ALERDING, HERMAN JOSEPH: 1845-?
" Herman Joseph Alerding was born in Westphalia, Germany, April 13, 1845, a son of B. Herman and Theresa (Schrameier) Alerding. He was too young to remember the voyage which brought his parents to America and to a new home at Newport, Ky. At Newport he attended the parochial school of Corpus Christi Church … and from 1858 until 1859 attended the Diocesan Seminary at Vincennes, Ind. The next year he was a student in the old St. Thomas Seminary at Bardstown, Ky., and in the fall of 1860 entered St. Meinrad's Abbey of the Benedictine Fathers in Spencer County, Ind. There under Bishop de St. Palais he received his … priesthood Sept. 22, 1868. Following that for three years he was assistant at St. Joseph's Church at Terre Haute and also had charge of neighboring missions. Oct. 18, 1871, he became pastor of St. Elizabeth's Church at Cambridge City, where he remained until August, 1874 …
"In the summer of 1874 Father Alerding was transferred to Indianapolis as procurator for the newly established St. Joseph's Seminary, and was also pastor of the congregation that worshipped in the Seminary chapel. After a year the Seminary was abandoned and Father Alerding was directed to build a new church. St. Joseph's Church of Indianapolis was dedicated July 4, 1880 …
"Father Alerdlng was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne Nov. 30, 1901 … both his work and personal character have earned him a high place among the Catholic dignitaries of America."
Condensed from Dunn–Indiana and Indianans, Vol. 4.
- A History of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of
Vincennes. Indianapolis, 1883.
- Plymouth Rock and Maryland. 1886.
- The Diocese of Fort Wayne, 1857–September 2, 1907;
A Book of Historical Reference, 1669-1907. Fort Wayne,
Ind., 1907.
