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American Federation of Catholic Societies
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While doing some initial research on the life of great-grandfather Henry
Wessling, one of the facts about him was discovered in an obituary of the
Holy Trinity Church's monthly newsletter, "Monatsbote". At one time he was
involved with the above organization by having been the president of the
Suffolk County Federation and later the Archdiocesan Federation as well as
by having been a vice-president at the national level.
In order to learn more about this aspect of his life, a study of the organ-
ization was undertaken and four sources about the AFCS were located.
a. "The Lay Crusade for a Christian America: A Study of the American
Federation of Christian Societies" by Alfred J. Ede, 1988
(BX 810 .A443 .E34),
b. An entry in "The New Catholic Encyclopedia" by Gorman, 1967
(BX 841 .N45 v.1),
c. An entry in "The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History", 1997
(BX 1406.2 E53), and
d. "Federation of Catholic Societies 1870 - 1920", an unpublished
doctoral dissertation at the University of Notre Dame by M. A. F.
Gorman, 1962
(BX 809 .A54 .G67).
The University of Notre Dame has an extensive collection of documents per-
taining to the AFCS at the Hesburgh Library Archives.
The Boston Archdiocesan Archives has a file in which there are a number of
letters between Archbishop O'Connell and Henry Wessling.
Briefly, in 1890 the Pittsburgh diocese formed the first diocesan federa-
tion. In 1900 and 1901 organizational meetings took place in Philadelphia;
New York; and Trenton and Long Branch, New Jersey and a national organiza-
tion was formed. In the beginning it was influenced strongly by a number
of German-American Catholic societies.
The AFCS existed officially until 1920, but the last public meeting took
place in 1917. By 1919 it had been merged into the National Catholic Wel-
fare Council, which had been established in 1917 as a result of coordina-
ting various Catholic organizations supporting humanitarian aid owing to
World War I.
The purpose of the AFCS was for the advancement of the civil, religious,
and social interests of Catholics in the United States and its dependen-
cies. As a loose union of organizations which retained their autonomy and
identity, the AFCS worked to mold Catholic opinions in order to influence
legislation at the national, state, and local levels. It also helped to
'Americanize' immigrant Catholics.
The AFCS issued two publications, the "Bulletin" and the "Weekly Messen-
ger", in order to keep its members informed of significant issues.
While reading some of the articles written in the "Pilot", which was the
official newspaper of the archdiocese of Boston, it appeared that the local
federations received little coverage until Archbishop O'Connell took his
office in 1906. The January 20, 1907 issue of the "Pilot" mentioned a
meeting of the Suffolk County Federation which was presided over by Henry
Wessling. The April 27, 1907 edition stated that Archbishop O'Connell, the
principal speaker at the annual meeting of the Suffolk County Federation,
discussed the topics of the need for the AFCS to grow as well as the
'Volksverein" movement, which was based on the ideas of Windhorst and en-
dorsed by Pope Pius X. In the newspaper at this time there was a series of
articles dealing with Catholicism in Germany. After O'Connell's speech
"Pres. Wessling in his report recommended that steps be taken for the form-
ation of a state organization."
The AFCS held annual conventions from 1901 through 1919, although the 1905
convention was cancelled due to an outbreak of yellow fever. Of particular
interest was the 1908 convention which was held at Boston's Symphony Hall
from August 9th through the 12th. On the strength of a particularly ef-
fective speech by Bishop O'Connell at the 1907 convention in Indianapolis,
Boston was awarded this event.
Several of the Boston newspapers provided accounts of the activities. The
"Boston Herald" and the "Boston Post" included photographs of some of the
AFCS' national officers, executive board members, in addition to other dig-
nitaries. One of these people was Henry Wessling.
The August 9, 1908 edition of the "Boston Herald" published a good photo-
graph of Henry Wessling with the caption, "President Suffolk County
Branch, 4th Vice-President of National Body and Chairman of General Commit-
tee of Arrangements".
Beside his picture the schedule of events was given which in part stated,
"This evening at 8 o'clock a mass meeting will be held in Symphony Hall.
Admission will be free, no tickets, complimentary or otherwise, have been
issued. The clergy of the archdiocese will be provided with reserved seats
on the platform. "The meeting will be called to order (after an organ
recital) by Henry Wessling, president of Suffolk county branch of the
federation. He will introduce the presiding officer of the meeting, Judge
M. J. Murray of the municipal bench of Boston."
On page 1 of the August 10th edition of the "Boston Herald" the following
account was given. "By 8 o'clock even standing room in the corridors of
Symphony Hall had become exhausted, while the stage was crowded to the
anterooms. It was estimated that fully 4,000 people (There were about 500
delegates to the convention.) rose to greet the entrance of the dignitaries
of the evening. They were led to the stage by Henry Wessling, president of
the Suffolk County Federation, escorting Judge Murray and Archbishop O'Con-
nell, who wore his Episcopal robes and his gold chain and pectoral cross."
The August 15th edition of the "Pilot" quoted great-grandfather as follows.
(See page 4.)
"Your Grace, Right Reverend, Reverend, and Honorable Sirs, Ladies and
Gentlemen:
"It is my pleasant duty on behalf of the Federation delegates and
societies of the Diocese of Boston, to extend a hearty welcome to the
officers and delegates to the Seventh annual convention of the
American Federation of Catholic Societies."
In the August 11th edition of the same newspaper it was reported that Henry
Wessling had been appointed Chairman of the Constitution Committee.
The August 9th edition of the "Boston Post" (page 27) shows a photograph
similar to the one in the "Boston Herald". On pages 8 and 9 there is a
photograph of many delegates on the steps of Symphony Hall with the arch-
bishop in the center of the front row. (Is it possible that Henry Wessling
is also there?).
In the August 13th edition it was reported that Henry Wessling was reelected
4th Vice-President and that the next convention was scheduled for Pitts-
burgh.
The August 11, 1908 edition of the "Boston Globe" had a short article about
the German speaking delegates to the convention being entertained the pre-
vious evening at Casino Hall, which was associated with Holy Trinity
Church. The committee chairman for that function was Henry Wessling. Also,
the August 10th edition of the "Boston Globe" (See page 2.) had a story
about Catholic women who assisted the convention in its work. The name of
Mrs. Henry Wessling can be noted in that article.
The "Pilot" was researched to determine if Henry Wessling had been a dele-
gate to any of the other AFCS conventions. He seems to have attended the
1907 convention in Indianapolis as he gave a report of same to the county
federation. (See the August 3, 1907 edition.) At the 1909 convention in
Pittsburgh he was reelected as a national vice-president and at the 1910
convention in New Orleans, he was elected to the executive board.
The "Monatsbote", the parish newsletter of the Holy Trinity Parish, may have
mentioned that he had been in attendance at the 1906 convention in Buffalo,
which was probably his first national convention.
Following the 1908 convention the Archdiocese of Boston decided to reorgan-
ize by centralizing the structure of the five county federations. Various
meetings were called to discuss the new plan and the "Pilot" of December 26,
1908 reported that Henry Wessling was elected the first president of the
Archdiocesan Federation. This so-called "Boston Model" would be used later
in other parts of the country.
After the 1910 convention it appears that he was no longer active in the
AFCS. Perhaps it was due to his son's accident in October of 1910. Also,
the "Pilot" reported the elected officers of the AFCS and great-grandfather
was not among them. Thus, his recognition at the national level would seem
to have begun at the 1907 convention in Indianapolis. O'Connell was named
Cardinal in 1911, only the third American so recognized.
When Cardinal O'Connell delivered the eulogy at great-grandfather's funeral
service, his active participation in the AFCS was praised.
In the June 27, 1914 edition of the "Pilot" reference was made to great-
grandfather Wessling's commitment to the AFCS. "On June 21st at the semi-
annual convention of the Suffolk County Branch of the AFCS a committee
composed of Msgr. Supple, D.D., of Roxbury, Miss Mary O'Keefe, and Thomas
J. Kelly presented resolutions expressing the grief of the Federation on
the death of Henry Wessling, a former president. They were adopted by
unanimous vote and were spread upon the records of the meeting, a copy also
being sent to his family. These resolutions were as follows.
"The members of the Suffolk County Branch of the Catholic Federation in
its first convention assembled since the death of the late lamented Henry
Wessling, former president, desire to record their appreciation of his
character and worth:
'We shall ever hold in honor the name of Henry Wessling as a true man
of simple, unquestioning faith; of blameless and pious life; and of
ready, responsive obedience to every call of the Church. His life of
simple goodness was an inspiration to all.
'His constant interest in the work of the Federation was a persuasive
challenge to all of us to give to the cause the same deep and true
devotion.
'We feel a sense of gratitude to his Eminence, the Cardinal, for the
truly noble tribute which he paid to the memory of Mr. Wessling on the
occasion of his funeral. While we deplore his loss, we feel that God
has rewarded his honesty of purpose and Christian zeal. We are persuaded
that his simple devotion to a great cause will ever serve as an example
to us in forwarding the movement which he loved above all other earthly
interests.' "
"Msgr. Supple paid a glowing tribute to the memory of Mr. Wessling and in
his remarks urged upon the members the necessity of great activity in behalf
of the work of the Federation. He spoke in part as follows:
'The memory of Mr. Wessling will recall to all of you a man who gave
himself wholly to this cause. I think that you might search all over
the United States and not find any man who was so deeply interested and
so constantly attached to the cause of Federation as was Mr. Wessling.
There was scarcely ever any meeting of an Executive Board or a convention,
whether county, diocesan, or national that Mr. Wessling missed. He was
a man among men and above all he never looked for anything for himself.
'Although the office came to him, it was actually thrust upon him. Time
after time during his incumbency he came to my house to ask that he be
relieved and the place be given to someone else; but I knew my man. I saw
the example of constant, simple devotion which he gave to the cause and I
kept him there until all the Federation came to know his worth. When he
died the universal tribute paid to him as a man of unquestionable loyalty
to the cause to which he had pledged himself was the best tribute that
could be paid to his memory.'"
NOTES:
1. It might be an interesting project to review newspapers for accounts of
the following AFCS conventions.
July 29 - August 1, 1906 Buffalo
July 14 - July 17, 1907 Indianapolis
August 9 - August 11, 1909 Pittsburgh
November 13 - November 16, 1910 New Orleans
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