St. Francis Hieronymo Church in St. Paul, Kansas
St.
Francis Hieronymo Church in St. Paul, Kansas is the oldest church in the
Diocese of Wichita. This church was
built in 1847 to teach the Osage Indians Catholicism. The church also drew
many new settlers from the east to make their home near St. Paul. Jesuit priests started the mission. Many others helped keep the church going
such as the Sisters of Loretto and the Passionists. With all this help over the many years, the parish also went
through physical changes. The church in
St. Paul is the most historic Catholic parish in this part of Kansas.
I interviewed Mary Frances VanLeeuwen Casey about St. Francis Church in St. Paul. Mrs. Casey’s family was from the area, and has roots there. Mrs. Casey put together a book for the church’s anniversary that tells all about the chruch and the St. Paul area.
In
1802, there were three Osage bands: White Hair’s Band, Claremore’s Bandand The
Little Osages. In 1808, the Osage
signed their first treaty with the United States, ceding lands compromising
more than half of Missouri and northern Arkansas. Less than a decade later, they were to relinquish lands east of
the western boundaries in Missouri and Arkansas. * [They] ceded all their
lands to the Government except for a fifty-mile tract in Kansas. [This] led the Osage to the beautiful Neosho valley, [but something was missing.]
In 1845, the elder George White Hair, [of the Osage Indians], asked Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick for a missionary, and the establishment of a school for the instruction of their children on the Osage Reservation in southeastern Kansas. There were two priests [Jesuit Fathers John Schoenmakers and John Bax] and three lay brothers [that established the first permanent Catholic Mission and Church in southeast Kansas on April 28, 1847.] [The church was dedicated to the patronage of St. Francis Hieronymo;] he [was] a Jesuit saint [that] had been canonized approximately ten years [earlier]. [This is] probably the only parish named after him.
The elders of the tribe had longed for an organized
religion, and while Protestant missionaries were considered, the Osage leaders
had not been happy with the puritan beliefs of the Protestant missionaries.
It was the Catholic Jesuits who spoke to their hearts.
Rather than condemning the Osage beliefs, the missionaries used great
wisdom when they carefully blended the deep spirituality the Osage had for
their Great Creator, Wah’ Kon-Tah, with that of Catholicism. Shortly after [they] arrived in April of 1847,
[the Jesuits] knew that it would do them no good to educate the Osage boys
if they didn’t do 
anything to educate the Osage girls.
[Therefore, the Jesuits] went back to Kentucky, and they got the Sisters
of Loretto [to come back with them].
[With Father Schoenmakers’ help, the boys and girls schools were started.] [The school for boys] had three stories and a basement. The basement contained a recreation room, wash room and clothing room. The first and second stories were class rooms. The third story was used as a dormitory when needed and also had a stage for entertainment. [The school for girls] was completed during the summer of 1871. St. Ann’s Academy was deeded 100 acres of land [but] tragedy struck in September 1895 [when flames came from the kitchen and burned everything. The school never opened again.]
The Osage “appealed to him, [Father Schoenmakers] as arbiter in their disputes and his word was law.” No one understood the Osage better or could advise more wisely on how to deal with these children of the earth. After the removal of the Osage from the mission, Father Schoenmakers was a factor in the settlement of the region. [When] Father Schoenmakers died…it was estimated that over 3500 people were in attendance [for the funeral]. Father Schoenmakers, called “the Father of Civilization of southeast Kansas,” is buried in St. Francis Cemetery, St. Paul.
More settlers migrated into Kansas, and pressure was increasing for the Osage to leave. In March, 1863 the Homestead Act was passed. Congress had provided legislation for the removal of all Indians from the state of Kansas. The Osage leaders partly chose the rocky, hilly land in northern Oklahoma as home because they believed no one else would want it. Most of their population died in two years from starvation due to bureaucratic negligence. Ironically, it later became some of the most valuable land in the world with its rich Blue Stem grass and Black Gold (oil). The wealth created by the oil would make the Osage people the richest race of people in the world per capita.
[The church took many years to perfect.]
The log church was erected soon after the arrival of the missionaries,
and was completed in 1848. The 30
by 35 foot wide log structure was made of hewn logs...arising 16 feet from
the ground at its highest point. The
building became too small to accommodate the number of Osages and settlers
who worshiped there, [so] the building was enlarged in the summer of 1858
by removing one end and 
making an addition--the church now measuring
35 by 60 feet. After they added
on to [the church], they finally decided they couldn’t add onto it anymore
so they began this [new] church. Then
they built the stone structure, [in 1872].
This Romanesque Revival style church is built
of native gray sandstone, and this stone was all quarried south of town,
hauled by horse and buggy [and] by hand.
The church’s outside walls measure
approximately 75 feet from east to west and 150 feet from north to south. The second church of St. Francis Hieronymo
[was] completed in 1884 [and] dedicated May 11, 1884. [A pipe organ, stain-glass windows, and the
church tower were added several years later.]
In 1909, because [they were] having trouble with [the] church foundation,
[the church was] lifted up with stone, hand jacks.
After the Jesuits left [in 1888], the doctors and priests worked there [at the church] about one year [until] Passionist priests came. The Osages’ beloved “Black Robes” were succeeded in 1894 by the Black-robed, sandal-footed followers of St. Paul of the Cross.
[Over the next sixty years, different settlement problems had to be patched up.] [The church was] renovated in the 1970’s [when] the front wall began to fall out, [and they] couldn’t use the basement. [Some renovations] included heating and air-conditioning units, removal of old boiler pipes along the walls, interior plastering and painting,...new light fixtures...and the reinforcing and repair of the pillars. The half-million dollar restoration project [was] completed, [and] a Mass of Thanksgiving was held on April 3, 1977, in the newly restabilized and renovated church. [In 2000 a new roof was put on, and the interior was repaired again. A Baptismal font, presider’s chair, and Reconciliation rooms were added along with new carpet.]
Another
sad day in the history of St. Francis Parish came on February 23, 1983, when
the Passionists closed St. Francis Monastery and Retreat; 
one Passionist remained in St. Paul to serve
as pastor [until 1987]. I remember
it [the monastery] being torn down. We
tried to get the bishop to take it and use it as a retreat house and have
a youth retreat and couples retreat for engaged, but the bishop we had at
the time didn’t [want the monastery].
[As for outside, the church is not the compound it used to be. The church stands in the same place it has since 1872. The cemetery is southeast of the church, across the highway. The garden is located next to the church on the east; it contains stations of the cross as well as a few graves. Also in the garden is a bell tower.] This bell tower [is] in a separate building, [and it is] not the same bell tower, [but the] same bell [that was in the original church].. [Students] built [the] bell tower for [the church’s] centennial.
[St. Francis Hieronymo Church is located on the east side of St. Paul right on highway 57. To get there from Pittsburg, drive to Girard, and take highway 57 approximately twenty minutes west to St. Paul.]
*Italicized passages are taken directly out of text from the book Osage Mission Sesquicentennial, put together by Mary Frances VanLeeuwen Casey.
This oral history was researched and prepared by James
Vannurden, Spring 2002.
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