{"id":18,"date":"2006-03-06T09:10:10","date_gmt":"2006-03-06T16:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/icath\/?p=18"},"modified":"2025-12-08T08:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:38:12","slug":"fr-john-plunket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/?p=18","title":{"rendered":"Fr. John Plunket (1798-1840)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following article was taken from the history pages for St. Dennis Church, Joliet Illinois. This article is apparently no longer available online at th parish site. For reasons unknown, the parish history, as seen below was replaced by another history, which you can read here<\/a>. This new history begins in the 1840’s withous any menion of the Diocese of Vincennes or Fr. Plunket…<\/p>\n

\nDuring the fever days in late summer of 1838 along the Illinois
\nand Michigan Canal, a call for mercy was sent to Bishop Brut\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd
\nat Vincennes. The sick and dying were multiplying at an alarming
\nrate with no spiritual consolation available. Concurrent with
\nthese events, Father O’Meara, the Canal pastor, was sick with
\nfever, possibly having contracted from the same source.”The
\nclimatic conditions were not very favorable to the first settlers,
\nthe land being covered with swamps and sloughs which were hotbeds
\nfor miasms or germs, the cause of sickness, especially of the
\nso-called auge fever, with an after effect for weeks and months.
\nThe water was unsanitary, taken from ponds and sloughs covered
\nwith yellow scum”\u009d [Rev. J. Meyer. The History of St.
\nPeter and Paul Church, Pilot, Illinois. Kankakee, IL. 1920. P.13]
\nOver 700 hundred people were victims of this outbreak. The bishop
\nsummoned two young priests to respond to the dilemma. One of the
\npriests was Father John Francis Plunkett.<\/p>\n

As cold weather set in, the epidemic subsided. Father Plunkett
\nwas assigned to remain along the canal as the resident pastor
\nof Will County. Described as a person of charm and blessed with
\na joy for life, Father Plunkett was the ideal choice for the Irish
\ncanallers in light of Father O’Meara’s efforts along the path.
\nFather Plunkett would also reflect the wishes of the Bishop and
\nthe goals of the Diocese of Vincennes.<\/p>\n

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1798, Father Plunkett answered the call of the
\nnascent American church for missionaries. On the 25th of April
\n1834, he embarked upon studies at Saint Mary’s College, Emmitsburg,
\nMaryland. He arrived at the seminary
\nwith a letter of recommendation from Reverend Michael Hurley,
\na famous church leader and noted scholar in the eastern United
\nStates. (This Father Hurley was not the same priest who would
\nlater serve St. Dennis as pastor and become Bishop-elect of Peoria.)<\/p>\n

As July of 1837 concluded, Father Plunkett was ready to answer
\nhis true calling. He left the seminary arriving in Vincennes in
\nearly August. He received minimum orders and subdeacon status
\non the 16th of August 1837. On the 23rd of September, Father Plunkett
\nbecame a deacon. He was ordained at the Cathedral of St. Francis
\nXavier in Vincennes on the 14th of October 1837.<\/p>\n

Father Plunkett’s first priestly duties were at missions in
\nthe vicinity of Vincennes, Indiana. In November he became an assistant
\nto Father Michael Shawe at Madison, Indiana. By spring of 1838
\nFather Plunkett was enlisted to travel to Baltimore, Philadelphia
\nand points east in quest for money towards missionary work. He
\nwas back to mission work in Vernon, Indiana, during the summer
\nof 1838. By the end of September, along with Father Julien Benoit,
\nhe was on his way to the Illinois and Michigan Canal to answer
\nthe call of the sick and dying.<\/p>\n

As November winter weather set in Father Plunkett was informed
\nthat he should establish himself at Joliet. The Joliet location
\nwas much more central to his newly established territory than
\nthe Haytown mission. Joliet was made the county seat in 1836.
\nIn 1838 Joliet was the primary town southwest of Chicago basing
\nits strength on hydropower and as a terminal for agricultural
\ntrade. He would have within his domain all the area south of Chicago,
\neast to the Indiana border and as far west as Ottawa, Illinois.
\nJoliet was developing very rapidly due to a large influx of Irish
\nimmigrants. All along the Illinois and Michigan Canal this influx
\naffected the spiritual and physical growth of the area. The establishment
\nof the Church in the area provided a smoother transition for the
\nimmigrant settlers who needed an anchor.<\/p>\n

Father Plunkett was responsible for purchasing the wood frame
\nstructure used for services at Haytown in 1838. In his register
\nentries he referred to Haytown as Emmetsburg. According to historian
\nNancy Thornton, Edward E. Hunter, R.J. Gavin, Lanthrop Johnson
\nand Robert Davidson laid out Emmetsburg near the Will-Cook border
\non The 2nd of October 1836. The recorded date at Cook County of
\nthe plat was on the 5th of January 1837.<\/p>\n

During his time along the canal Father Plunkett was called
\ninto duty to police disputes between rival Irish factions. These
\nfactions were gangs who represented different ends of the Emerald
\nIsle. What had been braggadocio in the “\u02dcold sod’ became bloodletting
\nin America. Their sectional rivalry was transplanted all along
\nthe canal from Chicago to LaSalle. Violence and mayhem were the
\nend results when the two groups, the “\u02dcCorkonians’ and the “\u02dcFar-downers’,
\nmet. The canal bosses aggravated the situation by preferentially
\nhiring people from their old sections in Eire.<\/p>\n

With whip and rosary in hand these hooligans were confronted
\nby the courageous priest and steered to the right path. His integrity
\nin these matters made his word the final word. He became lovingly
\nknown as”Supreme Court”\u009d Plunkett.<\/p>\n

On a more restrained note, Father Plunkett would regularly
\nenter the work camps and gather the laborers to Mass.<\/p>\n

His sincere affection for the people and the work was evident
\nin these acts of love. The changing of the bishopric with the
\npassing of Simon Brut\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd signaled a change at the churches
\nin Chicago and Joliet. Father Hippolyte Du Pontavice took on the
\nposition as pastor at Joliet with care for the Illinois Canal
\nMissions on the 3rd of February 1840. Unlike the situation at
\nChicago, Father Plunkett graciously accepted the turn of events
\nand put all of the affairs of the church in Will County in order
\nfor his successor. He went about doing what he always did “\u201c tramping
\nalong the towpath, touching souls in his care.<\/p>\n

Traveling through Troy Township, just west of Joliet, back
\ntowards Joliet on a stormy 14th of March 1840, Father Plunkett
\nwas riding with two other men in escort. Blinded by the storm
\nhe hit a low hanging branch. By the time the rear escort had caught
\nup with him he had passed into the Lord’s hands. Between May 5-7,
\n1844, the first diocesan Synod for the Diocese of Vincennes assembled
\nand there honored Father Plunkett posthumously with a solemn Mass
\nof Requiem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following article was taken from the history pages for St. Dennis Church, Joliet Illinois. This article is apparently no longer available online at th parish site. For reasons unknown, the parish history, as seen below was replaced by another history, which you can read here. This new history begins in the 1840’s withous any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-postings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3671,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18\/revisions\/3671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianacatholic.mwweb.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}