A dwelling among the flock (Part 2)

804 N. Tancahua built by Bishop Nussbaum and existing until 1971. - Archived photo

When the Vicariate of Brownsville was raised to the status of a diocese in March 1912, the wooden church of St. Patrick’s built by Bishop Dominic Manucy in the early 1880s on the southwest corner of the intersection of N. Carancahua and Antelope Streets in Corpus Christi was designated the first cathedral of the newly named Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Pope Pius X named the Passionist Father Paul Nussbaum, CP, as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Corpus Christi. Bishop Nussbaum arrived in Corpus Christi on June 8, 1913. He initially accepted the hospitality of Msgr. Claude Jaillet in the residence and offices built by the pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in 1901.

The residence had served as home for Bishop Peter Verdaguer when he visited Corpus Christi; Bishop Verdaguer had chosen to reside primarily in Laredo during his administration as shepherd for south Texas. The structure built by Msgr. Jaillet was a two-story wooden building with both residence and office space for Bishop Verdaguer as well as the clergy of St. Patrick’s.

After only a few weeks, Bishop Nussbaum sought more space and privacy for himself and the Passionist priests who had accompanied him to this new missionary field. His request was heard by John G. Kenedy, son of Capt. Mifflin Kenedy, who offered his Corpus Christi cottage that sat on the northwest corner of N. Upper Broadway and Lipan Streets (where the Corpus Christi Cathedral presently sits). Bishop Nussbaum, along with some of his clergy, took up residence in this house on July 3, 1913. It was meant to be a temporary residence until the bishop could purchase or build a new structure to serve as his home and chancery offices.

Bishop Paul Nussbaum and two Passionist priests believed to be Father Theo Noonan, Father Mark Moeslin at the Kenedy cottage on Broadway and Lipan. Archived photo

Initially the bishop considered buying an already existing residence near the cathedral and refitting it to serve for living and office space for himself and the Catholic clergy of the city of Corpus Christi. A letter of the bishop to Mrs. E. C. Timon in December 1914 indicates that she had offered her home—located at 720 Antelope on the northeast corner of the intersection of N. Tancahua and Antelope Streets—for sale.

After his tour of the house, the bishop concluded that while its location was most suitable for himself and right across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the remodeling and additions necessary to accommodate his chancery departments would be too expensive. He lamented that the home was “not adapted to the requirements of a priest’s home, and still less to the needs of a bishop’s residence.”

The bishop suggested that—if he could not raise sufficient funds to either purchase or build an adequate facility—he would have to “adopt the other alternative, to transfer my residence to Laredo, where there is a residence which at a comparatively small cost could be made serviceable…” Apparently, the people of the area as well as outside sources were generous enough that the bishop eventually was able to make plans for building a new residence.

Meanwhile, in a letter to Kenedy in May 1915, he expressed his regrets that he had not vacated the Kenedy house by the spring of 1915 as originally planned, and he saw no prospects of being in his new residence until after the summer. Not only did Kenedy allow the bishop and his staff to remain, but he also made a generous contribution for the building of the new residence. Bishop Nussbaum—in a thank you letter of July 13, 1915—acknowledged the gift and also expressed his gratitude to Kenedy and his father for all that they had done for the church in south Texas.

To accommodate the new residence, the two-story wooden house built by Msgr. Jaillet in 1901 was moved across the street to the campus of the old Incarnate Word Academy behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral where it served as a meeting space known Charity Hall and also as part of the school facilities. It remained at that location into the 1940s when the building of a new Cathedral with its basement hall filled the same needs.

The church that sat beside Msgr. Jaillet’s residence in its original location on N. Tancahua was also moved to make room for the bishop’s new home. Built in 1903 by Father Juan Coma, it had been initially called Blessed Sacrament Church, then Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was ultimately modified and moved multiple times before becoming Holy Cross Church where it remains to this day.
 

	Bishop Ledvina lives in the N. Tancahua house from 1921-1949. Archived photo

It was in the space occupied by Blessed Sacrament Church and the 1901 rectory built by Msgr. Jaillet, that the new episcopal residence was built to serve both as living and office space for the Cathedral clergy as well as the bishop and his Chancery departments. This residence, with address listed as 804 N. Tancahua, contained 22 rooms and was built at a cost of $10,694. The building consisted of two complete wings—the east wing facing N. Tancahua Street served the needs of the bishop and his diocesan departments while the west wing served as quarters and offices for the Cathedral clergy. A common dining hall joined the two wings.

Sister Mary Xavier IWBS, who later served as diocesan archivist, noted that there was even a small barbershop in the rectory area, and that seminarians studying for the priesthood used to stay in the attic during the summer and while on retreat.

After the arrival of Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina in 1921, the large structure continued to serve as the Chancery and the bishop’s residence until it was replaced in 1949 by the current Chancery built by Bishop Ledvina behind the present Corpus Christi Cathedral. The aging but solid structure continued to house diocesan offices, including the Diocesan Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, until it was badly damaged by Hurricane Celia in August 1970.

The damaged structure was in the process of being demolished by contractor O. M. Green of Mathis for $500 and rights to salvage when a fire broke out in the old house in July 1971. The old house that had survived the hurricanes of 1916 and 1919 as well as hurricanes Carla, Beulah and Celia had finally completed its service to the Diocese of Corpus Christi. 

(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series on the residences of the bishops in the Diocese of Corpus Christi.)