Letter XLV.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRÉCIS HISTORIQUES, BRUSSELS.
Anthony Eysvogels.
UNIVERSITY OF ST. LOUIS, July 16, 1857.
REV. AND DEAR FATHER :
I have few details as to the life and death of Father Eysvogels, yet I send what I find.
Anthony Eysvogels was born in the little village of Oss, situated in North Brabant, Holland, Jan. 13, 1809. After finishing his divinity course in his native land, he came to America and began his novitiate in Missouri, Dec. 31, 1835.
On the 1st of May, 1838, Father Eysvogels set out with Fathers Verhaegen and Claessens for the Kickapoo mission. Thence, his superiors sent him to Washington, Mo., and from this place to Westphalia in the Osage district. There a holy death closed an exemplary life. The good Father, resigning himself entirely into the hands of the Lord, prepared for his great passage by prayer and the reception of the last sacraments, which but little preceded his death. His illness was brought on by the care lavished by the holy religious on a patient suffering with small-pox, which disease he himself took. Father Eysvogels was only forty-eight and a half years old. The interment was made with solemnity by Father Ferdinand Helias, and his parishioners raised a subscription to erect a monument to the zealous director of their souls.
Accept, Rev. Father, the assurance of my regard and esteem,
P. J. DE SMET, S. J.