House of Buh

Colors: Red and White 

Virtue: Justice - the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor

Scripture: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

Personality: Joy, adventure, friendly, courageous, missionary heart and ever ready to share the love of Christ.

Biography: Monsignor Joseph Francis Buh (1833 - 1922) 

Born in 1833 in Austria

In 1865, at age of 32, he sailed for the US and was ordained a Catholic priest. He was assigned to serve in the new state of Minnesota.

Fr. Buh was a smart and charismatic teacher and spent the first few years in St.Paul teaching at the seminary where he could have spent his whole career forming future generations of priests, but Fr.Buh had a missionary heart and desired to leave the comforts of the city for the pioneer villages of central Minnesota, and eventually to the north woods. Many of these new Minnesota residents were Catholic and the new diocese had a growing demand for Churches, priests, and missionaries. Buh was also very interested in serving the Ojibwe communities present in central Minnesota.

Fr. Buh spent the first twenty years serving in central Minnesota. While serving in these pioneer villages he developed many talents, including fundraising, church building, gardening, portrait painting, and natural medicine. 

In 1888 he was recruited to move north to serve the northeastern territory of Minnesota. In these early years he was the only priest serving the vast territory north of Duluth.

Although Buh primarily desired to minister to the Native American communities he could not deny the needs and demands of the new immigrant communities pouring into the northland. As mining towns sprang up along the “iron range” immigrants daily arrived from Europe by the hundreds. According to his biography he split his time between the communities with the following approach, “He would visit the tribal villages in the winter, when travel about the countryside via frozen rivers and lakes allowed for the easiest travel. He would visit the European settlements in the summer, when the roads were most usable.” 

In addition to being familiar with various Native dialects, Buh could preach fluently in German, Polish, French and English, making him a very effective missionary to the various European immigrants settling in northern Minnesota mining towns. He also became an advocate for the immigrant workers, who were often being subjected to unfair wages and dangerous working conditions. He tirelessly worked to meet their spiritual needs as well as advocate for better working conditions and just treatment. He desired just and fair treatment of the poor laborers and that they’re rights be upheld and defended. 

Fr.Buh was very recognizable because he sported a long white beard for most of his adulthood. The native americans nicknamed him Meshi-gong, meaning the bearded one. He was also received the nick-name Masinaigans meaning little book because he was always seen carrying a small black book which he used for note-taking and as a diary for his travels around the diocese. 

Fr. Buh would make frequent trips around the state to visit the native american communities. In his later years various native leaders and chiefs would travel to Ely and Tower to visit the aging priest. They had a great respect and confidence in the priest to advocate for their needs and respect their dignity in an ever-changing world. He was everyone’s friend, regardless of race, religion, age, or status. 

In 1891 Pope Leo XIII honored Fr.Buh for his distinguished service to Christ and the Church with the title of Monsignor. Not only would he now be referred to as Monsignor Buh he would be allowed to wear red robes in addition to his black clerics. With his iconic long white beard, children in Duluth affectionately nicknamed him “Monsignor Santa Claus.”

At the age of 85 Monsignor Buh, who had long made Ely his headquarters for his northern mission work, was called to Duluth to serve as the interim Bishop. He was then promptly selected  by the next Bishop to serve as his chief advisor and vicar general. As the oldest and wisest priest in the diocese of Duluth, Monsignor Buh was a much needed mentor and inspiration for the growing Church. 

At 87 he retired to Duluth and resided at St.James orphanage.“Buh was not only a trained educator, he was a “born teacher,” with a special talent in working with children, who loved him…Buh delighted in story-telling, at which he was a master.” His stories, whether they were about his travels around the world, adventures in the woods, or surviving the rough seasons of Minnesota, always concluded with a connection to God’s incredible love for each one of us. 

Monsignor Buh Died in 1922 at the age of 90 in Duluth. He had served the Church as a priest for 64 years.

Upon his death  Bishop McNicholas remarked, “I consider Monsignor Buh the greatest missionary of the northwest - perhaps, of the country.” 

Monsignor Buh exemplifies the cardinal virtue of justice in his desire to give God his life as missionary, as well as his decades of advocacy and championing the rights of the Native American communities and immigrant laborers in Minnesota.