Rev. Thomas Grassmann, OFM Conv, (born Frederick Francis Grassmann) (December 18, 1890 – October 1, 1970) was a Conventual Franciscan friar, historian and

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Colonial New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Unit ...

, who discovered the site of the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

American Village of Caughnawaga near

Fonda, New York Fonda is a Village (New York), village in and the county seat of Montgomery County, New York, Montgomery County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 795 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Douw Fonda, a Dutch-Am ...

Biography

Born in Elizabeth NJ, he was the son of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

immigrants Edward and Anna Hirt Grassmann. He was educated at St. John's Preparatory School at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, attended

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...

, and from 1916 to 1917, attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. He was professed in 1917, and then studied at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

of St. Anthony's on the Hudson in Rensselaer, NY, where he completed his theological training. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 22, 1920, by

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Edmund Gibbons Edmund Francis Gibbons (September 16, 1868 – June 19, 1964) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Albany from 1919 to 1954. Biography Edmund Gibbons was born in White Plains, New York, to James and ...

. In 1938 Father Grassmann founded the Fonda Memorial of

Catherine Tekakwitha Kateri Tekakwitha ( in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Catholic saint and virgin who was an Algonquin–Mohawk. Born in the Mohawk village of O ...

near Fonda, New York. This was in the vicinity of the Mohawk settlement Caughnawaga, where Catholic convert Kateri Tekakwitha had lived part of her life (1656-1680) and been baptized.The National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, “History of the Shrine�

/ref> After preliminary exploration by members of the New York State Archaeological Association in the 1940s, Grassmann identified post molds of a

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived ...

line, pinpointing the location, and led the thorough exploration of the site of Caughnawaga from 1950 to 1956. Excavation revealed a fortified, gated wooden double stockade, called a “castle,” and 12 long houses, covered with elm bark, inhabited by the Turtle Clan of the Mohawk from 1666 to 1693. Grassmann's book ''The Mohawk Indians and their Valley: Being a Chronological Documentary Record to the End of 1693'' (Schenectady, N.Y., Printed by Eric Hugo Photography and Print. Co., 1969) became a noted scholarly resource on the early history of the Mohawk Nation of Colonial New York. The Caughnawaga Castle Site was declared a National Historical Place in 1973.National Park Service, Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
/ref> The Fonda memorial, after the beatification of Kateri by the Catholic Church in 1980, is now the National Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine, whose museum houses the Mohawk Caughnawaga Collection assembled by Grassmann. Caughnawaga remains the only completely excavated

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

village in North America. Grassmann was honored by burial on the site he excavated. Sketch of Fr

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grassmann, Thomas 1890 births 1970 deaths Conventual Friars Minor 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 20th-century American archaeologists