County of memorial: Cole County
Location of memorial: MO M, St. Francis Xavier Church lawn, Taos
Memorial erected by: The Members of St. Francis Xavier Parish
Date memorial erected: 1974
Memorial Text:
1874 CENTENNIAL MEMORIAL 1974
FATHER HELIAS
"Go forth out of thy country and from thy kindred and come into the land which I will show thee. ~ Gen. 12:1
Erected by the members of St. Francis Xavier Parish in tribute to the founder often referred to as "The Apostle of Central Missouri."
Father Ferdinand Helias
Born on August 3, 1796
"In 1838, Rev. Ferdinand Helias was sent by the Jesuit Provincial of St. Louis to minister to the band of German immigrants who had settled near the Maries River in present-day Osage County, Missouri. These folks were form the Westphalen Province of Germany and had chosen the beautiful Maries River country as their American home. It was said the green, rolling hillsides and river valleys reminded them of their German homeland.
"The German immigrants desired to preserve their traditions and customs even though in a strange new land. The descendants of these German pioneers have continued the same beliefs, attitudes and customs into our present day.
"When Father Helias arrived in Osage County, he decided a new church should be built upriver a short distance from where an old log building was standing. They called their new community New Westphalia, later shortened to Westphalia. Father Helias named the log church and parish for St. Joseph and it was designated as the Jesuit headquarters for central Missouri.
"It was from this Maries River town that Father Helias, with a missionary zeal, ventured out and founded six additional parishes including Taos, Reich Bonn (Rich Fountain), Loose Creek, St. Peters at Jefferson City, St. Thomas and Cedron. An offshoot of the additional parishes has been established throughout the last century in the counties of Maries, Miller, Osage, Cole and Callaway.
"His life story is a fascinating adventure. Born Ferdinand Bonoit Marie Gusilan Helias D'Huddinghen on Aug 3, 1797, Father Helias was a native of French Flanders (Belgium). He was born in the same house where Emperor Charles V was born and he grew up in the town of Ghent, which was predominantly Flemish-Catholics; the language was Flemish/Dutch. Father Helias was not only a Jesuit priest, but he also served as an ex-soldier and was considered to be a man of wealth. These qualities produced an outstanding pioneer missionary for the American wilderness. It was said his superiors were happy to send him off to America because they felt he was too wild and energetic for any European cloister.
"Before coming to the Maries River country in the northern Ozarks, he served as priest to a band of German immigrants on St. Louis' north side, where he organized St. Joseph's Church. He made periodic missionary visits to the Catholic families along the Missouri River and its tributaries. He traveled by horseback seeking out and visiting the scattered Catholic folk.
"He would stay for a few days at each settlement, then venture further in search of more of his flock. He was as rugged a pioneer as the people he served. In his travels, it was not uncommon for him to sleep outdoors wrapped in buffalo robes. He braved fevers, the cholera epidemic of 1853, and the near-drowning in a river of himself and his boatman. During the Civil War, he was accused of harboring Confederate spies and he also endured many attacks from some Latin farmers who plagued him throughout his ministry.
"Father Helias was a man of personal wealth before becoming a priest and it was with this wealth that he helped to build many churches throughout his territory. He remained in Westphalia until 1842. At that time, he experienced some difficulties with his parishioners, so he returned to St. Louis for a short while. In the autumn of the same year, he returned to his missionary duties and moved his residence to Taos, a small community in Cole County.
"In 1848, Father Helias made a trip back to Westphalia to bless the cornerstone of the new stone church that was to be built. Today, the church is a historic landmark in its "old world" setting majestically standing atop a hill overlooking the green valley of the Maries River below.
"In 1838, when he first arrived in the region, one of the first jobs Father Helias undertook was enumerating a census for the Catholic settlements. It was difficult to translate his writings because he wrote the census in a combination of Latin, Old French, Flemish and a little German. Almost 170 years later, some of the family names he recorded in 1838 can still be found in the various parishes. He was also the first man to minister to the spiritual needs of the inmates of Missouri's state prison in Jefferson City.
"Father Helias died at age 78 on August 11, 1874, at Taos, poor and alone at his simple country rectory. He died with little more than the clothes he wore on his back with no attending physician and no relatives to give him comfort in his last hour of life. It was 78 years and eight days since he was born into a wealthy, noble Flemish family that he died alone in a simple log house on the plains of our northern Ozarks.
"On the shrine/tomb of Father Helias, located inside Taos St. Francis Xavier Church, are the following words. Flanders was my cradle; France instructed me; Italy, Germany and Switzerland sheltered me. After many ventures and labors on land and sea, God settled me in Missouri. The foundations of Westphalia were laid by me and seven churches were founded by me to the greater glory of God.
"It seems fitting that this pioneer priest, who was instrumental in establishing important parishes in central Missouri, should remain in the land he served so well. In his twilight years, he was given the opportunity to return to his native Belgium, but he refused. He loved his new land and its people and wished to live out his remaining years in our beautiful Ozark Plateau country. He was certainly a true and honored Missourian." ~ Peggy Smith Hake