here is a brief preview (read fast!):

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Notes and Reference Information:
1.  The book is available through the usual book outlets including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  The retail price is around $28 and will vary.  It is also available, wholesale, to qualified non-profits such as churches museums or libraries for about $15 (depending on quantity).

The book has also been donated to St. Francis Catholic Church; The Graves Memorial Public Library; and The Osage Mission - Neosho County Museum all in St Paul. The Saint Aloysius Historical Society of Greenbush also received a copy.

2. Castle Thunder and Gilmore Town were the first business and settlement within the present city limits of St. Paul.  Follow THIS LINK for more information.

3.  The Sugar Creek, St. Mary's Mission historical site was a Pottawatomie Indian mission.  Sugar Creek is also where Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne served her last missionary assignment.   The mission is about 15 minutes north of Mound City which is the location of Sacred Heart Catholic Church which is also the Shrine of Saint Philippine Duchesne, also.  

4.  More about Tim's book — THIS IS a LINK to a December 21, 2018 article in the Catholic Diocese of Wichita newspaper The Catholic Advance.