Name: Rt. Rev. Henry COSGROVE D.D.

Sex: Male

Father: John COSGROVE (1808-1880)

Mother: Bridget KANE (1816-)

Individual Facts

Birth 19 Dec 1834 in Williamsport,,PA

Ordained 27 Aug 1857 in Dubugue,,IA (age 22)

Death 22 Dec 1906 in Davenport,,IA (age 72)

Occupation Bishop ((14 Sep 1884 - 22 Dec1906))

Burial #9; in Mt.Calvary Cemetery,Davenport,,IA

 

Notes

Occupation:

Taken from " CORK HILL CATHEDRAL" The Chronicle of St. Margaret's and Sacred Heart Parish, Davenport, Iowa 1856-1956 by Edward C. Greer

Pg. 330

APPENDIX C Petition

Sent to Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect of Propagation of the Faith Asking that Henry Cosgrove be Considered for the Episcopacy for the Davenport Diocese (Copy in Latin in Davenport Diocesan Archives)

Most Eminent and Reverend Father:

Although without a doubt the safest means are not wanting which the holy See can make use of to select wisely Bishops for the American mission, and especially so since it can avail itself to the end of the candidates previously chosen by the Bishops of each ecclesiastical province, still it seems not improper were the undersigned priests of the Diocese of Davenport to express their minds humbly and , as it were offer their desires, presuming on the kindness of the holy See, when now they act in order to get a proper pastor for their diocese.

The Reverend henry Cosgrove, a priest of our diocese, seems to be fortified by a stronger right for the episcopal See of Davenport than any outsider. On our missions and along the banks of the Mississippi River, he has been educated and has grown into manhood; here also he was ordained a priest and through twenty-six years in the same city and in an acceptable manner he has fulfilled his sacred duties. His affable manners have endeared him to Catholics and non-Catholics and the best name he enjoys among those of the household of the faith and of those who are without. He is endowed with learned ability and he is in possession of knowledge to enable him to carry on the affairs of the diocese; he is eminent no less in piety and zeal for souls. Facility of speech he enjoys; and since he has been helped by the experience of having been Vicar-General and Administrator of the diocese, which he now is, he is in possession of knowledge in those things that pertain to the missions, and hence he can provide more quickly and better for their necessities.

He has been all things to all men, fair and just to the faithful without regard to their origin.

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Further, since the Reverend P. Riordan has been made coadjutor to the Archbishop of San Francisco who, it is remembered, was designated and commended as successor by John McMullen, of blessed memory, our first Bishop, we now join our entreaties with the wishes of the same departed Bishop, to the apostolic See in proposing, as our next Bishop, the afore-mentioned Reverend Henry Cosgrove.

We pray that you will be willing and see fit to present these our entreaties and our wishes to the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, to the Reverend Cardinals and to His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII.

 

Note by Father John Kempker: This petition was sent to and signed by all the Davenport priests excepting J.F. Kempker, Tom O'Reilly, M. Flavin, William Emonds, O. Brommenschenkel, C. Lowrey. And many signed because the thought it would make no difference anyhow; and if they did not sign they would be made to feel the consequences.

General:

The following was taken from "THE LIFE OF THE MOST REVEREND CLEMENT SMYTH, D.D., O.C.S.O." Second Bishop of Dubuque, 1858-1865. by Sister Mary Gertrude henri, HM.

Pg.153 Chapter XI

"Brief Sketch of the Life of Right Reverend Henry Cosgrove, D.D."

The beloved and revered second Bishop of Davenport, Rt. Rev. Henry Cosgrove, was born at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, December 19, 1833. A few years later his parents moved to Hollidaysburg, Pa., where the family lived until 1845. When henry was eleven years old, the family came to Dubuque. Here he became a pupil of the pioneer missionaries. It was they who discerned in the little boy the whisperings of Heaven bidding him be a priest. Very Rev. Father Cretin, V. G., then Pastor of the Cathedral, who loved the little boy, said to him on one occasion, as was the custom of the zealous missionary to say to many of the boys that gathered around him at the foot of the altar, "My little fellow, would you not like to be a priest?" And henry answered, "Yes." In 1849, when Father Cretin was named Bishop of St. Paul, he said to Henry, "Now you will be the first student of the Diocese of St. Paul. While I travel afar to receive the sacred oils of consecration, go to St. Paul and await there my coming."

Providence willed that henry, although he did go to St. Paul, did not stay there long, as he felt

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he was claimed by Dubuque. In 1852, when ready to take up the study of Philosophy, he was sent by Bishop Loras to St. Mary's Seminary at the Barrens, near Cape Girardeau, Mo., conducted by the priests of the Congregation of the Mission, commonly called Lazarists, the Order founded by St. Vincent de Paul. After a year's study at the Barrens he returned to St. Bernard's Seminary, Table Mound, near Dubuque, and took up the study of Theology.

In 1855 the seminary was closed, and Henry was obliged, in order to complete his course in Theology, to enter the Diocesan Seminary at Carondelet, Mo., prominent amoung the faculty of this institution being the future Archbishop Hennessy of Dubuque and the future Archbishop Feehan of Chicago.

In the summer of 1857 Rev. Henry Cosgrove completed his Theological course and, having been elevated to the rank of Deacon, returned to Dubuque, ready for ordination to the sacred priesthood. he received a royal welcome from the people on his arrival, many of whom had known him from boyhood.

On August 27, 1857, the ceremony of ordination took place in the old Cathedral. "The Cradle of the Catholic Church in Iowa." It was the first ordination ceremony performed by Bishop Smyth, and therefore aroused general interest.

The church was filled to its utmost capacity. The scene within was very impessive. The

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sanctuary was ablaze with lights and redolent with the odors of choice flowers.

As the procession entered, all eyes were fixed, all eyes were strained, to get a glimpse of the Bishop, and as they saw his dignified and manly countenance, yet blending at the same time that great benignity and suavity of expression, all hearts were drawn towards him.

Mr. Norman presided at the organ, and the choir rendered special music for the great occasion. Further particulars relating to the ceremony are not available. It is probable that the sermon was preached by the Bishop.

Speaking of his first assignment Bishop Cosgrove stated that it and subsequent developments showed what apparently trifling matters change a person's whole course in life. Shortly after his ordination Bishop Smyth notified him that he wished him to go to Independence, Iowa, and take charge of the church there. At this time, however, Rev. A. Trevis, Pastor of St. Margaret's Church, Davenport, happened to be taken ill, and the day young Father Cosgrove was to have started for Independence a letter arrived from Davenport asking the Bishop to send an assistant to St. Margaret's temporarily, as he wished to take a trip abroad for his health. The Bishop then notified Father Cosgorve to go to Davenport instead of to Independence. Had the letter arrived a day later, some one else would have been assigned to St. Margaret's, and the history of this important parish might thus have been

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changed. Thus Providence seemed to have shaped affairs that the young Levite should be placed in that particular path which led to the fullest utilization of his learning and piety in the sacred ministry. Father Trevis returned after a few months.

In November, 1861, father Trevis suffering from a severe throat trouble decided to seek relief in another climate, and went to Europe, so that Father Cosgrove entered upon the full charge of the parish. Father Trevis returned in 1881 and was assigned to Mercy Hospital by Bishop McMullen.

When the Diocese of Dubuque was divided, Father McMullen, of Chicago, was appointed the first Bishop of Davenport. He chose St. Margaret's Church for his Cathedral and appointed Father Cosgrove Vicar General. Bishop McMullen, after a lingering illness, died on July 4, 1883. Father Cosgrove became administrator of the Diocese.

Bishop McMullen became ill a few months after his arrival in Davenport. Vicar General Cosgrove had been in charge of the affairs of the Diocese in everything but the name and the episcopal offices which the Bishop alone could fill. When Bishop McMullen got the idea that his illness would prove fatal, he wrote a letter in which he appointed Vicar General Cosgrove administrator of the Diocese in case of his death. The letter was sealed and placed in safe hands and never opened until after the funeral of the Bishop. A

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short time before his death he sent a letter to the Holy Father in which he stated that he had been so ill most of the time since his consecration as to be unable to attend to the duties of his office, but that his work had been entrusted to his Vicar General, Very Rev. Henry Cosgrove, who had performed his duties admirably in every respect. Father Cosgrove was not, however, one of the three priests recommended for the Bishopric by the provincial Bishops.

As no appointment had been made, all were anxiously awaiting the result. Rev. A. Trevis, at the suggestion of Very Rev. Dean A. Niermann, Pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Davenport, sent a cablegram to Rome asking that no action be taken as to the appointment of a Bishop of Davenport until after the priests of the Diocese could be heard from, and then the petition signed by the priests of the Davenport Diocese was sent to Rome. When the cardinals assembled to consider the appointment, the situation was thoroughly considered and finally His Holiness Pope Leo XIII said, "Father Cosgrove is the man." This was the first in the history of the Church in the United States that the priests of the Diocese petitioned for the appointment of one of their number to the episcopal dignity.

On July 20, 1884, a private cablegram came from Rome, and was received by Rev. A. Trevis, announcing that the Holy See had appointed Father Cosgrove Bishop of Davenport. The offical papers arrived August 11, 1884.

Pg. 158

Sunday, September 14, 1884, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, was the day chosen for the consecration of the new Bishop. At 9:30 o'clock the procession of visiting priests and visiting prelates entered the sanctuary. The officers of the consecration cermony were as follows: Consecrator and Celebrant of the Mass, Most Rev. P. A. Feehan, Archbishop of Chicago; First Assistant Consecrator, Rt. Rev. John Hennessy, Bishop of Dubuque; Second Assistant Consecrator, Rt. Rev. J. O'Connor, Bishop of Omaha. The sermon was delivered by Archbishop Ireland, of St. Paul.

It was in the summer of 1903 that Bishop Cosgrove was stricken with the first severe attack of illness that finally culminated in his death.

His condition then for some time was regarded as serious, and although growing better he realized that his health was so undermined that it would be impossible for him to perform the duties of his office, so he sent a petition to the Holy See for the appointment of a Coadjutor Bishop. This petion was granted, and after due deliberation Vicar General Davis was elevated to the rank with the right of succession. Bishop Cosgrove suffered a long and painful illness, caused by cancer of the left kidney and stomach trouble; the pain at times was intense, but he bore it with heroic patience. The Bishop was thoroughly resigned to die. He often spoke of death, not with any sentiment of regret, but, on the contrary, with a holy longing to be dissolved

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and to be with Christ, like the Apostle of old. He had fought the good fight, and was anxious to enter into the joy of the Lord. Remaining conscious, except for a short time during the sinking spells, he calmly expired Saturday, Dec. 22, 1906, at 7:25 P.M.

The solemn Pontifical Mass of requiem was sung Thursday at 10 o'clock A.M. Celebrant, Most. Rev. J.J. Keane. Serman by the Most Rev. Archbishop Ireland.

Bishop Cosgrove's earthly life is ended, but the grand achievements of that life remain to bless those wo are left to mourn his loss. Churches, schools, colleges, academies he had cherished into vital forces are his legacy and his justification now before the Throne of the Master. he was always the saintly priest having but one ambition-to serve God and to save souls.

 

NOTE: At the time of the death of Bishop Cosgrove, Mr. McCarty, of Sioux City, announced in the daily paper that he was present at the ordination of Bishop Cosgrove which ceremony took place in the old Cathedral and not in the new Cathedral, as erroneously stated. The foundation of the new Cathedral was being laid at the time, and the first Mass in that structure was not celebrated until the following February (1858), when Bishop Loras said the first Mass in the hastily fitted up basement a few days before his death, which proved also to be the last Mass celebrated by that saintly prelate. This much in the interest of historical accuracy.

Prepared by:

Wm. L. Murray

602 N. Central Ave.

PO Box 158

Kenmare, ND. 58746-0158

(701)385-4451

murray@kenmare.ndak.net

 

 

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