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Rev. Clement Johannes

 

REV. CLEMENT JOHANNES pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Dubuque, was born in Germany in 135, and is a son of Bernard and Catherine Johannes. He spent the first sixteen years of his life in the Fatherland and in 1854 crossed the Atlantic to America, landing in New Orleans after a voyage of nine weeks. He then came up the Mississippi on a steamer to Dubuque, where he remained until the following spring. he afterwards went to Louisville, Ky., and entered the seminary at that place, there pursuing a three years' course of study. He afterwards went to Milwaukee, where he remained for six years, attending St. Francis Seminary of that city, from which institution he was graduated in 1868.

In the same year Father Johannes was ordained by Bishop Hennessy to West Point, Lee County, Iowa, where the two succeeding years of his life were passed, and in 1881 he was placed in charge of St. Mary's Catholic Church of Dubuque. The church now has a membership of about five hundred families, and in 1880 the Sacred Heart Church was set off from it with a membership of forty-five families. The house of worship was erected by Father Meis in 1863. It is an excellent structure with a spire two hundred and thirty feet in height. Through the instrumentality of Father Johannes a fine brick building was erected for a parish school. He also has under his supervision St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, which was erected with funds left by Sennes Huegel for that purpose, upon what was formerly known as the Duncan place.

The pastor of the Sacred Heart Church is now Father J. Baumann. His early education was acquired in the public schools, after which he attended St. Francis Seminary, of Milwaukee, Wis., where he pursued a classical course and studied philosophy. He was ordained in 1871 by Bishop Henni and served as assistant pastor in Waterloo, Iowa, in Council Bluffs and in Worthington, where for three years he had charge of St. Peter's Church. He was then connected with St. Joseph College for three years, and in 1882 he was appointed pastor of the church of the Sacred Heart, which position he as since filled. The church, which was erected in 1888, is a fine edifice and is 170x63 feet in dimensions. The church also owns other property, including Marquette Hall. It has now a membership of five hundred and is in a flourishing condition.

 
~source: Portrait and Biographical Record of Dubuque, Jones and Clayton Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Publishing Co. 1894. Pages 126.
 
 
 

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