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St. Ambrose History 1906-1983 Early History In order to supply the educational needs of the growing town of Chaffee, Mother Gonzaga Sugrue appointed Sisters M. Juliana Clooney, Xavier Halloran, Immaculata Mooney and Anselm Mahoney to open St. Ambrose School in September, 1918. Chaffee, located in Scott County owes its existence to the St. Louis-Memphis branch of the Frisco Railway System. When the Mississippi River was bridged at Thebes, Illinois and not at Cape Girardeau, the railroad moved its shops to Chaffee and caused its employees to move with it. Among the first settlers of Chaffee were a few staunch Catholics who as early as 1906 applied to Archbishop Glennon for a resident priest. The Archbishop not having a priest available requested the Vincentian Fathers of Cape Girardeau to look after the settlement. On the feast of the Holy Family 1907, the Rev. Frank Feeley, C.M., celebrated Mass for the first time in Byrds Hall, the only place at the time large enough to substitute for a church and fulfill the requirements for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice. Once a month the Vincentian priests traveled on horseback through mud from Cape Girardeau to care for the spiritual needs of the Catholic families in Chaffee. In the summer of 1907 Archbishop Glennon appointed Rev. Anthony H. Rohling first resident pastor of Chaffee. Upon his arrival in June 1907, Father Rohling discovered that he had neither church nor rectory. Since he did not receive hospitality from the Catholics, he volunteered his services as spiritual director to the hospital Sisters of Cape Girardeau; in return he received room and board. In order to assure himself of a small salary he took over the mission of Dutchtown in Cape County. In the meantime his plans for the building of St. Ambrose Church materialized. Construction began on November 3, 1907 and on January 1, 1908 he celebrated the first Mass in the new frame church. The next years were uphill ones for the founder of the parish and from a spiritual viewpoint there was great reason for joy.
Establishing the School The Rev. Michael J. Clooney was the next priest to take up the government of the parish and was notable for the establishment of St. Ambrose School. Ground was broken for the school building on August 20, 1917. The cornerstone was laid October 20 with the Rev. F. Pruente of St. Mary’s Church, Cape Girardeau officiating. The Rev. Patrick Ryan of Sikeston was deacon and Rev. Joseph A. McMahon of Portageville, subdeacon. The sermon the occasion was preached by the Rev. Charles Von Tourenhout of Ste. Genevieve. Father Clooney publicized the school weeks in advance, choosing language designed to arouse the interest of the parishioners. The following is one on the notices that appeared in the local newspaper:
A second announcement appeared later to the effect that ....
On their arrival in Chaffee the Sisters were conducted to their new home by Father Clooney. Their quarters were on the first floor of the school building. Here inconveniences were in order of the day. The sleeping accommodations were penitential in the extreme. Packed as the Sisters were into a dormitory so small that the beds were pushed right against the walls with scarcely enough space between to allow for movement, the vicious drove of mosquitoes added much to their discomfort. In the dormitory orange crates served as dressers and wooden boxes were substituted for chairs. Privacy was ensured by the erection of pasteboard partitions which were swept off the floor by the strong piercing winds that found ready entrance under the door, leaving the occupants with a good view of the street and plenty of fresh air. The convent was heated by an iron stove. The water, which flowed with great difficulty through the rusty faucets was fit neither for human consumption nor for laundry purposes. The welcome sound of raindrops was a signal to the Sisters to grab all buckets and barrels to collect the precious liquid. But the Sisters counted these things a small price to pay for the warm love and respect of 191 pupils that enrolled in St. Ambrose School on opening day, September 3, 1917.
The Spanish Influenza Strikes Chaffee Scarcely had they welcomed their new pupils when another civic need pressed the Sisters into further service. “The town of Chaffee was scourged by an outbreak of Spanish Influenza and hardly a family but had two to four cases and in many of them as high as four at a time.” Hardly had a dozen cases appeared when the city authorities acting upon the recommendation of the Board of Health issued orders to close all public buildings indefinitely in an attempt to control the spread of disease. Despite all precautions, the disease spread so rapidly that with but two resident physicians and no trained nurses available, the work of caring for the sick fell upon the unstricken members of the families afflicted. Doctors Sample and Cordery went at top speed almost day and night doing everything that human endurance and medical aid could do to lessen the dangerous aspects of the plague. Father Clooney spent days of weary and uncomfortable travel on horseback to the homes of the victims, ministering to the sick and dying. A call at any hour of the day or night whether from a Catholic or Protestant found him always ready to forego his own convenience and comfort to be of help or service. The city-wide epidemic was also a challenge to the Sister of Mercy. In the spirit of the Order, Sister M. Juliana Clooney marshaled her forces, sending the Sisters into the homes of the stricken people. Assisted by Mrs. H. McEwing and other ladies of the parish, the Sisters prepared food for needy families, carried gallon pails of soup and bed linen to the homes of the influenza victims, prayed with the dying and consoled the bereaved. In visiting the sick the Sisters met with kaleidoscopic rapidity different classes of people and proved themselves to be all things to all from the uncouth railroad employee who could scarcely speak a word of English to the one-day-old baby whose mother had died giving him birth. Owing to the virulence of the disease and its sudden onset, sanitary conditions in some of the homes were appalling. Clean sheets, pillowcases and towels were at a minimum. Extremely ill patients tossed restlessly on straw ticks and feather beds under heavy woolen blankets. It was not unusual for the Sisters to find from four to six children sleeping in one bed with no one to care for them except the father who was scarcely able to look after the household. They spent much time in the home of Mr. Bess, a non-Catholic, five members of whose family succumbed to the disease within a twenty-four hour period. By the time the epidemic had run its course and the Sisters were free to resume their teaching role in St. Ambrose School they had earned the respect of the people of the town. Their first school year closed with graduation of seven students: James Haley, Clarence McBroom, Winifred Phayer, Thelma Proffit, Marcella Proffit, Verna Rongy and Oliver Rigdon. Before the school reopened in September 1919, Father Clooney was succeeded to the pastorate of Chaffee by the Rev. Michael O’Leary. At the time of his appointment the number of pupils seeking secondary education induced Father O’Leary to add a third story to the school building in order to provide for a high school department. In September 1922, this department opened under the direction of Sister N. de Pazzi Specking.
Ku Klux Klan in Chaffee Besides the regular demands of church and school he had to contend with a great deal of bigotry from the Ku Klux Klan. The influence of this organization may be gleaned from the following announcement which appeared in the local newspaper: “First and Last warning from the Knights of the K.K.K.” Two hundred strong in Chaffee and a thousand in Scott County. It required the greatest of tact on the part of the pastor to administer the sacraments during the Ku Klux Klan era, misled by the advice of false leaders, believed they were performing a patriotic duty by persecuting the Catholic Church. Although the activities of the Klan were a constant and unwarranted strain on Father O’Leary, it is to his credit that he never gave way to the irritation he certainly must have felt.
Chaffee’s fourth pastor was the Rev. John J. Lonergan, a veteran army chaplain of World War I. At the time of his appointment to St. Ambrose Parish the number of students enrolled in the grade school was 156 and the high school department had an enrollment of twenty-nine. Realizing the need for secondary education in this non-Catholic town, the new pastor assisted Sisters M. Immaculata, Paul and Anthony by teaching Latin and Spanish in the high school department.
The music classes which had been conducted by Sister M. Xavier Halloran after her day’s work in the school both to help the spread of Christian culture and to make ends meet for the Sisters. So successful were these Sisters that forty-nine students from the public school transferred to St. Ambrose for music lessons with the results that the music teacher engaged by the public school, having no pupils to teach, left town.
The success of St. Ambrose School aroused the prejudice of the Ku Klux Klan. Two members of this organization concentrated their efforts against the Sisters. While editors of a magazine entitled The Menace, Sam Foley and Sam Leppard won fame as truculent exponents of the aims of the Ku Klux Klan.
Although these men belonged to different political parties and sects they were united in their opposition to Catholicism. Their chief aim was to preserve the public school against what they viewed as the Catholic purpose to subvert it. So wide a circulation did The Menace have that even the Sisters of Mercy had an opportunity to examine it.
While the Sisters maintained a dignified silence, Father Lonergan seized every opportunity, no matter how inappropriate it might seem, to inject Christian principles into public life and to counteract the effects of the Klan.
Notwithstanding his activity, mass meetings of the Klan were held in the Masonic Hall and in rural schools. The organization grew in fanaticism until the peace of the community was disturbed by acts of violence, which on one occasion culminated in the fatal shooting of a Negro and an employee of the Frisco Railroad. The climax of prejudice against the Catholic Church occurred in the burning of a cross on the corner of the church property adjacent to St. Ambrose Convent School. Since this was not an isolated incident, Father Lonergan decided that for the protection of the Sisters it was time for him to assume an offensive role.
An opportunity presented itself when a crowd of approximately 1000 people attended a Klan meeting at Judge Heebs Field to hear a national speaker set forth the aims of the organization. Clad in this army trench coat Father Lonergan joined the crowd. When the speaker began a tirade against the Catholic Church and against the priest and nuns in particular, Father Lonergan exposed his Roman collar and interrupted him saying: “That’s a confounded lie.” Taken completely by surprise the enraged speaker shouted to the crowd: “Throw him out.” As Sheriff Charles Scott and Marshall John Hobbs proceeded to execute this order, Father Lonergan shook himself free, saying: “You may throw me out but not before you hear what I have to say.” When the wide-awake, shrew workmen observed his courage and listened to his eloquent explanation of the role of the priest and the Sisters in the town of Chaffee, he was not only allowed to leave unmolested but the entire crowd dispersed and returned peacefully to their homes.
A few days after this episode, Father Lonergan attended a picnic at the farm of Mr. Fred H. Dierssen. On this occasion he explained to the people present that the Ku Klux Klan had no place in democracy and that those who were promoting it were doing so for selfish reasons. So convincing were his arguments that the people no sooner became acquainted with the truth and the facts than its most ardent advocates severed all connection with the Klan and the organization disbanded.
Through the mercy of God, and perhaps through the prayers of those whom her husband persecuted, Mrs. Fred H. Dierssen became a convert to the Catholic Church. In her last illness she sent her old friend, Mrs. H. McEwing for Father Lonergan at whose hands she received the Sacrament of Baptism, Penance and Extreme Unction.
Closing of St. Ambrose High School Despite the triumph of the pastor over the Ku Klux Klan’s attempts to close St. Ambrose School, he was forced to close the high school department. The school failed to secure state accreditation because it lacked adequate physical facilities. Difficulty experienced by its graduates in gaining admission to institutions of higher learning induced Father Lonergan to discontinue the high school department in 1931. From that time graduates of St. Ambrose parochial School have received their secondary education at the Catholic High School in Cape Girardeau.
The Great Depression In 1931, when Father Lonergan was promoted to the pastorate of St. Cronan’s Church, St. Louis, he was succeeded at Chaffee by Rev. James Duggan. For the next five years Father Duggan executed the various parish duties with diligent care, letting no opportunity pass of bringing the comforts of religion to his parishioners. During the first year of his administration economic depression reduced the enrollment in St. Ambrose School from 109 to 85, so that instead of the seven Sisters engaged in teaching in 1930, only four were required in 1932. The enrollment continued to drop with the result that but three Sisters were assigned to Chaffee in 1933. The economic depression also hampered material progress but Father Duggan’s amiability and generosity so won the respect of the parishioners that many improvements were made in the parish.
Fire Destroys Church On April 12, 1942, just six years after the Rev. Walter Craig became pastor of Chaffee, a catastrophic fire completely destroyed St. Ambrose Church. At the time the pastor considered the erection of a new church; because of the war however, building materials were unobtainable. Father Craig solved the immediate problem by converting the school basement into a temporary church. Later the basement, already becoming too small for the rapidly growing parish, was remodeled and enlarged. Yet, even with all this, the parishioners realized the need for a true and real house of God. Their dream came true when in 1953 Father Craig’s successor, the Rev. Thomas Geraghty obtained permission from His Excellency the most Rev. Joseph E. Ritter, to build a new church.
New Church Built Father Geraghty officiated at the groundbreaking exercises on August 9, 1953. The cornerstone of the church was laid on March 19, 1954 and the first Mass celebrated in the beautiful fireproof modified Gothic structure on May 30, 1954. On the occasion of the dedication of St. Ambrose Church by His Excellency the Most Rev. Joseph E. Ritter, evidence of civic pride is found in the account of the event in the local newspaper.
During Father Geraghty’s active pastorate of eight years in Chaffee the parishioners have learned to trust him as a friend, admire him as a priest and love him as a pastor. He is keenly aware that the salvation of souls is the major aim of the priesthood. From the sixty families that comprised St. Ambrose Parish in 1918, the number increased to eighty in 1928. Parish statistics for the year 1955 reveals: 240 families, 878 souls, 20 baptisms of infants, 14 converts to the faith, 28 first communicants, 8 marriages, 8 deaths, 156 children enrolled in the parochial school. Further evidence of progress is apparent. Families who had been hostile or at least indifferent to the Catholic Church are now friends of the Sisters, expressing their loyalty by contributions to the convent larger. Graduates from the school have been successful in the business and professional world. Many former students distinguished themselves in the service of their country; two members of the parish have dedicated their lives to the service of God—the Rev. William Ludwig as a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and Sister M. Edith LeGrand in the Institute of our Lady of Mercy. Yet traces of bigotry remain. The occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the City in 1955 passed without one word of recognition or commendation for the zealous priests who served both Catholic and non-Catholics in prosperity and adversity, or for the thirty-nine Sisters of Mercy. Due to Father Geraghty’s ill health and limited activities necessitated Bishop Chas. Helmsing to appoint an assistant, the Rev. William Stanton, serving from 1959-1963. The Rev. Phillip Bucher succeeded Father Stanton and assisted from 1963-1966. The Rev. Thomas Geraghty passed away on May 17, 1966, interment was in the St. Ambrose Catholic Cemetery. Father Bucher’s appointment in 1963 was by Bishop Ignatius Strecker. The Rev. James Holmes became pastor of Chaffee. During his pastorate he anticipated to discontinue the St. Ambrose School System entirely but through strong opposition of the majority votes of the parish members and school board the School remained open. At that time the Sisters left Chaffee to their new assignments. In 1972 the school was staffed entirely with lay teachers for the first time since its beginning in 1918. Rev. Raymond Kunkel was assigned to St. Ambrose Parish on September 29, 1975 as successor to Father Holmes. The 1976-77 school year marked the beginning of the first Kindergarten Class with an enrollment of 15 pupils. The program was initiated through the efforts of interested parents and school board. Building of New School A joint meeting was held one PM on July 24, 1982 at the school by the Parish Council and School Board members (1981-83) for the purpose of either renovate the old school or build a new school building. On February 24, 1983 the Parish Council Members presented a special program and dinner in order to exhibit an artist rendition of the proposed new Educational Facilities and Parish Center. The basic estimated cost at $400,000.00. On March 20, 1983 the St. Ambrose Parish Family gave their unanimous approval with a “Good News” report from Father Kunkel in the amount of $252,622.00 in pledges and gifts. The school year of 1982-83 ended on May 20, 1983. An Auction was held on May 21, 1983 and the remaining hull was demolished on May 31, 1983. Father Kunkel officiated at the groundbreaking exercise on June 19, 1983. The new Educational Facilities portion was completed in schedule time. Classes began on September 6, 1983 with an enrollment of 102 pupils. Through the 66 years that St. Ambrose School has been in existence at least three generations and approximately 2000 students have attended the school. With Father Kunkel’s thematic words “WE DID IT”, supported by team effort of the Parish Council and the Parish family proves “IT CAN BE DONE”. Bernard F. Law, Bishop, Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO officiating. History of St. Ambrose School Edited & donated by Tony Garito, December 4, 1983
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