Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Van Pelt, Rev Henry George 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 29, 2008, 1:07 am

Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Rev. Henry George Van Pelt, pastor of the Sacred Heart church at Joliet, was 
born July 26, 1863, in Racine, Wisconsin. His father, Henry Van Pelt, was 
descended from one of the early Dutch settlers of New York, while the mother, 
who bore the maiden name of Margaret Mertage, was of French descent, though 
born in County Monaghan in the north of Ireland. Rev. Van Pelt attended the 
public and parochial schools in Chicago and pursued his classical studies in 
St. Ignatius College there, from which institution he was graduated in the 
class of 1SS4. He immediately began preparation for the priesthood, pursuing 
his ecclesiastical studies at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, from which he 
was graduated in 1890. He afterward spent three years in further study in 
Europe, two years being passed in Rome in the College of the Propaganda and 
the Gregorian College, while for one year he was a student in the University 
of Berlin. He studied medicine and receive the M. D. degree at Berlin 
University. His father had been an architect and builder and had desired that 
Father Van Pelt should follow that profession, but he determined to devote his 
life to the holy calling of the church and after his return from Europe he was 
appointed assistant pastor of St. James church in Chicago. Later he spent two 
years at St. Mel’s church in Chicago and for a year and a half was at 
Sycamore, Illinois, as pastor of St. Mary's church. On the 1st of November, 
1905, he was assigned to the pastorate of the Sacred Heart church of Joliet 
and in the short time that has since elapsed he has made about sixteen 
thousand dollars' worth of improvements in the parish. Under his guidance the 
work of the church has been well organized and he is doing excellent service 
for Catholicism in Joliet. He is a man of scholarly attainments, of unbounded 
zeal and devotion to his work, and he commands the respect of people of all 
denominations. Socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, 
the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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