Latest Lists

Art IV ST CASIMIR S SCHOOL A CENTER OF EDUCATION AND VARIOUS

Summary: Art IV ST CASIMIR S SCHOOL A CENTER OF EDUCATION AND VARIOUS SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 1877 1890 The old parishioners of this place even today cherish blessed memories of their schooldays As long as the people of this congregation were more numerous and able to support their own parish school they gladly contributed towards its support even with great sacrifice on their part When however many families moved away it was simply impossible to keep up their beloved school There is no reliable record as to the exact time when St Casimir s parish school ceased to exist According to all indications however it must have been around the year 1900 The acting Rev Pastor was the supervisor and principal of the school It was part of his pastoral duties with the assistance of his parish committee to procure the necessary fuel utensils furniture and all other items for the upkeep The old Records show explicit items bought for school purposes but were paid for from the parish treasury without any extra assessment for the school All parishioners whether they sent children or not contributed alike annual church dues in the sum of $16 00 It also was part of his pastoral duties to attend to the instruction of the children in branches pertaining to religion and history The old people of today quite frequently commemorate with a great respect and love the name of Mr Anthony Mallek who for many years had been organist of the church and at the same time also teacher in the parochial school Education music and singing flourished under his competent direction Again we find a distinguished mention in The Polish History of America in reference to the notable work and accomplishment of Mr Mallek We quote the following Anthony Mallek had organized a parish choir consisting of 40 members He met with great success to the extent of developing the best church choir amongst the Polish immigrants in America Nowhere in this country could a better rendition of Mass in Latin of the most famous composers be heard except at Northeim Each and every choir member was an accomplished singer See footnote 24 Kruszcka Polish History in America The result of this painstaking training in music and singing still manifests itself today Musical talent and melodious singing is found even today in many homes of our people thus perpetuating the noble deeds of their forefathers in praising the Almighty during divine services Even the younger generation of today enjoys community singing And there are quite many more praiseworthy things to be said about the flourishing education imparted to those young people many years ago in Northeim Our young people liked in those days to attend school and obtain all the possible education which a country school could offer Boys and girls alike were anxious to make a complete course of eight grades They were glad to help father and mother at home and on the farm they stayed away from school for a few days in the spring and fall when their help was needed to plant potatoes cabbage etc and in fall to gather crops But they loved to return to school as soon as possible notwithstanding their age and height This explains the reason why Northeim was later well represented by professional men in practically all walks of life CHAPTER III Art 1 A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PERMANENT PASTORS In making out this chronological list of permanent pastors only probable dates are given as found first in one of the Church Records v g when the new pastor assisted at the first baptism or marriage or funeral This method is the only way to furnish some kind of a most probable list with approximate dates Handwritten here is the following Josef Cichy buried in May 1867 1 Rev Bonaventure Buczynski from May 21 1868 until Oct 15 1870 2 Rev F X Kralczynskki from Oct 29 1870 until May 8 1872 3 Rev P Koncz from Aug 11 1872 until May 3 1873 4 Rev A Michnowski from Aug 25 1873 until Dec 1 1874 5 Rev Simon Wieczorek from Dec 18 1874 until Jan 16 1877 6 Rev Vincent Gieryk from January 29 1877 until Jan 15 1878 From January 15 1878 until April 19 1879 the following priests were in charge 7 Rev F Fessler The initial F is as it appears in booklet 8 Rev C Rogozinski 9 Rev Hyacinth Gulski 10 Rev A Bukowski The Catholic Church in Wisconsin p 460 and p 1024 list the Rev Joseph Fessler as pastor of St Boniface Church Manitowoc from May 10 1878 Being in ill health he resigned from his former pastorate It is probable that he took charge of Northeim for a few weeks around Easter 1878 and thus his name appears on the Church Records of St Casimir s congregation at Northeim From April 19 1879 we again find the following steady pastors in charge of St Casimir s Church 10 Rev J Musielewicz from April 19 1879 until June 20 1880 12 Rev Arnetus Goch from Dec 22 1880 to June 26 1881 13 Rev George Fessler from June 30 1881 to April 10 1882 14 Rev F Orzechowski from Aug 7 1882 to July 25 1884 15 Rev J Dutkiewicz from Dec 29 1885 to January 12 1887 16 Rev J Horbaczewski from Oct 2 1887 to June 25 1888 17 Rev John Maczynski from March 7 1889 to April 26 1891 18 Rev Z Luczycki from May 24 1891 to January 16 1893 19 Rev Henry Cichocki from February 19 1893 to May 18 1893 20 Rev Ignace Paluch from May 25 1893 to Dec 10 1905 NOTE On May 3 1905 the entire county of Manitowoc became part of the Diocese of Green Bay 21 Rev F Kupka from Dec 24 1905 to March 10 1906 The Rev George Fessler a younger brother to the Rev Joseph Fessler succeeded him in the pastorate at St Boniface Church in Manitowoc It seems that there was no Polish priest available at that time to take charge of Northeim and for this reason after vacating St Boniface pastorate he assumed that of Northeim His name is also listed in The Catholic Church in Wisconsin pp 460 and 1024 All these nineteen priests heretofore listed were refugees who escaped the Ma gesetze of Bismarck in the kingdom of Prussia The author had met several of these priests and listened to their stories how they managed to escape in disguise from the German police and made arrangements afterwards to reach the United States From March 10 1906 to April 7 1907 the congregation was without a resident priest The services were held by various priests commissioned to do so by the Most Rev Bishop of Green Bay We find the names of Rev J Kulla Rev J Kruszynski the Franciscan Fathers of Pulaski Wis and the Capuchin Fathers of Appleton Wis From among the Franciscan Fathers of Pulaski the names of Fathers Jerome Schneider Anthony Wisniewski and Louis Kania appear quite frequently on the various Church records From among the Capuchins the names of Fathers Cassian Bugart and Lucas Rasch occur 24 Rev E Magott from April 7 1907 until April 4 1907 25 Rev F Kroll from March 12 1908 until July 18 1908 26 Rev Pachoski from October 1908 until February 28 1909 27 Rev Paul Sokol from March 13 1910 till April 30 1911 From April 30 1911 after the departure of Father Sokol the parish again was without a resident pastor The people however had regular services attended by the Franciscan Fathers of Pulaski and the Salvatorian Fathers of St Nazianz On the pages of the various Church Records again appear the names of Father Sturmius Heartl Father Raphael Wittig Father Epiphanius Deibele and Fintanus Holzknecht 28 Rev Stanislaus Lapinski from Sept 6 1914 until May 21 1916 29 Rev Ignace Grad from November 15 1916 until October 15 1919 30 Rev Peter Novitske from Oct 20 1919 till Sept 1921 31 Rev Dominic Szopinski from Sept 1921 to January 1928 32 Rev Florian Marmurowicz from Jan 1928 to May 1928 33 Rev Paul Sokol from July 1928 to Oct 1928 second time 34 Rev Joseph Weiss from Nov 1928 to Sept 1931 35 Rev Michael Wasniewski from Sept 1931 to April 1934 36 Rev Stanislaus Ziolkowski from April 1934 to Oct 1937 37 Rev Ignace Grad second time from Oct 1937 to April 1939 38 Rev Anthony Betley from June 15 1939 up to the present day ART 2 SPECIAL HISTORICAL NOTES Concerning the Various Activities of the Former Pastors in Behalf of St Casimir s Parish At Northeim A serious attempt has been made by the author of this History to collect all possible data concerning the activities and noble deeds of all the previous Pastors in behalf of this Congregation Due to the fact however that quite many of them stayed only for a short interval at Northeim and due also to the fact that they did not keep a Diary or Historical Notes concerning their activities during their sojourn here nothing more can be said about them than placing their names in the chronological order on the list of succession There is no doubt that quite many of them did not contemplate to stay here long thus they were merely satisfied with the performance of their usual pastoral duties Most of these former pastors of Northeim are listed as organizers of Polish parishes in Milwaukee See The Catholic Church In Wisconsin pp 1173 1181 Personal Index It is also a pity that even after many inquiries we were not able to obtain photographs of all these hard working pioneer priests at Northeim The author of this History went into the trouble to contact all the former Pastors of Northeim still alive in order to offer to the present generation a complete history of this Congregation He also contacted the oldest parishioners in order to obtain from them reliable information to this effect Whatever information he could obtain he then pieced together and scrupulously compared it with all the existent Records of St Casimir s Congregation thus offering to the readers a genuine and critical apocalypse of the outstanding former Pastors at Northeim It is also noteworthy to add that several of these pioneer priests came from their fatherland directly to Northeim accompanied by their relatives and friends in order to escape the religious persecution in Prussia inaugurated by Bismarck and thus seeking a God given liberty of conscience religion and personal property Marx J Kirchengeschichte p 697 King William I in a response to a letter of Pope Pius IX called the Bishops rebels and the Catholics a hostile party of the government Reverend Father Bonaventure Buczynski Organizer And First Resident Priest It is a pity that no photograph could be obtained of this outstanding pioneer and great organizer of Polish parishes in the United States The Rev Bonaventure Bucynski was a Franciscan Missionary His first mission field had been China then Asia Chile South America and finally the United States Here he labored among the Polish settlers in various localities in the State of Wisconsin To him is credited the organization of the first two oldest Polish Catholic parishes in Wisconsin that is the Sacred Heart parish of Polonia being recognized as the first oldest Polish parish St Stanislaus parish at Milwaukee being the second oldest in line How long he stayed at Northeim cannot be exactly established From all historical accounts however he is to be considered the organizer and founder also of St Casimir s parish at Northeim The last signatures of his name in the various Records appear as late as October 15 1870 On leaving Northeim he went to Princeton and Berlin Wis in order to minister to the faithful there Unfortunately however his days were rapidly shortened for in the spring of 1872 he had passed to his eternalreward His bodily remains were buried in the Catholic cemetery at Springvale Wisconsin There they rest in peace after a fruitful and very successive missionary career to win souls for Christ Kruszka Polish History in America vol VII p 28 Rev B Buczynski was the one who organized and formed parishes He was a type of a global missionary He was in China in Asia Chili South America and finally here in Wisconsin in every older colony The people today still revere his name THE REVEREND SIMON WIECZOREK The Rev Simon Wieczorek was one of the outstanding pastors of St Casimir s parish at Northeim His administration was deeply marked in the hearts of his parishioners It was Father Wieczorek who built up the congregation into a prosperous community and put it on a financial operating basis His undaunted spirit untiring efforts and self denial brought forth fruit in the vineyard of the Lord Despite financial difficulties and early prevailing unfavorable conditions he erected a new and modern rectory and converted and remodeled the former old parsonage into a school house His priestly zeal in furthering the glory of God and the welfare of his parishioners is spoken of even today by the old people who knew him Always of a cheerful disposition he had a kind word for everybody who approached him a good council to those who asked for it efficient help for those who were in need of it An eloquent speaker he won the hearts of all his hearers Father Wieczorek s pastorate short as it was had gone down into the history of the parish His name is still revered by all on account of his outstanding qualities as a priest of God as a promoter of learning and education of the children as an architect in building up the spiritual part of the congregation REVEREND VINCENT GIERYK Only fragmentary historical notes could be gathered about this active pioneer priest in the heretofore quoted historical sources He was a man who did not care for publicity Only few fragmentary reminiscences could be gathered about this zealous pious and very active priest A real orator and able organizer his name is still revered as that of a fiery speaker and leader of the people He was beyond all vain glory and flattery An ideal priest of God he went to the smallest settlements of his countrymen with the sole purpose of filling a vacancy whenever the people were deprived of a resident priest He was the founder of the Zjednoczenie Polskie Rzymsko Katolickie The Polish Roman Catholic Union with headquarters in Chicago Illinois The date of its foundation is cited as June 27 1873 Gathering around himself about a dozen of men Father Gieryk encouraged them to form a fraternal and benevolent association Being a man of great foresight he foretold them that this mustard seed of theirs will grow into a mighty tree in the course of time And his vision became true The Society today numbers several thousands of members with an asset value of some fifteen million dollars On June 27th 1943 there was a great celebration arranged to commemorate the seventieth year of existence of this great Society and Father Gieryk s name was repeated several times with the greatest reverence and admiration The Polish Nation Narod Polski Polish weekly newspaper published in Chicago Ill carried in vol 57 No 26 of July 1 1943 quite interesting items about Father Gieryk THE VERY REVEREND FATHER JEROME SCHNEIDER O F M

Image Dimensions: 300 x 268