Lake-Benton-Noble County IN Archives Biographies.....Ege, Francis Xavier 1849 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 3, 2007, 11:32 pm Author: T. H. Ball (1904) REV. FRANCIS XAVIER EGE. In the history of the new world the Catholic clergy, in its various orders, have performed the work of religious, and often industrial, pioneers—accompanying closely the traders and agricultural settlers, and keeping up with the very vanguard of civilization as it pushed out from the eastern coast and spread over the western prairies. These men have justly obtained wide recognition for their indefatigable energy, their unfailing patience and endurance, and their sincere and zealous devotion to the cause which they represented. In whatever vineyard they have worked they have assisted in the industrial progress, and have been especially powerful factors in advancing education and building up the other beneficent institutions which are the mainstay of social order and permanence. Father Ege, the well known priest of northern Indiana, where he has labored for a quarter of a century, and who is now the beloved priest in St. Anthony's parish in Hanover township of this county, is a representative of the highest type of the Catholic priesthood—zealous and hard-working, possessed of broad and beneficent purposes, of sweet and generous character, and a man revered for his work and worth wherever and among whatsoever people the duties of the Master place him. Father Ege is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, where he was born in 1849, being a son of Xavier and Mary Ann (Steinhauser) Ege. His studious nature manifesting itself in childhood, he determined to educate himself for the priesthood, and accordingly from the age of fourteen to twenty-one he was a student in his native province. After the primary schooling he entered the gymnasium at Felkirk, Austria, where he continued his scholastic career until he was twenty-one years of age. The war between Germany and Austria at that time threatened to interfere seriously with his plans, and it was on this account mainly that he concluded to come to America. The reputation of the thorough curriculum of study in philosophy and theology offered by the famous St. Xavier De Sales Saiesium at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was already familiar to him, and after arriving in this country he entered this institution in 1869, and after a seven years' course which fitted him for the priesthood he graduated in 1876. On June 10, 1876, he was ordained priest at Fort Wayne, Indiana (the seat of the Northern Bishopric of Indiana), by Bishop Dwenger. His first parish was at Earl Park, Benton county, Indiana, where he remained until 1878, and where he was instrumental in the erection of the priest's home, and although he found the parish encumbered by a debt of eight hundred dollars he left the church entirely free from money obligations. There were in this parish some eighty French families, forty German and forty Irish, and since that time there have been erected two additional churches so as to make one for each nationality. The next field of labor for Father Ege was in southeastern Noble county, Indiana. This parish then lay in almost a wilderness, surrounded by the virgin forest. There was no patron saint's name given to the parish, it was simply known as the "French settlement." A new frame Gothic church had been built in 1875, and there were seventy-five or eighty poor families in the parish, and the property was encumbered with three thousand dollars' indebtedness. Hardly two months had passed before the energizing labor of Father Ege had established a parochial school and placed over it a male instructor, who was later superseded by two Sisters of St. Francis, one the teacher and the other the cook, and these latter have remained in charge since March, 1879, although an additional teacher has since been given the school. Due to Father Ege's managements and industry also, the debt of this parish was canceled. In 1886 this parish, known as St. Mary's, met with a dire calamity, the priest's home, the sisters' home and the school being all destroyed by fire, and the Father saved nothing, his extensive and beloved library and even his clothing being consumed. But there was no evidence of despair, no time was lost in useless lamentation, and in a short time Father Ege had the pleasure of seeing arise, phoenix-like, one of the most beautiful and attractive brick school buildings to be found in the diocese, built at a cost of twenty-two hundred dollars, and paid for before it was finished. Also there was erected a two-story brick residence for the sisters, and a priest's home of brick costing twenty-one hundred dollars and all were paid for at the time of completion. He also caused to be constructed an ornamental iron fence around the entire premises, and beautiful shade trees were planted to adorn the grounds. He remained in this parish altogether for nineteen years. During this period he at first experienced considerable trouble in getting his mail, and he accordingly appealed to the United States government, which established a post-office in his parish and named it Ege in his honor, this being done in 1884. After this long siege of trouble and care his health was greatly impaired and he was forced to enter one of the leading hospitals in Chicago, where he remained six months. Even then he was not restored to his normal capability, and under the advice of the good Bishop Durnger he spent about seven months traveling in the extreme south, southwest, and western parts of the United States and also in British Columbia. He visited much of the grand sublime mountain scenery of the great west, drinking in its inspiration and exhilaration, and so much was he impressed by the splendors of nature that he considers the Swiss or Tyrolese Alps so famed in continental Europe to be inferior in many respects to the vast ranges of our own west. In the meantime his normal health returned, and in August, 1898, he was able to assume charge of St. Anthony's parish in Hanover township, Lake county, where he has since been the beloved priest. He has kept the parish property in splendid repair, and there is not a dollar's indebtedness. There are thirty-five families in the parish, and all are in prosperous circumstances. While pastor of St. Mary's in Noble county, Father Ege had a mission at Albion, the county seat, where there were fifteen families with an excellent church. After he had been there some time the Father was informed that a debt of six hundred dollars stood against the property. This circumstance troubled him, and one Sabbath he informed his congregation of the state of affairs and made a business proposition which was at once accepted, and on the very next day the entire amount of six hundred dollars was paid to one of the Albion banks. Father Ege always remembers with extreme gratitude the great kindness and substantial material aid given him by the Protestant people during his misfortune in losing his home and other church property while in Noble county. Father Ege is a devout man, a good citizen, and is held in the highest esteem by all regardless of differences of religious creed. He is in every way fitted for his work as a leader of men, and it is a pleasure to be able to record the principal events of his beneficent career in this book of Lake county history. Additional Comments: Extracted from: ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Genealogy and Biography OF LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA, WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 1834—1904 A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation. REV. T. H. BALL OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO NEW YORK THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1904 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/lake/bios/ege672gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 8.2 Kb