Karl Heinrich Heichemer
Karl Heinrich Heichemer , also Charles Henry Heichemer , (born July 31, 1836 , in Grünstadt , Palatinate ; † October 21, 1893 in Baltimore , USA), was a Catholic priest , Jesuit , from 1889 to 1893 procurator (= chief financial officer) of the greats Jesuit Order Province of Maryland-New York and teacher of German in Baltimore.
Youth and civic life
Karl Heinrich Heichemer was born on July 31, 1836 in Grünstadt as one of at least 6 children of master locksmith Heinrich Heichemer u. his wife Katharina born Trillich (from Forst ) was born. He emigrated to the USA with his sister Elisabeth Maria (* 1834) and her husband, the blacksmith Joseph Mosbacher, from Forst . They crossed the Atlantic from Le Havre on board the US sailing ship "Mercury" and reached New York City on September 18, 1854. In 1859 his parents and other siblings also moved to the USA.
Arrived in the USA, the later Jesuit priest Karl Heinrich Heichemer was active as a businessman in the north of New York, whereby his obituary states that “the financial talent could soon be seen in his business career, but he was not at all satisfied with this life and strived for higher values ”. The whole family lived in Pennsylvania , which was strongly influenced by Germany , where Karl Heinrich Heichemer worked as a postman in the small town of Overton from 1865 to 1866. The Heichemers later lived in nearby Goshenhoppen, where the Palatinate Jesuit father Theodor Schneider SJ from Geinsheim (1703–1764) had worked as the first German Catholic missionary in North America around 100 years earlier . He built the “Most Blessed Sacrament” church in Goshenhoppen, in which his grave is located and where an oil painting of the “Last Supper” still hangs today, with a personal dedication from Elector Carl Theodor to him. The church (expanded in 1797 and 1835) is the third oldest Catholic in the United States and the oldest in Pennsylvania. The area's Catholics had their religious center there, and it was here that the Palatinate Catholic Karl Heinrich Heichemer came across the Jesuit order and followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Theodor Schneider.
Jesuit and teacher
At that time the Jesuit Father Augustin Bally was in charge of the mission station, an extraordinary and deserving man, after whom the whole place is now named. The old Goshenhoppen is now called Bally (Pennsylvania) . Heichemer was initially a teacher - and an ordinary layman - at the Jesuit school “St. Aloysius Academy ”, which was founded by Father Schneider from Geinsheim and is considered the oldest Catholic school in the United States. There is a beautiful (but indistinct) school picture from 1866 on which he is standing in the classroom next to Father Bally. According to the obituary in the Jesuit magazine "Woodstock Letters" 1894, Volume 23, Pages 153/154, the almost 31-year-old late caller, Karl Heinrich Heichemer, entered the Jesuit order on July 25, 1867 in Frederick, Maryland, as a novice. The 1870 Census Record names him a teacher in Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained a priest in 1875 at Woodstock College, Maryland. There he remained initially as Father a. Deputy Procurator for the Jesuit Province of Maryland . 1878 u. In 1879 he was spiritual (= spiritual supervisor of the fathers) of the Jesuit convent Boston a . Pastor of the local Trinity Church (Dreifaltigkeitskirche). 1879-1882 of Grünstadter served as Superior ( religious superior ) of the Jesuit Convention and pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, Old Bohemia, Cecil County , Maryland, then Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, today Diocese of Wilmington. In 2004, Father Thomas Peterman, priest of the Diocese of Wilmington, published an extensive book on the history of this parish entitled: A History of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Shrine, in Cecil County, Maryland . Here Karl Heinrich Heichemer is mentioned several times as the "Bavarian Father" - the Palatinate was still part of the Kingdom of Bavaria at that time - mainly on pages 238 and 238 239. The book further states that Father Heichemer was also entrusted by the responsible Bishop Becker to the neighboring Catholic community in Chesapeak City, as he was known as an “energetic young priest”. There he worked for the church and a. acquired the stations of the cross image and consecrated on April 20, 1879. He found the St. Franzis Xavier Church in Old Bohemia in a "miserable condition" and the Jesuit convent "spiritually impoverished". The Grünstadt clergyman immediately began to renovate the buildings and equip them with new furnishings. According to Father Petermann, with his sermons and visits to families he completely renewed the religiousness of the parishioners. He also introduces the practice of “ Ignatian Exercises ” and “Marian Sodality ”. In 1883 Father Heichemer became deputy superior at the Boston Jesuit College, one of the most important Catholic universities in the USA. At the same time he was the main pastor of the associated parish. From 1886 to 1888 he was the responsible priest in charge of the Sacred Heart Parish of White Marsh, Bowie (Maryland) . In the booklet “A Monograph on the Foundation and Development of the Ancient Sacred Heart Chapel, White Marsh, Bowie, Maryland, 1741–1975” published by Rev. John F. Hogan in 1975 , Father Heichemer, on page 20, is named there 1886–88 local pastors named. From 1889 Karl Heinrich Heichemer acted as procurator of the Jesuit province Maryland-New York a. at the same time as a teacher of German at Loyola College Baltimore, Maryland; In addition, he provided pastoral care in the city hospital. As procurator, he oversaw the financial budget of the entire Jesuit province and coordinated the secular affairs of the religious community. One could casually describe him as the finance and economy minister of the great order province. A large number of business letters and other documents from the Father have survived from this period.
Death and obituary
Father Karl Heinrich Heichemer SJ died at the age of 57 on October 21, 1893, in Loyola College, in Baltimore, Maryland a. was buried there too. In the obituary of the Jesuit magazine "Woodstock Letters", the details of the Grünstadter's death are described and it says:
“ He had been suffering from acute pain in his left side for a few days, but the examining doctor found no particular worsening of the condition. The heart was working normally. On October 20th, at night, the doctor was called twice and stayed for an hour each time. When he went on October 21st, early in the morning at around 5 a.m., he was quite satisfied with the patient's condition, just as those friars who saw the Father were also happy about this hopeful sign. At around 10 a.m. he rested quietly. Only a quarter of an hour later he was found lying on the floor, apparently already dead. The confreres were summoned as quickly as possible and the sacraments were given to him. According to the doctor, he died of a stroke. (From today's perspective, the permanent pain on the left side of the body suggests a heart attack as the cause of death.) "
The Necrolog continues:
“ Father Heichemer led an edifying life and he celebrated one more mass the day before he died, on the same morning he had confessed. .... Like our founder St. Ignatius von Loyola, he was not discouraged by his advanced age, because he was already 30 years old when he began to learn the Latin language in Goshenhoppen under Father Bally. Almost insurmountable difficulties for the mediocre student, but which he soon overcame. On July 25, 1867, he was accepted as a novice in Frederick, Pennsylvania. His stay there is memorable for the purity of his intentions and the conscientious fulfillment of the rules of the order. His whole life reflected this character. He had given himself to the “Society of Jesus” and wanted to work for it. Faithful observance of their laws was his goal. .... It must be said that he devoted his deepest interests to every office entrusted to him not only as procurator of the Order Province. Driven by unearthly motives, he did not consider any effort to be too great when duty called him. His success in the business of the Order has been considerable. "
The handwritten testament of the Grünstadt Father Karl Heinrich Heichemer from 1891 is kept in the archives of the Jesuit Province of Maryland. (Georgetown University, Washington DC, Box 25, Fold 14, Jesuit Wills 1851-1903).
Dr. Jakob Bisson , mentions him in his book "Seven Speyer Bishops and Their Time" , Pilger Verlag Speyer, 1956 (page 193).
Family environment
Father Heichemer and relatives had a beautiful tombstone built for their mother, who died in 1871, at the old Palatinate "Most Blessed Sacrament" church in Goshenhoppen (today Bally (Pennsylvania) ), adorned with a lamb on a pillow. It still exists today and bears the (English) inscription: “Here rests in God, Catharine Heichemer, née Trillich, wife of Heinrich Heichemer, born in Forst in der Rheinpfalz , geb. on August 4, 1808. “ (Unfortunately, the date of death and a possible dedication have sunk into the ground and are currently no longer legible). The family later moved from Pennsylvania to Kansas and Father Heichemer's father, the widower of Catharina born. Trillich from Forst, is buried there in Calvary Cemetery, Wichita . His grave still exists (Section 1, Row 30, Grave Site 23). However, the stone is kept extremely simple and only bears the bare life data: "Heinrich Heichemer, born May 6, 1806, died December 27, 1893" . The daughter Elisabeth and her husband Joseph Mosbacher - who emigrated to the USA with Father Heichemer in 1854 - also lived in Wichita Kansas as very wealthy citizens and business people . Elisabeth Maria Mosbacher, born in Grünstadt in 1834. Heichemer died there on September 24, 1915 and was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery.
literature
- Dr. Jakob Bisson : "Seven Speyer bishops and their time" . Pilger Publishing House. Speyer 1956. p. 193.
- John F. Hogan, "A Monograph on the Establishment and Development of the Ancient Sacred Heart Chapel, White Marsh, Bowie, Maryland, 1741-1975," Parish Self-published 1975, p. 20.
- Thomas Peterman, “A History of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Shrine, in Cecil County, Maryland,” Parish Self-published 2004, pp. 238, 239, and c. a.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ For Father Theodor Schneider see archived copy ( Memento of August 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Heichemer, Karl Heinrich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Heichemer, Charles Henry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Priest, Jesuit |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 31, 1836 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Grünstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 21, 1893 |
| Place of death | Baltimore |