File:Jessing ltr to Bishop Rosecrans 1877.jpg

Letter by Roman Catholic priest, pioneer educator and founder of the Pontifical College Josephinum, Father John Joseph Jessing. Jessing wrote this letter to Columbus Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans in 1877. Jessing founded an orphan's asylum in Pomeroy that he funded through publication of the Ohio Waisenfreund (Ohio Orphans' Friend), a German-language newspaper. In this letter he asks permission to bring his newspaper and the orphan's asylum to a larger city, explaining that he needs to be closer to the railroad in order to distribute his paper. He also discusses the industrial school he wants to start in connection with the orphan's asylum where boys could learn a trade to support themselves as adults. Rosecrans approved Jessing's plan and the newspaper and orphan's asylum were moved to Columbus later that year. The letter is 8 pages long and measures 7.75 by 9.75 inches (19.69 by 24.77 cm). Jessing (1836-1899) was born in Muenster, Germany. In 1867, Jessing came to the United States to study for the priesthood. He was ordained at St. Patrick Pro Cathedral in Columbus by Bishop Sylvester Rosecrans in 1870. Father Jessing's first assignment was at Sacred Heart Church in Pomeroy, Ohio. The letter requests permission to move the children's orphanage and all operations from Pemeroy, Ohio to the state capital, Columbus, Ohio.

In 1888, Jessing started the Collegium Josephinum to train young men for the priesthood and to minister primarily to German speaking immigrants. It received pontifical status in 1892 and became known as Pontifical College Josephinum. It is the only pontifical seminary outside of Italy that is overseen by the Vatican through the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, D.C. Jessing witnessed the first class being ordained June 1899, five months before he died.

Source: The Ohio Memory Historical Project's OhioLink Digital Center URL - http://worlddmc.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=1025513&fieldname=collection&results=10&sort=title&searchstatus=1&hits=10&searchmark=2&searchstring=Monsignor+John+Joseph+Jessing+Collection&searchtype=exact&format=list&count=2

See below.