Archives for February 2021

Due to cholera outbreaks and a large orphan population, Father John Henni leads a group of German lay Catholics in the establishment of the St. Aloysius Orphan Society, which helped finance and manage the St. Aloysius Orphanage. After having several locations, the orphanage, which housed German boys, eventually settled in Bond Hill, Ohio. 

Layman Robert Conway is instrumental in bringing Father Edward Collins to Dayton to serve the needs of the local community. This led to the founding of Emmanuel Church, Dayton’s first Catholic church.

Given the large German population in Ohio, Father John Henni establishes Der Wahrheitsfreund, a German Catholic newspaper to complement The Catholic Telegraph. It ceased production in 1907.

In January, Bishop Purcell publicly debates Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disciples of Christ, at a Baptist church on Sycamore Street. This debate marks the first time an American bishop engages in a debate with a Protestant clergyman. The event brought great excitement to the city, and the Catholic and Protestant newspapers quoted the debates in full. Bishop Purcell showed that the Catholic faith was intellectually rigorous and secured himself a place as a leading defender of the faith.