Hi, Sam --
It appears that Henry Wagner was with St. Henry's in Chicago. Info about the church, found at http://www.davidafortmanancestors.com/Genealogy/showmedia.php?mediaID=5&medialinkID=46 , is pasted below. Good luck! Kind regards, Patricia St. Henry's Catholic Church #3, the East Facade, Ridge & Devon, Chicago, IL. Completed,1905. Church # 1 was a single-room single-story wooden building built in 1851 by the Prussian Heritage German speaking Catholic Community. An examination of gravestone names confirms this Prussian Heritage. This Church served the growing Catholic Community for 20 years. Prior to this Church, Catholic Mass and services were celebrated by Fr. Fortmann, a traveling missionary priest, in the 2-story wooden frame home of Peter Schmidt Smith(Jr) at 6816 Ridge Trail, (a sandy Indian Trail leading to Green Bay Trail that went to Milwaukee). This house was about 1 mile North of the Church's location. Church # 2, a steepled wood Gothic style, was built in 1871, at a cost of $10,000 and utilized until Church #3 was completed in 1905. It served for 34 years. The Cemetery adjacent to Church #3 was established in 1863. Many of the early German residents rest here. A plot cost $6.00 then. Today the Church charges $1300 for decendents to open a grave on a 144 year old family site if one can overcome the bureaucratic hurdles and legalisns of today's Church. Burials prior to 1863 were either "on the farm" or in the City Cemetery that is now Lincoln Park. That City cemetery was closed and almost all residents were reinterred to Calvary Cemetery (Catholic) or Rosehill Cemetery if Protestant. It is also apparent that the recording of Children's Burials was not rigorously applied. The accuracy of Children's burials appears to have improved about 1960. Records prior to 1960 and earlier omit many children's burial records since they were probably performed by undertakers without a concern for Cemetery records. The recording of Adult Burial dates appears accurate since 1863 and correlation with Census data after about 1880 improves. Current Catholic burial records were moved in 2004 from St Boniface Cemetery to Calvary Cemetery in Evanston, IL. The original "Books of Record" for funerals, (the accuracy responsibility beng that of Pastors until about 1930), has since been taken over by Archdiocosean Personnel. These original records were of course in German until about 1920 and then a "translation" transpired in the '30's and of course the error factor immediately grew. Finding and obtaining access to a "Book of Original Record" can be a daunting task. The whereabouts of these original records of St. Henry's is at this time an open question. In about 1928 Cardinal Mundeline gave Church #3 to the Angel Guardian Orphanage. This infuriated the Congregation. The Pastor, Fr. Rittersoph, asked for and received reassignment, stating he could "no longer hold up my head" to his parishoners in light of this heavy handed action. The parishoners had just finished paying off the mortgage the previous year. The parishoners were given a small piece of land a block west on Hoyne Ave to construct the current two story fortress style Church. The second floor was the grammar school. This Church #4, a small stone block building, served as St Henry's Church from 1928 to today. It's parishoners grew but peaked in 1952. With middle-class flight to the suburbs beginning in the 60's; the parish stagnated in the 80's; declined in the 90's and is currently utilized by a small Catholic Vietnamese Congregation and Pastor. It's school is closed. The fruits of "multiculturism" in Rogers Park have decimated a once vibrant Catholic Church. A sad ending to a great beginning. -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
