USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Hartford > History of the diocese of Hartford > Part 5
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2 In Philadelphia on May 6, 1844, a riot broke out, during which two Catholic churches, one Catholic seminary, two Catholic parsonages, and a Theological Library were destroyed by fire.
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DIOCESE OF HARTFORD.
name. In Connecticut the Know-Nothings burned no churches or con- vents, though they did direct their poisoned shafts against the Catholic Sisterhood. They aimed at political power and having obtained it, to the humiliation of the State, in 1855, inade use of it to outrage their fellow Catholic citizens. Faithful to their policy of proscription, they secured the passage of a law disbanding all the Irish volunteer companies in the State.1 One of the companies affected by this iniquitous law was the Washington-Erina Guards of New Haven, all of whose members were intel- ligent, respectable and loyal Catholic American citizens. They had been charged with 10 breach of military discipline. They had given no sign of disloyalty to the state or the nation; nor were they paid the poor compli- ment of facing a manufactured accusation. They were Irishmen and Catho- lics. Surely these were offences grave enough in the eyes of the patriotic Know-Nothings then in power. That it was the race and creed of the Guards that brought about their disbandment is evident from the fact, that the German companies then in the State were not molested. Had they been Catholics, they, too, would have shared the fate of their New Haven brethren.
The summary disbandment of the Guards was accomplished by the fol- lowing order :
"ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, " Hartford, Sept. 25th, 1855.
" Thomas W. Cahill, Esq., Captain Commanding Company E, 2d Regt. Connecticut Militia : "SIR : By order of the Commander-in-Chief, Infantry Company E, 2d Regt. Con- necticut Militia, is this day disbanded.
"In pursuance of the above order you are hereby directed to deliver all of the pro- perty belonging to this State, in your possession, to the Quartermaster-General at the State arsenal, at Hartford.
" Yours, &c.,
"J. S. WILLIAMS, Adjt .- Genl."
For six years this obnoxious law remained upon the statute books of Connecticut, a stain upon the escutcheon of the State. For six years the Irish Catholics of the State lived with the official brand of suspicion upon them. They were regarded as unfit persons to carry arms. But grim war is a great leveler of distinctions. It brought to Connecticut a realization of the
1 The Know-Nothings were successful this year also in Massachusetts . and New Hampshire. In the former State Governor Gardiner, faithful to his principles, dis- banded the Irish military organizations of the State. John Mitchell was at that time editor of the Citizen, and had this to say of the Governor's action :
"Since the Citizen was established, seeing that the existence of separate Irish, German and Native-American companies could not be helped, we have earnestly im- pressed upon the Irish soldier that he bears arms solely for his adopted country, whose laws he is bound to obey, and whose flag and constitution lie is to defend with his life. We have loudly condemned the anomaly and absurdity of what is called the 'Irish ' vote (another mischief invented and used by American politicians), and exhorted our countrymen not to vote in masses or batches as Irishmen, nor suffer electioneering in- triguers to 'make capital' of them by a few blarneying plirases. . . . But to submit to no brand of inferiority, no shadow of disparagement at the hand of these natives. . . . We are happy to find that Colonel Butler, of Lowell, refuses to brook the outrage. He declines to transmit the order for disbandment, invites a court-martial and appeals to the law. And the Shields Artillery, of Boston, have taken like action in the case."
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND.
gross injustice it had done to a numerous and respectable body of its citizens, and the famous war Governor, William A. Buckingham, was prompt to repair the great wrong of his predecessor, William T. Minor.
In 1861, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, Connecticut was called upon for its quota of troops. The military branch of the State government was at that time in a condition of deplorable inefficiency. Fully cognizant of this state of affairs, it occurred to Governor Buckingham to appeal to his Irish fellow-citizens to organize a regiment of their own. But with the memory of the law of 1855 still fresh would they accept the invitation ? The governor's request was made known to Captain Cahill, who returned this dignified re- ply : "Six years ago I was captain of a company of volunteer militia and a native of New England. I was, with my comrades, thought to be unfit to shoulder a musket in time of peace, and the company was disbanded by order of the then governor of the State, under circumstances peculiarly aggravat- ing to military pride. The law by which we were disbanded still stands on the Statute Book, and so long as it is there my fellow-soldiers and myself feel it to be an insult to us, and to all our fellow-citizens of Irish birth and Catholic faith. If we were not fit to bear arins in time of peace, we might be dangerous in time of war." When this reply of the distinguished captain was brought to the governor he caused a bill to be introduced into the Assembly repealing the Know-Nothing law of 1855. It passed the House by a unanimous vote, and in the same morning it inet with equal success in the Senate. Justice was done to the Irish Catholics of the State, and an infamous enactment was stricken from the records. On September 3, 1861, Governor Buckingham commissioned Captain Cahill to organize a regiment, and the glorious, fighting Ninth, known in the military annals of the State as "the Irish Regiment" went to the front to fight, and, if need be, to die for the maintenance of the Union. The Irish people of Connecticut forgot the harsh treatment to which they were subjected, as seven thousand nine hundred of them donned the blue and went to the Southland in response to their country's call. In this way they repaid the ostracism inflicted upon thein by their Know-Nothing contemporaries.
The hostility displayed towards Irish Catholics by Governor Minor's administration was the last official recognition in Connecticut of the odious principle that because an individual is a Catholic, therefore must his loyalty to the republic be suspected. Never again shall such a law as the one above referred to, blot the public records of our commonwealth. Since then, how- ever, various organizations have from time to time sprung into being, all animated with a common purpose, whose platform may be summarized in the single word Hate. They exist for no other purpose than to harass their Catholic fellow-citizens and to exclude them, if possible, from position of public trust. But their proscriptive policy has met with only rebuke from the intelligent, respectable and cultured portions of our Protestant brethren. Professing loyalty to the Federal Constitution, they, nevertheless, seek to nullify one of its grandest provisions, that "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United
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DIOCESE OF HARTFORD.
State." But such organizations cannot long survive, a disturbing element, among a people so devotedly attached to the cause of education as are the citizens of this republic. They fear the light of intelligence and seek the cover of darkness for the accomplishment of their fell designs. Like the Know-Nothings of other days, the un-American organizations of the present " love darkness rather than the light because their works are evil, for every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not into the light, that his works may not be reproved !"
We shall close this chapter with some reflections which will present the Puritan character as it was, and not as it has been portrayed by historians, who see in the Puritans nothing save what is commendable, who exalt them above the founders of all other States and who enthusiastically proclaim them tlie salt of the earth, the very elect of God. As we recede froin the age which their influence dominated the halo that has been painted around them disappears as the motives of their conduct become more apparent. Their successors in the governments of the different States of New England have done well in freeing themselves from the influence of their narrow legis- lation ; and though the puritanical spirit is still in evidence here and there, more especially in some rural districts, it is unquestionable that in the not distant future it will have totally disappeared. What remains of it must suc- cumb to the advance of liberty and progressive ideas.
"And now what shall be said of Puritanisin ? That it erected one monu- inent to the glory of God, or exemplified the duty of obedience to the civil magistrate ? That its altar was set up in the wilderness, consecrated by the prayers and blessings of the savage ? That its usurped powers were used to quell strife, to calm dissension, to strengthen peace, or to enforce equity ? That it presented an example of humility and patience, for the guidance of those simple ones who were fascinated by its solemn pretense ? That, in all its doings, it had only in view 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good-will to men ?' Or are the eulogies it has received from his- tory like the epitaphs upon tombstones ?
"Since the dawn of creation, the praises of the Supreme Being had been chanted in the wilderness of New England. The forest teemed with gorgeous life, and not a brook babbled its sportive way, but glistened with the gambols of innumerable fish. Nature, animate and inanimate, was full of joyous freedomn, and the lord of the domain roved about unmindful of the glitter of gold or the splendor of courts. This system of Nature Puritanism subverted ; but its powers of substitution sprang from the muzzle of its guns, and not from the kindly affections of the heart. It subjugated nature, but the wild harmonies it destroyed were not replaced by the creations of divine art. It sought exclusively its own good, or, at least, it made that paramount. Deriving its genius from the theocracy of stubborn Israel, it promised its disciples the prestige of temporal success and prosperity. It had an eye to the things of Cæsar as well as to those of Heaven. Join iny ranks, was its promise, and you shall be rich ; for the promised land belongs to the saints : you shall be powerful, for God will fight your battles. Wherever it
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND.
penetrated, its work was to destroy and create anew. It defaced the moral landscape of Catholicism, but was unable to substitute anything so fair and so beautiful. The church presented a vast area, on whose surface could be seen rocks and caverns and pitfalls ; but then there were also quiet nooks and peaceful, gladsome vales, smiling in the brightness of an eternal sun. Puri- tanism was like a dreary waste overhung by a wintry sky, where, if a gleam of liglit were perchance discernible, it but irradiated desolation."
"Ignorance and presumption, ever hand in hand, have united to break down that noble Tree planted by Christ himself, because, forsooth, it has borne some decayed branches. But amidst all the desolation of this world it still lives, exhibiting a miracle more wonderful than that performed at the humble cave in Bethany. For its roots are cherished by mortal hand and eternal sunshine lingers upon its fragrant foliage.
"In a religious sense it (Puritanism) left nothing behind but its warnings. The synods, the confessions, the platforms and the lieresies which distinguish its reign in New England, are in marked contrast with this noble church it presumptuously hoped to displace, and which, since the days of its Catholic defenders, has neither altered an article of its creed nor a principle of its government."' 1
EARLY CATHOLICITY IN CONNECTICUT.
CHAPTER VII.
IRISH SETTLERS.
T T is not improbable that the first European to sail along the shores of Connecticut, and perhaps, to stand upon its soil, was the great Catholic navigator, John Verrazano. Accepting a commission in the service of Francis I., King of France, he sailed in the frigate "Dauphin" in 1524, and after a tempestuous voyage, reached the coast of Florida. He sailed along the continent as far north as Newfoundland. To all this territory he gave the name of New France. It is claimed that the honor of discovering New York Bay belongs to him. If such be the facts, it is not unreasonable to infer that the prow of his stanch ship cut the waters of Long Island Sound ; and as vessels of exploration were always provided with priests, whose mission it was to preach the glad tidings of the gospel in newly-discovered lands, it may be that well-nigh four centuries ago the virgin forests of Connecticut re-echoed with the chant of holy monks, and that some spots were hallowed by rude altars upon which was offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and over whose table towered the symbol of man's redemption, the everlasting Cross.
1 The Puritan Commonwealth by Peter Oliver, pp., 484-493.
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DIOCESE OF HARTFORD.
There is an interesting tradition to the effect that the first resident Catho- lics of Connecticut were a band of seventeen Indians, who were carried to Southern Europe about two hundred and fifty years ago by a shipmaster, who sailed the Thames, there instructed in the Catholic faith, baptized and brought back to their native land. This tradition was handed down to the time of the venerable missionary, Rev. James Fitton, who firmly believed in the accuracy of the story. His belief received confirmation from the discovery in his own time in the eastern section of the State, probably near Norwich, of an ancient Indian cemetery. In one of the mounds were discovered, among other articles commonly found in Indian graves, some rings upon which were engraved two hearts and glass bottles partially filled with water. Father Fitton had in his possession one of these rings, and held in his hands the mysterious bottles. These he concluded contained holy water, which had been given to the Indians when leaving Europe, while the rings, he contended, represented the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary, and had been placed upon the fingers of the converts at their baptism.
Such is the narrative as told by Father Fitton at the dedication of St. Patrick's church, Norwich. "The conversion of the Indians, if true, would be a remarkable fact in the ecclesiastical history of Connecticut; but I have made diligent inquiries among the recognized authorities on Indian history in the State, and have failed to verify Father Fitton's relation. As to the rings representing the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary, it may be stated, that it was in 1675 that the revelation was made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque that she with her holy confessor was to obtain the institution of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Did the rings anticipate the devotion, or did the alleged conversion take place afterwards ?
It is a fact incontestably established that Irish people in respectable numbers were residents of New England less than a quarter of a century after the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock. In Connecticut they were contem- poraries of Theophilus Eaton, who was Governor of New Haven colony from 1639 till his death, in 1657. They rendered signal services in the Pequot war in 1637. Captain Daniel Patrick, an Irishman, was dispatched from Boston with forty men to assist the Connecticut troops in that struggle.1 He next appears in 1639, when, with Robert Feake, he purchased Greenwich from an Indian sachem, thus becoming the first settlers of that town.2 The title of purchase, however, was not transferred formally until April of the follow- ing year. The Dutch Governor Kieft immediately protested against the cession of this territory to Patrick and Feake, and declared his purpose to dislodge them unless they yielded submission to the New Netherland govern- ment. Patrick withheld his submission, though he declared he would do nothing in the least prejudicial to "the rights of the States General." For two years he held possession despite the protest of the Dutch Governor. In
1 Sanford's "Hist. of Conn.," p. 24; Carpenter's " Hist. of Conn.," p. 54; Broad- head's " Hist of New York," Vol. I., p. 272. It is asserted that Patrick's name was origi- nally Gilpatrick .- Linehan's " Sketches"
" The original name of Greenwich was Petuquapam.
II-3
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND.
1642 the English colonists were thrown into a state of alarm by the reports of an uprising of the Indians of Connecticut. Uncas, the great chief of the Mohegans, had assiduously circulated rumors regarding an intended massacre of tlie Colonists by Miantonomoh, chief of the Narragansetts. Connecticut and New Haven Colonies perfected a league of defence.
Fearing the consequences of his isolation should hostilities break out Patrick yielded submission to the Dutch Government, declaring that he was moved thereto by "both the strifes of the English, the danger consequent thereon, and these treacherous and villainous Indians of whom we have seen sorrowful examples enough." His formal submission was consummated on April 9, 1642, when at Fort Amsterdam he took the oath of allegiance to the States General, the West India Company and the authorities of New Nether- lands. He demanded, however, adequate protection from enemies and all the privileges "that all patroons of New Netherland have obtained agreeably to the Freedoms."
Late in the following year the Indians of Stamford and neighborhood, inspired by their powerful and haughty chief, Mayano, became troublesome and gave the Colonists cause for grave alarm. On one occasion Mayano, coming suddenly upon "three Christians," fiercely attacked them. Patrick was one of the little band. The chief killed one of the three, but was him- self dispatched after a desperate struggle. Patrick cut off his head and sent it as a trophy of victory to Fort Amsterdam with a detailed account of the atrocities perpetrated by Mayano and his tribe. An expedition consisting of 120 111en was immediately dispatched from Manhattan against the hostiles. They marched through Greenwich to Stamford, but failed to discover any signs of the Indians. The Dutch soldiers became incensed at their failure, and one of them in an outburst of rage upbraided Patrick with having brought them on "a fool's errand." Patrick indignantly repelled the implied charge of treachery and spat in the soldier's face. Then turning to leave his irate accuser, the latter "shot him behind in the head, so he fell down dead and never spake." 1
So perished one of the first Irishinen to enter the State of Connecticut. Patrick "had married a Dutch wife from the Hague," Annetje van Beyeren. He had little sympathy for the cold, severe dogmas of the Puritans, and we are told that "he seldom went to the public assemblies." He was a strong, daring, adventurous spirit, a sturdy character who left his impress upon his time. His name is perpetuated in "Captain's Island," on which stands the liglit-house off Greenwich.2
One of the first towns in Connecticut in which the Irish people became permanent residents was Windsor. John Dyer is mentioned in the town records as a "Pequot soldier." 3 Edward King, "an Irishman, one of the oldest settlers in this vicinity,"+ probably settled here about 1635. The
1 Winth. II., 151.
2 Broadhead's " Hist. of New York," Vol. I.
3 Stiles' "Ancient Windsor," p. 41.
4 Ibid, pp. 55, 93. He speaks of King elsewhere as " the Irishman."
L
?
1
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DIOCESE OF HARTFORD.
name of John Griffen appears in 1648, but he resided there, no doubt, before that time. Another Celtic name found in the records of the town is Edward Ryle. King was Ryle's host, and for this exercise of fraternal charity both became amenable to a peculiar law then on the statute books. To protect themselves against worthless characters who mnight sow the seeds of vice and crime, and become burdens on the towns, it was enacted by the General Court in 1637, that
"No young inan that is not married, nor hath any servant, and be no public officer, shall keep house by himself without consent of the town where he lives, first liad, under pain of 20 shillings per week."
"No master of a family shall give habitation or entertainment to any young man to sojourn in his family, but by the allowance of the inhab- itants of said town where he dwells, under a like penalty of 20 shillings per week." 1
With these enactments before them the sage fathers of Windsor, in town ineeting, June 27, 1658, took cognizance of the fact that divers persons, from time to time, resorted to the premises of Edward King, and that such recourse was prejudicial to the town if not summarily prohibited. Accordingly, it was voted that, unless King gave security for his good behavior and gave serious consideration to the orders of the town before the Ist of October fol- lowing, a fine of 20 shillings would be inflicted. It was " also ordered that Edward Ryle shall continue there no longer than the aforesaid time appointed, upon the same penalty." 2
It was not alleged that Ryle was a vagrant, or that he was liable to become a charge on the town ; nor was King charged with any offense grave in itself. Such laws were restraining forces that operated to the prejudice of personal liberty. They furnished, moreover, occupation for unscrupulous persons wliose zeal in the public weal was commensurate with the size of the fine.
In the Great Swamp Fight in King Philip's War in 1675, five Connecti- cut Irishmen are on record as having won distinction by their gallant conduct, and as receiving as the reward of their services, generous grants of land. The names of these brave inen deserve to be perpetuated. They were the sturdy pioneers in this land of a race that has ever been its defenders; and as thie records of the infant nation are einblazoned with the brave deeds of Erin's sons, so will the annals of the mighty giant in the future be enriched with their brilliant and valorous achievements. Our heroes of the Great Swamp Fight were James Murphy, Daniel Tracy, Edward Larkin, Jaines Welchi 3 and John Roach. The Norwalk town records contain this entry concern- ing Roach : 4
1 "Colonial Records of Conn.," 1636-1665, p. 8. The first section of this law was in force as late as 1821 ; the second until 1702.
2 " Ancient Windsor," pp. 54, 55.
8 T. H. Murray in " Rosary Mag.," March, 1896.
4 P. 63.
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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND.
"JOHN ROACH, A SOLDIER IN THE 'DIREFUL SWAMP FIGHT.'
" Whereas, the town of Norwalk having given and granted unto John Roach as a gratuity, being a soldier in the late Indian War, the parcel of land consisting of twelve acres more or less, layed out upon the west side of the West Rocks, so-called," etc.
Were these heroes Catholics? Very likely. The same names may be read in the census list of every considerable Irish Catholic parish in New England.
CHAPTER VIII.
EMIGRATION, COMPULSORY AND VOLUNTARY,
HEN the public records of colonial times are carefully scanned we discover abundant reasons to account for the presence then of large numbers of Irish people in Connecticut. We cease to be surprised at the number of Celtic names that greet the eye when we reflect upon the causes that forced them to bid farewell to the green hills and pleasant rivers and crystal lakes of their native land. Exiled from Erin, they were brought to our shores in thousands, sold as slaves and scattered over the various colo- nies of America. Official documents tell a heart-rending story of how the sons and daughters of Ireland became so numerous in the English colonies at so early a period of our history. They proclaim loudly the existence of unparal- leled brutality on the part of men who had God ever on their lips, and whose boasted knowledge of the Divine Word was their choicest accomplishment. Professing godliness, they perpetrated crimes at which humanity stands ap- palled, and upon which they invoked the benediction of heaven. To extermi- nate the Irish Catholic race was their aim, and all means were alike legitimate if the end could be attained. Let us pass down to future generations the names of those godly man-hunters and pious traffickers in human lives. Let us place on record again some of the "orders" that cover their authors with infamy, and which consigned to living deaths thousands of pure, innocent little ones, who were torn from the hearts of those nearest on earth and sent into strange lands.
The names of some of those man-catchers have come down to us. They were merchants of Bristol, England : Messrs. David Sellick and Leader, Robert Yeomens, Josepli Lawrence, Dudley North and John Johnson. 1
It was these holy men, zealous in spreading the light of the gospel, who conceived the idea of relieving the British government of a serious embar- rassment in which it found itself after the compulsory exile of 40, 000 soldiers who fell into the hands of the devout Protector. How to dispose of their wives and children became a grave problem. "They could not be sent to Con- naught, as women, with children only, could not be expected to 'plant' that desolate province ; they could not be allowed to remain in their native place, as the decree had gone forth that all the Irish were to 'transplant' or be trans- ported; it would have been inconvenient and inexcusable to do what had been so often done in the war-massacre them in cold blood-as the war was over." 2
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