Pioneer Missionary Priest
Valentine Sommereisen was the first resident Catholic priest in three large areas of the American West: southwestern Minnesota, the Dakota Territory, and western Kansas. Born 28 May 1829 in Rouffach, Alsace, a German-speaking part of eastern France, he was one of seven theology students who followed the great missionary, Fr. Augustin Ravoux, to Minnesota in 1854.Sommereisen was ordained by Bishop Joseph Cretin 8 March 1856 in the second Cathedral of St. Paul. His first assignment was to SS. Peter & Paul in Mankato. From there he ministered to 36 communities in 14 counties in southwest Minnesota. Many area families can trace ancestors' baptisms, marriages, and funerals to his signature on parish records.HM Number | HM1ERB |
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Tags | |
Year Placed | 2011 |
Placed By | The Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus Bishop Cretin Assembly, with research done by Fr. Eugene Hackert and George L. Glotzbach |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Friday, September 12th, 2014 at 9:39am PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 15T E 384050 N 4902764 |
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Decimal Degrees | 44.26888333, -94.45280000 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 44° 16.133', W 94° 27.168' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 44° 16' 7.98" N, 94° 27' 10.08" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 507 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 13262 Co Rd 25, New Ulm MN 56073, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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