Patriarch of the American Frontier
This is a book my mother wanted to write but never
found time to do it. It is about "The Patriarch Priest of Kentucky," Father
Elisha John Durbin, the Catholic priest who was also known as "The Apostle
of Western Kentucky." When my mother died, I continued her work of
researching the Durbin family ancestry, and we managed to acquire a lot of
information on the beloved Father Durbin. He was a saintly priest whose life
story needs to be memorialized for the world to read. This frontier priest
outranked most of the clerics of his day.
Father Durbin was a man of tremendous personal, physical and spiritual strength. By the end of his nearly lifelong ministry he estimated that he had traveled more than half a million miles on horseback. Over time, Father Durbin developed a craggy appearance due to climatic vagaries. Through the course of his ministry he built at least fifteen churches. During the Civil War his priority was attending to the souls of both Union and Confederate soldiers. He was a saintly man by most definitions.
This book is currently available. You can obtain it at any major bookstore, such as Barnes & Noble or Borders, or you can find it on line at the following, and other, Internet sites. The book is being produced under the new “Publish on Demand” program, so you might not find it on the shelves at the bookstore. Instead, they will order it for you.