Long before Pope Pius X established the Diocese of Superior in 1905, Catholic missionaries had forged a dynamic presence along the lakeshores and riverbanks of northern Wisconsins In fact, French Jesuit missionaries were among the first Europeans to trek through the wilderness, by canoe and snowshoe, seeking to introduce the Christian faith to Native Americans who inhabited the fertile land.
While approximately 20,000 Native American lives in the present-day Wisconsin for several thousand years before the French arrived here, the written history of the area did not begin until the mid-17th century. Following a trail blazed by another 17th century French Catholic explorer, Nean Nicolet, considered to be the first white man to set foot on Wisconsin soil, Jesuit Fr. Rene Menard was the first missionary to preach the Gospel in Wisconsin.
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This chapter in WIsconsin history is even more significant to Catholics in northern Wisconsin, because Fr. Menard's journeys took place in their back yard--on the shores of Lake Superior. Although his time here was short, the French missionary cleared the path for fellow Jesuits who followed him.
Fr. Menard had previous ministered at the Ottawa Mission on Georgian Bay in Canada, known at the time as New France. it was here that he became fluent in the Ojibway, Ottawa and Huron dialects. The priest was already in his mid-50s when he decided to venture into unchartered mission territories. On August 28, 1660, Fr. Menard set out on the arduous journey. Knowing with certainty the dangers ahead, he wrote to a friend on the morning of his departure:
"I write you probably the last word and I desire it to be the seal of our friendship to eternity. In three or four months, you may put me into the memento of the dead, considering the manner of living of these people, and my age and weak constitution."
In July 1661, Fr. Menard was separated from his group after making a portage near the headwaters of the Black River, never to be heard from again. His fate andthe circumstances surrounding his disappearance were never determined.
In 1923, the Kinghts of Columbus secured land 10 miles north of Merrill and erected a monument to Fr. Menard.
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Four years after Fr. Menard set foot in northern Wisconsin, another French Jesuit, Fr. Claude Allouez, arrived in 1665. Fr. Allouez disembarked on the shores of Chequamegon Bay in early October laying the foundation for the foundation for the Mission of the Holy Ghost, whose exact location has been a mystery. Some historians have speculated the mission was stationed at La Poionte, while others believe it was near Washburn. Fr. Allouez spent four years at the mission on Chequamegon Bay. While there, he traveled by canoe with Indian guides to communities along Lake Superior.
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In November of 1669, Fr. Allouez was asked to begin a new mission int he Fox River Valley, which he called the Mission of St. Francis Xavier. Waiting in the wings to take over for him was a young French missionary whose name has become synonymous with Catholicism in the Midwest, Fr. Jacques Marquette.
Upon arriving in northern Wisconsin in September 1669, Fr. Marquette found success in his work among the native people. "Here he labored with great success, baptizing over 1,000 Indian converts," wrote historian and Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sam S. Fifield in an article published February 26, 1902, in the Ashland Daily Press.
The success Fr. Marquette enjoyed evangelizing would unravel in 1671 when war broke out between the Sioux and the Algonquin tribes that inhabited the Upper Midwest. The Sioux drove the Algonquins from teh shores of Lake Superior, forever changing the area's native population. Along with the Algonquin tribes—the Hurons, Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Outogamies and Illinois—the Jesuit missionaries abandoned Holy Ghost mission.
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Following Fr. Marquette's departure from northern Wisconsin in 1671, the church's organizational structure began to evolve affecting Catholics in northern Wisconsin:
Diocesan boundaries would remain the same until a new northern diocese was created in the earth 20th century: the Diocese of Superior.
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On July 27, 1836, three years after the Wisconsin territory became part of the Diocese of Detroit, a new era in church missionary activity began. This date marked the arrival of a 38-year-old priest from Slovenia, Fr. Frederic Baraga, who was ordained tothe priesthood in 1823. Fr. Baraga wrote seven books in Ottawa or Ojibway, including the Dictionary of the Ojibway Language, which is still widely used. Fr. Baraga also built a log church in La Pointe in 1838. On October 4, 1843, Fr. Baraga left his mission at La Pointe to start a new one at Keweenaw Bay. Fr. Baraga went on to become the first bishop of Sault St. Marie.
By the time Fr. Faraga departed La Pointe in 1843, Wisconsin had been granted territory status by President Andrew Jackson. Five yaers later it became the 30th state in the union. By 1850 Wisconsin's population was 305,000, with half the new immigrants from New York and New England and the rest from Europe, mainly Engalnd, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and Scandanavia.
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In 1878, Bishop Michael Heiss of La Crosse appealed to the Franciscan Fathers of the Sacred Heart Province in St. Louis to take charge of the Native American missions in northern Wisconsin. The Franciscans established stations in Ashland, Bayfield and Superior. The first Franciscan friars included Fathers Casmir Vogt, John Gafron, Odoric Derenthal, Servace Altmicks, and Br. Edmund Wilde. From their three outposts, the friars traveled long distances to bring the sacraments to white and Indian settlements.
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The influx of new immigrants had a dramatic impact ont he church's growth. While evangelization of American Indians continue in earnest, outreach to Euopean settlers began to grow.
In response to the church's growth in Wisconsin, Pope Pius IX on March 3, 1868, created two new dioceses headquartered in Green Bay and La Crosse. Catholics in northwestern Wisconsin became part of the Diocese of La Crosse and Bishop Michael Heiss, who was consecrated as the first bishop of La Crosse on September 6, 1868, became their new shepherd.
When he arrived in his new diocese, Bishop Heiss found a jurisdiction that extended the entire length of the state, encompassing 2,800 square miles. Bishop Heiss was successful in continuing evangelization efforts among the native peoples, as well as promoting vocations and building new churches.
Bishop Heiss was appointed archbishop of Milwaukee in 1881 and was succeeded by Bishop Kilian Caspar Flasch. He remained bishop of La Crosse until his death in 1891. Fr. James Schwebach, vicar general of the diocese, was appointed diocesan administrator upon Bishop Flasch's death, and the following year he was apponted bishop.
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Like all other important decrees issued by the Holy See, the establishment of the Diocese of Superior on May 3, 1905, involved many years of consultation and discernment. The bishops of Wisconsin first petitioned Rome for creation of a new diocese in 1893, but the request was unsuccessful.
In the summer of 1904, one day after the consecration of Bishop Joseph J. Fox of Green Bay on July 25, 1904, a meeting was held between Archbishop Sebastian Messmer of Milwaukee, Bishop James Schwebach of La Crosse and Bishop Fox. The bishops decided to once again petition the Vatican for creation of a new Wisconsin diocese erected from counties that were part of the Green Bay and La Crosse dioceses.
The physical challenge of shepherding a flock that was so widespread motivated the Wisconsin bishops to issue their plea.
"Under the present boundary lines there were many places in each diocese to which the bishop could not go without giving two entire days to the trip. This was especially true in the La Crosse and Green Bay dioceses. By the division which now goes into effect, each diocese is more compact and more accessible to the bishops, besides covering a smaller area" (Milwaukee Catholic Citizen, April 22, 1905).
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The geographic challenge facing Wisconsin's bishops was not the only reason for creating the Superior Diocese. A sprawling population - particularly in Superior, which, according to the federal census of 1900, had a population of 31,091, making it the second largest city in Wisconsin - and promising transportation, logging and mining industries offered reasons for growth and prosperity in the new diocese.
In northern Wisconsin, where Catholics had been living out their faith as members of the La Crosse and Green Bay dioceses for over three decades, the news of a new diocese was greeted with excitement, especially in Superior.
"The announcement that the bishop will reside in Superior and that the diocese will be known as the Superior diocese will be quite satisfactory to north Wisconsin Catholics," the Superior Telegram reported April 19, 1905. "Catholics in this section of the country will be nearer to the head of the see (city) and a number of advantages will accrue to the north Wisconsin Catholic population as a result."
As exhilaration gave way to anticipation, attention turned to the appointment of the new diocese's first shepherd. Names of prominent priests serving in the Milwaukee and La Crosse dioceses immediately surfaced.
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Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate
The first religious community of women to serve in the Diocese of Superior was the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate from Joliet, IL. At the behest of Bishop John Martin Henni of Milwaukee, Mother Alfred Moes, the order's foundress, came from Luxemburg to begin a mission to Native Americans. They opened schools for Indian children in Bayfield in 1879 and Red Cliff in 1880. Nearly 200 members of this order have served the diocese in the past 125 years. Today only one Joliet Franciscan, Sr. Phyllis Wilhelm of Bayfield, remains. In 1882, when part of northern Wisconsin belonged to the Diocese of La Crosse, Bishop Kilian Flasch of La Crosse visited St. Mary Church on the Bad River Indian Reservation in Odanah to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation.
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
While there, Bishop Kilian Flasch encouraged the Franciscan pastor to invite the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration of La Crosse to the reservation and open a school. Established in 1883, St. Mary's Industrial School began with 25 children. The school closed in February 1969. From 1889 to 1895, the sisters served at St. Patrick School in Hudson. Over the next century, the FSPAs also operated schools in Allouez, Ashland, Hurley and Superior. Their presence in Catholic schools ended at Cathedral School in Superior in 1986. For about 30 years the FSPAs maintained an Eastern Region headquarters on Trout Lake in Arbor Vitae called Marywood. When the community discontinued regional governments in 1998, they dedicated the property to a new ministry. Today the Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center serves as a retreat house, with six Sisters on staff.
Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ
Upon the request of the Franciscan Fathers, the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, Donaldson, IN, arrived in Ashland in August 1884 to open a hospital. St. Joseph Hospital, operated by the Poor Handmaids until 1967, drew patients from throughout the region. The sisters expanded their health care ministry to Superior, building St. Francis Hospital in 1889 and St. Mary's Hospital, in the west end of Superior, in 1894. These three hospitals formed the first corporation in the state. St. Francis closed in 1952 and today, St. Mary's Hospital of Superior is affiliated with the Essentia Health Care System. The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ ended their service to the diocese in 1971.
School Sisters of Notre Dame
In 1881, the School Sisters of Notre Dame opened Our Lady of Lourdes School in Dobie and served there until 1970. In 1893 they began St. Francis Xavier School in Superior and remained there until 1983.
Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity
The Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, WI, came to the Superior Diocese as teachers and continued this ministry for 115 years. Their first mission was at Holy Rosary School in Medford from 1889 to 1890. They opened a small school at St. Joseph Parish in Rice Lake in 1890 and continued there until 1994. From 1902 to 1907, they staffed St. Mary School in Hurley, and in 1900 they arrived at St. Mary School in Rhinelander. Due to a shortage of sisters, the order withdrew from Rhinelander in June 2004.
School Sisters of St. Francis
Like the Franciscan Sisters from Joliet and La Crosse, the School Sisters of St. Francis in Milwaukee came to serve the Native Americans in northern Wisconsin. Arriving at St. Francis Solanus Indian Mission in Reserve in 1886, they served without pay until a lack of funds forced them to leave in 1909. In 1925, a Native American member of the order, Sr. Sirilla LaRush, returned to Reserve to visit her ailing father. She saw a great need to reopen the school (which closed in 1920) and convinced her community to do so. From 1886 to today, 446 School Sisters have served the diocese.
Sisters of St. Dominic of Racine
The Sisters of St. Dominic of Racine, WI, came to Merrill at the invitation of Fr. E.F. Vanhootegem of St. Francis Xavier Parish to staff the parish school. The sisters remained there until 1969.
Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother
In the spring of 1893, Fr. Nicholas July, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Rhinelander, traveled to Marshfield to ask the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother to open a hospital in Rhinelander. Later that year three sisters arrived. At first, the sisters went into private homes to nurse the sick. St. Mary's Hospital was completed by the end of 1895. In 1894, the sisters opened Sacred Heart Hospital in Tomahawk.
Sisters of St Agnes
The Sisters of St. Agnes of Fond du Lac, WI, arrived at St. Patrick School in Hudson in 1905 to replace the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Until 1993, individual sisters served in youth ministry, religious education and outreach ministry to the elderly and sick in Hudson. From 1906 to 1920, the sisters staffed St. Mary School in New Richmond.
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Source: Our Journey through Faith: A History of the Diocese of Superior, by Sam Lucero, 2005.