Crosier on the Frontier: A Life of John Martin Henni, Archbishop of Milwaukee

By Peter Leo Johnson and William E. Cousins

Crosier on the Frontier, which was first published in 1959, is a fascinating biography on John Martin Henni (1805-1881), the Swiss-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1843 until his death in 1881.

“FOR THE MORE than fifty years John Martin Henni labored as a priest in Ohio and as a bishop and archbishop in Wisconsin, he was inspired by a vision and guided by a practical foresight not given to many men of his or any other generation. Perhaps no one of his time exerted more consistent influence for good over so many people with such lasting results. Like another St. Paul, he was tireless in his journeys, fearless in his defense of the truth, and a bulwark against which the error and bigotry of his day could not prevail. It is time that his life is presented to our generation and to generations yet to come. His is too noble a figure to be lost in the haze of half remembered, easily forgotten fragments of unrecorded lore.”—William E. Cousins, Foreword

• Language: English
• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Release date: Jan 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781789123128

Peter Leo Johnson

THE RT. REV. MSGR. PETER LEO JOHNSON (March 3, 1888 - May 5, 1973) was a Catholic church historian. Born in Thompson, Wisconsin, near Holy Hill, he moved to Oconomowoc as a child. He received his collegiate training at St. Francis Seminary, and then studied theology at the North American College in Rome, where he earned the doctorate and where he was ordained in 1912. He undertook graduate work in medieval history at the University of Wisconsin. On his return from Milwaukee, he served as curate of St. John Cathedral for six years. Johnson was an army chaplain from 1918-1919 and then then had almost unbroken service as professor of church history at St. Francis. He was a member of various learned societies and sometime curator of The State Historical Society of Wisconsin. For 33 years he served as editor of Salesianum, the St. Francis Alumni Association bulletin, and contributed to various periodicals. He was also the author of several studies in the field of church history, which were considered primary sources on the subject. In 1954 he was named domestic prelate with the honorary title of right reverend monsignor. He passed away in Wisconsin in 1973, aged 85. WILLIAM EDWARD COUSINS (August 20, 1902 - September 14, 1988) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Peoria (1952-1958) and later Archbishop of Milwaukee (1958-1977). Born in Chicago, Illinois, he studied at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and was a member of the first graduating class of St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1927 and appointed director of the Archdiocesan Mission Band in 1933. He became pastor of St. Columbanus Church in 1946 and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Chicago and titular bishop of Forma by Pope Pius XII in 1948. He received his episcopal consecration in 1949. He retired in 1977, after 19 years of service, and died in Milwaukee aged 86.

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Text originally published in 1959 under the same title.

© Papamoa Press 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

CROSIER ON THE FRONTIER:

A LIFE OF JOHN MARTIN HENNI

ARCHBISHOP OF MILWAUKEE

BY

RT. REV. MSGR. PETER LEO JOHNSON

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

DEDICATION 5

FOREWORD 6

PREFACE 8

CHAPTER 1—THE FATHERLAND 10

CHAPTER 2—EDUCATION FOR THE PRIESTHOOD 16

CHAPTER 3—CALL TO AMERICA 25

CHAPTER 4—MISSIONARY IN OHIO 33

CHAPTER 5—CANDLE IN THE SOCKET 39

CHAPTER 6—FRONTIER DIOCESE 54

CHAPTER 7—THE PROBLEMS OF EXPANSION 72

CHAPTER 8—ANGELS OF MERCY AND SHEPHERDS OF THE FLOCK 92

CHAPTER 9—WISCONSIN KULTURKAMPF 112

CHAPTER 10—MISSIONS AND WAR 126

CHAPTER 11—CHURCH NESTOR 141

CHAPTER 12—LAS CASAS OF THE GERMANS 154

BIBLIOGRAPHY 179

MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 179

PERIODICALS 179

NEWSPAPERS 180

PUBLISHED SOURCES 180

SECONDARY STUDIES 181

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 187

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 188

DEDICATION

TO

GEORGE C. SELLERY

DISCIPULUS MAGISTRO

CORDE GRATO

ET

AMANTI

FOREWORD

FOR THE MORE than fifty years John Martin Henni labored as a priest in Ohio and as a bishop and archbishop in Wisconsin, he was inspired by a vision and guided by a practical foresight not given to many men of his or any other generation. Perhaps no one of his time exerted more consistent influence for good over so many people with such lasting results. Like another St. Paul, he was tireless in his journeys, fearless in his defense of the truth, and a bulwark against which the error and bigotry of his day could not prevail. It is time that his life is presented to our generation and to generations yet to come. His is too noble a figure to be lost in the haze of half remembered, easily forgotten fragments of unrecorded lore.

For John Henni the somewhat stereotyped phrase For God and Country was anything but trite. It was a way of life. In his preparation for the priesthood nothing was indifferently done. Through a private tutor and the established theological courses in Rome and Bardstown, Kentucky, he was equipped in mind and matter for the role of professor in what is now St. Xavier University in Cincinnati. Though dedicated to his assigned task of teaching philosophy, his broad interests embraced the plight of German immigrants in Ohio, This interest was not theoretical. It expressed itself in personal contact with those scattered victims of change. His desire to serve combined with his rare genius to make a contribution to the culture and growth of middle America that has increased in value with each passing year.

His preoccupation with problems attendant upon immigration could have centered in any national group, but his work in Cincinnati placed him in the midst of German immigrants still struggling for recognition in a strange land. As a priest he sensed the threat to their traditional faith. Living miles away from existing churches, poorly instructed, and with no clergy to serve them, they found it easy to neglect Mass and the Sacraments. Father Henni truly earned his title Apostle of the Germans in his ceaseless visits to every town and settlement within striking distance where a handful of neglected souls could enjoy the fruits of his ministry. Against almost insurmountable odds he kept a people united in the Church of their baptism.

A loyal citizen of his adopted country, he saw his German flock handicapped by language barriers. He knew that they could take their places in society and in a competitive economy only by proving themselves capable of accepting and discharging their responsibilities. As means to that end he encouraged to a point of insistence the speaking of English, and he edited the first Catholic German newspaper in the country with an emphasis upon everything that would lead to a better understanding of America and the principles upon which it was founded.

In 1843 his transfer to Wisconsin as its first bishop with Milwaukee as the see city enlarged and extended his chosen apostolate. Now he possessed a jurisdiction and a position that permitted application of ideas previously advocated but beyond his power to enforce. His care and solicitude for pioneer settlers attracted thousands into the state. He saw settlements grow into villages and towns, tiny missions into established parishes, and always under his direction schools and churches marched with, and marked the progress of, Wisconsin. He brought to the new diocese orders of sisters and priests who began institutions of learning that produced leaders in every phase of civic and religious life for decades to come.

So great was his impact that his being named archbishop in 1875 was hailed by the entire state as a deserving recognition of its outstanding citizen. During the Civil War he had conducted himself in a manner commanding universal respect. He was against slavery but did not favor war as a solution of the problem. Yet, when war was declared he was indefatigable in its successful prosecution. As a great churchman possessed of a strong sense of civic duty, he deservedly claimed the homage of all regardless of their creed or condition.

The author has painstakingly gathered facts from every available source. He has an intense interest in his subject and is sustained by a conviction that Archbishop Henni’s life deserves sympathetic chronicling. He presents the discerning reader with a detailed story of a strong and forthright, competent and courageous man of God who wrote countless pages of local history in the bold, vivid strokes of personal accomplishment.

WILLIAM E. COUSINS

April, 1959 Archbishop of Milwaukee

PREFACE

BISHOP HENNI is one of the more original among the American churchmen of the nineteenth century. Before all, he was endowed with an ardent heart and zeal. Besides, he relied on two principles—a firm faith in the providence of God and an abiding trust in the divine promise of an everlasting reward. His career is an epic in a moral pursuit which is summarized by his favorite motto: The rarest life course is to start with God and to keep with Him.

A memorable interpretation of American tradition under Henni’s leadership is found in the exchange of services between governmental units and Catholic relief institutions. In this study hardly any stress is placed on public subsidy to private agencies.

The career of the bishop was accompanied by certain factors in public relations which have disappeared or been modified in the course of time. One dealt with the appropriation of public funds for the support of Catholic welfare work. A partial explanation rests on the lack of public welfare organization, particularly in the Milwaukee area. This situation arose in part from the absence of legislation fixing the jurisdiction of public officials, with its resultant confusion about their duties in townships, cities, or counties. Until public agencies were ready, private parties handled the task with financial aid from the public authorities.

Whenever the state legislature tried to appropriate funds for private institutions there was opposition. This opposition grew with the development of public agencies, which took over the services previously performed by private ones.

Early governmental units did not hesitate to contract and pay religious groups for services to citizens or wards who happened to be sick or indigent and in the care of such. By doing so, public officials did not feel that they were subsidizing religion, but extending protection to the needy.

Civic authorities were slow to start public institutions for relief because they sensed the bond between human misery and spiritual forces. Earlier laymen felt that religious groups had a special vocation to tend the ills of humanity. This sentiment explains why the founding fathers omitted any reference to religion in the Bill of Rights. Asked why, Washington answered that religion pertained to the clergy rather than the laity.

Historians invent patterns to explain life in the United States. These etiquettes are useful if kept relative. One of the best known is sectionalism. Others are immigration, the frontier, melting pot, and sectarianism. The latter was current throughout Henni’s career. Some judge that it is a decisive mold for fixing Americans into a sort of honeycomb. Long before segregation became so hotly debated as it is at the present time, it belonged to old-time sectarianism. This was promoted in turn by religious sects, Nativists, Know nothings, Forty-eighters, Whigs, and Turners. All endeavored to isolate foreign-born newcomers, especially Catholics. Throughout his tenure, Bishop Henni was trailed by sectarian hostility, which he met bravely. At least, it may be said that he forced sectarianism to go underground. He is unrivalled in his efforts to break up the honeycomb design for Americans. A great tribute to him is the respect he won from all sectarians.

Dealing with imponderables often, this study is based on ample documentary sources and is supported by an adequate review of contemporary newspapers. There is no abdication of personal thought or expression, but there is a strict respect for objective truth.

The task of writing this biography was acceptable solely on the grounds of the bishop’s national import, which is chiefly reported in the German language. The bulk of press notices about him and pertinent issues is so enormous that it would require many years to evaluate it. Despite this handicap, the present version of Bishop Henni’s life is drawn from a satisfactory coverage of newspapers.

The limitations of space unfortunately make it impracticable to mention by name all who had a hand in producing this book, either by aiding in its assemblage, or by their interest, courtesy, and encouragement. The author is anxious to extend an expression of gratitude to all, but particularly to Archbishop Meyer, formerly of Milwaukee; Archbishop Cousins; Msgr. Schneider, rector; Rev. Thomas T. McAvoy, archivist, Notre Dame University; colleagues of the seminary, the Revs. Raymond A. Fetterer, librarian, Gabriel Ward Hafford, Wm. N. Schuit; Rev. Walter H. Belda, pastor of St. Agnes, Milwaukee; Rev. Benjamin J. Blied, pastor of St. John’s, Johnsburg, Wisconsin; Rev. Raphael N. Hamilton, S.J., Marquette University; Richard E. Krug, head of the Milwaukee Public Library; and the staff of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, particularly its Book Editor, Lawrence Burnette, Jr., without whose patience, courtesy, industry, and supervision the book could hardly have been published at this time.

PETER LEO JOHNSON

St. Francis Seminary

Milwaukee, April, 1959

CHAPTER 1—THE FATHERLAND

ON THE COLLEGE roster at Lucerne John Martin Henni was listed as a Rhetian—that is, a native of Rhetia, the ancient name of the easternmost canton of Switzerland, now called Graubünden. This highland dividing Austria from the Italian Tyrol is marked by the lofty Rhetian Alps, the deep and winding valleys of the Rhine and the Inn, extensive glaciers, and innumerable streams and small lakes. The rock formations are geologically ancient and are rich in minerals including low-grade iron ore. Many of the peaks are over 10,000 feet high, producing an isolation severe even for Switzerland.

On this rooftop of Europe extreme climates prevail the year around: perpetual winter on the mountaintops to one reasonably temperate in the deep valleys. Along the valley of the Rhine between Chur and Ragaz there are celebrated vineyards. Elsewhere in the valleys abundant crops of fruit, cereals, and potatoes are grown. Even in the lower elevations the soil is not uniformly suitable for agriculture, and not infrequently the region has suffered the disasters of scant rainfall, avalanches, and earthquakes. On the upper plateaus, where the summers are short, cultivation is limited to rye and barley. But there are some vast and excellent pasturages on the mountainsides, and most of the people raise cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Like all of his fellow Swiss, the Rhetian is fiercely attached to his hard but beautiful homeland. When circumstances force, he leaves reluctantly, cursing his misfortune rather than the land. He dreams of returning some day to its valleys and uplands dotted with rural cabins and chalets. He loves the solemn grandeur of his Alps, the shimmering clarity of his lakes and streams, the robust genuineness of his native songs and dances, and the lyrical drama in his folk poetry. He remembers the high-flying eagle, the fugitive chamois, the perennial fir tree, the silvery chant of Angelus bells, and the lonely vigils of shepherds on the hillside.

The Rhetians are a sturdy, agile, industrious, and ambitious people, upon whom nature and history have left their imprint. They are typically endowed with confidence in themselves and reliance on their own capabilities. They are thrifty, if not outright closefisted. Except when dealing with their own cantonal folk they may be reticent and uncooperative. More than any of their countrymen they stubbornly cling to their customs and manners and remain uncorrupted by the outside world and the steady influx of tourists. The conservatism and provincialism implied in the term Rhetian marks all its sons. The modern name of the canton, Graubünden or Union of the Greys, also suggests a homespun, original, and independent people. The name is derived from the distinctive costumes of unbleached, dull grey wool worn by the organizers of the Union.{1}

History has left a legacy and a fierce tradition of independence in the canton, so marked that in an earlier day military service under a foreign flag was incompatible to a Bündner.{2} Even under foreign domination he has preserved his freedom-loving spirit and managed a considerable degree of self-government. In the struggle he has had geography for an ally. Racial antipathies so disruptive elsewhere were sealed off by the valleys and mountains. The people have steadily achieved increasing self-government, and in times of political crisis they have put aside their differences and pooled their resources in a defensive league.

Indeed, the Bündner’s characteristic bent of mind and spirit has prevailed against every test: the rule of the Swabian Hohenstaufens in the tenth century; the overlordship of the Rhetian counts in the later middle ages; and the inroads of the French Revolution. The culmination of centuries of political stress was written into the constitution of 1848, which inaugurated the Swiss Confederation much as it exists today.{3}

Swiss mercenaries participated on both sides in the Thirty Year’s War, at the end of which the Treaty of Westphalia gave the Swiss cantons the formal recognition of independence from the Holy Roman Empire that they had enjoyed in practice since 1499. But the new independence soon brought the cantons under the sway of French diplomacy and precipitated serious clashes between them. In 1653 the so-called Peasant War pitted the urban cantons against the rural areas to perpetuate their economic and political hegemony. The outcome strengthened the position of the towns and of urban wealth and laid the foundations for the modern development of Switzerland into a financial power.

In the eighteenth century the Swiss enjoyed a period of peace and stability and one of remarkable economic and intellectual development. Deliberately submerging their sectional differences, the wealth and population of the cantons increased rapidly, often doubling within the century. Mercenary service continued to bring in a golden flood of capital and booty, but at the cost of a river of blood and human misery, and Swiss agriculture grew prosperous supplying the foodstuffs for Europe’s wars. Cattle breeding, wine, and cheese further swelled the national income. Textile manufacture and finishing took on a special importance to the eastern cantons.

All would have been well for the Swiss but for social and political stagnation. The league of the cantons was clumsy and ineffective, representing quasi-independent units to which were attached other allied states. The wide variety of cantonal government further complicated the political stability of the league. The first French invasion of Switzerland was actually at the behest of several of the cantons which were anxious to advance the cause of Swiss reform, but the glitter of Swiss gold also lured the French republicans. In 1798 the Swiss received their first constitution at the hands of the French, which formally transformed their homeland into a centralized state after the example of the French Republic. But the imposed republic did not long endure, and Switzerland soon became a part of the European theater of war, invaded again by Napoleon. A new constitution was imposed in 1803, recognizing the sovereignty of the cantons and establishing a neutrality which was immediately violated by Napoleon’s demands for troops and supplies. The violation of Swiss territory in 1813 by the Allied Powers in the final stages of crushing Napoleon contributed to the decision to guarantee perpetual Swiss neutrality at the Congress of Vienna.

The Napoleonic wars left Switzerland a disrupted economy, an impaired independence, and a precarious neutrality. She was forced by diplomatic pressure to take restrictive action against the seeds of republicanism planted by the political refugees she harbored, and in 1832 the increasing religious rivalry flared into warfare between Catholics and Protestants. Not until the drafting of the federal constitution of 1848 was a satisfactory formula discovered to establish the balance between the demand for cantonal independence and the need for national integration.

The political drama of the centuries had its parallel in the field of religion, such as the rise of Protestantism in the sixteenth century and the attendant disorganization of Catholic institutions. The roots of the Swiss Reformation were also close to Graubünden. Ulrich Zwingli was born in the neighboring canton of St. Gallen, and the results came even closer home.

Between the Protestant and French revolutions, Catholics in the canton of Graubünden were forced to make severe struggles for their faith. They suffered from political entanglements and Protestant opposition. Their most immediate perils were lack of instruction, orderly worship, and discipline, and these matters received the close attention of St. Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, particularly in his placing Capuchins in charge of missionary work in the canton in 1585. To meet the demands for Swiss priests, he founded a college at Milan. In addition, places were reserved for Swiss clerical aspirants in two colleges at Rome, the Collegio Urbano and the Collegio Germanico, and in a third one at Dillingen, Bavaria. In Chur itself, a seminary was begun through the efforts of Cardinal Bonelli in the time of Pope Pius V.

Because it was a missionary field, Graubünden fell under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which in turn entrusted the local apostolic prefecture to the Capuchins. Further impetus to Catholic life in Switzerland was furnished by the appointment of a papal nuncio in 1579, and by the arrival in 1580 at Freiburg of the celebrated Jesuit, Peter Canisius.{4}

The extension of the French Revolution into Switzerland, disseminating a purely rationalistic theology, seriously paralyzed the Church and established, for a time, a state-controlled seminary and a national bishop. In the nineteenth century diocesan reorganization was complicated by the conflict between Napoleon and the papacy and blocked by the extreme nationalism of Wessenburg, vicar-general of the diocese of Constance, who had the greater portion of Catholic Switzerland under his authority. The distribution of dioceses, privileges, and financial support were constant sources of perennial storm and strife in various cantons. When a plan was devised to form a diocese for eastern Switzerland with two headquarters, St. Gall and Chur, it was frustrated by cantonal politics and regional jealousy.{5}

However judicious the political provisions in the constitution of 1848, its religious articles perpetuated the strife of the past three centuries. The Catholic Bündners viewed these provisions as a legalization of the sinister ideology of pseudo-liberals, whom they regarded only as apostates from the faith of their fathers.

In western Graubünden, in the upper valley of the Rhine, lies the township of Obersaxen, composed of a scattering of tiny hamlets. Its people are largely Germanic, an island surrounded by Latin peoples and Romance speech. Hence they are bilingual, using both German and a Romance dialect called Romansch. The family name Henni is itself a Latin form of Heinrich. Obersaxen, which might be translated Rocky Highlands, is a combination of the German ober and the Latin saxa or saissa, meaning stone.

In one of the hamlets, Misanenga, at the turn of the nineteenth century the young farmer, John George Henni and his bride, Mary (Ursula) Henni had established their home. To these peasants, on June 15, 1805, was born the first of their seven children, a son named John Martin. On the day of his birth the infant was taken to Maierhof, a mile to the west, to be baptized by the pastor of the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul.{6}

Henni’s birthplace, opposite the little church in Misanenga, was a two-story wooden peasant chalet with a peaked roof and wide eaves, set on a stone foundation. On its front gable a cross was fixed, beneath which were inscribed the names of the owners, Hans Peter Riedi and John Martin Henni (maternal grandfather of the newly born child), the name of the builder, Virgil Joseph Valier, and the date, 1793.{7} The threshold of this simple dwelling commanded a panorama breathtaking in its sweep and grandeur.

Obersaxen, which a good walker can encircle in three hours, occupies highlands where the Rhine Valley rises at the base of the lofty peaks of Mundaun and Miedzi. The Rhine rushes northward through deep gorges below, finally merging with its branch for the journey into Lake Constance, Beyond the valley to the west rises the majestic and snow-clad Tödi chain, one of the great scenic areas of the world.

Cut by numerous mountain rivulets, the Obersaxen highland is a rich, highly productive soil. On its upper slopes and ravines there is good grazing for cattle and sheep, and acreage for grain and garden produce. The Obersaxen folk of Henni’s day raised enough flax and sheep to provide warm and sturdy clothing for everyone.

The paternal Henni, a native of the nearby hamlet of Platenga, was a God-fearing, hard-working, simple peasant embodying the profoundly religious temperament that characterizes the Obersaxeners. He was happily fortified with a strong moral armament, for a few years later a stroke deprived him of the use of his right arm, and he was obliged to train himself to use the other in the performance of his daily tasks.

The Henni family stirred at the break of dawn, when the father set about his chores and the mother began breakfast. After reciting prayers together they all sat down to a simple meal. This consisted chiefly of a nourishing black bread; indeed, Morgenbrod was Henni’s word for breakfast. Throughout his life he continued to live on such simple fare. Years later, when a bishop in Milwaukee, visitors were moved to comment on Henni’s frugal luncheon of oatmeal, an apple, and water.

After breakfast some members of the household attended Mass in the local chapel or in the parish church in Maierhof. Religion was an integral and natural part of their daily life. Prayers were always said at meals. At noon, and again at sundown, those working in the fields were called home by the Angelus bell. After supper the early evening was spent in conversation and in saying the rosary until it was time to milk the cows, a task in which the whole family participated. At bedtime father and mother heard the children say their prayers and sealed the day by making the sign of the cross on the forehead, lips, and breast of each one in turn. On Sunday the