(Continued)

Pittsburgh, one of the leading industrial cities of the world, lies between a barrier of hills at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers. Its history begins in February, 1754, when the English at the suggestion of George Washington, began the erection of a blockhouse near the forks of the two rivers. The stay of the English, however, was short, for by April 16, their French rivals had driven them away and themselves had built a fort called first Fort Assumption, then Fort Duquesne in honor of the Governor of Canada. In 1758, the French in turn fled from the English who built another fort which they named Fort Pitt after William Pitt, the English statesman. It is from William Pitt, therefore, that Pittsburgh derives its name.

  From the very beginning the settlement bid fair to prosper. At the end of the Revolutionary War colonists settled in great numbers in the "City of the Forks" so that by April 22, 1794, Pittsburgh ranked as a borough. By March 18, 1816, consequent upon the opening of the iron, glass and nail factories, the borough had sufficient population to justify its incorporation as a city.(1)

  About three miles above the confluence of the two rivers on the east bank of the Allegheny began the little town of Lawrenceville. Like the great city of which it is now a part, Lawrenceville has an interesting history. It is commonly admitted that the first man to traverse this district was no less a personage than George Washington, the Father of our country. Having explored the French Fort Le Boeuf, now Waterford, Pa., Washington and his companion Christopher Gist crossed the Allegheny from Wainwright's Island and arrived at Bullitt's Hill on December 29, 1753. The journals of Washington and Gist recording this fact have been frequently published in historical works. (2)

  According to local tradition, the site of Washington's crossing is about three blocks east of the present St. Augustine's Church. The Washington Bridge spanning the'Allegheny at Fortieth Street commemorates the historic event. So far as we know, Washington's Journal contains the first written reference to the district which later developed into Lawrenceville.

  Till the year 1811 the future Lawrenceville lay slumbering in its cradle of wilderness. In the latter year William Barclay Foster, a wealthy and public-spirited man and father of Stephen C. Foster, the famous songwriter, came up from Virginia and purchased a vast tract beginning about three miles above the confluence of the two rivers. This he parcelled out for prospective settlers. At first the elder Foster intended to call his vast estate Fosterville, but sacrificed his ambition in favor of Captain James Lawrence, who on June 4, 1813, died a hero's death in Boston Harbor as a result of the encounter between his ship, the "Chesapeake", and the English frigate "Shannon". The dying words of Captain Lawrence: "Don't give up the ship," thrilled America and moved William Foster to call his newly acquired tract "Lawrenceville."(3)

  About this time William Foster sold to the United States Government thirty acres of his land for one of the arsenals which Congress had decided to establish shortly
 

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(1)  A. A. Lambing, foundation Stones of a Great Diocese, Pittsburgh,  1914, p. 51.
(2) History of Pittsburgh and Environs, New York and Chicago, 1922, vol. II, pp. 253, 512.
(3) Ibid., pp. 59, 512.

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to shepherd them properly. Moreover, so many lived at such great distances from St. Philomena's Church and School that attendance became a serious problem for both adults and children. At length, when the German Catholics of the various localities were able to erect their own churches and schools, they obtained permission from the Bishop to undertake the task. First' to break away from the mother church in 1846 was St. Michael's on the Southside. St. Mary's in Allegheny followed in 1848, and Holy Trinity in Riceville in 1857. The next in order was St. Augustine's whose story we are about to relate.

  It has been said that one of the proudest distinctions of the early German Catholics in the United States was their staunch devotion to the parochial school. Experience in the Fatherland had taught them that a Catholic child must grow up in a Catholic school and that the first act of the day must be the Mass. The German Catholics of Lawrenceville were eloquent exponents of this noble tradition. Indeed, while the origin of the average parish is ordinarily associated with the building of a church, St. Augustine's Parish has the distinction of beginning with the establishment of a school.

  About the year 1850 we find a goodly number of German Catholics scattered throughout Lawrenceville, a neighboring town of Pittsburgh, then rapidly developing into an outstanding industrial city of the world. These Germans were faithful members of St. Philomena's Parish on Fourteenth Street. Some of their children attended the school of the English-speaking parish on Forty-sixth Street, but most of them went to St. Philomena's. With the old-fashioned schoolbag thrown knapsack-like over their shoulders, these latter children trudged many a weary mile to worship at the shrine of learning. But in the fall of 1854 a seed was sown and destined to strike root and grow and develop into both educational and religious advantages for the children of many generations.
 
   Midway between St. Philomena's and Sharpsburg there lived at 4807-4809, Butler Street, a pious German family by name of Helbling. Franz Xaver Helbling and his wife, Mary Teresa Knipschield, were of sturdy German stock and at that time the parents of eleven bustling children. Mr. Helbling was a butcher by trade and had a stand in the city market. Few, if any of our present parishioners passing the double house still standing opposite the Allegheny Cemetery, appreciate the important part that house played in the history of their parish. Here it was that the first school, the forerunner of St. Augustine's School, was opened for the German Catholic children of Lawrenceville. It came about in this way.

  The Redemptorist Fathers of St. Philomena's were well acquainted with the Helbling family. Indeed, the home of this hospitable couple was a welcome haven for them, especially in unfavorable weather and when travelling to and from Sharpsburg. Doubtless, as these grateful Fathers broke bread at the Helbling table, they discussed with their genial host's the hardships of the children on their long way to St. Philomena's school. What prospects were there to better the children's lot? The fall of 1854 brought the answer when Father John Hotz, C.SS.R.,(9) called at the Helbling home and asked the hostess if she would be willing to board a teacher who in return would teach her children and spare them the long walk to St. Philomena's. Mrs. Helbling replied that she would first consult her husband. This done, the offer was accepted and a room on the second floor was set aside to serve as a school. Shortly after this arrangement, the teacher arrived.

  In the beginning the only pupils were nine of the eleven Helbling children. Their names were: Elizabeth Barbara, Francis X., William, Philomena Rosana, Catherine Josephine, Mary Sophia, John Baptist, Joseph Anthony, and sometimes Bertha Louise who was but two or three years old. The teacher, tall, thin and middle-
 
 
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(9) Born Aug. 28, 1818, at Baar, Switzerland. Came to the United States on Jan. 8, 1844. Ordained Aug. 24, 1844. Curate at St. Philomena's from 1815-1848, and again from July 15, 1851-Aug., 1855. Rector of St. Philomena's, 1855-1862. Attached to St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 1862-Aug. 21, 1893, when he died. Cf. Beck, op. cit., pp. 216-227. Cf. Enzlberger. Schematismus der Katholischen Geistlichkeit Deutscher Zunge in den Vereinigten Staaten Amerikas, Milwaukee, 1892, p. 232. Hoffmann's Catholic Directory, Milwaukee, 1894, p. 37.

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aged, was a peculiar man whose main occupation seemed to be to pray before a picture of Our Lady of Gaudelupe and to teach the children prayers. He never left the house save on Sundays when he went to Mass and then he wore a long black robe like a priest or brother. He was eccentric, very abstemious, spoke little and wore a cingulum. Mrs. Helbling thought he might be a priest but on asking Father Hotz, was assured that he was no priest. Strange as it may seem, the teacher's name was never revealed and the family simply addressed him as "Teacher". The teacher's knowledge of English was meagre as can be gathered from the following instance. One day Mrs. Helbling sent Bertha Louise to fetch some corn-cobs from the yard and on returning the child said to her mother: "I got them." The teacher, associating this remark with a well-known curse word, was horrified and said: "Bertha Louise is surely going to hell."

  Little wonder that the Helbling children soon disliked and feared their stern, austere teacher. Indeed, the elder Helblings, too, became ill at ease in his presence. Finally, after some months, Mrs. Helbling, dreading that the teacher might lose his mind, asked Father Hotz to dismiss him from her home. Accordingly, Father Hotz transferred the teacher to a school in Sharpsburg. Here the unfortunate man actually did lose his mind and had to be removed. From that time on nothing more is heard of the teacher. The Redemptorist chronicle records no item on this "nameless" teacher but everything seems to point to the fact that he was or perhaps had been a Redemptorist lay brother. (10)

  With the passing of the "nameless" teacher the school was not abandoned but efforts for its continuation became stronger. Father Hotz provided another teacher in the person of Mr. George Ruland, an able man who also boarded at the Helbling home. By this time news of the primitive school had spread and many parents applied for the admission of their children. The room, however, was too small to accommodate all who applied, hence, like the good soul he was, Mr. Helbling fitted out his unused storeroom for a school room. A goodly number of pupils attended especially children by the family name of Kalchthaler, Stein, Bischoff, Fleckenstein, Burckhardt and others. The first scholastic year might have started a little late in the fall of 1854 and had but a short interruption between the departure of the first teacher and the arrival of the second. On the third Sunday after Easter, April 29, 1855, the following announcement was made in St. Philomena's church:


  The second school year began probably at the usual time in September, 1855, as we learn from another announcement at St. Philomena's: "Since the Catholic school of Lawrenceville has already commenced and a good opportunity is offered the children of school age to acquire virtue and knowledge, the parents living there are requested to send their children as soon as possible."(12) However, with the opening of the second school-year the "Helbling School" was abandoned for Squire Nickle's Mansion, a larger and more centrally located building at 4016 Butler Street. This building, sometimes called the "Nickle's School" and "Old Town Hall" was used as a house of worship by some of the sects and also as a meeting place for political groups. It was a two-story stone mansion standing on a high plateau about eighty feet from Butler Street. The first floor was adapted for school purposes while the second floor was used for a hall, external steps leading thereto from the front of the building. During the time of Teacher Ruland some people referred to
 
 
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(10) St. Augustinus, Oct. 1921, pp. 1-3.   Hereafter abbreviated St. Aug.   Hyacinth Epp. O.M.Cap., "Die Gemeinden  der Pennsylvanischen  Kapuziner-Provinz"  in  Seraphischer Kinderfreund, vol. IX, pp. 2-5, 56-S7.
(11) St. Aug. Oct., 1921, p. 3.
(12) Ibid.

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this school as "Ruland Hall". Later, however, it was dignified by the pretentious title of "The Lawrenceville Academy".

  Why was the school transferred from the Helbling home? There were various reasons for the transfer. First of all, the Helbling School was too far for many of the smaller children. Then the Helbling store had no provision for heating and the school room was too cold in winter. Finally, the storeroom was too small for the increasing number of pupils. These reasons seem cogent enough to explain the change of location. Teacher Ruland did not continue long as teacher in the new school. He resigned most probably in 1856. Rumor had it that his resignation hinged upon disappointed matrimonial aspirations to the hand of one of Mr. Helbling's daughters.

  The next teacher was a lady whose name we could not ascertain. The lady was probably an Alsatian for she spoke both German and French. During her teaching term she boarded with Mr. Alexander Wirth on Willow Street. How long she remained is not known but very probably she held the post for some months until the arrival of Teacher Mertz sometime in 1856.

  Teacher Mertz was of small stature and in the thirties and is said to have limped. He had crossed the ocean in the company of his sister who died on ship. He kept her jewelry and was fond of displaying it. The report we have of him is not very flattering. He was neglectful of personal appearance, his hair and beard not used to the comb or brush. He was fond of playing cards and drinking beer. Hence he was seldom fit to teach and when he fell asleep during class periods the pupils had a jolly recess. He was no disciplinarian and the pupils soon realized this for on the occasion of an altercation between the teacher and an older pupil, the latter forcefully ejected the teacher from the room. Undoubtedly, Teacher Mertz had been reprimanded for his misconduct but instead of reforming he became defiant and ultimately refused to teach the catechism or to give religious instruction in any form. Indeed, he finally succeeded in wrecking the Lawrenceville Academy for a time, as we learn from the Announcement Book of St. Philomena's:


  Accordingly, the German Catholics withdrew their children from the Lawrenceville Academy and sent them either to St. Mary's on Forty-sixth Street or down to St. Philomena's. This condition prevailed for about a year and a half.

  At length new interest awakened, due to the efforts of the Redemptorist Fathers. On August 22, 1858, the following announcement was made in St. Philomena's:


  The outcome of this meeting was the opening of another school in Robinson Hall at 4121 Butler Street. Here a spacious room on the second floor was engaged for a school room. Again the Redemptorist Fathers appealed to the parents of Lawrenceville to send their children to this school:


  The teacher hired for this school was Mr. John Beck. He was tall, of swarthy complexion and of affable manners. He was forty-five years old and married. Unfortunately for the school, he fell ill and died on February 6, 1859, some months after beginning his work, and was buried from



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(13) Announcement Book, March 11, 1857.   Bayardstown, i.e., the district of St. Philomena's Parish, Fourteenth Street and thereabouts.
(14) Ibid., Oct. 3, 18S8.   Sligo was the local name of the section settled by the Catholic Irish, i.e., Forty-sixth Street and the neighborhood.

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St. Philomena's Church on February 10. Again the Lawrenceville school was in a precarious condition and to prevent its failure a meeting was called for February 13, 1859. The Announcement Book says:


  The record of this meeting has not come down to us. It seems, however, that some Sisters, probably from St. Philomena's, came daily to prepare the children for first Communion and to teach during the remainder of the term. The St. Augustinus records the testimony of Mr. John Wirth, then one of the oldest members of the parish, that the Know-nothings and other bigots ridiculed the Sisters and spread caricatures representing the Sisters maltreating the children. The Sisters must have discontinued their work at the end of the school term of 1859. The next teacher, Mr. T. Feaux, was engaged for the fall term of 1859. We know nothing more of him than that he taught until sometime in 1860 or 1861.

  At this point a digression seems in place. The ever-recurring difficulties with the school proved the necessity of one thing— a better and more permanent organization of the German Catholics under competent leadership. This was all the more necessary since the population was growing, as is evident from the fact that in 1860 no less than seventy houses were built in the district and Butler Street was paved. Accordingly, the more energetic men of the German colony effected an organization of the German Catholics and called it a Gemeinde or congregation. In thorough-going fashion they drew up a constitution called: Constitution der Deutsch Römisch Catholisch. Gemeinde zu Lawrenceville. This happened toward the end of 1859 or in the beginning of 1860, when the school problem had become acute.

  What was the specific object of this organization? Evidently to take definite steps in the way of establishing a school and a church—a Gemeinde or parish for the German Catholics of Lawrenceville. To this end they selected three men of sterling character, Messrs. August Hoeveler, Alexander Wirth and Louis Unverzagt, and entrusted them with the task of securing suitable property.

  From the very outset Mr. August Hoeveler was the leader and director of the organization. John W. Jordan(17) furnishes the following incomplete biography of this interesting character. He was the youngest son of William and Clara Hoeveler and was born in Ankum, in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, in 1820, and came to the United States when he was seventeen years old. Here he married Elizabeth O'Leary, daughter of William O'Leary, a glass manufacturer. Eight children were born from this marriage. The brothers of August went into the grocery business and soon increased the number of their stores to three. August, too, became a member of the firm and took charge of the wagon routes. Later he became sole owner of the store located in Bayardstown. In 1850 he abandoned the store and undertook the manufacture of glue, soap and candles. Together with Messrs. Edward Frauenheim and Leopold Vilsack he helped to establish the Iron City Brewing Company of Pittsburgh and was also associated with the German National Bank of Pittsburgh. Later he engaged extensively in the real estate business.

  August Hoeveler was a shrewd business man and a pioneer in laying out suburban property. His plan was to buy large tracts of unimproved land in desirable locations, divide it into building lots and sell it on reasonable terms. He was sagacious in his locations and the sites he chose soon developed into important sections of the city. He was a member of the borough council of Lawrenceville and when the borough was annexed to Pittsburgh he was elected to the City Council but died on December 20, 1868, before he could be initiated into the office.

  Entrusted by the Gemeinde to secure property, Hoeveler as head of the committee of three accomplished the task with marvellous dispatch. For, on April 20, 1860, by deed made between Robert Wray and
 

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(15) St. Aug., Oct. 1921, p. 7.
(16) Ibid.
(17) A Century and a Half of Pittsburgh and Her People, The Lewis Co., 1908, vol. Ill, pp. 236-237.

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Elizabeth Teese, parties of the first part, and August Hoeveler, Alexander Wirth and Louis Unverzagt, parties of the second part, all the land between Butler and Bandera Streets, Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets(18) became the property of the German Gemeinde of Lawrenceville. The Committee paid $7,350.00 for this property. The committee, further, selected the most suitable portion of the property facing Butler Street between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets for church, school and pastoral residence. The remaining land was laid out in twenty-two lots and sold.

  The plot reserved for parish property comprised more or less the central portion facing Butler Street between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Streets. The flanking lots and also the six large lot's facing Bandera Street in the rear of the parish plot were sold. On the parish plot there stood a small frame house badly in need of repairs. At first it was suggested to repair this house and use it for a school, but later the idea was abandoned. All the property was held in the name of the committee and not in trust because the Gemeinde had no priest and no official standing.

   It is interesting to know how the committee raised the funds for this extensive purchase. They had three sources of income: they contracted loans to the extent of $6,750.00 between April 21, 1860 and December 22, 1862 ;(19) they sold the superfluous lots, twenty-two in all, and when the purchaser was unable to pay in full the committee retained a mortgage at six percent interest; they held a picnic probably on the newly acquired property on July 4, 1860. The old Organization Book still preserved in the parish archives contains the minutes of three interesting meetings held in  preparation for the picnic. To show how detailed and formal were the preparations for the picnic, we shall give here the minutes of these three meetings.

FIRST MEETING, JUNE 7, 1860
  The  committee  for the  German Roman Catholic picnic has decided that:
  1. Mr. August Hoeveler be the president of this society.
  2. Teacher T. Feaux be the secretary.
  3. Mr. Benjamin Schmidt be the treasurer.
  4. The dinner and supper tickets be each twenty-five cents.
  5. Everybody pay ten cents at the entrance.
  6. Dancing be permitted July 4-.
  7. For three dances, everybody, be they German or English, pay ten cents.
  8. The president engage from four to six musicians.
  9. The secretary advertize this picnic in all German papers and send out invitations to all German Catholic societies.
10. Two constables be engaged.
11. The following men be appointed to keep order: A. Hoeveler, Louis  Unverzagt, Aug. Sterer, Anthon Barth, Alex Wirth, and Matthew Bader.
12. John Elsesser and George Engelking collect tickets and money for the meals.
13. Aug. Hoeveler and Frank Hawk provide all beverages.
14. The following men attend the bar: John Wirth, John Fleckenstein, Xaver Helbling, Heinrich Engel, Xaver Burkhart, Jos. Brentner, Joseph Bischof, Jacob
Helbling, Alex Ouoczalla, Michael Helbling, Xaver Loeffler and Frank Hawk.
15. Mr. B. Schmidt have the supervision of the money.
16. Messrs. Engel. T. Wirth. and Engelking arrange with the women for the fortune-wheels (Glückschafen).
17. Aug. Hoeveler and Alex Wirth look after the booths and platforms.
18. Frank Link and Albert Wirth collect the entrance money.
19. All members turn in the proceeds to the treasurer for a receipt.
20. Mr. Schmidt procure the prizes.



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(18)  In those days Bandera Street was called Bank Street; Thirty-sixth Street was Sycamore Street, and Thirty-seventh Street was Prospect Street.
             They borrowed from the following:
(19) John Wirth. $300 on April 21, 1860; Andreas Greilich, $700 on Feb. 8, 1861; Xavier Loeffler, $1400 on July 21, 1862; Xavier Helbling, $500 on July 25, 1862;  Fred, Mary and  Joseph Genth, $820 on Aug. 4, and $200 on Oct.  14,  1862: Michael Stiebich, $600 on Sept. 18, 1862; Heinrich Rettmann. $710 on Oct. 8,  1862; Gottlieb Wirth, $300 on Oct. 9, 1862; Johann Buetner, $200 on Oct. 14, 1862: Peter Junker, $100 on Oct. 25, 1862; Melchoir Koffeler, $470 on Nov. 28, 1862;  Peter Blimling, $400 on Dec. 2, 1862; Nickolaus Hay, $50 on Dec. 22, 1862. Cf. St. Aug., 1921, p. 6.

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On to History of St. Augustine Church, Chapter II . . .

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