Vigo County, Indiana - Chapter 22, 1908

The Liberal Haxds Of Its

SEVEXTY-FI\"E YEARS OF CHURCHES - THE OLD SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS - TERRE HAUTE'S PRACTICAL BEXE\'OLEXCES. HOSPITALS. ORPHAXS ASYLUMS AXD PHILAXTHROPIC ORGAXIZATIOXS - THE LIBERAL HAXDS OF ITS BEXEFACTORS.

The first religious services held within the limits of \igo county by Protestants were those conducted by Jonathan Stamper, chaplain of the Kentucky troops who were stationed at Fort Harrison during 1812. But for several years, religious worship, if it were carried on in this vicinity, found meager record in the annuals that have come down to us. The important epoch in the settlement of the great plain from the lakes to the Ohio, of which Terre Haute is one of the centers, was between the years 1815 and 1825. during which time the Indians retired before the advancing settlers, the territories became states of the Union, and pioneers, office seekers and town builders came from the older states. Infidels and fanatics, as well as preachers and teachers, tried to organize societies, each after his own favorite theory. The harmony of Rapp, the atheism of Owen, the deism of Kirkney. the commune of the Shakers, the agrarianism of the X'ewlights. the city corporation of the Methodists at Mount Carmel. were all planned and planted in their respective localities during that eventful decade. The Kentucky Baptists. Cumberland Presbyterians and Quakers were largely in advance of the Methodists in the older counties south of \ igo.

However, slow to provide for devotional services, either by organizations or buildings, were the first settlers of Terre Haute. They were always free from fanaticism. Xone of the above name vagaries took root here, and it is to the praise of all the congregations of this city that neither heresy nor apostasy, nor the scandal of fallen ministers, has marred their onward progress for usefulness.

ism in this county, wliich has been the basis of most of the accounts of the church during the early period. The first jMethodist societies, according to Mr. Wood, were in the country about Terre Haute, and considerable congregations existed there before any were formed in town. And yet, he says, no town on the Wabash at that day had so many well bred, educated, high-minded liberal men as Terre Haute - enterprising, ambitious men whose moral character was elevated by their early training in other lands, some in Ireland, some in Canada, in New England, New York, C)hio and Pennsylvania. Yet no denomination was strong enough to build a church, and the first church was supported by the farmers in the country, by the- Barnes, Brown, Di.xon, Jackson, Lambert, Wilkes, Ostrander and other families. As early as 1813 a society of these held meetings on the Sabbath. John Dixon related this incident to Aaron \^^ood. One Sunday there were holding a prayer meeting at Lambert's house, and a company of hostile savages appeared so near as to see them on their knees in prayer. A Pottawatomie chief at the treaty told Dixon "We feared the Great Spirit and left," though the night before they had massacred the settlers south of Honey creek. Dixon always acknowledged a special providence in their preservation.

Aaron Wood and Richard Hargrave preached in the court house at Terre Haute during 1826-34. In 1834 the Methodists took legal possession of the lot donated by the proprietors of the town for a church, and erected thereon a building that cost $800. Revs. Wood and M. A. Jewett conducted the dedication services. Previous to this time the church at Terre Haute was served by one of the early Methodist circuit riders, James McCord having been assigned to the Fort Harrison circuit in 1818. It is said that the first Methodist sermon in Terre Haute was preached in the bar-room of the Indian Chief inn in 1819, there being seven Methodists and eighteen others in attendance. An attempt had been made to establish Terre Haute as a station in- 1831, but the movement failed until John Jackson and three others pledged and paid four hundred dollars for a permanent church. Smith L. Robinson was the first preacher, and appointments were continued regularly thereafter. At the end of the first year of his pastorate Rev. Robinson had seventy members in his church. This first Methodist church stood on the corner of Fourth and Poplar streets, facing south.

Other denominations had also sent their missionaries into this vicinity. Thomas McCoy is said to have been the first Baptist missionary, and Samuel Taylor the first Presbyterian. Perhaps the latter was the missionary who visited Terre Haute in 1825 and is reported as saying: "The last night I preached in Terre Haute, but few of the villagers attended. The town of Terre Haute is a very beautiful village, composed of white houses, situated on the left bank of the \\"abash rivtr. 1)ut is no place for preaching." And then he continued in summarizing the material and spiritual condition of the town as "A very singular place ; it had a population of about two hundred people and much mercantile business : had no religious society of any order, but that there was at this time a great disposition to hear preaching: several gentlemen had formed a Sunday reading meeting at the court house." All the early missionaries held services at the court house until the building of the Methodist church, when that became the place of assembling for religious purposes.

A searching of official records has revealed some facts about several other church organizations in the county during the twenties and thirties. In March, 1825, at the home of George ]\Ialcom in Sugar Creek township, was held an election of trustees for the Xew Hope church. The congregation was legally organized in order to procure a piece of ground on which to erect a church building. The trustees elected were John Black, Samuel Perry. Samuel Emory and George Malcom. This church later divided on the slavery issue, and ^licajah Goodman was foremost in organizing the West Vigo congregation from one of the factions.

The Union Baptist church of Honey Creek, according to a public notice, "the Baptist church in \ igo county on the waters of Honey creek," met to elect trustees IMarch 3, 1827, to acquire a deed for the land on which the church stood. John Hodges was clerk and Willis Pierson chairman of the meeting, and those elected trustees were Joseph Liston, Jesse Whitaker and William ^^'elch. The Baptists had a society in Prairie Creek in i82g, said to have been founded as early as 1822. At a meeting in 1829, Charles Johnston, Margaret and Elizabeth Johnston, Xathan and Xancy Poyner, and Jesse and Sarah Kester, for the consideration of one dollar sold to the church society one and one-half acres in the southwest quarter of section 26.

The Quakers from Xorth Carolina and elsewhere brought their religion with them, and were anTong the early worshipers in the county. The Durham and Hoggatt families were among the strongest supporters. The earliest official record of the society is a notice of a meeting held, yth day, fifth month, 1829, when Robert Hoggatt, John Cox and Robert Reynolds were appointed trustees to receive a deed or conveyance for all property belonging to the society. They succeeded William Durham and Robert Hoggatt as trustees, so that the society must have been in existence some time before this meeting.

The society of the First Congregational church in Terre Haute, though organized December 30, 1834, by M. A. Jewett, first came into lesral existence at a meeting held at the court house on a Saturday,

Tanuarv 14, 1837. when A. Kinney, John F. Cruft and Joseph Graff were elected trustees. The society purchased a lot and in the same year built a church.

In Prairieton the presence of the ^Methodists is indicated in a record of the meeting held in 1838, when trustees were elected to take a deed for the lot on which it was intended to build. Samuel Hall, Thomas Durham, John Curry, John Weir were among those most prominent.

Elder Samuel K. Sparks, after a long ministerial service in Kentucky, came to Terre Haute in 1835-36, and finding no Baptist church he got together a few of that creed and organized a society with nine members in 1836. He remained their pastor for five years, and during this time a branch was established seven miles south of the city, where Mt. Zion church now stands, near a considerable settlement of Kentucky people. In 1841 the Mt. Zion church was constituted with 39 members, and Mr. Sparks became their pastor and continued as such for twentynine years. Rev. Sparks organized in all six churches in this county. By his assistance the Salem church was established, another at New Providence west of the river, the Otter Creek church in 1852, and was also active in founding the Second Baptist church of Terre Haute, for which he preached ten years.

.\bout 1823 the Rev. Isaac Reed, then located at Fort Harrison, writes to Connecticut as follows : "The nearest minister to me of our order is lirother Proctor, of Indianapolis. The next is south seventy miles ; the next is southwest at Vincennes, eighty miles or over, and within these points there are twelve towns, i. e., places laid out for building lots ; there are five Presbyterian churches, all without a regular supply. The society will see by this how great need there is of their help in these parts. The general assembly of the Presbyterian church has two missionaries in the state about half the time for six months. Besides these there are none except those employed by your society."

In this \-ear, 1825, the first mention is made of Terre Haute. Writing November 29, 1825, this active missionary says: "Last night I preached at Terre Haute, but a few of the villagers attending; but two men, both professors of religion, who lived eight miles distant, came to the meeting and returned the same night. I thought it seemed like hungering for the word."

In 1834, when Terre Haute was eighteen years old, it was a village of about 800 people, though it was an incorporated town. Two years before, there were 600 people, and in 1835, over 1,200, for the tide of emigration was beginning to flow rapidly westward. The little settlement which, in 1835, numbered onh' 182 families, was clustered in the few blocks sur- rounding the court liouse. while a few tree-embowered liouses straggled along the high river bank, or towards Oak street on the south, Sycamore street on the north, and that lone expanse east of Fifth street, which was the town line. One man had his solitary abode north of where the \'andalia Railroad now runs, and a few lived in their country homes not far east of Sixth street. East of Sixth street was open country on which men cut the tall grass for hay, plowed for corn, or grazed their cattle among the hazel copses, clumps of oaks and prairie wild flowers. The hunter did not have far to go to find the wild deer and the predatorv wolf and fox. Stage-coach lines connected the town with Cincinnati and Evansville, and at least one mail a week was expected. The reminiscenes of early travelers and settlers of this little town whose first sprouts started in the military encampments of Harrison and Zachary Taylor, show it to have been an attractive, pretty village, wearing an air of comfort and prosperity, although it was yet but one and two-story prosperity, A number of the houses were built of square logs, some covered with weather-boarding and painted white, with a little fresh green. .\ few pretentious brick buildings and some specimens of Greek architecture with columns and porticoes gave variety to the scene. The forest trees still grew throughout the town and groves around it. The banks of the river, the scene of a lively steamboat trade, were yet covered with green shrubbery and gay flowers, and in many of the spacious yards was abundance of the old-fashioned roses, pinks, sweet williams, marigolds, lilacs, hollyhocks and sunflowers.

The men and women who lived in this frontier town were, undoubtedly, many of them, remarkable people. \\'hile it is true that in a small, secluded settlement, men who possess marked traits rise more easily above their environment than similar men could in a large city, these predecessors of ours have left records which compel our respect and admiration for their industry, intelligence and lofty principles. They were a people of high character and very little professional piety. The majority had come from the Middle and Xew England states, a few from the South, and fewer still from Europe. They had brought with them their early training but not their churches, for it was eighteen years before they built the first little church. Before this they had started a library and supported a newspaper. They had a taste for the intellectual exercise of preaching, for the men met sometimes at the court house to hear one of their number read sermons. The Methodists had drawn one of their circuits aroimd it at the beginning, and the faithful circuit rider visited it often before it l^ecame a station, and the little brick church was built on the old Asbury lot, facing south, in 1833-34, thus taking possession of a lot which had been reserved for a church since 1816. The Presbvterians made several attempts at a permanent establishment without success. In October of 1834, the Rev. ^Merrick A. Jewett, a young New England minister, riding on horseback from Baltimore to St. Louis in quest of a location, stopped at Terre Haute as a resting place in his weary journey. He was the first in that procession of New England preachers which long moved westward. He had stopped at the comfortable old tavern, the Eagle and Lion, at First and Main, whose landlord was the rough but kind-hearted ex-sea captain, James W'asson, destined to be one of ?ilr. Jewctt's warmest friends and supporters. Mr. Jewett- had one acquaintance, perhaps two, in the village, one of them the late Charles Wood, an intelligen-t civil engineer. The tavern was the natural social headquarters ; the landlord was a quaint genius but far from religious, although he can be called one of the founders of this church.

Fifty-one men subscribed from $5 to $20, in all $405, to pay the first vear's salary, and eleven people, six men and five women of dift'erent sects, agreed to unite themselves as a church under the liberal but Evangelical Congregational policy. In all, seventeen united with the church in its beginning, and outside and around them was a strong body of liberal men, not religious, but anxious to help this new undertaking.

Mr. Jewett retraced his long journey and returned with his lovely wife and child to Terre Haute, just before Christmas, a day ever sad, one that cast a permanent shadow on ]\Irs. Jewett's life, for on it their little boy was accidently killed. The little church was organized December 30th, and though all of those members of sixty years ago are gone, some of their names will live long, for among them were Judge Kinney, .\lexander Ross, Mrs. Curtis Gilbert. Mrs. Cruft, ^liss Boudinot and Aliss Bishop. In the next seven years the church grew thus - 2, 18, 25, 12, 3 and 9, making 98 in all, and showing a healthy life, for several other churches had been planted. Of these 98, only 2 remained at the sixtieth anniversary of the church in 1894 - Airs. ]Mary Boudinot, who came into the church in 1838, and Mr. Harry Ross, who came into the church in 1839.

The first church was dedicated July 2, 1837, though probably not occupied until 1838 or 1839. It was an imposing edifice for that time, costing about $9,000, and it was built beyond the city limits, on the Jot at Sixth and Cherry streets, to anticipate the growth of the town.

The vear of 1842 was a great year for the Congregational church and Terre Haute, then a town of 2,500 people. The Washingtonian Crusade received over 300 signatures to the total abstinence pledge, and this church enjoyed a great revival, gaining 122 members that year, .\n interesting feature of this remarkable revival was that it was the first revival work that Henry \\'ard Beecher ever engaged in. He was then 2() years old and was a pastor at Indianapolis.

The roll of members durinti- Mr. Jewett's twenty-six years looks like a directory of nearly all the old families of Terre Haute, includino; as it did, over 400 people. In 1853 ^'^^ church met with a calamity, a blow, for it was blown over b\- a small tornado which struck it on Wednesday evening, April 23d, as the sexton was ringing the bell.

It was several years before the new and enlarged church was built in better style and at nearly double the cost of the first building. In 1859 the church celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary at the National House when about 600 guests were present. Among the speakers on that occasion were Colonel Thompson. Judge Mack, Colonel Nelson and Colonel McLean, wdio were in demand whenever eloquence was required. It was a revolution, when eighteen days later Dr. Jewett oiifered his resignation, giving his shattered nervous system as the reason. It was reluctantly accepted by a majority of two.

He was succeeded by Lyman Abbott, April i, i860. He belonged to a distinguished family, was a son of John Jacob Abbott, the author of the RoUo and other bgoks. and the nephew of J. S. C. Abbott, the historian, and he is now', as the successor of H. W. Beecher, the leading divine of his order. During his term the first mission work was done in this .city. L'nder his lead a band of workers from ditTerent churches established a mission Sunday school in the Armory on Third street. The first scholars w^ere collected in the winter of 1862 from the ice on the river. The workers from the other churches finally withdrew and established several missions of their own. What was left grew up into the Plymouth Mission in Mr. Howe's time. .\ $3,000 building was put up in the East End and a church organized in 1876. It was abandoned, the building sold, and part of the proceeds was invested in the Second Congregational church in the East End which is thus indebted to ]\Ir. Abbott and Mr. Howe. Air. .Vbbott resigned in 1865, to be followed bv Rev. E. F. Howe, whose very successful pastorate lasted eleven years. He forced the acceptance of free seats and voluntary offerings, which lasted about three years. He also broke up another cherished custom. In those days the organ was in the west end of the church, behind the congregation, when the people rose to sing they turned and faced the music. Like most old customs it was hard to break up and a decisive vote could not be obtained. It was settled by advising each person to face the w'ay be thought best. For several Sundays the congregation stared in each others faces and then faced the pulpit.

Mr. Howe was succeeded by the Rev. Sanford S. Martin, of New Hampshire, who occupied the pulpit from September 26, 1876, until April I, 1878. He was succeeded by Thomas Rutherford Bacon, who was called July 10, 1878, as supply for six months. He accepted and began his labors on Septt-mber 15, 1878. (Jn Jannar)' 8, 1879, at the annual cliurch meeting, it was voted to call him as pastor, which call he accepted February 2. 1879, and was ordained April 17th of the same year. Mr. Bacon resigned his pastorate in !May, 1880. He was succeeded in November, 1880, by the Rev. Henry AI. Bacon, of Toledo, Ohio, a broad-minded, scholarly man, who remained here until February, 1881. Tune 3, 1881. the Rev. Charles P. Croft, of Connecticut, was invited to supph- the pulpit. He accepted July 31, 1881, and occupied the pulpit as stated supplv from October 2, 1881, to June 26, 1882, when he was advanced to pastor. On account of ill health, he resigned September 28, 1884. Next came the Rev. J. Leonard Corning, a man of ripe experience, who had spent man\- years abroad in art study, and was never so much at home as when illustrating with stereoscopic aid, works of the old masters, works of beauty and art. He came January 18, 1885, and resigned in July, 1887. In December, 1887, Michael Angelo Dougherty came highly recommended and occupied the pulpit one year. March 14, 1889, Rev. J. H. Crum, then pastor of a church at Winona, Minnesota, received a call from this church, which was accepted April i, 1889, and in Mav following he entered upon his ministry here.

Oiarles R. Henderson was pastor of the First Baptist church of Terre Haute from 1873 to 1882. This distinguished divine and scholar was born in Covington, Indiana, in 1848. From Terre Haute he went to Detroit, and since 1892 has been professor of sociology at the Universitv of Chicago. He occupies a distinguished position among the modern students of social problems and as a worker in the reform of institutions and conditions.

The Central Christian church of Terre Haute was organized in 1841, by John OTvane, and was reorganized in 1852 with nineteen members. James H. McCullough was the pastor whose work was most effective in building up the church. He came in 1865 and two years later the first church home was built on ]\Iulberry street between Sixth and Seventh. On the retirement of Mr. McCullough the membership was two hundred, and the church strongly organized.

The meeting at which was organized St. Stephen's Episcopal church, was held at the residence of Levi Warren, April 15, 1840. The following persons expressed their desire to become interested in the church : Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Krumbhaar, T. H. Blake, Jacob Bourne, H. D. Williams, ^Ir. and ]\Irs. Richard Blake, Mr. and Mrs. D. S. Danaldson, S. O. Schultz, A. B. Fontaine and wife, Mr. and Mrs. John Rutledge, E. Daniels, Levi Warren, W. L. Stone and wife, Joseph, Warren, G. W. Longworthy, Mrs. Ely McClelland, ]\Irs. L. M. Johnson, Mrs. Catherine Warren, I\Irs. Agnes Sollenberry, Mrs. Eunice Sollenberry, Mrs. Susan

Merry, and !Mrs. Alary Beach. Ten of the men above mentioned were present at the meeting of the organization, as also Rev. Charles Prindle, niissionary of the Protestant Episcopal church at this point. The name St. Stephen's was then adopted and the first wardens elected were T. H. Blake and W. F. Krumbhaar, and the first vestrymen were E. Daniels, L. Warren, Jacob Bourne, and J. Rutledge.

For several years a room in the brick building at the corner of Third and Ohio streets known as the McCall block was used for church purposes, and also for the school which was conducted by the rector, Mr. Crocs, who was a very excellent schoolmaster. The first church building was erected on the west side of Fifth between Main and Cherry streets, in 1845. The cornerstone of the handsome new church was laid at the southeast corner of Seventh and Eagle streets, in May, 1862, and the building completed the following year. The tower was added later.

Several references have been made to the use of the basement of the Universalist church for school and other purposes. Fifty years ago this church house frequently served the city as a convenient place for holding meetings. The building was the last home of the city library before it was moved into the present handsome Fairbanks Library, and was then sold by the city and the proceeds applied to the new library. Such was the history of the building on Eighth street between Cherry and Mulberry, which was completed in 1869 at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. At that time the church had a membership of about a hundred, and was one of the flourishing religious organizations of the city. Twelve members organized and formed the first congregation, which dates from May 8, 1841. The first church building, the one frequently used as a school, stood at the corner of Fourth and Ohio, and served the congregation twenty-five years.

A Presbyterian missionary named Charles C. Beatty made a tour throug'h this region in ,1822, and in the course of his stay in Terre Haute preached in the Eagle and Lion tavern. The Connecticut Missionary Society had sent out a minister to this field as early as 1816, and one or two others are mentioned as visiting Terre Haute at intervals during the next ten years. The first permanent minister was David Monfort, who came here from the Cincinnati presbytery in the fall of 1827 and in the following May organized the first regular congregation, of ten members. The church grew, but under Mr. Monfort's successor, Rev. Alichael Hummer, came a division. The withdrawing members are said to have held services in the old brick schoolhouse at the northwest corner of Fifth and Walnut. The organization of the Congregational church in 1834 absorbed most of these members. The old church, however, continued under a succession of pastors, among whom was Thomas P. Gor- don. From the frame building at tlie northwest corner of Fifth and Poplar he moved his congregation to a new brick church house on the southeast corner of Seventh and Mulberry. The last pastor of this original Presbyterian church of Terre Haute was Alexander Sterrett.

In the meantime, December 31, 1848, sixteen members had withdrawn from the Congregational church of the city, among them the Ball, Cruft, Whipple, Soule and other well-known families, and organized what was known as the Baldwin Presbyterian church. William M. Cheever was the first minister, and among his successors was the late Blackfort Condit, one of the best known among the old soldiers of the cross in Terre Haute.

December 3, 1879, the First Presbyterian and the Second Presbyterian ( formerly the Baldwin ) churches were united under the name of the Central Presbyterian church. The property of the Baldwin church was subsequently sold, and the home of the First church remodeled and enlarged. In 1884 sixty-one members of the church organized the Washington Avenue Presbyterian church.

In September, 1907, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation of St. Anthony's Hospital in Terre Haute was celebrated by the Sisters of St. Francis and the patrons and friends of the institution. One of the features of the celebration was an address by Dr. T. W. Moorhead, representative of the physicians, covering the history of the institution, from which the following facts are mainly taken.

Prior to 1882 Terre Haute had no hospital, either public or private. The only public places offering shelter were the jail and the county poor house.

About that time Dr. L. J. Willien, the pioneer in abdominal surgery in the Wabash Valley, finding himself in great need of competent nurses and a proper place to care for his patients, took up the matter with two or three religious orders before he was able to complete final arrangements for their coming to Terre Haute. After being assured that it would be possible to secure the nurses, the next thing of importance was a suitable location, and in a conversation with the doctor a few days ago, he said: "Twenty-five years ago about the middle of July, while answering a call to St. Mary's, I hn]5pened to drive down Mulberry street when my attention was called to a two-story brick house at the corner of Second and Mulberry streets, which had been remodeled and had been formerly intended for a hotel. It struck me at once as a good building in which to start a hospital or sanitarium, if such could be accomplished in Terre

Haute, which was so badly in need of a place to take care of its sick and injured. The following day F. A. Ross, then engaged in the real estate business, informed me that he had the leasing of it, and suggested to rent it for a sanitarium." This was the first shelter of our Sisters of St. Francis in Terre Haute.

The credit for the support necessary to establish and maintain the institution belongs largely to ^Ir. and Mrs. Herman Hulman. She took up the matter with her husband, and finding him imbued with the same spirit, the question was at last answered as to the future of the Sisters of St. Francis in the city of Terre Haute. Alany meetings were held and frequent council had with Mr. Huliuan. Finally on the I ith day of September, 1882, at 7 o'clock in the evening. Sisters Raphael and Ambrosia arrived and took possession of an undesirable house. It was not long before the people demonstrated their respect and love for the daughters of St. Francis, and in one year they could not accommodate the number of applicants at their institution.

.\t the end of the first year it was found that the building at Second and Mulberry streets was too small and not suitable for a hospital. The building would accommodate only eighteen or nineteen patients at once. In consequence of this the sisters had been obliged to turn manv away from their doors. During this time the sisters^ benefactor in Terre Haute was quietly looking for a suitable location. By an accident, the property known as St. Agnes" Hall, the present location of the hospital, was suggested to Mr. Hulman. Within a few days after the suggestion was made. May 12, 1883, he purchased the property before any of the intended plans were matured and presented it to the little sisters of the poor as a tribute to the memory of his wife.

The building needed extensive repairs before they could be utilized. It was estimated that $20,000 must be expended. The daily papers took up the matter of contributions for the purpose, and advocated the contribution list to be known as the roll of honor. As time was precious, ]\Ir. Hulman assumed all expense and said that whatever was subscribed would be thankfully received.

The charitable ladies of the city on August 28, 1888, organized what was known as St, Anthony's Hospital Union, with a charter membership of 54. The first president was Mrs. Anna Richardson, who was the originator of this work, and was justly styled the Mother of St. Anthony's Union. In her undertaking she was advised and encouraged by Rev. Y. A. Schnell, pastor of St. Patrick's church, and under his direction the society was organized and named. The good ladies of Terre Haute responded readily to the call, and a large membership was the result.

In closing his address. Dr. ^loorhead paid a beautiful tribute to Sister Raphael, who was superior of the institution for twenty-two years, during which time she was a constant sufferer from an organic disease of the heart. At her death the poor of Terre Haute lost a kind and gentle friend. She labored tirelessly and before her death was able to see her eft'orts crowned with signal success.

In December, 1907, contract was let for the building of a new wing to the hospital, at a cost of $70,000, providing^ needed room and increased facilities for the work of this splendid institution.

Something has been said on previous pages of Father S. P. Lalumiere, the first priest of the parish of St. Joseph's and the real founder of organized Catholicism in Terre Haute. He was one of the French Catholic families of old Mncennes, born there in 1804, and after entering the priesthood was for a time the only priest Bishop Brute had under him in the diocese of Vincennes, which then comprised the whole state of Indiana and part of Illinois. For some time Terre Haute had been a mission station, services being held as early as 1835. as definite record proves. But the history of St. Joseph's parish really begins in 1842, when Father Lalumiere became the first resident pastor. A church house had been erected about 1837 or 1838, under the direction of Father Buteaux, another priest whose name deserves remembrance in connection with the early history of Terre Haute. An addition was made to this building during Father Lalumiere's time, and Father Chasse enlarged and ornamented the edifice with a new front and steeple. After the death of Rev. Lalumiere in June, 1857. St. Joseph's was presided over by the Jesuit priests, de ]\Iaria and Lutz, until the arrival of Rev. Bede O'Connor.

The A'erv Rev. Bede O'Connor, vicar general of the A'incennes diocese, and pastor of St. Joseph's church from i860 to 1867, died in Terre Haute while on a visit in 1875. On his way from Mncennes to Indianapolis he got off at the station. The train started, and rather than run to catch it he decided to remain over night and visit Father McElroy, his successor as local pastor. The following morning he was taken ill and died in two days of a fever. He was very popular with all classes of citizens, was beloved in Terre Haute, and stood very high in the Benedictine Order,, being promoted to the highest station when forty-nine years old.

Rev. O'Connor was born in London in 1826, was educated in the famous Benedictine monastery at Einsiedeln, and came to the L'nited States in 1852. He was pastor of St. Joseph's about seven years.

Since 1872 the Franciscan fathers (O. F. C. ), have been in charge of St. Joseph's, Rev. John Kroeger being the first. St. Joseph's is a brick strncture, forty-five by one hundred feet. South of the church is located the school for girls, taught by the Sisters of Providence, and on the north at the corner of Fifth and Ohio is the new school building, built originally for boys, but now used for both boys and girls.

St. Benedict's, though the largest and most imposing church edifice of the city, is younger by a quarter of a century than St. Joseph's. The church was dedicated in 1865, and a school and parochial residence were erected shortly afterwards. Up to that time the German-speaking Catholics of the city had worshiped in St. Joseph's. The parish was formed and the church erected by the Benedictine fathers. Revs. Casper Doebbener, Edward Faller, and N. Gaellweiler, being the pastors during their control. Rev. Pius Kotterer was the first of the Franciscan fathers, who took charge in 1872. The cornerstone of the new St. Benedict's was laid on Sunday. October 4, 1896, and the structure was completed, with its tower overlooking the city, in Alarch, 1898. The cornerstone of the schoolhouse at Ninth and Ohio was laid June 12, 1887.

Rev. M. Ouinlan was the first pastor of St. Ann's parish on its organization in 1866. St. Ann's includes the northern portion of the citv, and also has in its jurisdiction St. Ann's C)rphan .\sylum. A few years ago the present handsome church succeeded the building erected in 1866. Rev. John Ryves has been pastor of St. Ann's since July, 1885.

One other parish should be mentioned, St. Patrick's, which was organized in 1881, under Rev. Thomas X. Logan, who began the erection of the church.

Some of the most charming associations of Terre Haute and Vigo county are connected with the scenes and personalities of the St. Mary's Institute, located among the woods and on the highlands west of the Wabash. The interurban car line carries pupils, teachers and friends back and forth between the city and the seclusion of the school now, and before this convenience came the Big Four railroad had for many years maintained a regular service at the little station called St. Mary's. But in studving the history of this institution one goes back to a period before the railroad era when St. Mary-of-the-Woods signified a retreat in the wilderness as secluded as any contained in the mountains of southern France, which it has long been the delight of travelers to describe. Even now the sylvan quiet and the religious peace that we like to associate with such institutions have not departed from St. Alary's, despite the nearness of electric and steam roads, and bv natural situation and because of its buildings and

From the communitv founded by Father Dujarie on the banks of the Loire in nortliern France in 1802. developed finally into the order of Sisters of Providence, came in 1840 the sisters who had been called by good Bishop Brute to plant a religious and educational home in the Wabash country. Mother Theodore and her companions, guided 'by Father Buteaux, the pioneer Catholic missionary of this region, arrived at their destination in the woods on October 22. 1840. St. Mary's chapel which thev found awaiting for their accommodation was a rough log cabin fourteen by twelve feet, and nearby they found living shelter in the house of ~S'lr. Thrall. Mother Theodore, who labored so faithfully in this wilderness until her death. May 13. 1856. may be counted among the remarkable pioneer women of Vigo county. She was born in Brittany in 1798, the daughter of a French officer who lost his life in the service of Napoleon. After attending her invalid mother many years, she became religious among the Sisters of Providence in 1823, and seventeen years later was chosen to found a branch of the community in America. The house of Mr. Thrall was bought as the convent and under its rude shelter the first winter was passed, the sisters being compelled to do their cooking out of doors. The cornerstone of the brick building designed as the first home of the academy was blessed August 17. 1840, and the two-story structure was occupied in 1841. Among the rare characters who laid the foundation of St. Mary's should be mentioned Sister St. Francis, who arrived from France in November. 1841. and whose refined nature and uncommon intellectual talents and culture have not yet ceased to bear fruit. In 1845 additions were built to the academy, and in 1852 work begun on a new convent, which was first occupied by the sisters in August,

Sister Mary Cecilia succeeded Mother Theodore as superior general in the summer of 1856. In August, i860, the cornerstone of the new academy was laid, and with the completion of this building, while the war was going on, the academy took rank as one of the leading institutions of the kind in the west. Following Mother Cecilia, who governed twelve years, came Mother Anastasie, Mother Mary Ephrem, and then Mother Euphrasie in 1883. during whose time was laid the foundation (in 1886) of the Conventual church.

February 7, 1889. the first great disaster by fire befell the institution when the convent completed in 1854 was burned, turning to gloom the joy that had been aroused over the completion of the splendid church. And in August of the same year, the beloved Mother Euphrasie was removed by death. Her successor was Sister Mary Cleophas. September 8. 1890, the new Providence convent was blessed, and the following month was celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the coming of Mother Theodore. Since the fiftieth anniversary, each founder's day has witnessed increased prosperity and growth of the beautiful St. Mary-of-the-Woods. An addition to the academy was completed in 1898, and the church more recentlv.