Recollections of My Life and Reflections on Times and Events During It: A Memoir by Father W. J. Howlett Main Menu Introduction Table of Contents Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Other Writings by Father W. J. Howlett Timeline Howlett Family Tree William J. Howlett Family Tree Maps and Geography: Howlett's First Trip West Fr. Howlett moved with his family to Denver when he was a child, and then moved to St. Thomas Seminary in Bardstown, KY several years later. This map recounts the path he took to get to both places. Maps and Geography: Howlett's European travels Fr. Howlett traveled far and wide during his trip to Europe. Here is a map of the places he recorded visiting. Maps and Geography: Howlett in Paris, 1872-1873 This map shows the locations that Fr. Howlett mentioned visiting while in Paris, France. Maps and Geography: Howlett in London, 1874 This map shows the locations that Fr. Howlett mentioned visiting while vacationing in London, England Maps and Geography: Colorado Missions with Terrain Fr. Howlett's Colorado mission locations, with Colorado terrain. Index Acknowledgements Contributors' Biographies HIST 394 at CUA, Spring 2020

Page 45

36192
          This year and a half tended to settle me in my plans for the future. My old pastor, Father Machebeuf, had been made a bishop and had come to see me at St Thomas. The lure of the West was coming back to me: I thought of the great need he would have of priests, and I saw that he expected me to go to him if I ever reached the goal of our expectations of ordination for me. There was no special contract, but it was mutually understood that I would return to Denver.

          The vacation of 1869 I spent in the vicinity of Niles and my old home in Michigan. Four years had made a great change in everything there. It did not seem like the old home at all, and I felt somewhat of a stranger in the old surroundings. I suppose the change was partly with myself, for people recognized that I had grown up and was a seminarian. They thought they had to show me a certain deference, and all this tended to make somewhat a stranger to myself. Yet I had a pleasant vacation and visited many of the old familiar places and some new ones and met old friends and made some new ones. At South Bend, Indiana, I visited Father P P Cooney, C S C, who had been a chaplain in the Civil War and had often assembled his men for mass and confession at St Thomas Seminary and I was interested in his account of his experiences with the men of both armies, for soldiers from Bragg’s army of Confederates and Buel’s army of Federals passed St Thomas and received favors. A Southern Captain lay sick there and was discovered by Union men and paroled.

          This summer I paid my first visit to Notre Dame although I had lived for years near it. The only incident there was that, after going through the college and mounting to the cupola for a view of the surrounding country, I was permitted to be one to help work the pedals to swing the big seven ton bell which was then mounted on a platform on the lawn. I don’t think the tower of the church was finished at the time.

          Another visit I made was to Kalamazoo. Two of my fellow students at St Thomas were from that village. I say village, for although it was a place of 10,000 inhabitants, it had but a village charter and took pride in calling itself the largest village in the U S.

          During that visit I was present at the dedication of the new church of St Augustine, just finished by Father Lebel. There was no bishop in Detroit, so Archbishop Purcell came from Cincinnati for the occasion. The mass was sung by Father Cullen of Chicago who later became the first bishop of Davenport, and the sermon was by Father Riordan, who became Archbishop of San Francisco. A lecture in the evening was given by Father Cooney of South Bend, and, as might be expected, was on the Civil War.

          While at Kalamazoo I received a tempting offer from Father Roy, a Victorian priest from Bourbonnais Grove in Illinois. The priests of St Viator had just founded a college at that place and need[ed] a teacher of English. He offered to assist me in the continuation of my studies and pay a small salary besides for my services. I did not feel free to accept his offer but I found a 

View Original Here

This page has paths:

  1. Table of Contents Rebecca Lemon

Contents of this path:

  1. Original Page 45