Rev. Hugo Victor Biography


	This biography appears on pages 869-870 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	REV. HUGO VICTOR resident priest of the Catholic church in 
Alexandria, was born in Osnabruck, province of Hanover, Germany, on the 
15th of November, 1842, being a son of Henry and Mary (Von Ende) 
Victor, the latter being of the nobility of the great German empire, a 
representative of the well-known house of Magdeburg. The father of the 
subject was born, in Doenitz, in the Black Forest district, on the 
border between France and Germany, his parents having been natives of 
France. He was accorded excellent educational advantages and became a 
musician of distinction, having been a composer of high reputation. His 
musical talents led to his being selected as leader of the band of the 
Red Hussars, this being the official band of the king of Hanover. His 
death resulted from an attack of cholera, in 1847, the subject of this 
review being about five years of age at the time. Father Victor was 
then taken into the home of his uncle, Daniel Sickel, with whom he 
remained about four years, at the expiration of which, in 1852, he came 
to America in company with his mother and her second husband, Frederick 
Halthaus, the family locating in the city of Baltimore, Maryland. 
Though but ten years of age at the time of his arrival in the United 
States, Father Victor soon began to depend upon his own resources, 
finally entering upon an apprenticeship at the trade of cigar making, 
to which he devoted his attention until he had attained the age of 
sixteen' when he began the work of preparing himself for the 
priesthood. In 1859 he entered the Redemptorist Brothers' College, in 
Annapolis, where he was graduated in 18-, being ordained to the 
priesthood on the 30th  of June, 1869, by Archbishop Spaulding, in 
Baltimore. He was soon afterward sent to Savannah, Georgia, where he 
was assistant in the cathedral to Bishop William Gross. In 1874 Father 
Victor  was given a charge at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, being transferred 
eight months later to a neighboring parish, where he remained one year, 
at the expiration of which he was assigned to a  pastorate at 
Lancaster, that state. About one year later he was sent to take charge 
of St. Joseph's church, at Racine, Wisconsin, but his health became 
impaired and after serving a few months he made a trip to Europe, for 
the purpose of recuperation, where he remained a few months. Upon his 
return to Wisconsin he was assigned to the pastorate of St. Joseph's 
church, at Waterloo, remaining one year and then being sent to the 
church at Eagle, that state, where he continued to labor zealously and 
effectively during the ensuing four years, being thereafter stationed 
at East Troy, Wisconsin, for three years. He then passed a short time 
in Waterloo and was then sent to LeSeuer, Minnesota, where he remained 
one year, passing the succeeding year at Northfield, that  state. He 
then made a tour through Mexico and upon his return established the 
parish organization at Marshall, Minnesota, where he was resident 
priest four years, at the expiration of which, in 1892, he came to 
South Dakota. For the first year he was located at Hoven and was then 
transferred to Krausburg, where he was stationed eight years, within 
which time he effected the erection of a new church edifice and also 
left other unmistakable evidences of his spiritual and temporal zeal. 
In June, 1902, Father Victor came to Alexandria, and since that time he 
has accomplished a notable work, erecting a new parish house, which was 
completed within the year 1904. Father Victor is known as an able 
executive and organizer, and the work which he has done in the various 
fields in which he has lived and labored has been earnest, devoted, 
consecrated and signally fruitful in the furthering of the cause of the 
divine Master and in the uplifting of his fellow men. Father Victor is 
a forceful and logical speaker, his utterances being marked by earnest 
conviction, and he has the high regard of all with whom he comes in 
contact.