GUIDE TO CATHOLIC RECORDS ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Volume 2: Midwest United States
Oklahoma: OK-37

Benedictines. St. Gregory’s Archabbey
1900 West MacArthur Street
Shawnee, OK 74804

Phone: 405-878-5491

 

Hours: By appointment only

Access: Some restrictions apply

Copying facilities: Yes

 

History: Benedictines self-identify with the post-nominal initials, “O.S.B.” The Benedictines of St. Gregory's Abbey/ Sacred Heart Abbey, Shawnee, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, have administered the following Native American missions and parishes in Oklahoma.

1875-1892 (no longer Native)	St. Patrick Church (Choctaw), Atoka, Atoka County, Choctaw Nation
1877-present	Sacred Heart Church (Potawatomi) Konawa/ Sacred Heart, Seminole County
1884-1887 (no longer Native)	Our Lady of Good Counsel Mission (Choctaw), Lehigh, Coal County, Choctaw Nation
1886-1888 (no longer Native)	St. John Mission (Choctaw), McAlester, Pittsburg County, Choctaw Nation
1886-1905 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Our Lady of Victory/ St. Elizabeth Church (Choctaw, Chickasaw), Purcell, McClain County, Chickasaw Nation
1887-1893 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Immaculate Conception Church (Osage), Pawhuska, Osage Nation
1887-1898 (closed)	Sacred Heart Mission (Choctaw), Boggy Depot, Atoka County, Choctaw Nation
1889-1895 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	St. John Church (Osage), Gray Horse, Osage Nation
1889-1905 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	St. John the Baptist Mission (Choctaw, Chickasaw), Lexington, Cleveland County
1891-1895 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Assumption Church (Creek), Muskogee, Muskogee County, Cherokee and Muskogee (Creek) Nations
1891-1902 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Blessed Sacrament Mission (Choctaw), Coalgate, Coal County, Choctaw Nation
1891-1974 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	St. Patrick Church (Kiowa, Comanche, Apache, Caddo, Wichita, Delaware), Anadarko, Caddo County
1893-1925 (closed)	Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Mission (Shawnee), Tecumseh, Pottawatomie County
1896-1925 (closed)	St. Gregory Mission (Potawatomi), Eason, Pottawatomie County
1896-present	St. Benedict Church (Shawnee, Potawatomi), Shawnee, Pottawatomie County
1897-present	St. Mary/ Our Lady of Grace Mission (Potawatomi), Wanette, Pottawatomie County
1898-1902 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Holy Name Mission (Chickasaw), Chickasha, Grady County, Chickasaw Nation
1913-1915 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Sacred Heart Mission (Osage), Fairfax, Osage Nation
1928-1949 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Immaculate Conception Mission (Apache, Caddo), Cyril, Caddo County
1930-1949 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	St. Joseph Mission (Osage), Hominy, Osage Nation
1931-1949 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary/ St. Margaret Mary Mission (Caddo), Binger, Caddo County
1940-1953 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	Our Lady of Victory Mission (Kiowa), Carnegie, Caddo County
1942-1945 (transferred to Oklahoma City Diocese)	St. Catherine Mission (Choctaw), Durant, Bryan County

 

Holdings of Catholic records about Native Americans:

Inclusive dates: 1876-ongoing, undated

Volume: Ca. 5.3 cubic feet

Description: The records at St. Gregory's Abbey were not organized according to a classification scheme when reviewed by a Marquette University archivist, 1980. Consequently, the description is by record type.

 

/1 "Annals of Sacred Heart Abbey, 1876-1933”

Inclusive dates: Written ca. 1909-1933

Volume: 161 pages

Description: By Rev. Adalbert Haffner, O.S.B. and Rev. Leo Gariador, O.S.B.; include month by month descriptions of major events, arrivals of new recruits and distinguished visitors, deaths, celebrations; entries before ca. 1909 were created from memory or from other records.

 

/2 Chronicles, St. Gregory's Abbey

Inclusive dates: 1948-1959

Volume: 300 handwritten pages

 

/3 Minutes of Chapter meetings of Sacred Heart Abbey and St. Gregory's Abbey

Inclusive dates: 1901-1940

Volume: 1 folder

Description: Accounts of discussions, ballotings, and official decisions relating to Native American missions.

 

/4 Diaries and journals

Inclusive dates: 1882-1938, undated

Volume: .2 cubic foot

Description:

A. "Recollections of Missionary Trips in 1885," undated, 26 typed pages: written by Rev. Hilary Cassal, O.S.B.

B. "Reminiscences of Brother John Laracy," 1933, 13 handwritten pages: begins in 1879

C. "Journey to Sacred Heart from Belloc, 1888-1889," undated, 8 handwritten pages: written by Rev. Blaise Haritchabalet, O.S.B.

D. "Experience in Indian Territory Just Before The Close of the 19th Century," 1898, 14 handwritten pages: written by Rev. Hippolyte Topet, O.S.B.

E. Rev. Leo Gariador, O.S.B., diaries, journals, notebooks, 1882-1938, undated, 13 volumes; various topics including Native American missions and schools

 

/5 Correspondence

Inclusive dates: 1876-1932, undated

Volume: .1 cubic foot

Description:

A. Letters (copies) of Rev. Thomas Bergh, O.S.B., Sacred Heart Mission, to Rev. Swithbert Breiken, O.S.B., St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, England, 1885-1886, 1 folder

B. "Robot, Rt. Rev. Isidore, O.S.B., First Prefect Apostolic of Indian Territory, 1876-1886," 1876-1877, 1882, 1885-1886, 9 letters (all but 1 are copies)

C. Rev. Mother (Saint) Katharine Drexel, S.B.S., to Rev. Isidore Ricklin at St. Patrick's Mission, Anadarko, Oklahoma, 1903, 1905, undated, 3 letters

D. Incoming letters to Rev. Thomas Duperou, 1897-1905, undated, 1 volume

E. "Jean, Rt. Rev. Ignatius, O.S.B., Second Prefect Apostolic of Indian Territory," 1886-1890, 1 folder

F. Rev. Leo Gariador, O.S.B., letters, 1909, 1914, 1918, 1920-1922, 1930-1932, 1 folder

 

/6 School records

Inclusive dates: 1881-1958

Volume: .45 cubic foot

Description:

A. "St. Benedict Industrial School and Sacred Heart College Boarding School," 1881-1927, .35 cubic foot:

1. Lists of students, 1881-1887, 1890, 1898-1918, 1 folder

2. School reports, 1901-1927, .1 cubic foot: quarterly reports submitted to the Bureau of Indian Affairs

3. Catalogs, 1907-1918, 1924-1925, .2 cubic foot

4. Grades, 1906-1908, 1 folder

B. St. Patrick School, Anadarko, 1893-1958, .1 cubic foot: student enrollment books listing name, age, tribe, date entered, and grade

 

/7 Financial reports

Inclusive dates: 1923-1949

Volume: 3 folders

Description:

A. Sacred Heart Church, Sacred Heart, 1923-1925, 1928-1929, 1933-1949, 1 folder

B. St. Agnes Church, Antlers, 1926, 1929, 1 folder

C. St. Patrick Church, Anadarko, 1924-1929, 1 folder

 

/8 Deeds and leases

Inclusive dates: 1891-1892, 1898-1914, 1916, 1922

Volume: 2 folders  

 

/9 Indian Advocate

Inclusive dates: 1888-1910

Volume: 21 volumes

Description: Publication of Sacred Heart Abbey; contains substantial information on Native American mission and school activity; first volume, 1888, entitled “Prospectus” 

 

/10 Histories and historical notes

Inclusive dates: 1928-1970s, undated

Volume: ca. 2.15 cubic feet

Description:

A. The Foundation of Oklahoma's Sacred Heart by Abbot Denys Huerre, 1965, 50 typed pages

B. Rev. Joseph F. Murphy, O.S.B., research files, 1930s-1970s, approximately 2 cubic feet: research notes and correspondence (copies) created or compiled for Rev. Murphy's publications, particularly Tenacious Monks; major repositories of original records include St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate, England; St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota; the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records, Marquette University Archives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the Abbot General's Office, Rome, Italy; and the Oklahoma Archdiocesan Archives, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

C. Rev. Urban de Hasque's histories and historical notes, 1928, undated, .1 cubic foot: regarding St. Patrick Mission, Anadarko, and Sacred Heart Mission, Sacred Heart

 

/11 Photographs

Inclusive dates: 1890s-1940s, undated

Volume: 375 prints

Description:

A. "Sacred Heart Mission," 1890s-1910, undated, 155 prints

B. "Sacred Heart College and Abbey," 1910-1940s, 165 prints

C. "St. Patrick's Church, Anadarko," 1890s-1920s, 55 prints

 

 

Unless otherwise noted, the repository on this page holds (or held) the records described here and they are not held at the Marquette University Archives.

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