Pioneer Bishops of Michigan

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Michigan up to 1900.  For more information about Michigan, see my blog of March 31, 2018.

The first Europeans to visit Michigan were the Jesuit priests, Charles Raymbault and (now Saint) Isaac Jogues who came as missionaries to the Native Americans living near what is now Sault Ste. Marie in 1641.  Throughout the rest of the 17th Century, other missionaries, such as Marquette, Menard, Allouez, Nouvel, Dollier, and Hennepin, established missions for the conversion of the Native Americans at various locations including Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, Keweenaw Bay, Thunder Bay, Niles, and Saginaw.  The French established a fort at Detroit in 1701.

The British gained control of Michigan by 1761 and as a result, many of the French settlers left and Catholic missionary activity was curtailed.  Michigan became part of the United States following the American Revolution (except for Detroit and Mackinac which remained British until 1796).  Congress created the Northwest Territory in 1787, which included Michigan.  The Lower Peninsula and part of the Upper Peninsula became the Michigan Territory in 1805, which by 1810 only had a population of about 4,800.  By 1820, the population was only 8,100 (including about 2,000 Catholics), but between 1830 and 1840 the population rose from 32,000 to 212,000 as European immigrants settled in Michigan.  All of what is now Michigan became the 26th State in 1837.

Pope Gregory XVI created the Diocese of Detroit in 1833.  Detroit then was Michigan’s capital and largest city (with over 2,000 people).  The Diocese initially included what are now the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota.  Pope Pius IX established the Vicariate Apostolic of Upper Michigan in 1853, which became the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie in 1857, the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette in 1865, and the Diocese of Marquette in 1937.  Pope Leo XIII made southwestern Michigan the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1882.  Michigan’s population grew from 2.4 million in 1900 to 5.3 million in 1940 and in response, Pope Pius XI raised Detroit to an Archdiocese in 1937 and created the Dioceses of Lansing in 1937 and Saginaw in 1938.  By 1970, Michigan’s population has risen to 8.9 million and Pope Paul VI created the Dioceses of Gaylord and Kalamazoo in 1971.

Gabriel Richard will be an exception to my discussion of bishops.  Many expected him to be named the first Bishop of Detroit, but he died while caring for cholera victims during an 1832 epidemic, six months before Detroit became a diocese.  He nevertheless had an interesting life.  Father Richard was born in France in 1767, ordained a Sulpician priest in 1790, and came to the United States in 1792.  After serving in Baltimore and Kaskaskia, Illinois, he was transferred to Ste. Anne’s Church in Detroit in 1798.  He would remain in Detroit for over 30 years.  He opened a school that was destroyed by a widespread fire in 1805 and started a food program to help the people of Detroit who had lost everything.  He then wrote what became Detroit’s official motto: “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.”

Richard’s ministry extended to Native American tribes in the area.  He was imprisoned by the British after they captured Detroit during the War of 1812, because he would not swear an oath of loyalty to the King.  He was released after Shawnee chief Tucumseh refused to fight for the British while Richard was still imprisoned.

Father Richard brought the first printing press to Michigan and in 1809 published a newspaper, which was the first in Michigan and the first Catholic newspaper in the United States.  In 1817, he co-founded what is now the University of Michigan—he served as vice president and taught classes in six of the university’s 13 departments.  He served on the university’s board of trustees until his death.  Richard was elected in 1823 to represent the Michigan Territory in the U.S. House of Representatives—the first Catholic priest so honored.  He only served one term, but managed to secure funding for a highway from Detroit to Chicago—today’s Michigan Avenue in Detroit (and part of U.S. 12).  

Frederick J. C. Rese was born to a poor family in Germany in 1791.  He apprenticed as a tailor and later became a soldier and fought against Napoleon in the 1815 Battle of Waterloo.  After his days as a soldier ended, he went to seminary in Rome where he was ordained a priest in 1823.  Shortly after his ordination, he met Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati who recruited him for his Diocese.  Rese arrived in Cincinnati in 1825 and soon became the vicar general of the Diocese.  He returned to Europe in 1828 and spent the next three years recruiting clergy and religious and encouraging immigrants to the United States.  Rese was named the first Bishop of Detroit in 1833—the first German-born U.S. bishop.  The Diocese at that time included Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and part of the Dakotas.  There were 8 churches and one mission served by 11 priests.  He established Holy Trinity Church in Detroit for English-speaking Catholics, and other new parishes and schools.  He built a hospital and other charitable institutions and brought the Poor Clares to establish a convent and school.  By 1838, there were about 22,000 Catholics in the Diocese, half of whom were French speaking.  In 1840, Rese began suffering from a mental illness (perhaps caused by alcohol abuse).  He was recalled to Rome and Peter Lefevere was named coadjutor bishop and apostolic administrator.  Rese lived the rest of his life in Germany and officially remained Bishop of Detroit until his death in 1871.

Peter Paul Lefevere was born in Belgium in 1804 and came to the United States in 1828.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of St. Louis in 1831 and spent the next decade as a missionary priest in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa.  Lefevere was appointed coadjutor bishop and apostolic administrator of Detroit in 1841, although he never became Bishop of Detroit because he died before Bishop Rese.  Bishop Lefevere took over a Diocese that (by 1843) included only the State of Michigan and had 24,000 Catholics, served by 30 churches and 18 priests.  Lefevere established fiscal control in the Diocese, opened a seminary, and built a new cathedral.  He brought in religious orders to open schools and charitable institutions, including St. Joseph's Retreat in Dearborn, which was run by the Daughters of Charity and was Michigan's first and the nation's second hospital to care exclusively for the mentally ill.  He also established a Diocesan newspaper (now the Michigan Catholic) and was one of the bishops primarily responsible for the American College at Louvain in Belgium—a seminary to train European men to serve as priests in America and to offer training to American priests.  He also gained control of church property under an 1867 Michigan law.  He was especially attentive to the needs of Native American Catholics.  He died in 1869 at which time there were 150,000 Catholics in the Diocese, 80 churches, and 88 priests.

Casper H. Borgess was born in Germany in 1826 and came to the United States as a child.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1848 and served in Columbus until 1859, when he was named cathedral rector in Cincinnati.  Borgess was named coadjutor bishop and apostolic administrator of Detroit in 1870 after the death of Bishop Lefevere and was named second Bishop of Detroit in 1871 after the death of Bishop Rese.  Bishop Borgess helped establish what is now the University of Detroit Mercy and SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary.  He also established the Diocese’s first St. Vincent de Paul Society in 1871 at St. Patrick’s Church.  He attempted to increase the number of U.S.-born priests and bring discipline to all of his priests, which sometimes caused conflict with European-born priests who made up almost half of his clergy.  He also fought the Michigan legislature over its attempts to force lay control of parishes and he established the first Diocesan school board.  At the time of his resignation in 1887, due to poor health, the Diocese, reduced in size by the creation of the Dioceses of Grand Rapids and what is now Marquette, had 120,000 Catholics served by about 90 churches and 60 schools.  He died in 1890.

John S. Foley was born in Baltimore in 1833 to parents who had been born in Ireland.  His older brother, Thomas, served as apostolic administrator and coadjutor bishop of Chicago.  John Foley was educated in Maryland until 1853 when his archbishop sent him to complete his studies in Rome.  He was ordained in Rome for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1856.  He returned to Maryland in 1857 and served in parishes in Baltimore and Ellicott City.  A childhood friend of Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore, Foley was secretary of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and co-authored the Baltimore Catechism.  He was nominated to be the Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware, in 1886, but was rejected by the Vatican.  He was appointed the third Bishop of Detroit in 1888.

Bishop Foley was Detroit’s first American-born bishop and he led the Diocese for 30 years during a time when whites came from Europe and African Americans came from the South to work in Detroit’s new automotive industry.  He established the Diocese’s first Eastern-rite Catholic parish in 1908 and the first African American parish in 1911.  He also helped establish the League of Catholic Women in 1906 and what is now Marygrove College in 1910.  Foley established a seminary for Polish Americans and also resolved a schism among Polish American Catholics.  At the time of Foley’s death in 1918, the Diocese had 386,000 Catholics served by 318 priests, 246 churches, and 102 parish schools.

I. Frederick Baraga was born in what is now Slovenia in 1797 to a wealthy family.  Unfortunately, both his parents died by the time he turned 15.  He graduated from the University of Vienna law school in 1821 and then entered the seminary.  He was ordained in 1823 by the Bishop of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and served in parishes in the Diocese.  Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati requested European priests to come to the United States and Baraga decided to answer the call.  He arrived in Cincinnati in January 1831 and began ministering to German immigrants.  He also began the study of the Ottawa language and in May 1831 was sent to Michigan to master the language.  Baraga spent the next two decades bringing the Faith to the Ottawa and Ojibway tribes and to other Native Americans throughout Michigan and along the southern shore of Lake Superior (modern day Michigan and Wisconsin), traveling on foot and by canoe during the summer and on snowshoes during the winter, which he did well into his sixties.  He wrote several publications in Native American languages, including the first Objibwe grammar and dictionary, catechism, and prayer books, and the first book written in the Ottawa language—a catechism and prayer book.  He wrote many other publications as well—he spoke seven languages—and by the 1840s began to minister to European immigrants who came to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to mine iron and copper. 

Baraga was named Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Upper Michigan (a missionary diocese) in 1853, which became the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie in 1857 and the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette in 1865.  (Today it is the Diocese of Marquette.)  When he became a bishop in 1853, his apostolic vicariate had three churches and two other priests, but he greatly increased both numbers by the time of his death.  Baraga wrote letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith describing his missionary activities.  These letters were widely distributed throughout Europe and inspired John Neumann (later Bishop of Philadelphia and now a canonized saint) and Francis Xavier Pierz (a missionary in Minnesota) to come to the United States.  Baraga was known for his saintliness throughout his life—he got up every morning at 3:30 a.m., to pray for three hours.  Bishop Baraga died in 1868 after suffering several strokes and is buried at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.  Baraga was raised to the status of Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012—the second step toward canonization.  The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp honoring Baraga in 1984.

Ignatius Mrak was born in Slovenia in 1810 and was ordained a priest in Ljubljana in 1837.  He served as an assistant pastor and as a tutor to the son of a baron before coming to Detroit in 1845 to be a missionary.  He was sent by Bishop Peter Lefevere to serve at churches in the very northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  He soon learned to speak the Ottawa language.  This part of Michigan came under the auspices of the new Apostolic Vicariate of Upper Michigan in 1853 and became the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie in 1857.  Mrak was appointed vicar general of the Diocese in 1859 and was named Bishop of the newly named Diocese of Sault Saint Marie and Marquette in 1868 after the death of Bishop Baraga.  Reluctant to accept the position, Mrak did not respond to the Pope’s letters for a few months but finally accepted in 1869.

Mrak took over a diocese that had 20,000 Catholics served by 14 priests.  Mrak continued his work with Native American missions, worked to improve the education of his priests, opened schools, and sought lay participation in the administration of parishes.  His health failed—he suffered from rheumatism—and he was allowed to resign as bishop in 1879.  At that time, the Diocese had 27 churches and 20 priests.  He eventually regained his health and returned to the Indian missions where he served until 1891.  Bishop Mrak spent the last years of his life in Marquette serving as a hospital chaplain and he died in 1901. 

John Vertin was born in 1844 in what is now Slovenia.  His father, a merchant, brought the family to Michigan in 1852, but they returned to Slovenia in 1857.  The family returned to the United States in 1863 and Vertin entered seminary in Wisconsin in 1864.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette in 1866—he was the last priest ordained by Bishop Baraga.  He served as pastor in Houghton and Negaunee before being named Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette in 1879.  He was the youngest U.S. Catholic bishop at the time.

Bishop Vertin built new parishes to keep up population growth caused by ore and timber booms—partially with his own money.  He built the current St. Peter’s Cathedral (after a fire destroyed the previous Cathedral), as well as three high schools and four hospitals.  He also convened a synod in 1889 that created a fund to help infirm priests and that required Catholic children to attend Catholic schools.  Bishop Vertin died in 1899.  Over his 20 years as bishop, the Catholic population rose from 20,000 to 60,000, the number of churches from 27 to 56, and the number of priests from 20 to 62.

Frederick Eis was born in Germany in 1843—the youngest of four children.  His family moved to Wisconsin in 1855, then to Minnesota, before settling in Rockland, Michigan.  He attended seminary in Milwaukee and Quebec before being ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette in 1870.  He served in parishes in northern Michigan until 1890 when his health failed.  For the next four years, he spent summers in Michigan, but winters in California and Colorado.  In 1894, he resumed pastoral work and in 1899 was appointed Bishop of Sault Sainte Marie and Marquette.  Bishop Eis convened a Diocesan synod in 1905 and built several hospitals and homes for the needy.  He also actively encouraged vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  Eis retired in 1922 and died in 1926.

Henry J. Richter was born in what is now Germany in 1838 and came to Cincinnati in 1854.  He was educated in Ohio and Kentucky before going to the Pontifical North American College in Rome in 1860.  He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1865.  He spent his first years as a priest as a seminary professor and administrator as well as a chaplain to a religious order.  He was appointed pastor of a Cincinnati parish in 1870 and was named first Bishop of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1883. 

Bishop Richter organized the new Diocese and established the Seminary of St. Joseph in 1909.  He also helped establish Nazareth College in Kalamazoo and brought in Dominican Sisters from New York to establish an orphanage and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.  Richter invited the Sisters of Mercy to establish what is now Mercy Health Saint Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and Mercy Health in Muskegon.  During Bishop Richter’s tenure, the number of Catholics in the Diocese increased from 50,000 to 150,000, and Richter was able to increase the number of churches from 33 to 56, the number of schools from 17 to 38, and the number of priests from 36 to 75.  Bishop Richter died after a short illness in 1916.