Leavenworth County Churches
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Leavenworth
"History of Leavenworth County," 1921
Catholicy in Leavenworth County was practically born with the visit of
Rev. Joseph Anton Lutz to Cantonment Leavenworth, September 18, 1828.
Father Lutz had been sent by Bishop Rosati, first bishop of St. Louis at
that time, to open a mission among the Kansas Indians. His visit to the
northwestward thirty-seven miles from the Kaw's mouth was merely an
incident of his labors among the Kanzas. A few years later Father Roux
was sent by Bishop Rosati to the mouth of the Kansas River as a missionary to the Kansas Indians. During his stay there he made numerous
visits to the Kickapoo Indians, then living to the northwest of the present
government reservation and near and about the little village of Kickapoo.
In a letter under date of January 20, 1834, Father Roux wrote Bishop
Rosati relative to the Kickapoos as follows:
"The Kickapoo prophet has two very docile sons, who, like their
father, show themselves very favorably inclined toward religion. Concerning that nation I could tell you very many fine things which I have
heard with my own ears and seen with my own eyes. They pray every
day, morning and night and before meals; they sanctify Sunday as we
do and spend it entirely in prayer. They do not swear or wage war,
nor lie, nor have more than one wife; they believe in Heaven, Purgatory
and Hell, honor the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, etc. I should never
finish were I to tell you all the edifying things I saw among them."
In 1836 a Catholic Mission was opened among the Kickapoo Indians
at Kickapoo by Rev. Charles Van Quickenborne. Through Father Van
Quickenborne's solicitations at Washington the sum of $500 a year had
been allowed for the maintenance of the mission. Funds for the erection
of the various buildings had been solicited by the reverend father in
different eastern cities. With these funds a building was erected and a
chapel, which was dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. This was the first
Catholic place of worship in the Missouri Valley. It was not until 1920
that the last of the old mission building was completely torn down. The
land where it formerly stood now belongs to 0. M. Spencer.
In 1837 Father Van Quickenborne was summoned from the mission
and the next priest to become Father Superior was Rev. Christian Hoecken,
S. J. On June 21, 1851, Father Hoecken died while aboard a river steamboat near Council Bluffs, Iowa, from cholera, which he had contracted
from a passenger to whom he had ministered. Rev. Anthony Eysbogels
then became Father Superior of the Kickapoo Mission.
Up to 1850 the Indian missions of the Missouri Valley were subject
to the See of St. Louis, when the Holy See erected the Vicariate Apostolic
of the Indian Territory East of the Rocky Mountains and appointed the
Rt. Rev. J. B. Miege Vicar Apostolic. The Vicariate Apostolic over which
Bishop Miege ruler as spiritual adviser extended from the Kansas River
at it's mouth to the British possessions on the north and from the Missouri River west to the Rocky Mountains. Bishop Miege made Pottowatomie Mission, which later developed into St. Mary's College, his place
of residence.
In 1853 Bishop Miege visited Rome. Upon his return he found that
Kansas had been opened to white settlers and that several promising
towns had sprung up in the territory, the most promising of which he
believed to be Leavenworth. On May 15, 1855, he visited here and celebrated mass and on the same day fixed this city as his permanent residence.
Shortly after this Bishop Miege purchased some ground near the
present site of the Cathedral and a temporary frame building 24x40 feet
was erected to be used for church purposes. Two years later Bishop
Miege had a larger building 40x100 feet erected, dedicating it to the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1864 Bishop Miege projected the erection of a cathedral. The
corner stone for the cathedral as it stands today was laid in September,
1864. December 8, 1868, the cathedral was ready for dedication.
The dedication ceremonial was attended by many distinguished prelates. Among them was the Most Rev. R. P. Kendrick, Archbishop of St.
Louis; the Rt. Rev. John Hennessey, Bishop of Duquesne; the Rt. Rev.
James O'Gorman, Vicar Apostolic of Nebraska, and the Rt. Rev. J. J.
Hogan, of St. Joseph. The sermon in the morning was delivered by Rt.
Rev. John Hennessey, while that in the evening was delivered by Rev. P.
J. Ryan, later Archbishop of Philadelphia.
There is a conflict of opinion among historians as to when, where and
by whom the first mass was celebrated within the city of Leavenworth.
Andreas in his "History of Kansas" states that it was celebrated by
Bishop Miege in the house of a Mrs. Quinn in 1854. The late H. Miles
Moore in his "Early History of Leavenworth City and County" holds that
the first Catholic mass was celebrated in the early summer of 1855 by
the Rev. Father Fish, of Weston, Missouri, at the home of Andy Quinn
on the south side of Shawnee Street between Second and Third streets,
where a bureau was pressed into service as an altar.
The first pastor of the Cathedral parish was Father Heiman. He
officiated until 1864, being assisted by Rev. James DeFouri and the Jesuit
Fathers. After that time the following ministers have held the pastorate
of the parish: Rev. Paul Ponsiglioni, S. J.; Rev. Father Coghlan, S. J.;
Rev. Father Corbett, S. J. ; Rev. Father Schultz, S. J. ; Rev. Father Panken,
S. J. ; Rev. Ambrose Butler, S. J. ; Rev. William Fitzgerald ; Rev. James
DeFouri, V. G. ; Rev. James O'Reilly; Rev. John B. McCune; Rev. John
Cunningham ; Rev. Father Ward, and Rev. B. S. Kelly, who is at present
rector and dean of the Cathedral Parish.
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