Early life Borgess was born on August 1, 1826, in the village of
Addrup, part of
Essen in the
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (present-day
Lower Saxony). He was the son of John Gerhard Borgess and Maria Anna Dinkgreve. He came to the United States with his family in 1839. They first resided in
Philadelphia, where Caspar's uncle, Rev. Otto Henry Borgess, was pastor of
Holy Trinity Church (1838–1845). The family finally settled in
Cincinnati, where he attended
St. Xavier College. His first assignment was as pastor of
Holy Cross Church, the oldest church in
Columbus. At the beginning of his decade-long tenure at Holy Cross, he became known for caring for the sick during the
cholera epidemic of 1849. He even suspended a priest who published a letter about the St. Augustine's affair. However, the Vatican declined and he remained in office for another eight years. He submitted his resignation again on April 16, 1887, and this time it was accepted by Rome. He was buried in the churchyard of St. Augustine's Church but his remains were later moved to
Nazareth College in 1906 and again to
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in 1939. ==References==