Early Effingham County
We tend to forget what the early settlers of the area faced and how different it is today than it was then. In a letter dated May 11, 1859 that Father Servatius Altmicks wrote to his Provincial in Germany we find the following information about life in early Effingham:
The trials of these early missionaries to the Illinois region were numerous. During November and December of 1859 the Franciscan Fathers were celebrating the Jubilee Year as declared by Pope Pius IX. They ranged far and wide throughout the Alton diocese. In another extract from Father Servatius letters we find the following:
We also find the curious reference to a group of Frenchmen who were the descendants from the intermarriage of French colonist and Indians who had been converted by the early French Missionaries. Father writes that they had been without the aid of a French speaking priest and that the nearest one was 140 miles away. He describes this French colony as being near the Watson area. We do know that two Frenchmen presented themselves to Father in November of 1858 needing a priest because one of their number had fallen from a bridge. After days ride South from Teutopolis on horseback they broke free of the woods and galloped across a vast endless prairie. Towards evening they had arrived and found the Frenchman still alive and Father Servatius administered the last rights to the man who died not long after the priest's departure. Father Servantius vowed to render what help to them he could and returned to them in February of 1859. He describes what happened in the following letter:
And so we find that the first couple joined in marriage at St. Anthony church on July 11, 1859 were T. Martini and Mary Raciot of near Watson as recorded by Father Servatius.
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Hilda Engbring Feldhake, Saint Anthony's Century 1858-1958 ( Effingham, Illinois 1958), pp.11-12