Collection Guide
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Correspondence to/from Jesuit Fathers General, Rome, and California Mission Superiors and Provincials
1002_1830-1932
1002_1830-1932
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Table of contents
Box 1
Joannes Roothaan, S.J. and Pieter Beckx, S.J., 1830-1870
Joannes Roothaan was Father General of the Society of Jesus, 1829-1853. It was during his term as General that the Italian
Jesuits were expelled from Italy in 1848. Pieter Beckx served as General, 1853-1887. The California Mission was overseen from
Turin, Italy by Alessandro Ponza, 1849-1859, and Giovanni Battista Ponte,1859-1865 (and as Visitor to California, 1868-1873).
During this period Santa Clara College and St. Ignatius College, San Francisco, were established, expanded, and took leadership
roles in education in the new State of California.
Accolti, Michael, S.J., 1807-1878
Alemany, Joseph Sadoc, 1814-1888
Beckx, Pieter, S.J., 1795-1887
Cicaterri, Felice, S.J., 1804-1873
Congiato, Nicolas, S.J., 1816-1897
Nobili, John, S.J., 1812-1856
Ponte, Giovanni Battista, S.J., 1813-1889
Ponza, Alessandro, S.J., 1812-1878
Roothaan, Joannes Philippus, S.J., 1785-1853
Smet, Pierre-Jean de, 1801-1873
Villiger, Burchard, S.J., 1838-1902
Jesuits--Missions--California
Jesuits--Missions--Northwest, Pacific
Santa Clara College (Santa Clara, Calif.)
St. Ignatius College (San Francisco, Calif.)
St. Joseph’s Cathedral (San Jose, Calif.)
Box 2
Pieter Beckx, S.J., Anton M. Anderledy, S.J. and Luís Martin, S.J. 1875-1896
Pieter Beckx served as Father General from 1853-1887. He oversaw the expansion and solidification of the Jesuit colleges and
parishes in the State of California during the post-Gold Rush decades. Santa Clara College and St. Ignatius College were leaders
in education as the state system gradually took shape. In Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Jose, Jesuit schools and parishes,
staffed predominantly by Italian Jesuits, took root. Father General sent Visitors from Rome to review the institutions: Felice
Sopranis, 1861 and 1863; followed by Giovanni B. Ponte, and James Razzini, 1867-1873. The California Mission was still a work
of the Turin Province during this time, but nonetheless, a distinctive American Jesuit culture was evolving. Mission Superiors
included: Nicolas Congiato, Felice Cicaterri, Burchard Villiger, Aloysius Masnata, Aloysius Varsi, and Joseph Sasia.
Alemany, Joseph Sadoc, 1814-1888
Anderledy, Anton M.,S.J., 1819-1892
Beckx, Pieter, S.J., 1795-1887
Congiato, Nicolas, S.J., 1816-1897
Giudice, Fortunato, S.J., 1850-1936
Imoda, Enrico, S.J., 1831-1902
Kenna, Robert, S.J., 1844-1912
Martin, Luís, S.J., 1846-1906
Masnata, Aloysius, S.J., 1823-1889
Meyer, Rudolph J., S.J., 1841-1912
Ponte, Giovanni Battista, S.J., 1813-1889
Razzini, James, S.J., 1816-1896
Riordan, Patrick William, 1841-1914
Sasia, Joseph, S.J., 1843-1928
Sopranis, Felice, S.J., 1799-1876
Van Gorp, Leopold, S.J., 1834-1905
Varsi, Aloysius, S.J., 1830-1900
Jesuits--Missions--California
Jesuits--Missions--Northwest, Pacific
Santa Clara College (Calif.)
St. Ignatius College (San Francisco, Calif.)
St. Joseph’s Cathedral (San Jose, Calif.)
Box 3-4
Luís Martin, S.J. and Franz Wernz, S.J. 1897-1909
Luís Martin, S.J., served as Father General, 1892-1906. He was succeeded by Franz Wernz, S.J., in 1906. Administration and
financial control grew into manageable structures for the California Jesuit Mission at the end of the 19th century. American
Jesuits emerged as leaders, as the Italian Jesuits aged. Expansion of churches and institutions is reflected in purchase and
sale of properties. The Rocky Mountain Mission, based in Oregon, grew increasingly independent. Other trends include an increase
in local financial support, in local vocations to the Society of Jesus, and in expansion of novitiates such as the Sacred
Heart Novitiate built in 1888 in Los Gatos. Wineries and the production of altar wine provided steady cash flow to support
the education of Jesuit priests. John P. Frieden, S.J. served as Mission Superior, 1896-1907. His successor, George de la
Motte, S.J. served during the transition to a new Province in 1909, in which year the California and Rocky Mountain Missions
were established as self-sufficient entities.
Chiaudano, Giuseppe, S.J., 1858-1915
Friedl, Richard, S.J., 1847-1917
Frieden, John B., S.J., 1844-1911
Giacobbi, Dominic, S.J., 1850-1930
Imoda, Enrico, S.J., 1831-1902
Kenna, Robert, S.J., 1844-1912
La Motte, George de, S.J., 1861-1918
Leo XIII, Pope, 1810-1903
Martin, Luís, S.J., 1846-1906
Meyer, Rudolph J., S.J., 1841-1912
Riordan, Patrick William, 1841-1914
Sasia, Joseph, S.J., 1843-1928
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930
Van Gorp, Leopold, S.J., 1834-1905
Wernz, Franz, S.J., 1842-1914
Our Lady of Sorrows Church (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Santa Clara College (Santa Clara, Calif.)
St. Ignatius College (San Francisco, Calif.)
St. Joseph’s Cathedral (San Jose, Calif.)
Box 4-5
Franz Wernz, S.J. 1909-1915
Franz Wernz, S.J. served as Father General, 1906-1914 and the onset of World War I. In 1909 Herman Goller, S.J. became the
first Provincial of the California Province of the Society of Jesus, governing former California Mission and the Rocky Mountain
Mission from a headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Support from the Turin Province was discontinued. James Rockliff, S.J. succeeded
Father Goller after his sudden death and served as Provincial, 1910-1914. Richard A. Gleeson, S.J. assumed the role as Provincial
from 1914 to 1918.
Frieden, John B., S.J., 1844-1911
Giacobbi, Dominic, S.J., 1850-1930
Gleeson, Richard A., S.J., 1861-1945
Goller, Herman J., S.J., 1867-1910
Riordan, Patrick William, 1841-1914
Rockliff, James, S.J., 1852-1926
Wernz, Franz, S.J. 1842-1914
Queen’s Work (St. Louis , Missouri)
Church of the Immaculate Conception (Seattle, Wash.)
Gonzaga College (Spokane, Wash.)
Gonzaga University
Los Angeles College (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Loyola University of Los Angeles
St. Vincent’s College (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Loyola College (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Our Lady of Sorrows Church (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Santa Clara College (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Santa Clara University (Calif.)
St. Ignatius College (San Francisco, Calif.)
St. Joseph’s Cathedral (San Jose, Calif.)
St. Mary’s Church (San Jose, Calif.)
Seattle College (Seattle, Wash.)
Box 5-6
Wlodimir Ledóchowski, S.J. 1915-1932
Wlodmir Ledóchowski, S.J. served as Father General, 1915-1942, spanning portions of two world wars in Europe. Three California
Provincials worked under his administration: Richard A. Gleeson, 1914-1918; Francis C. Dillon, 1918-1924; and Joseph M. Piet,
1924-1932. Portland, Oregon remained the Provincial headquarters. During this period the China Mission was organized and manned.
California Province Jesuits and some Jesuits outside the province served in mainland China from 1928-1958, establishing and
staffing colleges and parishes for Chinese Catholics and converts.
Boynes, Norbert de, S.J., 1870-1954
Dillon, Francis C., S.J., 1866-1947
Giacobbi, Dominic, S.J., 1850-1930
Gleeson, Richard A., S.J., 1861-1945
Hanna, Edward J. (Edward Joseph), 1860-1944
Ledóchowski, Wlodmir, S.J., 1915-1942
Maher, Zacheus, S.J.,1882-1963
Moore, Pius, S.J., 1881-1950
Piet, Joseph, S.J., 1876-1942
Thornton, Walter, S.J., 1866-1933
Jesuits--Missions--Alaska
Jesuits--Missions--China
Jesuits--Missions--Japanese--San Francisco (Calif.)
Bellarmine College Preparatory (San Jose, Calif.)
Blessed Sacrament Church (Hollywood, Calif.)
Brophy College Preparatory (Phoenix, Ariz.)
China Jesuit Mission
Church of the Immaculate Conception (Seattle, Wash.)
Gonzaga College (Spokane, Wash.)
El Retiro San Inigo (Los Altos, Calif.)
Holy Family Church (San Jose, Calif.)
Loyola High School of Los Angeles
Loyola College (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Loyola University (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Mount St. Michael (Spokane, Wash.)
Our Lady of Sorrows Church (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Rocky Mountain Mission (Oregon)
Sacred Heart Church (San Jose, Calif.)
Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.)
St. Ignatius College (San Francisco, Calif.)
University of San Francisco
St. Joseph’s Cathedral (San Jose, Calif.)
St. Mary’s Church (San Jose, Calif.)
Seattle College