Early life Herman Alerding was born on April 13, 1845, in
Westphalia in the
Kingdom of Prussia (now Germany). After his birth, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in
Newport,
Kentucky. He attended the
parochial school of Corpus Christi Parish in Newport Alerding decided to become a priest, but Bishop
George Carrell, the prelate for the local
Diocese of Covington, refused to send him to seminary. Carrell did not want to pay Alerding's seminary tuition. However, in 1858, Bishop
Jacques-Maurice De Saint Palais of the nearby
Diocese of Vincennes sponsored Alerding at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary near
Vincennes, Indiana. When St. Charles closed in 1859, Alerding transferred to St. Thomas Seminary in
Bardstown,
Kentucky. He returned to Indiana in 1860 to enroll at
St. Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana. After his ordination, Alerding served as a
curate at St. Joseph Parish in
Terre Haute, Indiana, while also attending several
missions throughout
Parke and
Sullivan Counties in Indiana Alerding was transferred to St. Joseph Parish in
Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1874, there overseeing the construction of a church,
rectory, and parochial school. ==References==