Anthony Thomas Daeger was born on March 5, 1872, in Sand Creek Township, near the city of North Vernon, in Jennings County, Indiana.

[2] His paternal grandfather was a German immigrant who joined the Order of Friars Minor (also known as the Franciscans) after the death of his wife.

[1] He then served as an assistant (1897-1900) and pastor (1900-1902) at St. Francis de Sales Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was a neighbor and admirer of William Jennings Bryan.

He served as a pastor and the superior of his fellow Franciscans at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Peña Blanca (1902-1910), Sacred Heart in Farmington (1910-1917), and San Diego Mission in Jemez Pueblo (1917-1919).

[6] He received his episcopal consecration on the following May 7 from Archbishop Pitaval, with Bishops John Henry Tihen and Anthony Joseph Schuler serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.

When Daeger arrived in Santa Fe, the archdiocese contained 80 priests, 356 churches (46 parishes and 310 missions), and 26 schools.