St. Joseph Parish at 254 Sixth St., Manistee, MI 49660 US - St. Joseph Rectory History

St. Joseph Rectory ca. 1909

The profile of Manistee is being slightly changed today--and an era is being remembered--as razing of the distinctive St. Joseph Parish Rectory on Sixth Street began this morning, making way for a new parish center. The 95-year-old tan brick rectory with its flaired and domed copper roof is the last in a line of parish buildings to be removed by time or catastrophe from the block. Only the renovated church still stands as a testimony to the hard work and dedication of the original Polish settlers and as the foundation of the contemporary parish community. Nearly a century of use took its toll on the rectory, which has undergone various amounts of remodeling and repair since it was erected in 1886 as the last phase in the building program of a new and ambitious parish. Information about the structure is sketchy, with Steve Harold of the Manistee County Historical Museum reporting that the only mention he found of it was two brief notations in the Manistee Sentinel. The Aug. 28, 1886 issue of the Sentinel said, "The parsonage of St. Joseph's Polish Catholic Church is rapidly approaching completion and presents a very neat appearance." In the Sept. 3, 1886 edition, the Sentinel said, "The finishing touches will soon be on the Polish Catholic Church (rectory)." Parish history, preserved in Polish, notes that the original cost of the rectory, or "plebania", as it was called, was $4,500. Harold commented that, for the time, it was fairly expensive. The history, as translated by a member of the parish and found in a copy of the parish's Silver Jubilee commemorative book, began in 1869, when it said Polish people first began coming to Manistee. The names of these early settlers were listed: Kubacki, Bielarz, Bulter, Lijewski, Jarka, and Ida. The heaviest immigration here came, it recounted, in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War. The Poles, a traditionally religious people with strong Catholic cultural roots, longed to worship in their mother tongue--and longed to hear the words of absolution. It was written that the Polish people who were to organize St. Joseph's parish often left their homes for two or three days to stay in line for confessions when Polish-speaking missionaries came to Manistee. In 1875, more Poles settled in Manistee, increasing the number of Catholics in general--and the number of Catholics who longed to hear sermons in the Polish language and enjoy the camaraderie of religious fellowship rooted in a common ancestry. And so in 1881, according to that Silver Jubilee book of 1909, the Poles began saving money to build their own church. At that time, all Catholics attended the French parish church of St. Mary's. A Golden Jubilee booklet also notes that, with Catholics of all nationalities worshiping at St. Mary's, the parish was very large. According to [the] translation, the Silver Jubilee book states that land was purchased for the parish in 1881, and that in 1882 a Jesuit priest blessed a cornerstone. Work apparently was halted for a while, and two other booklets, marking the Golden Jubilee and the 94th year of the parish, state that in 1883 a committee representing persons of Polish ancestry obtained permission from the bishop to found a new parish in Manistee. Around the year 1884 the church--actually two churches--were built. The first church was destroyed by a windstorm, but the parishioners persevered and in the same year built the church that today still stands, slightly changed in appearance. The Silver Jubilee history relates that the faithful waited a full year after the church was built to get a pastor. The first pastor assigned to Manistee St. Joseph's was the Rev. Father Matthew Grochowski, who served from 1885-1889. It was under Father Grochowski that a wooden school building, a convent, and the rectory were built. Father Grochowski lived in private homes before the rectory was available. The Silver Jubilee account said he was so busy ministering to the 700 families in his young but growing parish, that missionaries came to help him hear confessions. In 1889, Father Grochowski returned to Poland and died a short time later His successor at St. Joseph's was the Rev. Father Edward Kozlowski, who was to oversee still more growth and improvements. While Father Kozlowski was pastor the cornerstone of the large brick school which was destroyed by fire Jan. 24, 1978, was laid. Although, the Silver Jubilee history notes, Father Kozlowski only stayed at the parish a short time, while he was there it advanced from having just "bare necessities" to a church with bells and a clock. Growth was evident, as Father Kozlowski served 1,000 families. No further information was available about the rectory, other than, as a combined home for the priests and parish administration center, it was a major part of the parish community. It was to the door of the rectory that many persons walked to arrange a wedding, a funeral, or to seek counsel, get a copy of certificate of baptism, or summon the priest to a deathbed. At one time the rectory housed a pastor and two assistants. During special occasions, such as 40 Hours Devotion, bishops and participating priests stayed at the rectory, where the attic could be used as a dormitory. The rectory was used until salvage operations began this year. In March, the priests and administrative offices moved to the "new" convent at 254 Sixth St. Nuns serving the parish now live in two houses on Hopkins Street. The original convent, a red brick building next to the rectory, had been torn down around 1962. The "new" convent had been completed in 1956. Construction of the parish center on the site of the rectory, old convent, and school is to begin as soon as possible. Pastor at St. Joseph's is the Rev. Father Clarence Smolinski. His assistant is the Rev. Father Thomas Smith. Fathers Smolinski and Smith came to Manistee last Summer.

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