Luers, John Henry Bishop of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, of Cincinnati, Ohio, 1859 October 5

After Luers saw Purcell he went to Lafayette and saw Judge Connelly, John O'Marra, and Miss Ball and told them of the letter and its contents. He did not visit Father Daniel Maloney because he thought he was the author of the slanders, since he spoke of the Columbus case at Lafayette also. He encloses a letter for Purcell to read at his leisure. He wants to settle the matter so he can concentrate on one plan. He cannot hope for Indianapolis as a seat since it will soon become that for the other diocese. Lafayette is not the place either. Fort Wayne is like Vincennes, an excellent place for an old bishop to retire under the pretext that his diocese was too poor to support priests for the missions. He does not want the matter made public until the church at Fort Wayne is out of the way. The German congregation at Fort Wayne is superior in numbers and this makes them proud of the little they really give to the bishop. In a growing place such as Toledo, this would not be true for there a bishop would have more influence. Where he helps it to grow and where there is a comparatively larger Catholic population. If the change is accomplished Father Julian Benoit would stay and be satisfied. Luers is bold in suggesting this, but he knows Purcell's paternal heart. He would be afraid were he not Purcell's only son among his suffragans and were he himself not desirous of doing something worthy of Purcell's seminary. The enclosure was a separate letter- -so calendared :: II-4-o A.L.S. 4pp. 12mo.