Two Batesville Deanery parishes celebrate 175 years

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein processes into St. Paul Church in New Alsace on Sept. 7 at the start of a Mass to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Batesville Deanery parish. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

NEW ALSACE—It was 1833 and German immigrants who had settled in Cincinnati were starting to move west into southeastern Indiana.

Father Joseph Ferneding, himself a German immigrant was traveling by horseback in the area and began ministering to the new settlers.

He had been ordained just the year before by Bishop Benedict Flaget, the founding bishop of the Bardstown, Ky., Diocese. Bishop Flaget had charged him with the mission of ministering to German-speaking Catholics in north-central Kentucky and southern Indiana, an area of several thousand square miles.

Father Ferneding soon made St. Paul Parish, which he founded in 1833, the base of his operations. A few years later, the town of New Alsace in southeastern Indiana grew up around it.

A few months after Father Ferneding established St. Paul, he founded the nearby St. Peter Parish in Franklin County.

Originally parishes of the Bardstown Diocese, they became part of the Vincennes Diocese when it was established in 1834.

St. Paul Parish

In this year before the archdiocese celebrates its 175th anniversary, St. Paul and St. Peter parishes are celebrating their own special milestone.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was the primary celebrant on Sept. 7 of a special anniversary Mass at St. Paul Church, which was dedicated in 1838 by the Servant of God Bishop Simon Bruté, the founding bishop of the Vincennes Diocese.

“Joined by your ancestors now in the communion of saints, we are a far larger parish family this morning than the eye can see,” said Archbishop Buechlein in his homily. “Your family ancestors and Bishop Bruté, the long line of priests and others who have served you are surely with us in prayer on this great day.”

Maxine Klump, a member of St. Paul Parish, was easily able to take the archbishop’s words to heart.

At 81 and as a lifelong member of the parish, she has lived through almost half of its history.

But she also carries with her the memories of her ancestors.

Like the memory of her grandmother, who celebrated her seventh birthday on July 13, 1863, the day that Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his cavalry stormed into New Alsace during the Civil War.

“They came early in the morning, and it was scary because they were all mounted men,” Klump said. “They went into the different stores, and looted and robbed. They stole [St. Paul Parish pastor] Father Roman Weinzapfel’s horse.”

Thankfully, Father Brian Esarey, St. Paul’s current pastor, doesn’t have to worry about such raiders rampaging through his parish.

But he is keenly aware of the parish’s long history of service that he has inherited.

“All of that is passed down to me and, hopefully, I will also be able to be part of this great chain of service and of faith,” Father Esarey said. “It’s a great honor and a great responsibility for me.”

Lifelong St. Paul parishioner Beth Joerger, 46, recalled how her grandfather shared in that responsibility by helping to construct the gymnasium for the parish’s school, which is almost as old as the parish, and by helping maintain the now 170-year old parish church.

Thoughts of him and her other ancestors that go back to the founding days of St. Paul Parish come to her mind whenever she enters her parish’s church.

“It’s just such a beautiful church,” Joerger said. “It definitely is older. It definitely needs a lot of maintenance and upkeep.

“But just knowing that my ancestors helped build it and keep it maintained all these years—it’s like part of them is there.”

St. Peter Parish

Father Ferneding founded St. Peter Parish in Franklin County, about eight miles from New Alsace, a few months after St. Paul Parish was started.

The descendants of many of the charter members of the parish are still parishioners.

Franciscan Sister Margie Niemer, St. Peter’s parish life coordinator, said it is a “real thrill” for her to be leading a parish that has such tangible historical roots.

She said that this history came to life for her recently when the parishioners pitched in—much like their ancestors would have done 175 years ago—to do part of the construction work for an addition to the parish’s community center.

“The parishioners did the construction of the restrooms on every Wednesday evening from the second week of September until the second week of April,” said Sister Margie. “One or more parishioners would fix supper for everybody [each time].”

For years, members of St. Peter’s have also pitched in for the parish’s annual Labor Day picnic.

Juliana Wilhelm, 60, a mother of 11 and a lifelong member of the parish, recalled how she would help with the event when she was a student at the parish’s school, which has since closed.

“Labor Day was a big day for our parish,” she said. “Then Tuesday would come along and it was back to school. We all took a break to help clean up.

“We were part of the community, and so we all helped and chipped in. We worked the week before Labor Day peeling potatoes and all that kind of stuff with our parents and our grandparents.”

St. Peter parishioners will gather on Oct. 18 to celebrate the 175th anniversary of their parish’s founding.

At noon, a parade on the roads around the parish will precede a fair featuring pioneer crafts and music on the parish grounds. Food will be available for visitors during the fair. A special 175th anniversary Mass will start at 4 p.m. with Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein scheduled as the primary celebrant.

The way that St. Peter’s parishioners come together to help their parish in happy times also occurs when a parish family experiences tragedy.

As a lifelong member of the parish, Mary Jane Fussner had seen that happen on many occasions.

But in 1999, when she was 47 and the mother of eight children, she received such heartfelt support when Richard, her husband of nearly 27 years, died in a farming accident.

“There were dozens of offers of somebody to come in and harvest the grain,” Fussner said. “I probably had a freezer full of food that was given to me to feed the kids.”

Then she attended her husband’s funeral at the parish’s church.

“The church was overflowing with people …, ” Fussner said. “It was the support that was there [that meant so much]—all the hugs, just the knowledge that everybody cared.”

(For more information on the Oct. 18 anniversary celebration at St. Peter Parish, 1207 East Road, Brookville, call 812-623-3670.) †