John Martin Henni
John Martin Henni [1]
an eminent Roman Catholic prelate, was born at Obersanzen, canton Graubiinden, Switzerland, June 13, 1805. He studied at the gymnasia of St. Gall and Zurich, went to Rome in 1824, and was there educated for the priesthood. In 1827 he came to America with bishop Fenwick of Cincinnati, and went to the seminary at Bardstown, Kentucky, where he was ordained priest, February 2, 1829. He was assigned to the spiritual charge of the German-speaking Catholics of Cincinnati, and was also made professor in the Athenaeum in that city, which has since developed into St. Xavier's College. He was afterwards sent as a missionary to the north- western part of Ohio. In 1834 he was brought back to Cincinnati and made pastor of the Holy Trinity Church, and vicar-general to bishop Pturcell. He was a leader in everything pertaining to the welfare of the German immigrants, and in 1836 he founded and became the first editor of the Wahrheitsfreund. At the Fifth Provincial Council at Baltimore, in 1843, Milwaukee was made a see, and Henni was appointed its first bishop, being ordained in the Cathedral of Cincinnati, March 19, 1844. In 1847 St. Mary's Church was opened, a cathedral begun, and a hospital founded and put in charge of the Sisters of Charity. Archbishop Henni established an orphan asylum, introduced the School Sisters of Notre Dame, and built two churches. In 1855 he opened the seminary of St. Francis de Sales. Henni died September 7, 1881. He left a powerful establishment, with three dioceses, 185 priests, 258 churches, 125 schools. 25 religious and charitable institutions, and 200,000 Catholics. See (N.Y.) Catholic Annual, 1883, page 51; De Courcy and Shea, Hist. of the Cath. Church in the U.S. page 594.
