Santa Clara County
Biographies
REV. WILLIAM MELCHERS, S. J.
REV. WILLIAM MELCHERS, S. J. Natural
tact and a kindly heart, supplementing an education the broadest and most
thorough that the institutions of America and Europe could bestow, admirably
qualify Father Melchers for the successful discharge of his responsible
duties as rector of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church of San Jose. A
native of Rhenish Prussia, Germany, born near
Cologne, Father Melchers is a son of Hubert and Josepha (Baumers)
Melchers, natives of the same province as himself, and members of
old-established families of that region. By occupation the former was a
gardener, and the latter was the daughter of a dyer. Of their seven children
all but one attained mature years and four are now living. One of their sons,
Joseph, died while a lay brother of the society. Another son,
Father Leonard Melchers, was for thirty-three years a priest in
Cologne, and during twenty-seven years of that time held the rectorship of the Ursuline Roman
Catholic Church in that city. The only daughter, Agnes, is superior in the
convent of the Sisters of Charity at Vienna, Austria. There are two sons
engaged in business, namely: Henry, who is a locksmith near Aix-la-Chappelle; and Hubert, who carries on a furniture store and
factory near the old homestead.
The youngest of the family, Father William Melchers was
born May 13, 1853, and received his classical education in the
gymnasium at Cologne. His philosophical and theological studies were conducted
for three years in the University of Bonn. Having consecrated himself to the
service of the Jesuit Order in the United States, in 1877 he crossed the ocean
and proceeded to Santa Clara (Cal.) College, where he and fourteen others from
Europe entered the novitiate. After completing two years of the same he was
engaged as instructor in mathematics and the languages in Santa Clara College,
continuing in that position for five years. During that time and later, for a
period of nine years altogether, he acted as prefect in the college, and during
his last three years in that office reviewed his theological studies.
In the old St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, San
Francisco, July 27, 1889, Archbishop Riordan ordained
Father Melchers to the holy priesthood. However, he did not at once engage
in his priestly office, but resumed the teaching of Latin, Greek and German in
Santa Clara College. In 1891 he went to Spain and continued his studies in
Manresa and Barcelona, near the border of France. After a year in study he
devoted some time to visiting the scenes of his childhood in Germany, also made
a tour of France, England and Ireland, returning to the United States in 1892.
Immediately afterward he was appointed assistant pastor of St. Mary’s
Church in San Jose, which was established for the benefit of the German
Catholics of the city and vicinity. In 1894 he was made pastor of the church
and has since devoted himself to his important duties, into which he throws a
zeal, energy and consecration that have not failed of results. This
congregation was organized in 1891 and its founder, Father Joseph Miller,
had charge of the erection of their large stone edifice
during the same year. At this writing there are about one hundred families in
the congregation. In 1901 a modern parochial school building was erected of
solid brick, commodious, well equipped, and in every way adapted to its
intended use. The various sodalities and societies of the church are in a
thriving condition, under the watchful oversight of Father Melchers, who,
in addition to discharging the duties incumbent upon him as rector, acts as
honorary chaplain of the Young Men’s Institute of San Jose.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 15 November 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page
896. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.