USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The memorial history of Boston : including Suffolk County, Massachusetts, 1630-1880, Vol. III > Part 68
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521
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BOSTON.
About this time the cathedral began to be so crowded at all the services chat the bishop found it necessary to begin to provide means of building a new church, and funds for this purpose were collected to the amount of five thousand dollars.
Some time previous to this, the Catholics had purchased a lot of land on Bunker Hill, Charlestown, and had begun to use it as a burial-place for their dead. This year an attempt was made to induce the town authorities to prevent further interments therein. It was thought that this historic ground should not be used as a place of sepulture. The Legislature was petitioned for a law that would give cities and towns authority to grant or withhold permission to bury within their borders. The Catholics op- posed the passage of this law, on the ground that, in the growing anti- Catholic spirit of the time, they feared it would be used to embarrass them in giving Catholic sepulture to their dead.
About this time the flight of Miss Rebecca Reed from the Ursuline Con- vent in Charlestown caused some popular excitement. The fact that she was a convert from Protestantisni, coupled with her sudden and secret flight and the reasons she assigned for this step, were taken advantage of by cer- tain zealots to fan the growing flame of anti-Catholic prejudice and public distrust. On July 28 the following year ( 1834), another somewhat similar, but far more serious and unfortunate, event occurred in connection with this same convent, which finally led to the most disastrous and deplorable results, including the destruction of the convent by a mob.1
It appears that one of the nuns named Sister Mary John, in a fit of men- tal derangement, caused as the physician afterward said by hysteria, left the convent secretly on the night of July 28, and, going to the house of a l'rotestant neighbor named Runey, was at her own request conducted by him to the house of Mr. Cotting, in West Cambridge. This Mr. Cotting had formerly had two daughters in the convent school as pupils, and Sister Mary John had thus some acquaintance with the family. Mr. Cotting re- ceived her kindly. Bishop Fenwick, learning the facts of the case from the nuns, repaired that evening to Mr. Cotting's house and requested to see and converse with Sister Mary John. This request she persistently refused to comply with. The bishop was very anxious that she should return and place herself under the protection and care of her sisters in religion, or con- sent to be restored to her relatives, both for her own sake and on account of the misconceptions that a contrary course would arouse in the public mind, - already hostile to Catholic institutions, and peculiarly prejudiced
1 The facts in this case are taken directly from Bishop Fenwick's journal, and do not differ materially from those found by the investigation of a committee appointed for this purpose at a public meeting held in Faneuil Hall, Aug. 12, 1834. This investigation lasted for two weeks, and the results of it are clearly stated in the admirable report of the committee, which is a matter of public record, and may be found in VOL. 111 .- 66.
the collection of Bishop England's works, vol. v. p. 223. The chairman of the committee was Charles G. Loring, and it was composed of such distinguished men as Charles P'. Curtis, Henry Lee, Horace Mann, Richard S. Fay, John D). Williams, William Sturgis, Benjamin Rich, Robert C. Winthrop, Nathan Appleton, The- ophilus Parsons, Thomas Motley, and Edward Sohier.
522
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
against monasteries and nunneries. In this emergency the bishop had re- course to the intervention of her brother, Mr. Harrison, of Boston. The brother visited West Cambridge, and was received by his sister. After some persuasion she consented to return to the convent, after having seen the bishop and hearing what he had to say. This she did July 29, accom- panied by her brother and the bishop. The next day the attack of hysteria passed away, and Sister Mary John was restored to her normal condition. With the return of mental tranquillity came back her love for the religious state, and her desire to remain in the convent. She could hardly believe the facts in the case as related to her, and was inclined to look upon what had
MOUNT BENEDICT.1
happened as a dream. When she could no longer withhold her credence she was greatly grieved, and was heard to cry out from time to time, " O God! where were my senses?" "How can I ever repair the injury I have done!" The bishop and the nuns did all in their power to soothe her anguish and restore her peace of mind. The physician, Dr. Thompson, directed them to keep her as composed and quiet as possible, to guard against a possible relapse. Happily this did not take place, and all would have been well had not a rumor spread that she was detained in the convent against her will, and even harshly treated by the other nuns. The public press took up and spread this rumor far and wide, and the public mind was
1 [This cut follows a lithograph now in the dining-room of the residence of the pastor of St. Mary's church, Charlestown. There is another
view of the ruins in Drake's Landmarks of Mid- dlesex, p. 91. - ED.]
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THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BOSTON.
excited to a high pitch of indignation. Finally, some of the more ignorant and prejudiced class, including others prompted by bigotry and malice, made a demonstration against the convent on the night of August 9. About nine o'clock that night a mob of rough characters, chiefly of the laboring class, gathered about the convent grounds, crying out in loud and menacing tones, "Down with the convent!" "Away with the nuns!" Two men named Cutter, who resided in the neighborhood, constituted themselves spokesmen for the assembly, and undertook to see if there was any truth in the charge that a nun was forcibly detained in the cloister. With this end in view, they called at the convent, and requested to see the superior and Sister Mary John, so that they might hear from their own lips the truth of the matter. The superior complied with their request, and Sister Mary John declared to them that her stay in the convent was the result of her own free choice. The Cutters retired, professing to be satisfied, and so informed the mob, who soon afterwards withdrew. The nuns, however, in their great tribulation, anxiety, and fear, spent the night in watching and prayer.
The next day being Sunday, the bishop visited the convent and said mass there, as was his custom. He found Mary John full of regret for what had happened, and most anxious to be assured of his forgiveness. On the fol- lowing Monday, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the selectmen of Charlestown paid an official visit to the convent, and with the permission of the superior examined it from garret to cellar. They remained for about three hours, and, having seen and conversed with Sister Mary John and the other inmates, declared that they were perfectly satisfied that everything was correct, and that they would so announce through the newspapers of the fol- lowing day. Notwithstanding all this, about eight o'clock on the night of this same day (Aug. 11, 1834), a mob again began to assemble about the convent. No great apprehension of violence was, however, felt, as it was known that the civil authorities were warned in time; and it was thought that they were able and willing to protect property and keep the peace. The event proved that this supposition was not at all correct. About ten o'clock that night, when thousands had been gathered to the scene by a bonfire lighted on the adjoining land, a body of about five or six hundred ruffians made a furious assault on the convent. They broke in the windows, battered down the doors, invaded the premises, ransacked and pillaged the convent, and having broken and thrown out of doors such furniture as they could not carry away, finally set fire to the house itself, and burned it to the ground. Although an alarm of fire was sounded, and some fire companies with their engines appeared on the scene, no effectual efforts were made to extinguish the flames, - the firemen being probably overawed by the mob. Two of the selectmen of Charlestown were on the ground, but, beyond ad- vising the mob to abstain from violence, did nothing to protect the convent. The pupils, about fifty-five in number, all young ladies, had retired to bed before the assault began. They were now hastily dressed, and hurried out of the building, followed by the nuns. All fled in scattered groups, as best they
524
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
could, and found refuge in the neighboring farm-houses until the following morning, when they were gathered together and returned to their friends. They saved nothing except what they wore at the time, not even a change of clothing. The Ursuline nuns were brought to Boston, and were tem- porarily lodged with the Sisters of Charity.
The citizens of Boston of the better class were filled with indignation at this dastardly outrage on defenceless women and children. The very next day a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall, in which Mr. Harrison Gray Otis delivered a speech of great power and eloquence. He denounced the per- petrators of this savage outrage as cowardly ruffians, and expressed his horror and indignation at the shameful and atrocious proceedings of the mob. Specches of the same character were also made by Josiah Quincy, Jr., and others. Resolutions were formally passed, condemning the burning of the convent in the strongest terms. That same day, however, another mob collected about the cathedral, but the citizens were armed and pre- pared, and although many threats were made, no violence was attempted. The success of Bishop Fenwick in restraining the Catholics from acts of retaliation and the influence of all good citizens caused the excitement gradually to subside, and by August 19 tranquillity was perfectly restored. Thirteen of the rioters were arrested and brought to trial, chiefly throughi the exertions of the Faneuil-Hall committee. The Government, however, failed to convict, except in the case of Marvin Marcy, Jr., a young man who was probably the least guilty of the number. He was soon afterward par- doned on the petition of the bishop and others, it being thought incongruous that while J. R. Buzzell and other leaders in the riot remained unpunished, the least guilty should suffer.1
The church on Pond (now Endicott) Street, was begun about this time, and the walls were ready for the roof, Oct. 14, 1835. The basement being completed, the first mass was said therein on Christmas Day of this year. The church was afterward dedicated, under the title of St. Mary's, May 22, 1836. For a time the clergymen at the cathedral attended this church, of which the first regular pastors were Fathers Wiley and O'Beirne.
1 Efforts were subsequently made to induce the State to make compensation for the damage done; but although a law was finally (March 16, 1839) passed covering cases of mob violence, the Legislature did not think it well to make it re- troactive. The convent property has now passed into other hands, and the hill itself on which it stood is fast disappearing, the clay and gravel being used for filling up the low lands along the Mystic River.
The Ursulines, after residing for a time on a place in Roxbury, known as the Dearborn Estate, visited Quebec in 1835, and finally withdrew al- together from Boston. [The bibliography of the convent riot can be traced in J. F. Hunnewell's Bibliography of Charlestown, 1880. Those titles
of chief importance are The Trials, 1834; Doc- uments relating to, 1842; the several legislative reports on indemnity, 1852, 1853, 1854; some papers in the Boston Commercial Bulletin, Jan. and Feb. 1870, which enlarged, and reproducing much contemporary evidence, were reissued by Patrick Donahoe as The Charlestown Convent, 1870; Mrs. Louisa Whitney's Burning of the Con- vent, 1877, the writer having been a pupil there at the time. Rebecca T. Reed's Six Months in a Convent was published in Boston in 1835; fol- lowed by An Answer from the Lady Superior; this again by a Reply, intended as a vindication of Miss Reed, to whose narrative a separate Supplement was also printed, with an account of the "elopement of Miss Harrison." - En.]
525
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BOSTON.
The Catholics becoming quite numerous in the south end of the city, a church on Northampton Street, known as St. Patrick's, was begun in 1835. The Rev. Thomas Lynch, who was the first pastor of this church, was or- dained priest July 27, 1833. The Rev. P. O'Beirne, the present venerable pastor of St. Joseph's, Roxbury, was ordained in 1835.
In 1836 a German Catholic Congregation was organized, and was given the use of the cathedral for their services, with priests of their own language to officiate for them. A charity fair in aid of the Orphan Asylum was held this year, and $2,000 realized.
The conversion of the Rev. George F. Haskins, an Episcopal minister, happened in 1840, and he was, after due preparation, ordained priest, and be- came the second pastor of the church of St. John the Baptist, Moon Street. Afterward he was the first pastor of St. Stephen's church on Hanover Street. Hle also founded and conducted the House of the Angel Guardian, an asylum for wayward and orphan boys.
Dr. O'Flaherty, somewhat noted for the distinguished share he took in a religious controversy with Dr. Lyman Beecher in 1831, was about this time appointed pastor of St. Mary's Church, jointly with Rev. Patrick O'Beirne, now the rector of St. Joseph's Church, Roxbury.
In 1841 a lot of land was purchased on Suffolk Street to serve as a site for a church for the Catholic Germans, the corner-stone of which was laid June 28 of the following year.1 A procession, formed at St. Patrick's church, proceeded to the site of the new church, the people on foot, the bishop and clergy vested in their official robes in carriages. The Rev. Francis Roloff, the pastor, preached the sermon. In 1842 was held the first synod of the Boston diocese, in which statutes for the better ordering of discipline were enacted. Jan. 17, 1843, a lot of land on Moon Street, on which there was a large warehouse, was bought for church purposes, and after being adapted to its new uses was dedicated under the title of St. John the Baptist. It is now used as a parochial school, and its place is supplied by St. Stephen's church, Hanover Street. The first pastor was the Rev. J. B. McMahon.
The chapel of St. Augustine, although somewhat enlarged, soon proved quite insufficient for the increasing body of Catholics in South Boston. Con- sequently a new church was begun on Broadway in 1843. The basement hall was ready for occupancy in 1844, and the church, a fine stone structure, was dedicated in 1845, and called SS. Peter and Paul. Its first pastor was the Rev. Terence Fitzsimmons. It was destroyed by fire, Sept. 8, 1848, the flames being first discovered in the belfry. It was supposed to have caught fire from sparks from a conflagration then raging on Federal Street, near the bridge. The work of rebuilding it was soon begun, and having been reconstructed after the original designs, it was rededicated Nov. 7, 1853. The Rev. P. F. Lyndon was the second pastor, and the present Rector is the Rev. William A. Blinkinsop.
In the mean time several Catholic families had settled on the island, now
1 The newly-erected tower fell in 1843, doing considerable damage.
526
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
called East Boston. Among those the best known were Mr. Daniel Crowley and Messrs. McManus and Cummiskey. So inconvenient was it for them to cross the ferry in order to attend church, that, as soon as their numbers gave any promise of sufficient support, it was resolved to provide them with a church of their own. In 1844 Mr. Daniel Crowley, after consultation with other leading Catholics, and with the approval of the bishop, purchased the meeting-house of the Maverick Congregational Society ; and after the neces- sary alterations and repairs were made it was dedicated, as a Catholic church, on the 25th of February, under the title of St. Nicholas. The Rev. Nicholas J. O'Brien was the first pastor; and on his return to the cathedral, March, 1847, he was succeeded by the Rev. Charles McCallion, who enlarged the church and built a fine brick residence for the pastor. He was succeeded in 1851 by the Rev. William Wiley, who held the office till his death, April 19, 1855. In 1854 the Rev. William Wiley, finding that the congregation was rapidly increasing, secured a lot of land adjoining the old church, laid the foundations and completed the basement walls of the large and beauti- ful stone church now known as the church of the Holy Redeemer. Father Wiley was succeeded by the Rev. James Fitton, who continued the work and brought it to completion in 1857, when it was dedicated by Bishop Fitz- patrick. The belfry contains a fine bell, the gift of Mr. Daniel Crowley. The galleries have recently been removed, and the interior greatly improved. The old church was converted into a school-house in 1858, and the Sisters of Notre Dame have conducted the parochial school for girls therein from that date to the present time.
The Rev. J. B. Fitzpatrick was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Boston in 1843, and consecrated March 24, 1844.
John & Fitzpatrick The conversion of A. O. Brownson, a Unitarian clergyman, which took place in Boston in 1844, attracted public attention.1 He was received into the Catholic Church by Bishop Fitzpatrick. This year is also marked by the elevation to the priesthood of the Rev. John J. Williams, the present Archbishop of Boston.
In 1845 a house on Purchase Street was bought, for $18,000, for the Orphan Asylum in charge of the Sisters of Charity.
Bishop Fenwick began to fail in health in 1846.2 He became quite ill on the 7th of August, and died on the 1 1th day of the same month, aged sixty- three years and eleven months. His funeral took place on the 13th of Au- gust from the cathedral; Bishop Fitzpatrick officiated, and the Rev. N. J. O'Brien preached the sermon. As it was his wish to be buried at the College of the Holy Cross,3 of which he was the founder, his remains were taken
1 Brownson's Review, for many years con- ducted with singular ability and success by Dr. Brownson, was also projected in this year.
2 A portrait of Bishop Fenwick, now in the reception room of the Archbishop's house, was painted in 1845 by Mr. Pope, a celebrated por-
trait painter of Boston. It is said to be an ex- cellent likeness.
3 The College of the Holy Cross, near Worcester, was founded in 1843, by Bishop Fenwick, on a farm previously purchased by the Rev. James Fitton. The college was placed
1
527
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BOSTON.
through the streets of Boston to the Worcester Railroad station in a solemn ecclesiastical procession, the bishop and clergy vested in their robes of office. It is worthy of note that it was a French priest, the Rev. Charles E. Brasseur de Bourbourg, who carried the cross at the head of the clergy. This procession, it appears, was not contemplated in the original plan of the funeral, but was organized under the influence of the moment, at the suggestion of Bishop Fitzpatrick.
The dedication of the church of the Holy Trinity (German) took place Oct. 25, 1846. The Rev. Alex. Martini, O. S. F., preached the sermon. On , the 6th of December of the same year was dedicated St. Joseph's church, Roxbury, of which the Rev. P. O'Beirne was the first pastor, and who still retains the same charge, after almost fifty years of active work in the ministry. He will celebrate the golden jubilec of his priesthood in 1885. .
In 1847 a newspaper, called the Boston Catholic Observer, the principal writers for which were the Rev. George F. Haskins and the Rev. N. J. O'Brien, began to be published. This was the year of the famine in Ireland, and at the suggestion of the bishop a collection, amounting to $25,000, was made by the Catholics of the diocese of Boston for the relief of their suffering brethren. A similar collection was made in 1880.
Some symptoms of the Know-Nothing spirit, which then prevailed throughout the country, showed themselves in Boston in 1847. The most notable of these was the preconcerted assembly, June 16, of the lodges of Boston and vicinity at Fort Hill, a quarter thickly settled by cmigrants from Ireland. The object of this was undoubtedly to provoke a breach of the peace on the part of the Irish; but the latter, warned and cxhorted by the bishop and his priests to keep indoors on that day, allowed the Know-Noth- ings to have their triumph in peace. The forbearance of the Irish in the presence of these insulting proceedings was greatly admired by the more pcaccable citizens.
The hospital on Decr Island and the poor-house in South Boston were now rapidly filling up with newly-arrived emigrants, stricken with the ship- fever. It is thought that it was owing to the Know-Nothing spirit then pre- vailing that the priests were at first prevented from visiting the Catholics who were dying in these hospitals. The right to administer religious consolation to these poor emigrants was afterward conceded at the earnest solicitation of Bishop Fitzpatrick. This concession was, however, hampered by condi- tions that seem to us now wholly unnecessary. The Battle of Bunker Hill was celebrated on the 17th of June this year by a display of no-popery
in charge of professors of the Society of Jesus, and members of that order still continue to con- duci it. The object of this college was to pro- vidle education in the higher branches, and also in the classics, under Catholic auspices, and to cul- tivate vocations to the priesthood.
In 1849, an attempt was made to procure a charter from the Massachusetts legislature for
the College of the Holy Cross. Bishop Fitz- patrick appeared in its behalf before the com- mittee on education, and Charles W. Upham of Salem and other distinguished legislators ad- vocated the granting of the petition An act granting a charler lo the college was passed, and became a law ; but it was repealed the fok- lowing year. A charter was finally granted.
528
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF BOSTON.
banners in City Square, Charlestown. About this time occurred the con- version of Captain Chandler and the ordination of the Rev. Joseph Coolidge Shaw, a convert to the Catholic Church.
On the 19th of September of this year the Rev. P. F. Lyndon became pastor of St. Mary's church, Charlestown, in place of the Rev. George F. Goodwin, deceased. During his pastorate he enlarged the church to its present size, giving it a seating capacity of about one thousand ; and he also built a new pastoral residence. St. Mary's, Boston, was placed in charge of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, Oct. 24, 1847, and the same society still continues to furnish pastors for this church, of whom the Rev. John McEl- roy, S. J., was the first. In 1848 died Dr. Green, a convert to the Roman Catholic religion, originally from Maine, and still gratefully remembered in Boston as one of the chief founders of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum for girls.
The influx of emigrants from Ireland was now rapidly increasing the Catholic population of certain districts of the city. Among the places where these emigrants found tenements in large numbers was the Fort-Hill dis- trict; and it soon became necessary to furnish church accommodations in that vicinity. About this time it happened that a stone church on Purchase Street was offered for sale for $30,000. Mr. Andrew Carney was instructed by the bishop to buy it, which he did May 1, 1848, binding the contract. by a bond for $10,000. When the sellers found that the building was to be used as a Catholic church, such was the pressure of public opinion upon them that they sought to recede from their agreement. Knowing they were held by the bond, they offered to pay $3,000 to have the contract rescinded. This offer was rejected, and the church passed into the posses- sion of the Catholics. It continued to be of great utility to them till it too, like the old cathedral on Franklin Street, had to disappear before the onward march of business. It was attended for a time from the cathedral. The Rev. M. T. Gallagher was its first regular pastor. The Rev. E. J. Sher- idan, at present of Taunton, was also for several years pastor of this church, which was known as St. Vincent's; and when it was taken down in April, 1872, the stone was used in building a church of the same name in South Boston. The present pastor is Rev. W. J. Corcoran.
In 1850 an ordinance passed the city council prohibiting further inter- ments in the Catholic Cemetery in South Boston. This was a great griev- ance to Catholics at the time, as they had then few places of burial, and the laws of their church forbade them to bury their dead in Protestant cemeteries. A test case was brought into court, and it was found that the city had ex- ceeded its authority in issuing this prohibition. Again the Legislature was appealed to for a general law giving cities and towns authority to control burials within their limits. Bishop Fitzpatrick, sharing in the fears of Cath- olics that in the then existing state of the public mind such a law would be used to force them to bury in Protestant cemeteries, appeared in person before the committee in charge of the bill, opposed its passage, and finally,
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