The Confessionals

The following information is from the book, "Holy Family Parish: Priests and People" by Br. Thomas M. Mulkerins S.J. published in 1923.

The first four confessionals installed were considered to be "plain construction."  One is located in each trancept and one on each side of the entrance.  All the others, seven in all, are made of Butternut wood, and were artistically carved by Anthony Buscher.  The statues on the confessionals were carved by Anthony Buscher's nephew, Sebastian Buscher.  

Anthony Buscher, the builder of the main altar and carver of many of the statues and decorations, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1827. Coming to this country, he was employed as an ornamental carver in New York for a time, and then moved west and bought a farm in Kansas. His farm life lasted but six weeks. His love of the beautiful and artistic so wrought upon him, that he found farm life insipid and lonesome, and turned his face to the east, intending to return to New York. Stopping off in Chicago, he happened to visit Holy Family Church, and was so attracted to the church that he gave up the idea of returning to New York, and instead bought the property at 1123 S. May Street, and engaged in the business of carving Indian statues for cigar signs.

One day Father Darnen saw the wooden Indians being loaded into wagons for delivery, and, struck by the workmanship, invited Buscher to undertake the building of the high altar for Holy Family Church.

As has been seen, Buscher not only completed the altar, but carved all the statues for it and the statues of St. Michael and the Guardian Angel in the vesti­bule, as well as the decorations for several confes­sionals, the statue of St. Patrick and the stationary pulpit, which is no longer in place.