Background
He was born in Cloppenburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States as a child.
He was born in Cloppenburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States as a child.
He completed his classical and theological studies at Saint Xavier"s College in Cincinnati and Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.
He was ordained as a priest on December 8, 1847 at Cincinnati, after which he was stationed for ten years at Columbus. In 1859, he was made rector of Saint Peter"s Cathedral in Cincinnati, and remained there until he was consecrated titular Bishop of Calydon and administrator of Detroit on April 24, 1870. The first bishop of Detroit, Frederick Rese, became demented four years after his consecration and was called to Rome.
He never resigned his charge and lived until December 30, 1871.
As a consequence, Detroit was ruled by an administrator for thirty years, and Borgess assumed the title of bishop in 1871. He resigned the see April 16, 1888, and spent his last days in retirement, having received the titular see of Phacusites.
He died at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kalamazoo, Michigan"s Borgess Hospital, now Borgess Medical Center, was named for Caspar Henry Borgess by its founders, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, in 1889.
