A Stan Klos Company
LEMCKE, Henry,
clergyman, born in Mecklenburg, Germany, 27 June, 1796; died in Carrollton,
Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 29 November, 1882. His parents were poor, but he
educated himself sufficiently to gain admission to the College of Schwerin,
where he supported himself by giving private lessons.
He entered the German army in 1813, afterward went to the
University of Rostock to study for the Lutheran ministry, and was licensed to
preach in 1819. He united with the Roman Catholic Church, 21 April, 1824, and
was ordained to its priesthood, 11 April, 1826.
In 1833 he volunteered for missionary duty among the
Germans of the United States, and labored first in Philadelphia and then as
assistant to Father Demetrius Gallitzin in Loretto, Pennsylvania He took up his
residence at Ebensburg, and purchased a farm near by, on which he afterward
erected St. Joseph's church. He next bought 400 acres of land, on which he built
a house and chapel in 1838, and in 1839 he laid out a town on it, which he
wished to name after his friend Gallitzin, but, on the remonstrance of the
latter, called it Carrollton.
In 1840 he succeeded Father Gallitzin as pastor of Loretto,
and was then the only priest in Cambria county, but he soon obtained the aid of
others. After a successful visit to Europe in 1844 to collect money, he bought
800 acres of land, on which he intended to establish a colony of Benedictines,
but they preferred to settle in Westmoreland county. He became a member of the
order of St. Benedict on 2 February, 1852, performed missionary duty in Kansas,
and founded the abbey of St. Benedict in Atchison, Kansas.
He returned to Pennsylvania in 1858, and after a visit to
Germany labored in New Jersey till 1877, when he withdrew to Carrollton,
Pennsylvania He wrote his own autobiography, part of which appeared in the
journals of Cambria county, and published translations of several controversial
works in German, and "Leben und Werken des Prinzen Demetrius Augustin Gallitzin"
(Minster, 1861).
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright ©
2001 VirtualologyTM
LEMCKE, Henry, clergyman, born in Mecklenburg, Germany, 27 June, 1796; died in Carrollton, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 29 November, 1882. His parents were poor, but he educated himself sufficiently to gain admission to the College of Schwerin, where he supported himself by giving private lessons. He entered the German army in 1813, afterward went to the University of Rostock to study for the Lutheran ministry, and was licensed to preach in 1819. He united with the Roman Catholic church, 21 April, 1824, and was ordained to its priesthood, 11 April, 1826. In 1833 he volunteered for missionary duty among the Germans of the United States, and labored first in Philadelphia and then as assistant to Father Demetrius Gallitzin in Loretto, Pennsylvania He took up his residence at Ebensburg, and purchased a farm near by, on which he afterward erected St. Joseph's church. He next bought 400 acres of land, on which he built a house and chapel in 1838, and in 1839 he laid out a town on it, which he wished to name after his friend Gallitzin, but, on the remonstrance of the latter, called it Carrollton. In 1840 he succeeded Father Gallitzin as pastor of Loretto, and was then the only priest in Cambria county, but he soon obtained the aid of others. After a successful visit to Europe in 1844 to collect money, he bought 800 acres of land, on which he intended to establish a colony of Benedictines, but they preferred to settle in Westmoreland county. He became a member of the order of St. Benedict on 2 February, 1852, performed missionary duty in Kansas, and founded the abbey of St. Benedict in Atchison, Kansas He returned to Pennsylvania in 1858, and after a visit to Germany labored in New Jersey till 1877, when he withdrew to Carrollton, Pennsylvania He wrote his own autobiography, part of which appeared in the journals of Cambria county, and published translations of several controversial works in German, and "Leben und Werken des Prinzen Demetrius Augustin Oallitzin" (Minster, 1861).
