Patrick Henneberry | ANZ Clergy


About Help Contact login Rev Patrick Henneberry CPPS Title: Rev First Name: Patrick Middle Names: Preferred Name: Surname: Henneberry Order: CPPS Date of Birth: 1830 Place of Birth: Co Kilkenny Country of Birth: Ireland Date of Ordination: 21-Nov-1853 Place of Ordination: Cleveland OH Country of Ordination: USA Ordination Diocese: Seminary: Date of Death: 19-Sep-1897 Place of Death: Virginia City NV Country of Death: USA Date of Burial: 1897 Place of Burial: Virginia City NV Country of Burial: USA Find A Grave URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133150345 FindaGrave - Person Photo FindaGrave - Grave Photo Biographical Notes Father Patrick Henneberry, CPPS Church in the Gold Mines By Father John Dwyer, printed in the July 29, 1976 issue of the Catholic Herald When writing about the principal men who gave missions in the old Grass Valley Diocese, together with the name of Father James Bouchard, SJ goes that of Father Patrick Henneberry of the Precious Blood Fathers. Although the Jesuit served longer, the Irish missioner was equally popular in the matter of giving missions throughout the mining towns of the old diocese. Born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1830, Patrick Henneberry migrated to the United States in 1847 when he was only seventeen years old. He entered the Precious Blood Fathers Seminary in Thompson, Ohio and was ordained at age 23 by the first Bishop of Cleveland, Amadeus Rappe, on November 21, 1853. For the next two years he served in parishes and gave missions in Ohio. In 1855 he was sent to Europe where he studied the French and Roman languages for several months returning to Ohio in 1856. In June 1863 he was freed from parish duties to do exclusively mission work. In response to an invitation from Archbishop Alemany he came west to give missions, his first being in Old St Mary Cathedral on September 24, 1865. This led to a series of missions in the mining counties of the original Archdiocese of San Francisco, El Dorado, Calaveras and Placer. Bishop O’Connell heard of his eloquence and was the next to invite him to give missions in his diocese. In 1867, while giving a mission in Eureka, Father Henneberry proposed the idea of making a foundation of his order in that area. The hard pressed bishop was delighted at the prospect of being able to populate this corner of his vast diocese with priests and consent was quickly given. Thus Bishop O’Connell appointed Father Henneberry pastor of Eureka in November 1868. Father Henneberry left for Ohio in the spring of 1869 and returned on June 21, 1869 accompanied by two more priests, Fathers Bernard Dickman and Anthony Guggenberger and a seminarian, Godfrey Schlachter. Father Henneberry proceeded to purchase a whole block of property bounded by 7th and 8th streets on one side and by F and G on the other, the site of the present Eureka Inn. The whole block was purchased for $1,750. On it Father Henneberry built a substantial wooden building, large enough to house the three priests, three brothers and seven seminarians who took up residence in it when it was completed. This foundation served the nearby communities of Rohnerville, Ferndale, Table Bluff and Arcata. But this was not enough for the zeal of Father Henneberry. He conceived the idea of building a college for the education of boys, a project dear to the heart of Bishop O’Connell. When the college opened in 1872, Father Henneberry and most of the community moved from the Eureka building to the new college in Rohnerville. Father Bernard Dickman now became the pastor of Eureka and Father Henneberry the rector of the college. When in the next few years the college project showed signs of failing, Father Henneberry never lost confidence. But when the creditors pressed so hard that the Ohio headquarters had to come to Father Henneberry’s rescue, this zealous missionary felt that the huge debt was his own and he set about endeavoring to repay the Ohio community. Therefore, on August 15, 1877 he sailed for Australia to begin a successful series of missions there which caused him to travel 42,728 miles in the next five years. He gave 129 missions in Australia, made 166 converts and administered the pledge to 102,730 persons. Meanwhile every cent he made, after deducting his own expenses, went to the Ohio community to pay off the Rohnerville debt. From Australia he went to New Zealand and Tasmania. In 1883 he was in South Africa where he gave twenty one missions and made fifty-six converts. His final tour was in India at the end of 1883, after which he headed for Rome. Meanwhile the Rohnerville College had closed down for lack of students. Yet Father Henneberry never gave up on its potential. His heart remained in Rohnerville even while he traveled through England and Ireland giving missions and administering pledges. When this tour of duty ended he returned to America where the Provincial informed him to his delight that if he would turn over the deeds to the Rohnerville property to the community he could return to California and reestablish the school. In the meantime there was a new bishop. However, when Father Henneberry approached Bishop Manogue with the idea of reopening the college, the bishop consented. The school was reopened in 1886, but by 1889 had again failed and had to be closed and the property repossessed. Father Henneberry continued to give missions and while giving one in Virginia City in 1897, he was laid low by a stroke. He lingered for one month and then on September 19, 1897, he gave up his valiant soul to his God. He was one of the last patients in the Sisters’ Hospital in Virginia City, as it closed after his death. For three quarters of a century he was the only priest buried in the Catholic cemetery in Virginia City. Like so many of the old pioneers the occasional visitor to his grave has no idea that beneath the monument lies the remains of a great priest whose name was once known on almost all of the continents of the world, who established the only school for boys in the old Grass Valley Diocese, and who alone carried an enormous financial debt which he paid back by his immense labors over fifteen years. Reprinted by Fr John E. Boll, Diocesan Archivist, Sacramento Diocesan Archives, 2014, https://www.scd.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/Vol_2_No_30_Father_Patrick_Henneberry_CPPS.pdf. --- Fr Henneberry in Oceania: notes by Rev Dr C.P. Hanlon Fr Henneberry embarked on a series of Missions throughout the USA for over 30 years and visited New Zealand in early 1879. In 1879-1880 he preached a series of temperance-style missions in Queensland (St. Stephen’s Cathedral, 15 June 1879; Ipswich, July; Bowen and Mackay, July; Townsville, Aug.; Charters Towers, Aug.; Ravenswood Aug.; Maryborough, Oct. 5; Gympie, Oct.26; Bundaberg, Nov. 16; Toowoomba, Nov.30). Sources: The Australian, Brisbane, 7 June 1879, p.767, 14 June, p. 790, 21 June, p.814, 5 July, pp. 861-862, 19 July, pp. 909 & 912, 26 July 1879, p. 935. The Australian, Brisbane, 4 October 1879, p.1172. Neil J. Byrne, Robert Dunne, Archbishop of Brisbane 1830-1917, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1991, pp. 90, 162. Reproduced by permission of Rev Dr C.P. Hanlon. --- See also "Preaching Was Fr. Hennebery’s Gift", adapted from the late Fr. Dominic Gerlach’s Interpretative History of the American Province C.PP.S. 1838-1965, published in 1994, https://cpps-preciousblood.org/2021/04/preaching-was-fr-henneberys-gift/.

Title:

Rev

First Name:

Patrick

Middle Names:

Preferred Name:

Surname:

Henneberry

Order:

CPPS

Date of Birth:

1830

Place of Birth:

Co Kilkenny

Country of Birth:

Ireland

Date of Ordination:

21-Nov-1853

Place of Ordination:

Cleveland OH

Country of Ordination:

USA

Ordination Diocese:

Seminary:

Date of Death:

19-Sep-1897

Place of Death:

Virginia City NV

Country of Death:

USA

Date of Burial:

1897

Place of Burial:

Virginia City NV

Country of Burial:

USA

Find A Grave URL:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/133150345

FindaGrave - Person Photo

FindaGrave - Grave Photo

Father Patrick Henneberry, CPPS
Church in the Gold Mines
By Father John Dwyer, printed in the July 29, 1976 issue of the Catholic Herald

When writing about the principal men who gave missions in the old Grass Valley Diocese, together with the name of Father James Bouchard, SJ goes that of Father Patrick Henneberry of the Precious Blood Fathers. Although the Jesuit served longer, the Irish missioner was equally popular in the matter of giving missions throughout the mining towns of the old diocese.

Born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1830, Patrick Henneberry migrated to the United States in 1847 when he was only seventeen years old. He entered the Precious Blood Fathers Seminary in Thompson, Ohio and was ordained at age 23 by the first Bishop of Cleveland, Amadeus Rappe, on November 21, 1853.

For the next two years he served in parishes and gave missions in Ohio. In 1855 he was sent to Europe where he studied the French and Roman languages for several months returning to Ohio in 1856. In June 1863 he was freed from parish duties to do exclusively mission work.

In response to an invitation from Archbishop Alemany he came west to give missions, his first being in Old St Mary Cathedral on September 24, 1865. This led to a series of missions in the mining counties of the original Archdiocese of San Francisco, El Dorado, Calaveras and Placer. Bishop O’Connell heard of his eloquence and was the next to invite him to give missions in his diocese.

In 1867, while giving a mission in Eureka, Father Henneberry proposed the idea of making a foundation of his order in that area. The hard pressed bishop was delighted at the prospect of being able to populate this corner of his vast diocese with priests and consent was quickly given. Thus Bishop O’Connell appointed Father Henneberry pastor of Eureka in November 1868.

Father Henneberry left for Ohio in the spring of 1869 and returned on June 21, 1869 accompanied by two more priests, Fathers Bernard Dickman and Anthony Guggenberger and a seminarian, Godfrey Schlachter. Father Henneberry proceeded to purchase a whole block of property bounded by 7th and 8th streets on one side and by F and G on the other, the site of the present Eureka Inn. The whole block was purchased for $1,750. On it Father Henneberry built a substantial wooden building, large enough to house the three priests, three brothers and seven seminarians who took up residence in it when it was completed. This foundation served the nearby communities of Rohnerville, Ferndale, Table Bluff and Arcata.

But this was not enough for the zeal of Father Henneberry. He conceived the idea of building a college for the education of boys, a project dear to the heart of Bishop O’Connell. When the college opened in 1872, Father Henneberry and most of the community moved from the Eureka building to the new college in Rohnerville.

Father Bernard Dickman now became the pastor of Eureka and Father Henneberry the rector of the college. When in the next few years the college project showed signs of failing, Father Henneberry never lost confidence. But when the creditors pressed so hard that the Ohio headquarters had to come to Father Henneberry’s rescue, this zealous missionary felt that the huge debt was his own and he set about endeavoring to repay the Ohio community.

Therefore, on August 15, 1877 he sailed for Australia to begin a successful series of missions there which caused him to travel 42,728 miles in the next five years. He gave 129 missions in Australia, made 166 converts and administered the pledge to 102,730 persons. Meanwhile every cent he made, after deducting his own expenses, went to the Ohio community to pay off the Rohnerville debt.

From Australia he went to New Zealand and Tasmania. In 1883 he was in South Africa where he gave twenty one missions and made fifty-six converts. His final tour was in India at the end of 1883, after which he headed for Rome.

Meanwhile the Rohnerville College had closed down for lack of students. Yet Father Henneberry never gave up on its potential. His heart remained in Rohnerville even while he traveled through England and Ireland giving missions and administering pledges. When this tour of duty ended he returned to America where the Provincial informed him to his delight that if he would turn over the deeds to the Rohnerville property to the community he could return to California and reestablish the school.

In the meantime there was a new bishop. However, when Father Henneberry approached Bishop Manogue with the idea of reopening the college, the bishop consented. The school was reopened in 1886, but by 1889 had again failed and had to be closed and the property repossessed.

Father Henneberry continued to give missions and while giving one in Virginia City in 1897, he was laid low by a stroke. He lingered for one month and then on September 19, 1897, he gave up his valiant soul to his God. He was one of the last patients in the Sisters’ Hospital in Virginia City, as it closed after his death.

For three quarters of a century he was the only priest buried in the Catholic cemetery in Virginia City. Like so many of the old pioneers the occasional visitor to his grave has no idea that beneath the monument lies the remains of a great priest whose name was once known on almost all of the continents of the world, who established the only school for boys in the old Grass Valley Diocese, and who alone carried an enormous financial debt which he paid back by his immense labors over fifteen years.

Reprinted by Fr John E. Boll, Diocesan Archivist, Sacramento Diocesan Archives, 2014, https://www.scd.org/sites/default/files/2017-06/Vol_2_No_30_Father_Patrick_Henneberry_CPPS.pdf.

---

Fr Henneberry in Oceania:
notes by Rev Dr C.P. Hanlon

Fr Henneberry embarked on a series of Missions throughout the USA for over 30 years and visited New Zealand in early 1879.

In 1879-1880 he preached a series of temperance-style missions in Queensland (St. Stephen’s Cathedral, 15 June 1879; Ipswich, July; Bowen and Mackay, July; Townsville, Aug.; Charters Towers, Aug.; Ravenswood Aug.; Maryborough, Oct. 5; Gympie, Oct.26; Bundaberg, Nov. 16; Toowoomba, Nov.30).

Sources:

The Australian, Brisbane, 7 June 1879, p.767, 14 June, p. 790, 21 June, p.814, 5 July, pp. 861-862, 19 July, pp. 909 & 912, 26 July 1879, p. 935.
The Australian, Brisbane, 4 October 1879, p.1172.
Neil J. Byrne, Robert Dunne, Archbishop of Brisbane 1830-1917, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, 1991, pp. 90, 162.

Reproduced by permission of Rev Dr C.P. Hanlon.

---

See also "Preaching Was Fr. Hennebery’s Gift", adapted from the late Fr. Dominic Gerlach’s Interpretative History of the American Province C.PP.S. 1838-1965, published in 1994, https://cpps-preciousblood.org/2021/04/preaching-was-fr-henneberys-gift/.

Rev Patrick Henneberry CPPS

Biographical Notes