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Dedicated To: The Right Reverend Monsignor
James W. Gillespie, D.P., V.F.
October 27, 1929
By C. F. Griffith
St. Ambrose College
The Iowa Catholic Historical Society Collections
Number Two
Our First Catholics, Rat
Row, Half-Breed Tract, French Traders
A CURIOUS medley indeed those three symbols are!
And yet they are the
important factors in Keokuk's early history. As we gaze upon them, Rat
Row, Half-Breed Tract, French Traders, they become well nigh
mysterious. Is it possible that they have any meaning or connection?
Yes, it is quite possible. Here it is.
In 1712, a long time ago, two Indian tribes, the Sacs and the Foxes,
became allies. They found their way to southeastern Iowa and were there
seen by the Lewis and Clark Expedition as it went up the Mississippi
River in 1804. The Sacs, for instance, had a village at Montrose, “at
the head of the rapids”. By the Treaty of 1802 these Sac and Fox
Indians had been divested of their Illinois lands; henceforth the Iowa
Country became their chief hunting grounds. That statement brings us
face to face with “Rat Row.”
At the water’s edge, between what are now Main and Blondeau Streets in
our city, stood a long, rambling structure, two stories in height, with
a crude stairway on the outside leading to the second story. It was
made of round logs chiefly. And Rat Row was the not very complimentary
nickname of it. A dignified title it had, of course, “Headquarters of
the American Fur Company”. It was a fur-trading post. There Frenchman
and Indian met to bargain. There, too, we may conjecture, in the late
afternoon shadow of that rambling structure, the rambling Frenchman
met the dusky squaw of the Sac or Fox tribe. And there, a romance
began. Frenchman, Indian, business, romance, surely that old building
teemed with those things. The fur trade and its later social
derivatives made possible the “Half-Breed Tract.”
To begin with, that term, it is an historical one, is not at all
flattering to the, official inhabitants of the southeastern corner of
Iowa. It was meant to be descriptive of them. Again, not very
flattering. Be that as it may, here is the story.
In 1824 some Sac and Fox chiefs went to see President Monroe at
Washington, and expressed willingness to give up their lands in the new
State of Missouri provided a tract of land be set aside for the
half-breeds. Their wishes were complied with and ratified by the Senate
of the United States on January 18, 1825. The Half-Breed Tract was the
result; a tract of some 120,000 acres above the confluence of the Des
Moines and Mississippi rivers. Obviously Keokuk, the “capital” of the
Half-Breed Tract, was included in it, as was also all the land lying
between Keokuk and Fort Madison. No stingy gift, one would say, from
our generous United States Government! The Indians guarded the
interests of those half-breeds because their mothers were squaws of the
Sac and Fox tribes. Their fathers, “squaw-men”, were fur traders,
mostly Frenchmen or American soldiers. We say they were “mostly
Frenchmen” on the word of Thomas Forsyth, who, in 1831, sent a petition
to the United States Government. He urged upon the government “the
employment of a Catholic priest, to teach a school, and instruct the
half-breeds in religion”. Then he added: “This would be pleasing to the
Indians, and might, at no great distance of time, entice some of the
Indians to embrace civilized life”. And his reason for this petition is
even more significant and more to the point, namely, that nine-tenths
of the fathers of the half-breeds were French Catholics. As we see it
today, that petition was the birth of twilight Catholicity in and about
Keokuk. To be sure the Frenchmen were Catholic, at least traditionally.
As a matter of fact their religion was scarcely more than a bundle of
traditions, and vague ones at that. It was a fading memory held to as a
benefactor in the past. Squaw marriages, savage life, and Indian
standards of conduct would not produce a fine brand of Catholicity in
the Frenchmen, or in their French-Indian offspring, whose number
probably did not exceed fifty.
Some Onward-Bound Priests
Now for a lesson in historical geography, the Mississippi River,
first. Not many words will be needed.
It is a plain and oft mentioned fact in historical writing that the
tide of immigration followed the only highways of travel then to be
found-rivers and other streams. In consonance with that statement we
find that to the pioneer bent on reaching the Iowa Country, the Father
of Waters extended its best hospitality. On its bosom, priest and
layman alike, journeyed to his destination. Gracious host, indeed, it
was, and uncomplaining when the guests left unceremoniously. Keokuk
was one place where "French leave" was taken. Fur traders, soldiers,
explorers, missionary priests all used that kindly stream for
conveyance. This is true of Marquette, Jolliet, LaSalle, and Hennepin,
for they were the first to use the bosom of the Mississippi as a prie
dieu when their God was remembered at nightfall. After their time
(towards the end of the seventeenth century) there is an aching void in
historical records for more than a century. About 1800 the “white-man's
history” again opened. And again the Mississippi River was pressed into
service. From the north and south its travelers began to come. We shall
have to pass over laymen, be they land-grantee, trader, or soldier,
since the purview of this sketch does not allow much space for secular
history, important though it is. Our present interest centers in “Some
Onward-Bound Priests” who passed Keokuk, north and south, during the
period 1817-1832. But first a word about the lay of the land from
the viewpoint of ecclesiastical jurisdictions.
Saint Louis is a very old city, old as time is reckoned in these parts.
Founded in the year 1764 by Pierre Liguest Laclede, a French nobleman,
it became the See City of a Catholic diocese on July 2, 1826. Passing
over illustrious names to hasten our story, we come to the second
bishop of the Diocese of Saint Louis, the Right Reverend Joseph A.
Rosati, an Italian Vincentian in other days. Extensive to a degree hard
to comprehend was his diocese. Jurisdiction, civil and ecclesiastical,
was a rather cheap commodity in those days. The Law of Supply and
Demand was at work. Under date of June 17, 1834, the Holy See sent a
communication to Bishop Rosati describing the limits of his diocese in
this way. “The diocese of St. Louis comprises the state of Missouri,
together with the territory called Arkansas, and until the Holy See
decrees otherwise, it shall include the territory also on the west side
of the Mississippi (Iowa)”. As if the above territory were not
sufficiently extensive, the western half of Illinois was officially
placed within his jurisdiction also; for some years before, however, he
had cared for it. Substantially the same content had come to Rosati in
1832 from Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget of the Diocese of Bardstown.
His letter bore the statement that the Diocese of Saint Louis
“comprised all of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, and the Indian tribes
beyond the Missouri line”. Henceforth Saint Louis will be considered
one terminus, the "terminus a quo."
Far above Keokuk, in the Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Galena region no
little activity on the part of the Catholic Church was being manifested
about this time, the early decades of the nineteenth century. Both from
the north and from the south priests had gone to that region and were
continuing to do so. That region was the “terminus ad quem” for
priests from Saint Louis and Green Bay. At one time or another not a
few of them passed by Keokuk as they journeyed to and fro. Briefly we
shall see something of them.
As early as 1817 (when the Iowa Country fell within the jurisdiction of
the Diocese of New Orleans) a Trappist priest, Father Joseph Mary
Dunand, went by Keokuk on his way from Saint Louis to Prairie du Chien.
His diary, however, makes no record of his having given spiritual
ministration in this vicinity. That journey was made three years
before Dr. Samuel Muir, the city's first white settler, crossed the
Mississippi River from Illinois. Ten years later, Father Francis
Vincent Badin might have looked upon this settlement as he passed by
on his way to Saint Louis (1827). Once the thirties opened, priests in
numbers passed up and down. Two of them were Fathers Joseph Lutz (1830)
and John McMahon (1832). The only tangible evidence that these priests
lingered in the vicinity of Keokuk is the record that Father McMahon
sent a letter to Bishop Rosati from Keokuk.
Nothing is to be gained by multiplying words and statements about these
hidden years, 1817-1832. Conjectures and shadowy probabilities are
better left unwritten. This is the sum total regarding the situation:
we simply do not know with certainty that any of these priests cared
for the Frenchmen, the Indians, and the French-Indians in and around
Keokuk. An heroic priest of God now comes by way of the same friendly
Mississippi to make religion in the Half-Breed Tract something more
than a few vague traditions and sentiments, Father Charles Felix Van
Quickenborne, a member of the Society of Jesus.
Keokuk's Proto-Priest
FATHER Felix Van Quickenborne, the Founder of the Missouri Province of
the Society [of Jesus], will live on in history as one of our great men.
-John A. Rothensteiner.
In a host of instances Jesuits, with their chosen missionary career,
blazed the trail for the Catholic Church in America. Two such
instances, and striking ones at that, may be given for the State of
Iowa. The first priest ever to set foot on the soil of our commonwealth
was a Jesuit missionary, Father James Marquette. And Father Charles
Felix Van Quickenborne, also of the Company of Ignatius, was the first
priest in the nineteenth century to minister to the Catholics and
traditional Catholics in Iowa. Strange to say, too, Keokuk, the
“capital” of the lowly Half-Breed Tract, was the locality first to
receive ministrations at his hands. Frenchmen, Indians, Half-Indians,
Negro Slaves, and Americans had a share one way or another in that
Flemish black-robe's work. But, first a brief word in a biographical
way.
Charles Felix Van Quickenborne was a Flemish priest, born in the
village of Peteghen in the Diocese of Ghent, Belgium, and ordained a
diocesan priest in 1812. It was some years later that he entered the
Society of Jesus. Attracted to the missions of America during his
noviceship in that Society Father Van Quickenborne received permission
to follow his attraction. During the period 1817-1822 his field of
labor was at Whitemarsh, Maryland. Early in 1823 a band of Jesuits
under his leadership made a long journey to Florissant, Missouri,
intent upon establishing a Jesuit Mission and laboring among the
Indians. Then in 1824 Bishop Louis Dubourg, the Ordinary of the Diocese
of New Orleans, appointed Father Van Quickenborne “Vicar General of
Upper Louisiana”. It was that appointment which authorized him to make
three arduous journeys into the Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa countries,
during the years 1832 and 1833. The first and third journeys do not
immediately concern us. Of supreme importance to the history of
South-eastern Iowa, however, is the second journey of Father Van
Quickenborne.
He attracts our attention as we see him crossing the Mississippi River
to Keokuk, Iowa, from the “Head of the Rapids”, Hancock County,
Illinois. Fortunately “Father Charles F. Van Quickenborne’s Baptismal
and Marriage Record Book, 1832-1833” has come down to us. With that
precious document as our guide, Iowa’s First Priest of the nineteenth
century is located definitely at Keokuk on October the sixth, seventh,
eighth, and ninth, eighteen hundred and thirty-two. On every one of
those days Father Van Ouickenborne's Record reveals that he either
conferred the Sacrament of Baptism in “Keokuck” or was the Catholic
Church's official witness for the Sacrament of Matrimony. It may be of
interest to note that he was “near Keokuk” on October 10, 1832, and was
also at Fort Edwards (the present Warsaw in Illinois, about seven miles
below Keokuk on October 12, 1832. For Keokuk record of three baptisms
and five marriages has been left us.
Since a unique historical interest attaches to this visitation, the
first fully recorded one in Iowa, we shall include here the names of
the principals. The baptisms: October 6, 1832, Marie Louise, one year
old, daughter of Joseph Frasier and Margaret, a Folle Avoine
(Menominee) Indian, with Marie LaPaumerai as sponsor; October 8, 1832,
Mary Jane, about 3 years old, and Andrew Jackson, about 6 months old,
children of a slave who was the property of Isaac Camel. For Mary Jane
the sponsor was Mrs. LaPomerai and for Andrew Jackson, Margaret
LaPomerai. The marriages: October 7, 1832, John Baptiste Louis Forcier
and Marie LeBeau, and as witnesses Augustus LaPomerai, Charpentier,
and others; Jessoi Pellen (a non-Catholic) and Archange St. Jean
Laperche (renewed consent); October 9, 1832, Paul Bisette and Marie
Louise Bolon, with Pierre Riche Blondeau and M. La Pomerai and others
as witnesses; Peter Brusseau and Mary Louise Courville, with Edward
Brichinelle and Mrs. LaPomerai as witnesses. Of interest, too, is
another marriage “near Keokuk”: Andrew St. Amand and Mary Louise
Blondeau, with two Catholic Sauk Indians, Charlotte and Virginia, as
witnesses. From Father Van Quickenborne's record as here given it is
noticed that many of the names are distinctively French. This is in
keeping with the traditional understanding of the nationality of many
inhabitants of the “Half-Breed Tract”. It is worthy of note, too, that
Father Van Quickenborne included “the lower rapids” as one of the
places where a church should be built, and he gives one reason, “as the
funds can be raised very easily”. This notation was made presumably on
July 16, 1833, about nine months after his visitation to this section
of Iowa.
How colorful these ceremonies must have been, and how replete with the
unique and the primitive! The blackrobed Jesuit in the midst of
representatives of many nations and races and civilizations pouring the
water of regeneration, caught perhaps a short time before as it dashed
upon “Mechanic Rocks” at the Foot of the Rapids on the head of a dusky
tot who had been presented by a Frenchman or a Yankee, with Indians,
Half-Indians, Negroes, and traders, as a miniature “League of Nations”
audience! Truly was the pioneer priest's religious effort liberally
dashed with the quaint and the chivalrous.
In order to obviate confusion in the matter it should be noted
that Father Van Quickenborne has left no record of his having attended
the Catholics of Iowa at any place other than Keokuk until July 10,
1833. Even at that later date more than nine months after his Keokuk
visitation, the sole recorded place of his ministrations in the State
of Iowa is Dubuque.
In an earlier section of this sketch, attention has been of
Catholicity in South-eastern Iowa", attention has been given to “Some
Onward-Bound Priests”. The important thing to remember is that they
were “onward-bound”. Historical research has not brought to light any
record of their having lingered at Keokuk or, as a matter of fact, in
any locality of Iowa.
This one conclusion is certain: Keokuk was the first locality in Iowa
visited by Father Charles F. Van Quickenborne, S. J. His Record Book
plainly shows that he lingered here on the sixth, seventh, eighth, and
ninth, of October 1832. Consequently whatever priority resulted from
this heroic black-robe's efforts in Iowa, that priority naturally
enriches the glory of Catholicity in South-eastern Iowa. Father John A.
Rothensteiner's prophecy that the name of “Father Felix Van
Quickenborne, the Founder of the Missouri Province of the Society [of
Jesus], will live on in history as one of our great men”, finds fond
hopes of realization in the hearts of Keokuk Catholics.
Father Mazzuchelli
“IN THOSE days there came to the territory to preach to the rough and
uneducated, a man of the highest education and refinement, the Reverend
Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, one of the most remarkable men connected
with the early church history of Iowa.” In these words an Iowa
historian, Cyrenus Cole, pays glowing tribute to another priest of
South-eastern Iowa.
Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, an Italian born, 1806, came to America in
1828. Blessed with a vocation to the religious life, already he was
garbed in the Dominican habit upon his arrival. After two years of
study here in America, this romantic, chivalrous priest of God was
elevated to the priesthood. “And a few weeks later, he was setting foot
on the Island of Mackinac, the most remote spot of the Diocese of
Cincinnati”. Zealous man that he was, his efforts could not be confined
within such compass. Traveling, ministering, and building were to be
his lot for many a year. As early as 1835 his presence thrilled the
Catholics of Iowa. The eastern portion of our state he made one of his
major fields. He liked to linger on and travel over the Iowa prairies.
“His parish was the whole Mississippi Valley for two hundred miles or
more.”
To anyone reading his Memoirs, the following description of Father
Mazzuchelli is sober truth couched in terms bespeaking affectionate
regard: “The story of Father Mazzuchelli's work in Iowa reads like a
romance. He went to many places; he labored unceasingly. He traveled on
foot and on horseback, in ox-wagon and on boats. A stranger in a
strange land, he slept on the floors of cabins and he ate often the
food of savages.”
With joy does the writer connect this spotless Dominican priest with
the Keokuk mission. The Catholic Directory for the year 1841 supplies
the information, as our trust worthy authority. “Burlington, Des
Moines Co., St. Paul’s, a brick church erected in the year 1840, with
convenient rooms for schools. Very Rev. S. Mazzuchelli. Sermon in
English. There are four stations attached to this parish: 1st, Madison,
Lee Co.; 2nd, Half Breed Tract, same county; 3rd, Iowa City, Johnson
Co.; 4th, Bloomington [called Muscatine since 1841], Muscatine Co. The
number of Catholics in this parish and its stations is about twelve
hundred.”
In another section of this sketch the historical significance of the
term “Half-Breed Tract” has been explained. Without doubt Keokuk is the
station meant, for at the time referred to-1840-the importance of all
other settlements, which possibly could have been meant had declined.
Not for long, apparently, was Father Mazzuchelli assigned to this
district. Only in one volume of the Catholic Directory, that of 1841,
is his name linked with the Half-Breed Tract. Further than this
connection we do not know anything of his activities in Keokuk.
Negatively we know, great church builder that he was (churches at
Burlington, Muscatine, Davenport and Iowa City in the Diocese of
Davenport are his hand work) he did not see fit to build even a little
church for slumbering Catholicity here. Certainly, though, this much
loved pioneer priest included within his circuit the spiritual care of
the Catholics of ancient Keokuk, the “capital” of the Half-Breed Tract.
That was late in 1840 or early in 1841.
A Pause
NOT A LITTLE early history of the Catholic Church in and about Keokuk
has already been given. Yet all activities discussed so far have been
of a kind: intermittent visits and probable visits of pioneer priests
during the period 1832-1840. There has been no word of a resident
pastor, no word of a permanent sanctuary where Christ dwelt and the
faithful worshipped. But should we be surprised? Let us see.
Take the year 1834, when Father Lefevre first visited Keokuk, “the Foot
of the Rapids”. The Iowa Country had been without any general
government whatsoever from 1821 until that year 1 834. Then it was made
an adjunct to Michigan Territory. It was not until October 1835 that a
general election was held. Then Michigan took its place among the
states of the Union in 1836, a new territory, the Territory of
Wisconsin, was created. Iowa was in the western part of that
territory. Then, two years later, 1838, the Territory of Iowa was
formed. It was 1846 before the United States Government considered it
proper to admit Iowa to statehood.
Our story of Catholicity has advanced only to 1840. Bishop
Mathias Loras had been in Iowa since April 19, 1839, although the
Diocese of Dubuque was erected in 1837. There had been but two priests
within the confines of the present State of Iowa during the few years
immediately preceding his coming. They were Father Peter Paul Lefevre
and Father Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli. In 1839 there were but two
Catholic Churches in all Iowa, St. Raphael’s, Dubuque, and Saint
Anthony’s, Davenport. A third church, St. James’s, on Sugar Creek, Lee
County, was built probably later in that year, 1839.
During the period already traversed in this sketch, Iowa was, indeed,
an untouched country. Its “white man's history” was scarcely begun.
Should we be surprised, then, that a fully organized Catholic Church
did not yet exist in Keokuk as late as 1840!
Father Alleman
“FATHER Alleman carried his church in his saddlebags".-Father
John Larmer.
It is 1840 or thereabout. Burlington is no longer the home address of
Keokuk’s pastor of souls. Fort Madison has replaced it; and the
Dominican Father Mazzuchelli is replaced by the Dominican Father John
George Alleman. Why did he prefer Fort Madison to Keokuk? Father John
Larmer, writing in the nineties, gave answer. “After looking over
northeastern Missouri, and the adjacent portions of Illinois and Iowa,
Father Alleman resolved to establish his permanent mission at Fort
Madison, a beautiful site above the first rapids on the Upper
Mississippi. His object in settling, so to speak, at this point, was to
have a permanent 'shanty' in a central location, whence he could the
more effectively perform the great work, which his former experience
as a missionary, told him lay before him.”
That he attended Keokuk from Burlington and later from Fort Madison is
certain. The only extant baptismal register for those days, that of St.
Paul's, Burlington, records his attending Keokuk in
1841 and 1842. During that period Father Alleman’s signature included
“Priest of Burlington”. The reassuring work of Father Kempker has also
been given. “When Father Alleman assumed charge of Lee County, he made
Keokuk one of these stations, which he attended regularly and
ministered faithfully to the wants of the people, but could make no
effort for material progress”. And the Catholic Directory of 1843 gives
this information: “Fort Madison, Lee Co., St. Joseph's, a small
temporary brick building, Rev. J. C. Alleman. West Point, Keokuk
Station, Farmington, Lee Co., a station (Farmington is in Van Buren
County).”
Concerning Father Alleman’s activities in Keokuk, the writer has been
able to gather information of only a very general nature. “Keokuk he
attended regularly and ministered faithfully to the
wants of the people, but could make no effort for material progress.”
The latter part of that statement amounts to this: he was not able to
build a church here. And it was not until 1844 that Keokuk’s first
Catholic Church was erected, but that in a later section. Except for a
rather brief period during 1844, Father Alleman was in charge of Keokuk
from about 1840 until 1848.
For Keokuk specifically Father Larmer has left some interesting
observations. “From Fort Madison, he (Father Alleman) usually traveled
on foot, as I saw him for years having under his arm a pair of
saddlebags which contained all his church, all a missionary’s
conveniences to celebrate Mass. Being of high stature and splendid
health, he could cover in a morning on foot, without great fatigue, as
much ground as an average horse”. Old settlers of Fort Madison used to
recall Father Alleman “with his saddlebags strapped over his shoulders,
carrying his mass vestments, altar stone, chalice and so forth, as he
started on a tramp to West Point, Keokuk, and other Missions much
farther distant.”
An anecdote that has passed current in Keokuk for a long time has been
put in writing by Father Larmer. “His (Father Alleman’s) untiring zeal
and faithful labors so won the affections of the Indians that the
Chiefs and their council offered him what is now the northern half of
the City of Keokuk. . . But the good priest replied: ‘No, I am a poor
Dominican Friar, I made a vow of poverty, and another to establish
missions; with God's grace I will keep them both’.” No one has
explained just what right “the Chiefs and their council” had to offer
that generous gift to Father Alleman.
One more priest is now added to our growing list of those who
served the Catholics of Keokuk during the formative period. For eight
years, 1840 to 1848, Keokuk was one of Father Alleman’s interests. An
untiring worker, an establisher of missions far and near, a man in whom
the spirit of poverty and charity were deeply ingrained (many humorous
incidents are told and written about those two qualities in him), a
courageous man in the cause of Christ, all these Father Alleman was,
not only for Keokuk but for Ohio, Iowa and Illinois.
Father Galtier, Keokuk's
First Resident Pastor
“YESTERDAY [January 5, 1840] for the first time, I conferred priesthood
on three of our young levites, in the presence of an immense crowd of
Protestants and Catholics”. So wrote Bishop Loras, January 6, 1840, to
the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. For Keokuk the item has a
significance. In this ordination ceremony, the first in the Northwest,
one of Keokuk’s priests, Father Lucien Galtier, was a principal. It was
his ordination day. Not immediately was he sent to Keokuk, for from
1840 to 1844 he was located where is now the great metropolis of Saint
Paul, Minnesota.
And how did Lucien Galtier, a Frenchman, happen to be in America? Very
briefly this is the story. The Very Reverend Mathias Loras, a native of
France and Vicar General of the Diocese of Mobile, Alabama, was
appointed the first bishop of the Diocese of Dubuque. At the time of
his consecration, December 10, 1 837, there were but one priest and one
unfinished church in his diocese. To his native and lovely France he
naturally turned. His first quest for priestly help brought to the
shores of America in the fall of 1838 two priests and four seminarians.
One of the latter was Lucien Galtier, a subdeacon, who, on January 5,
1840, was ordained a priest for the diocese of Dubuque. His studies had
been completed at the well-known St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg,
Maryland.
On June 23, 1839, Bishop Loras went from Dubuque to St. Peter’s,
Minnesota. He there found 185 Catholics and for thirteen days remained
with them. “The next spring (1840) he was reminded, one day when an
up-bound steamer whistled for the landing, of his promise to send a
priest there. He selected the Rev. Lucien Galtier for the work, and, in
one hour, that clergyman was enroute to his new field of labor.” The
date was April 26, 1840.
The high mark of interest in his work at St. Paul, Minnesota, was
reached when, on November 1, 1841, Father Galtier dedicated his “new
basilica” under the patronage of Saint Paul. And these words of his are
important. “I expressed a wish, at the same time, that the settlement
would be known by the same name, and my desires were obtained.” This
statement of fact was penned in 1861 at the request of Bishop Thomas
Grace. The city of Saint Paul should be thankful for the suggestion,
for up to that time1841, the settlement had been known as “Pig's Eye”.
And the significance of the change in name was caught at all early
date, for in 1850, Governor Goodhue, said: “Pig's Eye, converted thou
shalt be, like Saul; Arise, and be, henceforth, Saint Paul.”
Then, in 1844, Father Galtier was transferred to Keokuk. “On the 25th
of May, 1844, he left Saint Peter's, and went to Keokuk, Iowa”. To
corroborate the fact that it was not later than May the twenty-fifth,
1844, we have the Baptismal Register of Saint Raphael’s Dubuque,
containing record of a baptism conferred by Father Galtier on May 26,
1844. Later in this sketch, significance will be attached to that
baptism as the only one recorded in the register by him.
Up to the present there has been general agreement that Father Galtier
was located in Keokuk only one month: August, 1844. In these words
Father Kempker has it. “During this time of his (Father Alleman’s)
charge, however, there was one exception, and that was in the month of
August, 1844, when Rt. Rev. Dr. Loras, Bishop of Dubuque, sent Keokuk a
resident pastor in the person of Rev. Lucien Galtier, whom he
transferred from St. Peter’s River. . .” Likely the following
statements in Father A. J. Zaiser’s volume Diamond Jubilee of St.
Joseph's Church (Fort Madison, Iowa) are based on Father Kempker’s
article. Father Zaiser writes: “Father Galtier remained just long
enough to erect a log church.” That space of time is more accurately
determined by him in the following words: “the edifice was completed
within one month from the date the building was commenced”. In other
words, Father Galtier was stationed in Keokuk only one month. Now,
before proceeding further with the discussion of how long Father
Galtier was resident in Keokuk, let us digress to an account of the
building of the Saint John the Evangelist Church. The account as given
by Father Kempker is substantially the content of an interview given by
H. V. Gildea, a Davenport builder, in 1885. It appeared first in 1886,
and then in an enlarged form in 1887.
“In 1844, Rt. Rev. Bishop Loras sent Father Galtier there (Keokuk) to
build a church. He took with him J. M. Gildea, a builder, and securing
logs six miles north of town from the timber claim of Mr. Tanning
(Fanning is the name), they erected a log church, twenty feet by thirty
feet in size, and twelve feet high; the building being completed in the
space of a month, and dedicated in honor of St. John the
Evangelist. The location of St. John’s Church was on the corner
of Second and Blondeau streets, on the brow of the Bluff, with a
commanding view of the Mississippi River and the Des Moines Rapids.”
The account as given in 1887 is richer in details. “At Keokuk this most
exemplary priest (Father Galtier) engaged H. V. Gildea to build the
church, which he superintended in person. The site was on Second and
Blondeau streets, on the brow of the hill overlooking the rapids, with
a magnificent view of Illinois and Missouri; the building material was
stone and logs; the size 20 by 30 feet, and 12 feet high. The stones
for the foundation, rudely formed, were taken from the building
site. T. Fanning, from Dubuque, owned a timber claim a few miles
up the stream, and gave unlimited privilege of taking the logs. Thither
the priest wended his way, and with the aid of two or three French
settlers, hewed the timber and rafted it to the building site. In the
fatigue of the first day’s labor it was found that no one had provided
a hamper for appeasing the hunger, but fishing in the river proved to
be good. The roof of the church was made of clapboards, and within one
month the building was completed, and dedicated in honor of St. John
the Evangelist. There were at this time only very few Catholics in
Keokuk, and the Bishop, much in need of priests, recalled Father
Galtier with an appointment to Prairie du Chien”. With that
description we can visualize Keokuk's first church, a log structure,
under the patronge of St. John the Evangelist.
Now to return to the question of Father Galtier's tenure in Keokuk. The
writer has at hand some evidence rather convincing him that Father
Galtier was stationed there for a period longer than one month. That
evidence will now be presented.
With meticulous care Bishop Loras kept a Memorandum Book, which was in
reality a daily ledger. The following data, located in an abstract of
that ledger by Father Kempker, and up to this time unpublished, are
illuminating:
1844 Keokuk St. John the Ev. Church
May 27
|
Paid
to M. Galtier for Anderson house,
etc. |
$100.00 |
|
Paid previously
to the
same |
50.00
|
|
Paid lumber
$13.00:
$7
|
20.00
|
|
Paid for
building the
church |
200.00
|
Aug. 3
|
Paid $25: 11th
$24. M. Gildea
$20 |
70.00
|
|
Paid by M.
Galtier $22.62. Support $45,
$25 |
92.62
|
|
Paid M. Gildea
$15.75 Paid
$50 |
65.75
|
|
Total
|
$598.37 |
In the above account of the St. John the Evangelist Church, Keokuk,
there is contained much pertinent information. Let us put down in
tabular form just what is contained in it.
1. Previous to May 27, 1844, Bishop Loras had paid $50.00 towards
the acquiring of the Anderson property. The only reference to an
Anderson family prior to 1845 is found in Pen Pictures of Early Western
Days by Virginia Wilcox Ivins. “There were few advantages here aside
from the district school. Meantime, I had attended one of these taught
by Mrs. Morgan Anderson, the wife of the Sheriff, on Main near Third.”
Probably the family referred to here is the one from whom the Second
and Blondeau property was purchased in 1844.
2. On May 27, 1844, the sum of $370.00 was paid to Father Galtier for
the building of the St. John the Evangelist Church.
3. Again on August 3 and 11, 1844, more money was expended by
Bishop Loras for this enterprise.
4. A Mr. Gildea is mentioned. Father Kempker refers to him in
this way: “At Keokuk this most exemplary priest [Father Galtier]
engaged H. V. Gildea to build the church which he superintended in
person.”
5. An item of August 3, 1844, states Father Galtier expended for
support $70.00.
What conclusions are to be drawn from these plain statements?
Three separate questions are involved; one by one we shall discuss
them.
First, was Father Galtier resident in Keokuk only during the month of
August, 1844? To begin with, it should be remembered that on May 25,
1844, he left Saint Paul. On May twenty-sixth the Sacrament of Baptism
was conferred by him at St. Raphael’s, Dubuque. Especially significant
if the fact that during the period following May twenty-sixth the same
Baptismal Record fails to disclose Father Galtier's presence in
Dubuque. Further, in a daily ledger kept by Bishop Loras a new account
was started on May twenty-seventh. It reads: “Keokuk St. John the Ev.
Church, May 27, 1844, paid to M. Galtier for Anderson house, etc.,
$100.00.” In view of these facts, and they are telling in their almost
necessary implications, the writer is quite convinced that Father
Galtier was appointed to Keokuk on May 27, 1844, or thereabout.
Now, another point about his tenure: how long did he remain in
Keokuk? Already in this section the words of Fathers Kempker and Zaiser
have been cited. They locate him in Keokuk during the month of August,
and, as it will be remembered, only during that month. A very likely
substantiation for his presence there at least in August comes from two
other sources. Quoting Bishop Loras' ledger again, we find this
opposite information: August 3, 1844, Paid by M. Galtier $22.62,
Support $45 and $25.” Obviously that record associates Father Galtier
with Saint John the Evangelist Church during the month of August. There
is yet one other word bearing on this point. It comes from a volume of
reminiscences entitled Pen Pictures of Early Western Days by Virginia
Wilcox Ivins, a Keokuk Pioneer of 1840. Couched in terms so quaint,
vivified with telling details, and altogether breathing out so fresh a
remembrance of days and events long gone, her account, the writer
feels, should be given in full.
“The pioneer church of the village was of course Roman Catholic.
A lot had been given on the corner of Blondeau and Second streets, upon
which to build a church; meantime a house of two rooms was put up on
the corner of the lot at the rear and here masses were said, one of the
rooms being fitted up as a chapel, the priest living in the other.
Weddings were also solemnized in the small chapel, one of which I
attended, that of Elizabeth Hunt and Henry Louis [De Louis], my cousin
and myself being the only witnesses. . . .
“The lots surrounding the Church were used as a cemetery. On one
occasion twenty-five men were buried there who were killed by the
explosion of the steamboat Mechanic in their endeavors to get off a
large rock in the first chain of the rapids, from which circumstance it
took the name of Mechanic rock.
“The priest was an elegant man, a native Frenchman, most zealous in his
work, preaching in both French and English, and was building the church
with his own hands. I well remember seeing him at work on the roof in
hot July days with his long coat closely buttoned to his chin. My uncle
and he were warm friends. He was a frequent visitor at our house and a
most welcome guest.”
By this time the point under discussion has been lost sight of
perhaps: how long did Father Galtier remain in Keokuk? Not a little
light is shed on the question by the reminiscence just given. Close
inspection of it together with the context makes the writer convinced
that the priest referred to is Father Galtier.
In another volume by the same writer titled Yesterdays, Reminiscences
of Long Ago, the pioneer resident priest is described in this way: “He
was a native Frenchman, a most devout man, very much beloved by his
parishioners and greatly respected by all the community. After the
church was completed, or at least within a very short time, he returned
to France.” Again the writer is convinced that Father Galtier is the
priest referred to. By no means do the details given refer to either
Father C. J. Alleman, O. P. or Father J. B. Villars. Remembering that
three reliable sources have been given, locating Father Galtier in
Keokuk during the month of August, 1844, and one source, a volume in
reminiscent mood with its reference to “hot July days” and “at work on
the roof”, the writer feels safe in taking up with the tradition that
Father Galtier was pastor of Saint John the Evangelist Church until
some time in August 1844.
Bringing together both ends of the discussion, we reach this
conclusion: Father Galtier was in Keokuk from about May 27, 1844, until
about August 11, 1844.
The second question, the length of the time the Saint John the
Evangelist Church was in the process of construction, may be disposed
of more readily. Sometime before May 27, 1844, Bishop Loras had taken
some steps to acquire “the Anderson house”. From May twenty-seventh to
August third Father Galtier, and from August third to August eleventh
H. V. Gildea, a contractor, were the instruments of Bishop Loras in
furthering the enterprise. In view of payments made to Father Galtier
on May twenty-seventh for “building the church”, the writer feels
there must have been a miscarriage of plans, which made it imperative
that Bishop Loras employ an experienced builder two months after Father
Galtier had received those funds to build the church. It may well be
that the church was under actual construction only one month, as
tradition has it. Bishop Loras' ledger does not indicate fully that
August was the month. So far as funds for the enterprise were concerned
the transaction was a completed one on August 11, 1844.
Most readily may the third and last question be answered: who supplied
the funds for the building of Saint John the Evangelist Church in 1844,
Bishop Loras' ledger removes all doubt about it. That ledger, already
quoted, gives an itemized account of this transaction.
To conclude, Keokuk's first Catholic Church, Saint John the Evangelist,
was built by Father Lucien Galtier and Mr. H. V. Gildea in the year
1844; from May twenty-seventh at least until August eleventh Bishop
Loras was the source of funds. Without doubt he in turn received the
funds from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
Compiled and contributed by Ernie Braida, Pastor of St. Peter's
in Keokuk from 1978-1984
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