Early life James Marty was born in
Canton Schwyz,
Switzerland, on January 12, 1834, the son of a shoemaker and church
sexton and his wife. Before age two, he severely burned his mouth and face when trying to drink from a bottle of acid in his father's shop. The acid caused swelling that nearly suffocated him; it left his face permanently disfigured. After graduating from the Jesuit-run
gymnasium in his hometown, Marty was granted a musical
scholarship to the Jesuit college at
Fribourg, Switzerland. While there, he learned about the work of Reverend
Pierre De Smet, a Jesuit missionary in the Western United States. De Smet inspired Marty to become a priest and serve as a missionary to the Native Americans. After his graduation, Marty entered the Benedictine novitiate at age 20; he took his final vows on May 29, 1855, assuming the name Brother Martin Marty. In 1859, the Benedictines assigned him to teach
moral theology at the abbey. In 1860, Abbot Heinrich Schmid von Baar sent Marty to the United States for one year to manage the Benedictine Saint Meinrad monastery at
St. Meinrad, Indiana. Marty succeeded in reducing Saint Meinrad's debt, saving it from dissolution. Schmid von Baar decided to designate Marty as its permanent leader. When Saint Meinrad was established as a conventual
priory five years later, Marty was selected as the first prior.
Vicar Apostolic of Dakota Territory In July 1876, Marty departed Indiana by steamer for
Standing Rock in the
Dakota Territory, along the upper Missouri River, where he intended to found a Benedictine monastery to assist the
Lakota people. On August 12, 1879,
Pope Leo XIII appointed Marty as vicar apostolic of the
Dakota Territory; he was consecrated bishop on February 1, 1880, by Bishop
Silas Chatard and named titular bishop of
Tiberias. The
Hunkpapa Sioux called him "Black Robe Lean Chief". The area was first under the jurisdiction of the
Apostolic Vicariate of Nebraska. As the Dakota Territory had only 12 Catholic priests, Marty actively recruited priests from the Eastern United States and Europe. In 1880 Marty persuaded Benedictine sisters from Missouri to assist him at
Fort Yates, a mission among the
Yankton Sioux. In 1884, Marty attended the
Third Plenary Council in
Baltimore, Maryland. He served on the committee to establish the
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Marty was appointed president of the
Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.
Bishop of Sioux Falls On November 26, 1889,
Pope Leo XIII appointed Marty as the first bishop of the new
Diocese of Sioux Falls, which, at that time, comprised all of
South Dakota. ==Quote==