HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


themselves in absolute liberty. The new arrivals to the village gradually
in-
creased and among them were also such as did not directly join the inner
circle
of the colony. It seemed worth while to establish the young settlement in
such
a manner that the needs of the community in every possible direction should
be
provided for by its own members and independently of the outside world. At
that tim e the colonists were occupied with the erection of two monasteries,
one
for the male members and the other situated a quarter of a mile north of
the
first, for the female members of the society. Furthermore, other industries
sprang up-an oil mill, a sawmill, a grist mill, a tannery, shoe factory,
clothes-
making shop, a nursery, blacksmith shop, tin shop, cabinetmaker's shop, and
other establishments, manned and operated by members of the colony who were
skilled in the various arts and trades. These initial enterprises were in
every
way successful and remunerative and at the same time brought to the whole
community interest in the work and more or less diversion. The buildings
in
the year i86o, six years after the founding of the colony, numbered fifty-six,
and there were forty-eight families in the village not members of the colony.
On the 9th of June, i864, the cornerstone of the parish church was laid by
the
Most Rev. Henny, archbishop of Milwaukee. An orphan asylum for girls and
a hospital were also built but neither one is used at the present day for
the
purposes originally intended.
If the colony at that time perceptibly flourished and developed it is not
to
be considered that the only object of the colonists in coming to the new
world
was for material gain. In the year i869 the colony became financially involved
while installing the boiler plant for running the mills and the mnore spacious
buildings of the parish. The expense of this large undertaking reached the
amount of $I3,000 , and for the church an additional $24,000 was required.
These outlays four years later nearly caused the complete dissolution of
the
colony and it was only through the aid of a few men of generous hearts that
the catastrophe was stayed and the interests of the society safeguarded.
Brave
and full of confidence in a higher power, the colony worked along fearlessly
and unceasingly, even to the building of a small priest's seminary, in which
many young clerics successfully pursued part of their studies. The colony
had
previously erected a small structure called Loretto chapel, dedicated to
the
honor of "Our Lady," and by the year I872 the Oschwald foundation
was at
that stage of completion that it gave general satisfaction to all interested.
In the year i873 the colony met with an irreparable loss in the death of
its
founder, Father Oschwald, who was a priest after the heart of God and was
completely consumed in his profession. More even than that, he was a sym-
pathetic friend to the sick and those in need and he not only gave spiritual
advice
but also sought as far as he was able to relieve sickness and help those
in
material need. It is easy to imagine what energies such superhuman demands
entailed, especially throughout the hard times of the many severe and trying
winters, but he would brook no effort to divert him from his purposes, such
was his zeal in caring for his people. Even the strongest oak must fall some
time before the storm, and so Father Oschwald, who had always enjoyed most
excellent health, contracted a cold while following the duties of his calling
dur-
ing the extraordinary severities of the weather in February, 1873. His malady
soon developed into inflammation of the lungs, which brought on other com-






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