St. Donatus Church, St. Donatus

KRIER, NOEL, TRITZ, GEHLEN, NEMMERS, HAXMEIER, GILMORE, SIREN, FREIMANN, HOFFMANN, STREFF, KNOLLE, HOMAN, AREND, LUX, MCCORMICK, MICHELS, PLATHE, JUNK, RENSEN, SCHWEIGER, EMMONDS, KRAMPE, CAPESIUS, REISDORF

Posted By: Anne Hermann (email)
Date: 7/3/2008 at 14:47:57

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF THE ARCHDIOCES OF DUBUQUE,
Rev. M. M. Hoffmann, 1938

ST. DONATUS CHURCH, JACKSON COUNTY

The village of St. Donatus is located in the northeastern corner of Jackson County, in the picturesque township of Tete des Morts, about twelve miles from the Episcopal city of Dubuque. Up to 1870 this little town, which has religiously retained every foreign and antique characteristic, was called Tete des Morts, (originally Tetes des Morts) the same as the rivulet flowing through the beautiful valley. Then, on account of the many misspellings of this name, Nicholas Krier, the local postmaster, petitioned Washington to change its appellation to St. Donatus, the patron saint of the parish, the history of which dates back to the early forties.

In fact, it was in 1838, that John Noel located south of Dubuque, in what is now known as St. Catherine’s parish. Following the lead of Noel, Catholic immigrants, for the greater part from the Duchy of Luxembourg, a few from Germany and a sprinkling of Irish, settled within the present boundaries of St. Donatus parish. Among the first families to settle here were brothers Adam and John Tritz, John and Peter Gehlen, John N. Nemmers, Henry and Theodore Haxmeier, Patrick Gilmore, Peter Siren, Carl Freimann, Charles Hoffmann, Nicholas Streff, John Knolle, John Homan, Jacob Arend, and Henry Lux.

At irregular periods the spiritual wants of the people were cared for by itinerant priests, among whom were Fathers McCormick, Michels, Plathe and Junk.

First religious services were held in the Tritz and Nemmers homes. But in 1848, a log church was erected by the sturdy early settlers. A cemetery was established the same year, immediately behind the church, so close in fact, that a few bodies had to be moved, when in later years a larger church was built. Among four others on record, Mrs. Mary Tritz-Wagener was buried here in 1850. The first place of worship soon proved inadequate. Hence in December, 1850, a parish meeting was held and a resolution passed to buy an additional forty acres of land and to build thereon a frame church and rectory. These plans were approved by the Vicar General, Father Cretin, in the absence of Bishop Loras. The buildings were completed and dedicated to St. Donatus, patron and protector against storms, July 4, 1851. Even before the dedicatory services took place, the first baptism on record was administered in the new church to Anna Maria Knolle by Father Michels, June 26, 1851.

A lamentable shortage of priests held up the appointment of a resident pastor until February 23, 1853, when there arrived Father Henry Rensen, one of the few German-speaking priests of the diocese. In the fall of 1853, after having supervised the erection of a frame school building and having established order in the pioneer community, Father Rensen was sent by Bishop Loras to new fields of labor and Father Schweiger was made temporary pastor. The latter left in January, 1854, and during the rest of the year Father Emmonds, pastor of Holy Trinity Church of Dubuque, attended St. Donatus as a mission. He officiated here January 21, 1854, at the first recorded marriage, a double wedding of Albert Krampe and Mary Reisdorf, and John Pierre Capesius and Gertrude Weis.

A new resident pastor, Father H. Feddermann, from the diocese of Albany came to St. Donatus in 1855. However, when in the fall of 1856 the frame church and house were destroyed by fire of unknown origin, Father Feddermann was appointed assistant to Father Jena of Lyons, and the new pastor of Holy Trinity Church of Dubuque, Father George Schneider, had charge of St. Donatus again as a mission. The people of St. Donatus went to work at once and erected a new stone building to serve as a combined church and rectory. As soon as it was completed in 1857, their former pastor, Father Feddermann, returned from Lyons to Tete des Morts. In October 1857, plans were made to build a new church, to accommodate the heavy influx of Catholics from Europe, who settled at Tete des Morts between 1855 and 1858. A stone structure of Gothic architecture, 100 by 45 feet, with a front tower 160 feet high was decided upon. Contracts were awarded to the amount of $5,665.00. The corner stone of this church – the massive walls of which stand today – was laid by Bishop Smyth in April 1858. The work was completed under the able direction of Father Flammang.

Father Michael J. Flammang, the founder of the spiritual life, as well as of the material grandeur of this parish, came here from Old Mission, Winnishiek County, in December 1859, and remained until his dying day, December 6, 1883. For twenty-five long years, Father Flammang labored here in season and out of season to build up one of the largest German parishes in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. In 1859, a few months after his arrival, Father Flammang arranged a schoolroom in his rectory and appointed Joseph Dengle first teacher. He himself gave religious instructions three times a week to children and adults alike. On July 3, 1860, Bishop Smyth blessed the new church and administered the sacrament of confirmation to 120 boys and 118 girls. Sponsors were: John Tritz, Sr., and Anna Margaret Braun. The student John Nemmers was the first to be confirmed here.

To foster religious devotion the first outdoor Way of the Cross in America was established in 1861 under Father Flammang’s guidance. Fourteen beautiful brick shrines were built along a winding road against a hill much like that of Calvary. The honor of blessing those stations the pastor reserved for Pater Weninger, a great Jesuit missionary, a true Apostle. Later on in 1885, a memorial chapel to Father Flammang was built on the summit of the mount.

In the year 1864 one of the first convent high schools west of the Mississippi, a grand stone building 45 by 75 feet and four stories high, went up at a cost of more than $30,000.00. Because of the Civil War, building costs were unusually high. The corner stone was laid June 26, 1864, by Bishop Smyth in the presence of his Vicar General, Father Donaghue, Father McCabe, Father Flammang, and a large congregation of the laity. It was placed under the patronage of “Maria Sedes Sapientiae,” i.e., “Mary, Seat of Wisdom.” Two stories were finished by November 1864, and a grade school was commenced on the thirteenth of that month. Two teachers, Sister Mathaea and Sister Cupertino, were introduced to 155 children by father Krautbauer, chaplain of the Notre Dame Motherhouse of Milwaukee. The academy, a convent high school for girls, opened a couple of years later. Most of the students came from well-to-do families of Dubuque, some from other surrounding territory. The annual tuition was $130.00.

In August, 1871, a Catholic weekly paper made its first appearance in practically every home of St. Donatus. It was the Luxemburger Gazette, of which the Daily American Tribune is the offspring. It was started in Dubuque, but mainly through the valiant efforts of Father Flammang and his parishioners.

In 1872 a large sacristy, 25 by 30 feet, was built on the east side of the church, and finally in 1875, a high school for boys, 40 by 25 feet, and a teachers’ house 28 by 19 feet, two stories high, completed the building program of Father Flammang.

That the parish of St. Donatus was flourishing during Father Flammang’s wise administration can further be gathered from the number of religious vocations, societies, baptisms, marriages, and first communicants of those days. Nine young men were led by Father Flammang to the altar of St. Donatus to sing their first Holy Mass: Father Henry Anen in 1864; Father William Jacoby in 1868; Father Militus, O. S. B. (John Tritz) in 1874; Father Jean Thein in 1875; Father John Nemmers in 1875; Father Jacob Zigrand in 1877, Father George Haxmeier in 1879; Father Nicholas Bies in 1882; and Father Peter Portz sang his first Holy Mass in 1876 in St. Nicholas Church, Spruce Creek, a mission church of St. Donatus. Of these priests, two are living to this day: the venerable dean of Lansing, Monsignor Haxmeier, and Monsignor Bies of Bellevue.

More or less influenced by the work and priestly life of Father Flammang was the vocation of eight other boys of the parish, who were ordained since his death; Father Peter Hoffmann in 1889; Father Christopher Schmit in 1895; Father Joseph Tritz in 1897; Father Aloys Wagener in 1898; Father John Wagener in 1902; Father Aloys Tritz in 1901; Father Joseph Dupont in 1903; and Father John Kettler in 1906. Among these the highest ecclesiastical rank was attained by the late Father Schmit, Vicar General of the diocese of Superior, Wisconsin; and the highest academic degree by Father Dupont, who holds a master’s degree in theology from the Catholic Universitty of Washington, D. C.

About seventy girls of St. Donatus parish, spiritual daughters of Father Flammang, sought the perfect life and joined religious orders; more than fifty of them during his lifetime, and the others soon after. Space does not permit the giving of too many individual names in this short history. Suffice it to state that Sister Remigia (Anna Catherine Besch) was the first to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1863. The names of the other Sisters, as well as the names of the trustees and chief supporters of the parish will be published in a Jubilee edition in 1938, the centennial foundation of this community, the ninetieth anniversary of the first church. It should be mentioned, however, that the Wagener family gave two sons to the Priesthood and five daughters to religious orders.

In 1878, after twenty fruitful years of hard, efficient labor in St. Donatus, the pastor’s health commenced to fail. He petitioned his Ordinary, Bishop Hennessy, for help and received the following assistants: Father John Anler, 1878-1879; Father George Haxmeier, 1879-1880; Father William Knappstein, 1880-1881; Father Joseph Schulte, 1881-1883. On December 6, 1883, the soul of Father Flammang was called to his eternal reward and his body was laid to rest in St. Donatus Cemetery.

After Father Flammang, the following priests were in charge of St. Donatus parish: Father Joseph Knaepple, 1883-1884; Father Ulric Frey, 1884-1887; Father Hermenegilde Rottler, 1887-1899; Father Gustave Ehl, 1899; Father John Haubrich, 1899; Father William Sassen, 1899-1902; Father Hermenegilde Rottler was pastor here a second time, 1902-1906. His older brother, Father Gustave Ignatius Rottler, made his home with him both times. He was buried in St. Donatus Cemetery, December 16, 1902. In the summer of 1904, during Father Rottler’s absence, Father Dupont, a son of the parish, had charge of the parish affairs.

Father Rottler was succeeded in 1906 by Father William Nuebel. During the latter’s administration, the old church was ruined by fire, November 24, 1907. However, the massive stone walls remained in good shape. Soon after they had received a thorough cleaning and a coating of cement and lime, a new church was built upon them.

In 1914, Father Francis Vallaster succeeded Father Nuebel. He successfully conducted the affairs of this parish up to 1931. In 1931, the Rev. Nicholas Krull was assigned pastor of St. Donatus by the present Archbishop, Francis Joseph Beckman.

Between 1860-1870 St. Donatus was one of the largest parishes of the Archdiocese, with a membership of two thousand souls. In those years around 120 children were baptized annually, 134 in 1862. Since then the mission of St. Catherine became an independent parish in 1867; the St. Nicholas mission at Spruce Creek was transferred to the Bellevue parish in 1875; the parish of Holy Rosary at Lamotte for the greater part was carved out of the original St. Donatus territory in 1923, and also, quite a few smaller farms were amalgamated into single large farms.