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Belgians in the Civil War

Emigrants arrival

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BELGIANS IN AMERICA:    Biographies of Belgian settlers  

Until 1847, the Catholics of Niles attended church at Bertrand, where a log church had been built in 1831, supplanted by a brick edifice in 1837 . In 1847, a mission church was established at Niles, and a frame church built by Father Quointel near the site of the present church edifice. This mission was under the charge of several priests for short periods until Rev. John Cappon, a priest from Belgium, assumed charge in 1859- Father Cappon 1 as pastor of the church till his death in 1892.

The corner stone of the present building was laid in 1866 and the building finished in 1870. The church is generally known by the name of St Marys.

Father Cappon was born in Belgium of French extraction, and came to Niles in 1857 as an assistant at the Catholic mission. as it was then called. In 1859 he assumed sole charge of the mission which embraced other stations than Niles. He became the pastor of the church and so retrained till his death in 1893 haring been actively engaged in his work at Niles for thirty-six years. He was recognized as a devout and kind hearted priest, faithful and attentive to the sick and was beloved by his people. Having inherited some property from relatives in Belgium, he devoted it all to the construction of new buildings intended for school purposes and for other church work.

Source : Coolidge, Orville W. : A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan; Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1906, 1154 pgs.