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The cornerstone of Holy Name Cathedral was laid on July 19, 1874 – 133 years ago Thursday. Almost immediately after the Fire of 1871 had destroyed the greater part of our Chicago and the Holy Name Church which stood just south of our present place of prayer, Bishop Foley resolved to build a spectacular replacement designated as Chicago’s future Cathedral. The Bishop; Father John McMullen, pastor and later founding Bishop of Davenport; Father Patrick Riordan, later Archbishop of San Francisco; and Father Joseph Roles, previous pastor of Holy Name engaged in a whirlwind of fund raising, mostly among generous Catholics across the nation. Chicagoans themselves were burned out, but they were anxious for a sign of hope. The preparation of a foundation began in February; but a shortfall in cash stopped the work in April. However, at St. Mary’s Cathedral on July 5, Bishop Foley announced that the new Holy Name cornerstone would be laid two weeks later during a 4:00pm ceremony at State and Superior, the old site of the original University of St. Mary of the Lake. From Old St. Pat’s, the largest parade in young Chicago’s history stepped off at 3:00pm. The stone itself – 8 tons (2 tons more than our present altar), 6-feet long, 2-feet high – was suspended from a derrick. Bedecked in full pontifical vestments, the Bishop oversaw 1874 memorabilia inserted in the center of the stone - a parchment declaring that the stone was placed in the 28th year of the reign of Pope Pius IX (since beatified), the 6th year of the Presidency of Ulysses Grant, and the 2nd year of Illinois Governor John Beveridge; there was no mention of Chicago Mayor Harvey Colvin. Also inside the stone were an encyclical; an account of the Chicago Fire; constitutions of the United States and Illinois; a Catholic Directory; a catalogue from St. Ignatius College (forefather of Loyola University); photos of founding Bishop Quarter and Bishop Foley; several religious medals; coins from Papal States; and the daily newspapers. Our parish’s 100th anniversary book (already 58 years old itself!) also notes “a history of the suffering and death of the Archbishop of Darboy.” I think that may have been an account of the 1871 murder of Archbishop Georges Darboy of Paris, a victim of the Franco-Prussian War. We will not know for sure until the cornerstone is removed. On that summer day 133 years ago, Bishop Foley lifted mortar onto a silver trowel and spread it beneath the stone. With a choir of priests and the sprinkling of holy water, a procession ensued followed by a sermon eloquently orated by the famous Jesuit mission preacher, founding pastor of Holy Family Church and St. Ignatius College, the man after whom Robey Street would be renamed in 1927 – Rev. Arnold Damen, S.J. Damen’s theme was the inevitable growth of the One True Church. The pious prayers concluded at 6:30pm. 1874 was a long time ago. Macy put dolls in his Christmas window, a new idea. For the first time, a train chugged across a bridge over the Mississippi at St. Louis. Remington typewriters were sold for the staggering cost of $125; eight were sold that year. The ice cream soda was invented at Philadelphia; the Joseph Schlitz Brewery opened in Milwaukee; and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was founded in Cleveland. The Apache Chief Cochise, Joseph Cassavant (founder of the French Canadian Company that built our sanctuary organ), and President Millard Fillmore died. Shortstop Honus Wagner, poet Robert Frost, escape-artist Harry Houdini, radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were born. And the Holy Name Cathedral cornerstone was laid. True “cornerstone” of our faith, the Prince of Peace will be praised in that same building today and for years to come by parishioners and visitors. How about the most famous story involving our cornerstone? Trace the foundation of the tale to Dion O’Bannion on November 10, 1924, in Schofield’s Florist Shop, 738 N. State. You may have parked your car there today, right across State Street. O’Bannion was a bootlegger/gangster at war with Johnny Torrio and his chief lieutenant Al Capone. A four-year gang truce was breaking down by the fall of 1924. O’Bannion had double-crossed Torrio and set up a raid on the Sieben Brewery. Torrio’s partners, the Genna Brothers, wanted him taken out. Only their mob godfather, Mike Merlo, stood in the way. Merlo died of cancer, and his funeral was scheduled at St. Clement’s in Lincoln Park. As he clipped chrysanthemums at Schofield’s (where he really did work), O’Bannion greeted rival mobster Frankie Yale with final words, “Hello, boys. You from Mike Merlo’s?” Yale gripped O’Bannion’s arm while Alberto Anselmi and John Scalise shot 6 times. O’Bannion’s friend was Earl “Hymie” Weiss. Weiss declared war on Torrio and Capone. He tried to have both killed. On October 11, 1926, at 4:00pm, Weiss and friends parked two cars next to the Cathedral on Superior intending to cross State Street for a meeting on the second floor of Schofield’s. Gunmen hired by Al Capone were positioned on the second floor at 740 N. State, next door to Schofield’s. A back-up team of assassins was stationed in a hotel at 1 W. Superior (one of the top 5 addresses for Cathedral parishioners today in its modern, rental building). Weiss was hit by 10 bullets, fell down in the gutter, and lived long enough to be loaded into an ambulance for an unnecessary ride to Henrotin Hospital. Gangster Pat Murray was hit 7 times and died on State Street. Lawyer W.W. O’Brien was hit 3 times. Investigator Benjamin Jacobs and chauffeur/body guard Sam Peller each were shot once. Peller, standing next to Weiss, panicked at the sound of gunplay, pulled his piece, and accidentally shot Weiss! The machine gun at 740 N. State jammed on the 39th bullet. Shooters ran to a car behind Schofield’s after tossing the gun. One account says Cathedral priests saw Weiss before he died. Both O’Bannion and Weiss were Catholics. O’Bannion apparently was a parishioner; he carried a rosary and a gun in the same pocket. Weiss packed a prayer book when he died. Still, no act of contrition. Therefore, Chancellor Bishop Edward Hoban (later Archbishop of Cleveland) refused Weiss’s burial from Holy Name. The prayers were said at Sbarbaro Funeral Home on Wells. Weiss and O’Bannion are buried at Mt. Carmel Cemetery – the same resting place of Capone and most of Chicago’s bishops. Today a bullet-chipped Philippians inscription is covered by stairs. One website claims a putty-filled hole above. If you can see it, your eyes are better than mine. Weiss, O’Bannion, and Capone are no more alive to us now than Pauly Walnuts, Uncle Junior, and Tony Soprano. This year so far, over 30 Chicago kids have been killed by guns. They were living children of God that some of us knew and loved. I once was the pastor of a parish with guns, legal and illegal. A lot of cops were my neighbors. I know the potential horror of guns in a house. Holy Name Cathedral got caught in the celebrity crossfire of the 1920s; for that, we get Untouchable bus tours. Real kids get caught in today’s crossfire; they get funerals. The Cathedral did not die. Kids do. How can we make the guns of Chicago only a piece of trivial history? Fr. Dan Mayall |
