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HISTORICAL SKETCH
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ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY;
THE CELEBRATION OF ITS
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY
OR
GOLDEN JUBILEE,
ox
JUNE 24, 1879.
BY
WALTER H. HILL, S. J.
ST. LOUIS:
PATRICK FOX, PUBLISHER,
14 SOUTH FIFTH STREET.
I8 79 .
PREFACE.
THE following pages do not give a minute history of
the St. Louis University; they contain only an outline
of its history. The origin of the Jesuit Society in Mis-
souri is related briefly, in the opening chapters, as being
closely connected with this first college established by
the society in the Western States. The gradual spread
of its missions to the adjacent States and Territories is
also noticed, sufficiently in detail to present a general
view of the Missouri province, and of its progress dur-
ing the fifty-six years of its existence.
Merely to recount the events annually taking place
in an establishment of the kind, from its beginning,
would be to compose a barren and tedious chronicle of
facts that are uniformly the same every year in every
such institution. The scope of the undertaking was
extended, therefore, so as to include some other mat-
ters, both of a local and general character, which it was
believed would be acceptable to the reader, though
they be but remotely cognate to the principal subject
of the book. The writer was for many years collecting
and noting down, from conversations with the early
missionaries a number of particulars connected with
(iii)
1 2245
IV PREFACE.
the beginning and progress of the Church, especially of
the Jesuit institutions and missions, in the Western
country ; and he has aimed herein to give a more per-
manent shape to some portions of the materials for
history thus acquired : " Gather up the fragments, lest
they perish," was our Lord's behest. Let this also be
the writer's excuse for introducing, here and there,
what may seem to have only secondary and distant
relationship to his proper subject.
The college began fifty years ago, on its present
site, which was in the open prairie, at some distance
from the town of St. Louis, as the town was in the year
1829. Such leading facts of its history as could be
learned from its somewhat imperfect records are stated
ingenuously, and as they actually happened, even when
they were not the most favorable ; for God has a hand,
either directly or permissively, in real facts, but has no
share in things falsely affirmed to have happened. The
means employed at different periods by the faculties
of the university for the advancement of learning, with
more or less good fortune, may be suggestive of some
useful thought to minds engaged with questions per-
taining to the matter and the methods of collegiate
education. Though not free, doubtless, from numer-
ous imperfections, yet the work records some things
which are, perha s, sufficiently various and significant
in their nature to interest the reader that finds pleasure
and subject-matter for reflection in the deeds of good
men who have gone before us.
PREFACE. V
This little history of the St. Louis University is more
especially intended, however, as a respectful and affec-
tionate offering to all the present and former students
of the institution, and to the mutual friends of the
alma mater and her cherished alumni.
There is subjoined to this sketch of the university
some account of its "golden jubilee " celebration, on
June 24, 1879, w ith its attending events and circum-
stances ; and also of the fiftieth annual commencement,
which occurred on the following day, or June 25th.
WALTER H. HILL, S. J.
ST. Louis UNIVERSITY, July 16, 1869.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Right Rev. William Louis Dubourg m de Bishop of Upper and
Lower Louisiana His Efforts to promote Education by
founding Institutions of Learning Lazarist Priests Ladies
of the Sacred Heart Sisters of Loretto Jesuits of Maryland
offered a Mission in Missouri I
CHAPTER II.
Father Van Quickenborne's Works among the People around
White Marsh Preparations to start on their Journey to Mis-
souri Journey to St. Louis, by Way of Baltimore, Cumber-
land, Wheeling On Flatboats to Shawneetown, thence on
foot to St. Louis Fragment of History vindicating Mar-
quette's Veracity 10
CHAPTER III.
They take Possession of their Farm Schools for Indian Chil-
dren begun Portage des Sioux and St. Charles They are
invited by Bishop Rosati to open a College, which they con-
sent to undertake 27
CHAPTER IV.
From the Year 1829 to the Year 1836 Organization of the Col-
lege in St. Louis, and its rapid Growth Need of Teachers
Help sent from Maryland in 1831 Application to the General
Assembly of Missouri for Charter of Incorporation, and Text
of the Charter, granted by Special Act 40
CHAPTER V.
From 1836 to 1843 ^ ev - P- J- Verhsegen made Superior of the
Missouri Mission, Rev. J. A. Elet made President of the
(vii)
yill CONTENTS.
PACK
University Site chosen for moving the College out of the
City Rev. George Carrell Kickapoo Mission Death of
Father Van Quickenborne Committee appointed to draw up
Course of Studies Donations sent by Father De Smet from
Belgium Father De Smet returns to America and begins his
Indian Missionary Excursions College at Grand Coteau,
Louisiana Pottawatomie Mission Medical Faculty of the
University organized St. Xavier Church built and dedi-
cated Parish Schools 53
CHAPTER VI.
From 1843 to 1854 Rev. James Van de Velde, Vice-Provincial,
and Rev. George Carrell, President of the St. Louis Univer-
sity Means employed to restore Prosperity St. Mary's
College, Kentucky, closed Growth of the City Indian
Grammar and Dictionary by Father Diels and Father Gail-
land Rev. J. B. Druyts, President of the University, Rev. J.
A. Elet, Vice-Provincial Arrival of Jesuit Refugees from
Italy and Switzerland St. Joseph's College, Bardstown,
Kentucky, accepted Medical Faculty obtain a separate Char-
ter Asiatic Cholera Rev. William S. Murphy made Vice-
Provincial 65
CHAPTER VII.
From 185410 1861 Rev. J. S. Verdin, President Large Num-
ber of Boarders Societies among the Students Rev. J. B.
Druyts, Vice-Provincial Scholasticate at College Hill
Church and College in Chicago Missionary Work of Father
Damen and of Father Weninger Commercial Course made
distinct from Classical Scientific Course Study of Ancient
Classics Removal of Scholasticate to Boston, Mass. Civil
War of 1861-1865, its Effects on the University 80
CHAPTER VIII.
From 1861 to 1871 Loss of Southern Students Death of Rev.
J. B. Druyts, and return of Rev. Wm. S. Murphy to Missouri
Members drafted for the Army receive Furloughs Rev. F.
Coosemans, Vice-Provincial, Rev. Thos. O'Neil, President
The Vice- Province raised to Rank of Province New Con-
stitution for Missouri in 1865, its proscriptive Character End
CONTENTS. IX
PAGE
of the Civil War, and Effects of Peace Property on Grand
Avenue purchased for the Site of the College Provincial Con-
gregation Rev. F. H. Stuntebeck, President of the Univer-
sity Death of Rev. P. J. Verhaegen "College View" pur-
chased Woodstock College, Maryland St Mary's College,
Kansas Different Manners of designating the Classes in dif-
erent Colleges 94
CHAPTER IX.
From 1871 to 1878 Rev. Thos. O' Neil made Provincial Father
Coosemans Rev. Joseph Zealand, President Largest Num-
ber of Students ever registered for one Session Golden
Jubilee of First Founders of Missouri Province Dr. Moses
L. Linton Tabular Statement of Statistics Death of Father
De Smet Fiftieth Anniversary St. Stanislaus Novitiate
Effect of Financial Crisis, 1873 St. Louis Bridge and Tun-
nel Remains of Bishop Van de Velde removed to Floris-
sant Rev. L. Bushart, President Centennial of American
Independence St. Mark's Academy Pius IX., Golden
Jubilee Detroit College Rev. J. E. Keller made Presi-
dent Death of Father Van Assche Scientific Course begun,
its Results 107
CHAPTER X.
From 1878 to 1879 Meeting of College Delegates at Atlanta,
Georgia Modern Languages, which most in demand at Uni-
versity Number of Students varies more in Commercial than
in Classical Course Creighton College, Omaha Bishop
Conroy, Papal Ablegate Rev. E. A. Higgins made Provin-
cial 131
CHAPTER XI.
Year 1879 What the University has accomplished in fifty Years
Grown up with the City Its Alumni Its first Professors all
dead Growth of the Missouri Province Its Founders were
Belgians Their Successors Complete List of Graduates from
1834 to 1879 135
CHAPTER XII.
The Ratio Studiorum, or System of Studies Origin of Jesuit
Colleges Their Object and Work Catholic Education
CONTENTS.
PAGE
The Idea of St. Ignatius General Plan of Studies The
Catholic University Opposition to the System Adaptation
of the System to the Times Three Courses of Studies: the
Classical Course, the Commercial Course, the Scientific
Course Optional Branches: Modern Languages, the Fine
Arts Associations for Moral, Mental, and Physical Improve-
ment The Preparatory Department Concluding Remarks. 148
THE GOLDEN JUBILEE.
I.
Preparation for the Jubilee The President's Letter to Pope Leo
XIII. The Papal Brief on the Subject of the Fiftieth Anni-
versary The Rescript from the Propaganda 169
II.
The Day of the Jubilee The Solemn Pontifical Mass Bishop
Spalding's Sermon The Music The Papal Benediction. . 176
III.
The Alumni Dinner Guests Present 200
IV.
The Literary Exercises Dr. Bauduy's Address The Poem
Judge Bakewell's Address Governor Reynolds's Address
The Reading of the Papal Brief Letter from the Young
Men's Sodality Editorial Article from the Republican. . . 203
V.
The Fiftieth Annual Commencement The Prologue and Ad-
dresses by the Graduates The Conferring of Degrees Dr.
Gregory's. Address to the Graduates 237
VI.
The Board of Trustees The Faculty for the Year 1878-79
Courses of Instruction 248
CHAPTER I.
RIGHT REV. WILLIAM LOUIS DUBOURG MADE BISHOP
OF UPPER AND LOWER LOUISIANA HIS EFFORTS
TO PROMOTE EDUCATION BY FOUNDING INSTITU-
TIONS OF LEARNING LAZARIST PRIESTS LADIES
OF THE SACRED HEART SISTERS OF LORETTO
JESUITS OF MARYLAND OFFERED A MISSION IN
MISSOURI.
RIGHT REV. WILLIAM Louis DUBOURG was consecrated
Bishop of Upper and Lower Louisiana, in Rome, Sep-
tember 24, 1815. Missouri was at that time included
in Upper Louisiana. The new bishop, accompanied by
some Lazarist priests, proceeded to St. Thomas's Semin-
ary, Bardstown, Kentucky, where the priests remained
for a time, in order to acquire some proficiency in the
English language. He reached St. Genevieve, Mis-
souri, on December 27, 1817, in company with Bishop
Flaget, who had previously visited and revisited both
St. Genevieve and St. Louis, in order to determine which
one of them was the more desirable situation for a sem-
inary ; these two towns were then about equal in popu-
lation, but Bishop Flaget was of opinion that St. Louis
would ultimately become an important city, whereas St.
Genevieve had little prospect of making great future
progress. Bishop Dubourg and party arrived at St.
Louis on January 5, 1818, where he determined to
reside till a more peaceful condition of things would
(i)
2 HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY.
warrant his making New Orleans his home. Although
New Orleans was the Episcopal See, yet there were
troubles there, both with the priests and people, of
a character which made it expedient for him to remain
at St. Louis ; accordingly, Bishop Dubourg continued to
reside at St. Louis till 1823, annually visiting New
Orleans.
The Lazarist fathers went on a farm at the Barrens, 1
in Perry County, Missouri, where they built for them-
selves a rude home with their own hands. This was
the humble first beginning of St. Mary's College and
Seminary at the Barrens, which subsequently became
so well known in the West on account of the many
priests eminent for virtue and learning who there ac-
quired their education. Bishop Dubourg spared no
exertions to make this institution, which first received
students in 1819, a successful undertaking, and his ef-
forts actually produced the good results intended by
him. The college was finally transferred to Cape Gir-
ardeau in 1838, where it still to-day holds its rank among
the leading colleges of Missouri ; the institution at the
Barrens was made a preparatory seminary for the dio-
cese, after the removal of the college to Cape Girardeau.
Bishop Dubourg, before leaving Europe in 1 8 1 7, on his
return to the United States, had applied to the Superior-
General of the Sacred Heart Order, Madame Barat, for
1 This part of Perry County had been originally settled by Catholics
from Kentucky, the first of them coming to this portion of Missouri
about the year 1797. The name " Barrens " was applied to the prairie
land of south-western Kentucky, and the emigrants from Kentucky and
Maryland gave this name also to the prairie land on which they settled
in Perry County, Missouri. The term "barrens," as thus employed,
does not imply absence of fertility in the soil.
HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY. 3
a colony of those religious ladies to establish a house of
their order in his diocese. His request was acceded to,
and in the spring of 1818 five ladies of the Sacred
Heart, with Madame Duchesne as superior, were sent
from France to the United States, by way of New Or-
leans, reaching St. Louis, the place of their final des-
tination, August 22, 1818. They proceeded to St.
Charles early in September, where they opened a school
near the Catholic church of that town; but, through the
poverty or indifference of the people, they met with
little encouragement. It became manifest to the ladies,
after one year's trial, that they could not make even a
scanty subsistence by their school at St. Charles, and
accordingly an arrangement was entered into with the
bishop and the Rev. Joseph Dunand for their removal
to Florissant. On September 3, 1819, they removed tem-
porarily to the bishop's farm near Florissant, now a
part of the St. Stanislaus Novitiate, till a suitable build-
ing 1 could be prepared for them in the village. They
moved to their home in Florissant on December 24,
or Christmas Eve, 1819. In the year 1827 the ladies of
the Sacred Heart began an academy on a tract of land
comprising twenty-six acres, adjacent to the town of
St. Louis ; this land was a conditional donation from
Mr. John Mullanphy. There are few of the old families
in St. Louis, some of whose daughters were not edu-
cated wholly, or as to a part of their training, by these
accomplished ladies at "The Convent of the Sacred
1 The erection of this building was the last work of zeal done by this
pious Trappist, and he left for France in May, 1820 ; the last entry made
by him in the records of the church at Florissant was dated April i,
1820. He was commonly called by the people, who had a high esteem
for his piety, " Le Pere Prieur."
4 HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY.
Heart." Previous to this date the ladies had begun
academies in Louisiana, one at Grand Coteau, and one
at St. Michael's, in the parish of St. James. In 1828
an academy was again begun in St. Charles, Missouri,
at the urgent request of Rev. Charles Van Quicken-
borne. The colonies founding these new establishments
were all sent out from the mother house in Florissant. 1
At the present day the order is spread extensively
through the United States and Canada, where it now
has many flourishing and even magnificent institutions,
all of which owe their prime origin to the piety, the zeal,
and the indomitable energy of Madame Duchesne and
her companions.
Early in 1823, Rev. Joseph Rosati, 2 then superior at
St. Mary's of the Barrens, applied, by direction of Bishop
Dubourg, to Rev. Charles Nerinckx, founder and supe-
rior of the Loretto society of nuns in Kentucky, for a
community of his sisterhood to establish a boarding-
school for girls near the Seminary of the Barrens, in
Perry County, Missouri. This wish of Bishop Dubourg
was readily complied with by the saintly father Nerinckx,
and in May, 1823, five Sisters of Loretto reached the
Barrens under Mother Benedicta Fenwick.
They began a school so soon as suitable arrange-
ments could be completed; and during the year 1824
they also erected a house for the exclusive use of In-
dian girls, but it was burned down by an incendiary
1 The ladies finally left Florissant in July, 1846. Their house was pur-
chased from them by the Sisters of Loretto, who began an academy there
in the spring of 1847, under Mother Eleanora Clarke, as first superior.
2 In March, 1824, he was made coadjutor of Bishop Dubourg; and
in 1827 he was appointed Bishop of St. Louis, which had been erected
the previous year into an Episcopal See.
HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY. 5
before it was made entirely ready for occupancy. These
devoted Sisters of Loretto subsequently established
boarding-schools at St. Genevieve, Fredericktown, and
Cape Girardeau ; but all except the last named were
finally given up by them. They now have flourishing
schools in St. Louis, Florissant, and other places in Mis-
souri, as well as in many of the Western States and
Territories.
In 1823 there was a college, in which the ancient
classics were taught, attached to the cathedral in St.
Louis, and it was conducted by five secular priests. 1
It had been established by Bishop Dubourg, in 1819,
with a view of furnishing young men of St. Louis and
vicinity an opportunity of acquiring a thorough educa-
tion. But, owing mainly to the fact that the priests con-
ducting its classes had pastoral duties imposed on them
at the same time, the undertaking did not prove a very
successful one, though this institution had been kept up
for a time by the aid of able lay teachers. This college
was finally discontinued in the year 1826.
So soon as Bishop Dubourg had come to St. Louis,
1 In 1819, Bishop Dubourg rented the Alvarez residence, a one-story
stone house on the north side of Market Street, between Second and
Third Streets, for a school. In 1820, a two-story brick house was built,
for a college ; it stood south of the old log church, or, as some say, on
the site of the old log church. Rev. Mr. Xiel, a French priest, was
president; there were a few boarders. Messrs. De Necker, afterwards
Bishop of New Orleans, Saulnier, and Dahmen, studied theology there.
Mr. Dahmen was the first that was ordained in St. Louis by Bishop
Dubourg ; he had been a soldier in Bonaparte's army ; he was for some
years stationed at St. Genevieve, Missouri ; and it was at his house that
Rev. Charles Xerinckx died, on August 12, 1824. These particulars were
collected by a venerable friend, whose memory reaches back to the dates
mentioned above. Elihu H. Shepard was professor of languages in the
St. Louis College.
6 HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY.
and been made acquainted with the general condition
of things in Missouri, then better known as Upper
Louisiana, he requested Father Anthony Kohlman, at
that time provincial of the Jesuits in Maryland, to send
some fathers of the society to establish a college in this
part of his diocese, and take spiritual charge of the In-
dian tribes that still lingered in Missouri. Owing to
the circumstance that there were not more members of
the society in Maryland at that period than were strictly
required to fulfil obligations which had been previously
assumed, Father Kohlman was not then able to comply
with the bishop's zealous wish for help.
Early in the year 1823, Bishop Dubourg went to
Washington City, for the purpose of consulting Presi-
dent Monroe, and the secretary of war, John C. Cal-
houn, on the subject of devising means for educating
the children of Indian tribes within his diocese. He
was kindly received by these courteous officials, and
during his interview with them Mr. Calhoun, the secre-
tary of war, suggested the expediency of inviting the
Jesuits of Georgetown to furnish members of their order
to assist in that work. The bishop at once laid this
proposition before Rev. Charles Neale, who had recently
succeeded Rev. Anthony Kohlman in the office of pro-
vincial. The bishop offered to donate a fertile farm
near the Missouri River, in a north-western direction
from St. Louis, and at a distance of seventeen miles
from that town, and make over to them his own church
and residence in St. Louis. Father Neale believed it
might be possible for him promptly to accept the
former offer, with the view of getting up a school ; but
priests could not be spared, over and above, to take
charge of the church in St. Louis. The bishop's kind
HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY. /
offer was made at an opportune time for the Jesuits of
Maryland to spare a number of their younger members,
as the sequel will show.
In the year 1820, Rev. Charles Nerinckx went to
Europe on business connected with his missions in
Kentucky ; and when he returned to the United States,
in 1821, he was accompanied by a number of young
men, most of whom were natives of Belgium, who came
to America with the intention of devoting their lives to
priestly and missionary employments. Among them
were F. J. Van Assche, P. J. De Smet, P. J. Verhaegen,
J. A. Elet, F. L. Verreydt, and J. B. Smedts, from Bel-
gium ; whose aim in coming to the United States was
to join the Jesuit Society in Maryland, a purpose which
they were encouraged to execute by the pious Father
Nerinckx. They were admitted as novices at White
Marsh, Prince George's County, Maryland, on October
6, 1821 ; and up to the time of their reception as
novices they were under the impression that in taking
such a step they were preparing to enter upon a mis-
sionary career among the aboriginal savages of America ;
for they believed that the Jesuits of Maryland had, or
else were to have, a number of Indian tribes under their
spiritual care. The master of novices at White Marsh
was the Rev. Charles Van Quickenborne, a Belgian
priest from Ghent, who had come to the United States
in 1817, also with the view of becoming a Jesuit and
going to missions among the Indians.
At the beginning of the year 1823, Rev. Charles
Neale, provincial of the Jesuits in Maryland, and the
master of novices, Rev. Charles Van Quickenborne,
had determined that it was expedient to transfer the
novices from White Marsh, in Prince George's County,
8 HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY.
to St. Thomas's Manor, in Charles County. It had be-
come necessary to take this step, owing to the impov-
erished condition of the novitiate at White Marsh, and
the inability of the province to support the novices.
The soil at White Marsh, which was originally fertile,
had been exhausted by successive crops of corn and
tobacco raised on it for generations, without a year of
intermission ; and besides, that farm was burdened with
a heavy debt, whereas the land in Charles County was
very productive, and the premises unencumbered with
any debt.
It was under these circumstances, and while actually
deliberating about the removal of the novices from
White Marsh to Charles County, that Bishop Dubourg,
at the suggestion of John C. Calhoun, secretary of
war, again applied to the Jesuits of Maryland for a
community of the order to settle in Missouri, with a
view of founding missions and schools among the In-
dian tribes dwelling within his diocese. His request
was made at an auspicious time, and his offer of the
farm near Florissant was readily accepted, as a provi-
dential solution of the difficulties in which the novitiate
at White Marsh was then involved. The provincial, Rev.
Charles Neale, proposed the wish of Bishop Dubourg
to Father Van Quickenborne, novice master, and ex-
pressed his own desire for the pious rector of White
Marsh to be the leader and superior of a band, includ-
ing such of the novices as might freely choose to accom-
pany him, and that with them and a few older mem-
bers he should start to Missouri, so soon as necessary
arrangements for the journey could be made. Father
Van Quickenborne gave his cordial approval to the un-
dertaking, which he did all the more fully and promptly,
HISTORY OF THE ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY 9
as it was a desire of being a missionary among the sav-
age Indians that had first prompted him to leave his
native land and come to America.
Father Van Quickenborne announced to the novices
the decision made by the provincial concerning his des-
tination for Missouri ; that a community of the society
was to be established there, with a view to getting up