Father C. F. X. Goldsmith
December 22, 1845 - November 24, 1890 
Born in Rochester NY, the 22nd of December, 1845, he received his first education in the parochial schools of his native town.
At the age of thirteen, through the intervention and kind offices of his friend, Father Krautbauer, later bishop of Green Bay, the
young student gained admission to the provincial seminary of St. Francis, near Milwaukee, at the opening of the fall
term in 1858. He entered the junior preparatory course, from which he graduated in 1861.
After three years spent at the seminary, he was sent at the age of nineteen to the American College at Louvain in Belgium. On July 25th 1868, Charles Francis Xavier Goldsmith was ordained priest in the historic old cathedral of Malines, Belgium. He offered up his first sacrifice of the mass in the little chapel at Vigneulles in the diocese of Metz, where some sixty odd years gone by his mother had been baptized. In the fall of 1868, Father Goldsmith returned to this country and was assigned temporarily to the diocese of Milwaukee. In the latter part of the month of May, 1869, the young priest traveled to La Crosse to meet with Bishop Heiss. May 23, he left La Crosse for Chippewa Falls. Father James Schwebach, the present bishop, accompanied him to the boat landing. He reached Wabasha in time to catch the "Monitor," which was about to leave for Eau Claire with a crew of rafts men returning to the Falls. Their care-free and skin-full of deviltry ways gave the young priest a good idea of the sort of people among whom he was coming. From Eau Claire the youthful missionary started overland for his destination. The first work to which the new pastor gave attention was the preparing of a large class for confirmation and just one month later, Bishop Heiss visited Chippewa Falls. The church must be cleaned and decorated, evergreens and flowers were procured and all is put to rights; it is Thursday, May 27, 1869, the Feast of Corpus Christi; the little church is jammed with people; it is a heterogeneous congregation, representing four or five nationalities; the new pastor celebrates his first mass. Such was the first day of Father Goldsmith's ministry in Chippewa Falls; such the impression he produced. Yes, he went like the others, but not until he had wrought marvelous changes in this people, their places of worship, their children, their city. But time works changes none can resist. With the pastor's ill health came the first lull in the labor. Now worn out by twenty years' hard missionary labor, the beloved pastor, still in the prime of life, fell under the weight of toil. Mourning filled each heart on November 24, 1890, as the news spread that Father Goldsmith was at rest in the Peace of God. "And enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." His panegyrist thus summed up his career and character, "A priest, so worthy of his sublime dignity and power; a priest, so richly endowed with splendid gifts and talents; a priest, so full of noble works and aspirations…Oh let the Chippewa Valley down the raiments of mourning! One of its fairest flowers has been plucked - one of its stateliest pines has fallen, - one of its foremost public men has gone from amongst us - one of its noblest priests has departed." And his biographer - the Hon. J. A. Anderson speaks of his last moments and dispositions as follows: "The weakening of his vital powers went constantly on during the autumn of 1890 and with the failure of his bodily strength came a change most agreeable and beautiful to behold and to know. The dross and the alloy of his nature were burning out, leaving the pure gold of his better self - the heart and soul of Goldsmith without the pride, the hauteur and the worldly mask he used to wear. And the residue was a grand and noble man." Today, sadly, few know the history of Notre Dame and her founder Father C. F. X. Goldsmith. This hopefully will help to enlighten those who wish to know more about this beautiful church. Photo Courtesy of Chippewa Valley Historical Society Top |