John
Nelles was born on 12 October 1870 in Long Prairie, Todd, Minnesota to Peter
and Mathilda (May) Nelles. He was the
second of fourteen children and the eldest son.
He was my second great grand uncle.
When
John was a teenager, he left his family to go to St. John’s College in
Collegeville, Minnesota. He was going
there to study to become a priest. While
at the school, the students and monks completed a chapel on an island in
1889. The following summer, work was
being done on the landscaping. John and
a young monk named Anslem Barholomy, were bringing a boatload of sod to the
chapel when the boat sprung a leak and sank.
Both men could swim, but because of his heavy, water soaked robes Anselm
was pulled under. He tried to save
himself by grabbing on to John but ended up pulling him under as well. John freed himself but was unable to rescue
his friend. Anselm’s body was recovered
the next day.
John
joined the Benedictine Order in 1893. He
was ordained on 20 June 1898 as Father Felix Nelles. His first mission was to assist the priest in
the Indian Missions at Red Lake. Thus
began his life among the Chippewa or Ojibway Indians. A year later he was sent to the White Earth
Reservation where he spent twenty five years.
Over the years he served at least eighteen different missions up to 140
miles away.
On
his visits to the different missions, he would carry all of his clothing and
supplies on his back. He traveled
through all kinds of weather, walking many of the miles. He made the most of his time while visiting
the Indian homes – baptizing, instructing on Holy Communion, giving Last Rites,
and burying the dead. It is said that
over the years, Father Felix baptized at least 1,600 Indians and 1,400 white
people. During the 1918 flu epidemic,
the Protestant minister refused to visit the sick because he was afraid of
spreading it to his family. Father Felix
stepped in and took over the visits (and ended up baptizing thirty of the
Protestants!)
Father
Felix had a great respect of the Indians and their culture. He took the time to listen to them and learn
about them – including their language. He
protested to the government about how the Indians were being swindled out of
their land.
Father
Felix was regarded as the best Indian missionary the Catholic Church had in
Minnesota. He sacrificed his health and
well-being to serve the Indians – sometimes showing up in the middle of the
night, half frozen from the long walk in order to perform Last Rites. Father Felix realized they were all God’s
Children and he wanted them to have “happy” deaths. Another thing that worked in Father Felix’s
favor, according to Father Thomas Borgerding, was he could eat Indian
food. In fact, Father Thomas said Father
Felix could eat anything!
By
the late 1920s Father Felix was starting to suffer ill health. He was assigned to a parish in Minneapolis
and after a few years he was appointed the chaplain at the St. Joseph Home in
St. Cloud. By 1939 his palsy (Parkinson’s
Disease) forced his retirement to St. John’s Abbey. He died on 9 March 1945 at St. John’s Abbey
and is buried there.
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