Pioneer Bishops of Wisconsin

This blog will discuss bishops that served in Wisconsin up to 1900.  For more information about Wisconsin, see my blog of December 29, 2017.

Jean Nicolet, a French Canadian, was the first non-Native American to see Wisconsin when he came to Green Bay and established a fur trading post in 1634.  In the mid-1650s, Medard Chouat des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson explored Green Bay and Chequamegon Bay (near Bayfield).  Rene Menard, a Jesuit missionary, came to northern Wisconsin in 1660, but died or was killed the following year.  Another Jesuit, Claude Allouez, founded a mission at La Pointe in 1665 and he and other Jesuits established missions at DuPere and Oconto, near Green Bay.  Another fur trading post was established at Prairie du Chien in 1673 by Louis Joliet, accompanied by Father Jacques Marquette as they made their famous exploration of the Mississippi River.  It is not known how many Native Americans were converted to the Faith during this time.  Over the next century, frequent wars between France and Great Britain, which also included the local Native-Americans, hindered the work of the missionaries and slowed settlement by Europeans.

Great Britain officially controlled the region from 1763 to 1783, but the British military stayed in the area until 1796 and British fur traders dominated the area until after the War of 1812.  The American government finally asserted control by building three Army forts in 1816, Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Fort Howard at Green Bay, and Fort Winnebago at Portage.  Wisconsin had become part of the Northwest Territories in 1787 and at various times was part of the Territories of Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, before becoming the Territory of Wisconsin in 1836.  Wisconsin became the 30th State in 1848. 

Because of the British domination in the area, there were no resident priests in Wisconsin from about 1780 until Trappist monks from St. Louis reestablished the parish in Prairie du Chein in 1816 to serve the 700 Catholics there.  Father Gabriel Richard from Detroit rebuilt the church in Green Bay in 1825 to serve the 1,200 Catholics in that town.  Over the next two decades, many great missionary priests came to Wisconsin, including Samuel Mazzuchelli, Theodore Van den Broeck, and Frederick Baraga.

Having gained Territorial status, Wisconsin grew quickly.  Wisconsin had 31,000 residents in 1840, but by the end of the decade, there were almost 300,000 residents, a third of whom were foreign-born (and many of these were German).  Most of the new residents settled in the southeast portion of the State.  Milwaukee was founded in 1833 by Solomon Juneau, who operated a fur trading post there.  (Juneau’s cousin, Joe, founded Juneau, Alaska.)  The first Mass in Milwaukee was celebrated that same year in Juneau’s home by Father Florimond Bonduel.  Within 10 years, Milwaukee was the largest town in Wisconsin and there were enough Catholics in the State to justify Pope Gregory XVI’s creation of the Diocese of Milwaukee in 1843.  By the late 1860s, Wisconsin’s population was close to one million and Pope Pius IX created the Dioceses of Green Bay and La Crosse in 1868.  Neither town was among the largest in the State—La Crosse had a population of 7,800 and Green Bay 4,700 compared to Milwaukee’s 71,000, Fond du Lac’s 12,800, and Oshkosh’s 12,700—but both were the largest towns in their part of the State.  Pope Pius IX created the Province of Milwaukee in 1875, making Milwaukee an archdiocese.  By the turn of the Century, Wisconsin had over two million people, about a quarter of whom were Catholic.  Pope Pius X created the Diocese of Superior in 1905 to serve the Catholics in the far northern part of the State.  Superior was a growing Great Lakes port with a population of over 30,000 at the time.  Finally, with the State’s population exceeding three million in 1940, including over 800,000 Catholics, Pope Pius XII created the Diocese of Madison in 1946—Madison had been Wisconsin’s capital since 1838.

John M. Henni was born in Switzerland in 1805.  He was educated in Switzerland and Rome and accepted an invitation from Bishop Edward Fenwick of Cincinnati to come to the United States.  Henni did so and after completing his seminary training in Kentucky, was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1829.  Henni served in Cincinnati and Canton and eventually became vicar general of the Diocese.  Henni established the first German Catholic newspaper in the United States in 1837 and an orphan’s aid society.  He was appointed the first Bishop of Milwaukee in 1843 and became the first Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1875. 

Henni became the Bishop of Milwaukee four years before Wisconsin became a State.  Bishop Henni’s Diocese, which then consisted of Wisconsin and a portion of Minnesota, had about 20,000 Catholics, but only a few churches and priests.  Bishop Henni moved quickly to build new churches, including the Cathedral of St. John in Milwaukee, new schools, as well as hospitals—Saint Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee opened in 1859—and other charitable institutions.  He also established St. Francis Seminary in 1845 and by 1853 there were 100,000 Catholics served by 64 priests.  German-speaking himself, Henni took a special interest in the many German Catholic immigrants who settled in Wisconsin in the middle of the 19th Century.  He established a German parish—St. Mary’s—in Milwaukee, brought in German religious orders to open German schools, and established a German Catholic newspaper.  He frequently had to publically defend the Church from written attacks from anti-Catholic groups.  He became the first Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1875, when the Province of Milwaukee was created (which at the time consisted of dioceses in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and part of Michigan).  He encouraged the Jesuits to establish what is now Marquette University in 1880.  Archbishop Henni died in 1881.

Michael Heiss was born in Bavaria in 1818 and was ordained a priest there in 1840.  He served as a priest in Bavaria for two years before he came to the United States.  He served briefly as the pastor of Mother of God parish in Covington, Kentucky (a German parish), before becoming the secretary to John Henni, the first Archbishop of Milwaukee, in 1844.  He also built and became the pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Milwaukee and was the first rector of St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee. 

Heiss was appointed the first Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse in 1868.  The Diocese at that time covered all of Wisconsin northwest of the Wisconsin River.  There were about 30,000 Catholics, 47 churches, and 18 priests.  Heiss spent much of his time visiting these widespread parishes and missions.  He attended the First Vatican Council (1869-1871) and built several new churches, including the first Cathedral of St. Joseph.  Heiss convened the first Diocesan synod in 1871.  He built 22 schools and helped establish the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration to teach in the schools.  By 1880, the Diocese had about 45,000 Catholics served by 59 priests.

Heiss was named coadjutor Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1880 and became Archbishop in 1881 upon the death of Archbishop Henni.  Some English-speaking Catholics in the Archdiocese and some American bishops objected to the appointment of another German archbishop.  Heiss was a noted theologian and as Archbishop became a strong administrator.  He put the Archdiocese of a firm financial footing, paid off the Archdiocese’s debts, and established a school board to administer Archdiocesan schools.  Like other Wisconsin bishops, he successfully fought for the repeal of a Wisconsin law—favored by anti-Catholic groups—that mandated the teaching of English in all Wisconsin schools.  Many American bishops at this time favored a more “American” Catholic Church—one in which American Catholics would be defined more by their assimilation into American society, and less by their ethnic heritage.  As the spiritual leader of many German Catholics, Archbishop Heiss firmly opposed this Americanization concept.  Heiss died in 1890.

Frederick X. Katzer was born in Austria in 1844 and came to Minnesota in 1864 to serve as a missionary.  He entered the seminary in Milwaukee and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Milwaukee in 1866.  He taught at the seminary until 1875 when he was transferred to Green Bay and served as rector of the cathedral and vicar general for the Diocese of Green Bay.  He was appointed the third Bishop of Green Bay in 1886.

While in Green Bay, Katzer successfully fought for the repeal of a Wisconsin law that mandated the teaching of English in all Wisconsin schools and was seen as an attack on German immigrants.  Katzer was appointed Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1891.  

Katzer was Austrian and his appointment as archbishop was opposed by those bishops favoring a more American Church.  Archbishop Katzer continued to protect the heritage of German Catholics and also welcomed large numbers of Catholic immigrants from Eastern Europe (especially Poland) and Southern Europe and established separate parishes for each nationality.  He supported Catholic education and strongly opposed the growing socialist movement.  The first Wisconsin council of the Knights of Columbus was established in 1900.  Katzer also wrote at least one play—in German—The Combat of the Present Age.  Archbishop Katzer died in 1903.

Joseph Melcher was born in Austria in 1806 and moved with his family to Italy in 1807—his father had been appointed property manager for the Duke of Modena.  He attended seminary in Italy and was ordained there in 1830.  He served as a court chaplain in Modena before being recruited to come to St. Louis, Missouri, which he did in 1843.  Melcher was asked to be the first Bishop of Quincy, Illinois, in 1855, but he declined.  He accepted the appointment as first Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1868.  The newly created Diocese of Green Bay had 40,000 Catholics served by over 60 churches, a dozen parish schools, and 26 priests.  Melcher, served for five years before his death in 1873.  Four years after his death, he remains were found to be incorrupt.

Francis X. Krautbauer was born in Bavaria in 1824 and attended seminary in Munich.  He came to the United States in 1850 and was ordained a priest the same year for the Diocese of Buffalo, New York.  He served as a pastor in Rochester, New York, until 1859 when he became spiritual director of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Milwaukee.  Krautbauer nearly drowned in 1873 when his ship sank on Lake Michigan.  He was appointed second Bishop of Green Bay in 1875 and his diocese included Catholics from many different nationalities.  He built almost three dozen churches, including St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay, and increased the number of priests from 63 to 96.  Bishop Krautbauer focused on the development of parochial schools and at the time of his death in 1885, there were 44 schools educating 5,300 students.

Sebastian G. Messmer was born in Switzerland in 1847.  His father was a farmer, innkeeper, and member of the Swiss federal legislature.  He studied in Switzerland and Austria before being ordained a priest in 1871.  He came to New Jersey later that year at the invitation of Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley of Newark.  Messmer served as pastor of a Newark parish and as a professor at Seton Hall College before becoming a professor of canon law at Catholic University in Washington, DC, in 1890.  Messmer was appointed the fourth Bishop of Green Bay in 1892.  Messmer became known for his support for German Catholics in an American Church dominated by the Irish.  As Bishop, he built several schools, including some for German children, and opened several charitable organizations.  He supported rural settlements of Catholics, and he championed the placement of Marquette’s statue in the U.S. Capitol.  Messmer invited a Dutch priest to establish the Norbertine Order in the United States, which led to the establishment of St. Norbert College in DePere.  Messmer became Archbishop of Milwaukee in 1903 and died in 1930.

Kilian C. Flasch was born in Bavaria in 1831 as one of ten children.  He grew up on the family farm until the family moved to Wisconsin in 1847.  He was educated at Notre Dame in Indiana, St. Vincent Seminary in Pennsylvania, and graduated from St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee as a member of the first graduating class.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Milwaukee in 1859.  He spent his early priesthood serving parishes throughout Wisconsin and as a professor and later rector of St. Francis Seminary.  Flasch was appointed second Bishop of La Crosse in 1881.  Bishop Flasch built 60 new churches for the Diocese.  He was a strong advocate of parish schools and was a member of the Committee on Schools at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884.  Within the Diocese, he built 36 new schools and established the second Catholic school board in the United States.  Flasch served on the Board of the Catholic University of America, although he initially opposed its creation.  Flasch’s tenure as Bishop of cut short after he succumbed to a long illness in 1891.  

James Schwebach was born in Luxembourg in 1847 and came to the United States in 1864 to attend St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee.  He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of La Crosse in 1870.  Schwebach was pastor of St. Mary’s Church in La Crosse from 1870 to 1892 and served as vicar general of the Diocese from 1882 to 1892.  He was named third Bishop of La Crosse in 1892.  Bishop Schwebach continued to build churches, schools, and hospitals for the increasing number of Catholics in the Diocese.  He also built St. Michael’s Home for orphans.  Bishop Schwebach died in 1921.