More Church Details, Catholic, Cont'd. (Page 7)

"From a European Viewpoint," it was previously said. Things almost have to be taken from a European viewpoint and from those times as well. And, there's little space here to cover 18th, 19th and early 20th century European history from a religious perspective.

Very generally speaking, in Europe, toward the east there were Orthodox Christians (as in Russia); toward the north there were Protestants; toward the south and west there was affiliation to Roman Catholicism. There was no Italy as we know it; however, there was "The Papal States" wherein the Pope had temporal power especially when the Austrian army was there to support it.

What the American settlers could contribute to the cause of "religious services" was considerably less than enough to immediately build any soaring cathedrals as in Europe. Instead of making do with what was available, early churchmen appealed to European Catholics (in France, Austria, and the like) for anything they could get in the way of personnel, equipment, and money. Whether a bishop or archbishop from the New World traveling the land of the Old World encouraged immigration could be debatable; however, people in "Catholic" parts of Europe had to be aware of "Ohio." A few members of some religious orders might come and stay while others came, looked things over, and left again.

Actually, folks, we thought a cabin with two rooms was high class.

On the other hand, moved by some spirit, church congregations were sometimes established out of a few families -- four families with five children each amounted to 28 people, some of whom would marry each other (of course, of course) and surely other settlers would come, so in "just a few years into the future" there might easily be a hundred people.... Historically in some places but not all apparently such small congregations were also established simply because people were something like a mile apart and "insisted."

Of, perhaps, more importance to the "ethnic point" made on these pages (there may have been other "ethnic" churches, but they weren't found in the research), as of 1903-1904 the Catholics had what has been called "native clergy," which has no reference to Native Americans. "Native clergy," it seems, amounts to having an archbishop who was born where appointed -- in this case, he happened to be the son of immigrants from the western part of Germany. Whether a western German heritage ultimately facilitated things at least for those of French descent isn't clear....

According to available records, St. John's German Catholic Church was located a few blocks south of the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop, more specifically on Hartford Street between Krug Street and Williams Street (just south of Germantown Street), while Holy Name's location was a few blocks to the north.

At St. John's, the pastor in the beginning and possibly when the congregation for Holy Name began gathering was listed as Rev. J. George Franz. Although Fr. Franz may have thought it a good idea, he is not credited with anything like establishing the Holy Name congregation.

Holy Name's congregation is said to have been gathered up by Rev. Boniface Luebberman(n), listed as the pastor of St. John's in the 1900 Dayton City Directory, when he organized a Holy Name Society among the local Hungarians in 1895 (apart from this "church organizing" matter, this is a large Catholic organizaton). However, the church is listed as actually "founded" by Fr. Bernard Sommer in 1906; he is listed as being with the church 1906-1908. According to the records, Fr. Lubberman(n) died in 1910.

The names of a number of early priests were located; but, there is little information in regard to any of them. There are also some other names found in regard to the archdiocese that appear to be "Hungarian" that also appear to have no connection to the community.

In addition to Fr. Lubberman(n) and Fr. Sommer, the following names were listed as priests having an early affiliation with the church:

Adam Bliesz, with the reference "Hungarian Church, Dayton, Ohio, 1908"

Alexander Kovacs, reference: "Holy Name, Dayton, Ohio"

Oscar Solymos, reference: "Holy Name Church, Dayton, Ohio, September 29-December 14, 1910"

Charles Polichek, appointed 1910

And, a couple of "extra" of particular note: Rt. Rev. Julius Kristoffey, reference: "Native of Hungary and at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Cincinnati, 1872" -- a "right reverend" and teacher at the seminary could (not necessarily "would") be a product of Europe and also a somewhat influential sort.... And, Aloysius Hatala, reference: born and died in Hungary but somewhere in the archdiocese in 1855.

As for school personnel, at least in the 1900 City Directory St. John's Church had a school; however, while there has been no other information found to date from that period, a later source identifies the teachers as the Sisters of Notre Dame. A small record for Holy Name is in a history of Dayton and Montgomery County from 1909 by A. W. Drury which says that there were nineteen boys and twenty-seven girls in the school; but, currently there is no available list of names of either the children or the "presiding" Sisters of Notre Dame.

Several attempts to get information from the Notre Dame Sisters' Motherhouse in Cincinnati (including several months of waiting) as this is being constructed in early 2003 have resulted in nothing of value. The only "information" given was that there was one old nun who was there, but she didn't remember when. As anyone teaching in 1908 should be a minimum of about 120 years old in 2003, it seems unlikely said "one old nun" was present in the beginning.

Hey, man!Don't knock the Polka.

Certainly there's more to the two Catholic churches, but there are others as well.

AND, with that bit of information established, it's only right and proper to cover a few words about one of the the neighborhood's most prominent citizens, the father of Orville, Wilbur, and Katharine Wright, Bishop Milton Wright.

....

Meanwhile, back at the castle... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Go To: Church Details, Bishop Wright (Page 8)