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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02229 0347
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OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND
AND
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
BY
Rev. William P. Treacy,
AUTHOR OF
"Irish Scholars of The Penal Days," Etc., Etc.
.
And call to remembrance the works of the fathers, which they have done in their generations ; and you shall receive great glory, and an everlasting name. 1 Mac. : Chap. I., V. LI.
ST. JOSEPH'S RECTORY
SWEDESBORO,
NEW JERSEY.
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND
AND ITS
Early Jesuit Missionaries. BY REV. WM. P. TREACY.
Author of "IRISH SCHOLARS OF THE PENAL DAYS : GLIMPSES OF THEIR LABORS ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE," ETC., ETC.
Our foly father, Pope Leo XIII., HAS BEEN GRACIOUSLY PLEASED TO SEND THE AUTHOR OF THIS WORK HIS APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION.
Letter from CARDINAL GIBBONS, Archbishop of Baltimore.
Baltimore,
St. Mary's Seminary, August 27th, 1889.
REV. DEAR FATHER :-
Your recent publication " Old Catholic Maryland," reaches .
me during our Clerical Retreat. I beg to thank you for the work, beautifully bound, and treating of a subject of so much interest to the Catholics of the Country, and particulary to those of this Diocese. I also desire to express my sense of gratitude for your kindness in dedicating the work to myself.
I am, Rev. Dear Father,
Yours faithfully in Christ, J. CARDINAL GIBBONS.
REV. WM. P. TREACY.
Letter from the REV. JOHN MORRIS, S. J., the celebrated Author of the "Troubles of our Catholic Forefathers," and several other historical works of great value.
31 Farm Street, Berkeley Square, London, W., October 9th, 1889.
DEAR REVEREND FATHER :
P. C.
I must begin with the Society's salutation to one who has done her such good service. And then I offer you my grateful thanks for the historical account of "Old Catholic Maryland and Its Early Jesuit Missionaries" that I owe to your generous thought of me. I feel greatly indebted to you for your kindness in thus introducing me so fully to Old Maryland. It is a real pleasure to run over pages that are so sympathetically written. You have gone very fully into your subject, and the result is a far more complete record than I could have hoped was possible. I have no doubt that your work is done none too soon, and that documents, on which you have drawn for your materials, will perish before long. It is sad to think how fast they disappear, and it is most fortunate when a diligent writer, like yourself, places their contents in safety, in works as interesting and as historically valuable as this. Thanking you again for the acceptable present you have sent me, I remain, dear Reverend Father,
Yours very faithfully in J. C.
JOHN MORRIS, S. J.
THE REVEREND WM. P. TREACY, St. Joseph's Rectory, Swedesboro, New Jersey.
Letter from JOHN GILMARY SHEA, LLD., the distinguished his- torian of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Elizabeth, New Jersey, August 19th, 1889.
REV. DEAR FRIEND :-
Getting back from New York to-day, I was delighted to run through your charming little volume: "Old Catholic Maryland and Its Early Jesuit Missionaries." If it can only find its way to our Parish, Sunday School and society libraries, what a world of good it will do. There is so much in the Catholics of Maryland in
colonial days for us to be proud of, and to recall as models for our lives now, and no one has yet undertaken to present the account in popular form. A few scholars know Oliver and Brother Foley ; still fewer get a glance at the Woodstock Letters; but there was nothing for the masses until you gave them this delightful little volume. I hope it will sell by the thousand.
Most gratefully, Your obliged servant in Christ, JOHN GILMARY SHEA.
REV. W. P. TREACY.
pinions of the Press.
"To American Catholics, and particularly Marylanders, it will be of great worth and interest. It is full of edifying incidents, narrated in a very interesting manner."-Irish Monthly.
" The Author has presented a new and brilliant addition to the history of Christian missions in the United States. And certainly the early apostles of Maryland deserve that their names and their deeds should be recorded with undying fame."-The Ave Maria.
" This is a very interesting history of the trials and arduous labors of the devoted members of the Society of Jesus who first planted and watered the seed of divinely revealed truth in Maryland. The work is all the more interesting, too, because of the biographical information it contains respecting the Jesuit Missionary Fathers, and its references to contemporaneous events in England."-Cath- olic Standard.
" This is a most appropriate volume for this Centennial year of American Catholicity. While celebrating this first century of the Church in this country it is most proper that the missionaries, whose blood and labor contributed to its establishment, should not be forgotten. Father Treacy, well known to the reading world, in this his latest volume has brought out a most timely work."-Church' Progress.
"Father Treacy's work shows that the Jesuit of Maryland was worthy of his confreres whose exploits from Loyola down, wherever the Cross had most to gain or most to lose, are the acme of the romance of religious heroism."-The Catholic Universe.
" This is a valuable contribution to American Catholic literature, containing as it does a history of the early struggles of the Jesuit Fathers who came over to this country from England in the Dove and Ark, in the year 1633, for the purpose of planting the Cross in the virgin soil of the New World. There is not a dull chapter in the whole book."-San Francisco Monitor.
" It is by the publishing of such works as the above that truth must reach the non-Catholics. Spread the truth by every means." -- The Westren Catholic News.
" It is an interesting and important contribution to the history of Catholic colonization in America. Father Treacy, who is also the author of "Penal Days," was for sometime editor of " The Wood- stock Letters," and is a recognized authority on Catholic history in America."-Philadelphia Daily Times.
LIMITED EDITION.
Sent free by mail or express at following prices :
BOUND IN FLEXIBLE CLOTH, 1 copy, - 6 6 copies, $2 50
50 cents.
13
-
5 .00
27
- 10 00
75 66 - 25 00
Please address, REV. WILLIAM P. TREACY,
ST. JOSEPH'S RECTORY, Swedesboro, New Jersey.
1
-
740:57.8
143954
1
TO
Jis
minence James ,
Cardinal ibbons,
ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE,
١ THIS BOOK
Us most Respectfully Dedicated
BY THE
Anthor.
PREFACE.
The history of our Holy and Divine Religion in this New World is a truly beautiful and heroic story. In pondering over it we are moved to joyfully exclaim : " How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace; of them that bring glad tidings of good things." As we read of whole villages and entire tribes being cleansed in the sacred waters of Baptism, our hearts swell with unbounded gratitude towards the Author of all graces and mercies. Even Protestant writers glow with the fire of admiration as they depict the planting of the Standard of the Cross on the banks of our rivers and along the shores of our great lakes.
What picture, indeed, can be more touching, or more inspiring than that of our early missionaries carving the fair sign of redemption on the tall forest trees ; of our black-robed chiefs preaching beside their rustic altars to red groups of savage warriors ?
After having closely and calmly examined many old dusty records and yellow manuscripts I feel myself justi- fied in saying that the early apostles of Maryland deserve a brilliant chapter in the History of Christian Missions. Their zeal and fortitude, their devoted charity, their utter contempt of earthly comforts, their patience under wrongs and insults, their heroic conduct in the midst of dire hardships and great dangers, are worthy of the glorious men whose names are justly emblazoned in the histories iii
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PREFACE.
of India, China, and Japan. The same spirit that ani- mated the missionaries who first explored the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Illinois rivers, the same spirit that fired the souls of the Fathers as they sailed the great lakes of the North, or the lazy and flower-lined streams of the far South burned steadily and brightly in their apostolic hearts. If martyrdom had presented itself to them they would have as joyously embraced it as did Isaac Jogues in the Mohawk Valley, or as the heroic priests, Lalle- mand and Bræbeuf, did upon Lake Huron.
At this distant date it is not easy to form a just esti- mate of the labors, pains and successes of the early missionaries of Maryland. That they were true apostles, that they were men filled with the fire of Pentecost is an undisputed fact. Though they reaped in joy, it may truly be said that they sowed in tears. Their journey to this continent in a miserable sailing-vessel was a fit prelude to the life they were henceforth to lead in the service of the slave and the untutored savage. Here they were to be deprived of the thousand comforts and advantages of the civilization of the Old World. With the poorest mode of conveyance they were obliged to travel over vast tracts of forest-country, and to cross sheets of water that seemed to have no limits. In cases where dispensations were required they had to communicate with an ecclesiastical superior who was separated from them by the waters of the Atlantic. Grave obstacles were often thrown in their way by those who should assist and cherish them. A vile soldiery were glad to hunt them down, while bigoted judges were only too happy to have an occasion to rebuke them, if not to con- demn them to punishment. With weary hearts and
V
PREFACE.
bleeding feet they carried on the great work for which they had left their native land. Still they did not grow despondent. They bravely toiled on and kept the Lamp of Faith brightly burning beside the river, creek, and bay, and in the depth of the forest shade. They went around with the cross they loved hanging on their breasts, or shining in their hands, scattering the rich seeds of peace, joy, and virtue. Their apostolate was thrice 'blessed, and even non-Catholic writers speak as boldly and loudly in their praises as we have ventured to do. " Before the year 1649," says a generous and accurate Protestant historian, "they labored with their lay-assistants, in various fields ; and around their lives will ever glow a bright and glorious remembrance. Their pathway was through the desert ; and their first chapel the wigwam of an Indian. Two of them were here, at the dawn of our history ; they came to St. Mary's with the original emigrants ; they assisted, by pious rites, in laying the corner-stone of a State ; they kindled the torch of civilization in the wilderness; they gave consolation to the grief-stricken pilgrim ; they taught the religion of Christ to the simple sons of the forest. The history of Maryland presents no better, no purer, no more sublime lesson than the story of the toils, sacrifices and successes of her early mission- aries."
Though many of the Jesuits would naturally prefer laboring in England during the Penal Times to evang- elizing a new country, still this was not the case with all. Many a venerable Jesuit in England, many a novice, many a lay-brother, many a distinguished professor in the colleges of Liege, Watten, Bruges, and St. Omer's longed and prayed to be sent to Maryland.
01
vi
PREFACE.
The story of the poor infidels who dwelt along the shores of the Chesapeake-or as that beautiful bay was known to the Spaniards, St. Mary's-touched many a generous heart in Europe, and when the English Provin- cial, Father Edward Knott, asked for volunteers for his American Mission, Jesuits, old and young, novices, Brothers, and Priests enthusiastically petitioned to be sent to work for the salvation of the hapless red men. From the letters of those who asked to be sent on the Maryland Mission, we can learn the motives that actuated the first Fathers here, and the spirit that guided them. Some wrote that in going to Maryland they wished to imitate the glorious St. Francis Xavier. Some asked to go there in hopes of winning a martyr's crown. All wished to go, that they might advance the glory of God, and procure the salvation of souls. "Whether I die by sea in my journey, or by land in Maryland," wrote Fr. Christopher Morris from Liége, in 1640, "sure I am I shall have' as good, yea more glorious a sepulchre than in Liége. The cause will ennoble the death. The inconveniences of diet, apparel and lodging will be made easy and supportable, by the frequent memory of my Saviour's vinegar and gall, and naked- ness, and hard bed of His cross." In the same letter Father Morris said that he more highly esteemed "the teaching of Christ's cross in all senses in Maryland to the most honorable chair either in Liege or all Europe besides." . Father Lawrence Worsley wrote to Fr. Knott: "I had no sooner heard the relation of the happy success of our Mission in Maryland, and the great hope of converting souls to their Lord and Creator, but. I was surprised with no small joy and comfort ; which,
vii
PREFACE.
nevertheless, was but little, compared with that which I received when I read those sweet and no less comfortable lines with which your Reverence invited not any one in particular, but all in general, to employ their lives and labors in the undertaking of so glorious an enterprise, of converting souls to God by means of that mission. And to tell you the truth, my joy was so great, that no thought nor word for a long time could come from me which resounded not, ' Maryland.'." Since the letters of St. Francis Xavier were read in the halls of Coimbra, Paris, Rome and Louvain, no letters from distant missions excited so much the zeal and enthusiasm of students and priests as those that came from Maryland. "Maryland" became a loved name, a cherished, a venerated name among apostolic men. "Maryland " became the watch- word among the English sons of St. Ignatius,
The names of many of the priests who attended to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of Southern Maryland are unfortunately forgotten on earth, but we feel confi- dent they are recorded in letters of golden light in the great Book of Life. Certain it is, that, at least for the first hundred years, they were, most of them, confessors of the faith, men who had suffered imprisonment and banishment for loyalty to conscience; men who, like St. Peter, had worn chains for their love of the religion founded by the Crucified One. A great number of them were scholars who had distinguished themselves at the colleges of Rheims and Douay, at Liége and Louvain. Nothing can give us a clearer insight into the character of the early missionaries of Maryland than a careful examination of the libraries they formed. If these libraries can prove anything, they can show that the
viii
PREFACE.
first Fathers in Maryland were serious and deep scholars. They seemed to delight in the study of learned and profound works. They daily communed with the ablest thinkers of Europe; they continually feasted on the spiritual works of the most approved ascetic writers. On their tables could be seen the Summa of St. Thomas, the Commentaries of Cornelius á Lapide, the Controversies of Bellarmine, and the Annals of Baronius. That they made a careful examination of the Holy Scriptures is told by the fact that they had in their libraries many Testaments in Latin, Greek, and English. The learning of the missionaries is also shown by the fact that many of them, no doubt while yet students, wrote their notes on the margins of their books in the Greek and Hebrew tongues.
It may not be out of place to note the fact, that many of the carly missionaries of Maryland were of gentle blood. Many of them were born in lordly homes, amid the rich and beautiful fields of old England. It is a his- toric truth, that some of them were lineal descendants of those brave knights who accompanied Richard, the Lion-Hearted, into Palestine, and fought under the red- cross banner on the plains of Ascalon. Some of them could trace their noble pedigree back to the time when William, the Conqueror, landed on the shores of Britain. Not a few of them were allied by blood to one or other of the royal families of the British Empire. But better still, some of their number could count among their kins- men, heroes who died as martyrs for the faith of Christ. When we call to mind how many of Maryland's mis- sionaries were in youth nursed in the lap of luxury, how they were loved and honored by vast numbers of ser-
.
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PREFACE.
Vants and dependants, how their every wish was gratified by indulgent parents, we can more fully realize their Sacrifice in coming on the mission, we can better appre- ciate the zeal which enabled them to endure the hard- ships and trials of their daily toils and duties. Among the missionaries of Maryland, we find a Copley, three Poultons, a Mosely, a Knight, a FitzWilliams, of Lin- coln, an Atwood, of Beverie, a Forster, of Suffolk, a Thorold, a Whitgreave, a Molyneux, and several mem- bers of the Brooke family.
Neither the " dry powder " of the Puritans, nor the famed claymore.of the fanatic Highlanders, who came with the Parliamentarians, could destroy the pure faith handed down from their forefathers to the Catholics of Maryland. Persecution failed, ignobly failed in that favor- ed " Land of Mary." The persecutor and his swords have long since descended into unhallowed graves, " unwept, unhonored, and unsung." Even in the last century, St. Mary's county alone, became the mother of many another Catholic settlement, from Frederick to Kentucky. To- day the children of Southern Maryland keep the priceless pearl of Faith with them in many a home from Boston to the Golden Gate. The descendants of old St. Mary families have become distinguished missionaries in the far regions of the West; they have become prelates of the Church, noted alike for their piety and learning ; they have shown themselves laymen, worthy of their grand old Pilgrim Fathers. The chaste daughters of St. Mary's have filled the cells of convents not only in Georgetown, Washington, Baltimore, Mobile, New York and Phila- delphia, but also in many a European town and city.
X
PREFACE.
A few words about the custom which prevailed among early missionaries of having aliases :
During the Penal Days cruel laws were in force against Seminarists and Jesuits who dared set foot in England and Ireland. In many cases, the penal laws against Catholic priests were also put into execution in the Brit -. ish Colonies. In order, therefore, to escape detection, Catholic missionaries generally adopted assumed names, and put on various disguises. Outwardly they took upon themselves offices which became only laymen. They sometimes acted in the capacity of coachmen, clerks or booksellers. Often they were forced to assume char- acters more romantic. A priest was seen in Waterford, Ireland, " with a ruffling suit of apparel, gilt rapier, and dagger hanging at his side." A Catholic bishop was seen in the same city dressed as a Highland piper, and playing martial airs upon the national instrument of Scotland. Sometimes the Fathers assumed military titles, such as colonel or captain. The Very Rev. Father General was occasionally spoken of as, "his Lordship.". Fr. Hogan says, in speaking of the Irish Jesuits : “ On account of the dangers to which they and the Catholics were exposed, the Jesuit Fathers took or gave false names ; thus Holywood is Jo. Bus., and sometimes Bush- lock, Laundrie, the Pilot, etc .; Archer is. Bowman, or Bertram's eldest son ; Wise is Barbarossa ; O'Carney is De Franca ; Wall is Philaberto." Fr. Acquaviva, Gen- eral of the Society, was known as " Claude Merchaunt at Rouen." . By a glance at this book the reader will see how common was the practice among the Fathers in Maryland of assuming strange names.
Though the Fathers were often screened by their aliases,
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PREFACE.
it was by means of their strange apparel that they the more frequently escaped the hands of their enemies. We learn from old records that they sometimes attired themselves in the trappings of worldings, put gay feathers in their hats, and wore " scarlet cloaks over crimson satin suits." If we consult old writers we can learn what spies and priest-hunters thought of the adroitness of the Fathers in disguising themselves. Gee quaintly writes : " If about Bloomsbury or Holborn thou meet a good snug fellow in a gold-laced suit, a cloak lined through with velvet, one that hath good store of coin in his purse, rings on his fingers, a watch in his pocket, which he will value at £ 20, a very' broad laced band, a stilleto by his side, a man at his heels, willing (upon small acquaintance) to intrude himself into thy company, and still desiring to insinuate himself with thee, then take heed of a Jesuit of the prouder sort of priests. This man hath vowed poverty. Many of the Sec. Priests and Friars go as gal- lantly as these, but the Jesuits have the superlative cog- nizance whereby they know one another, and that is, as I observed from this time, a gold hat band studded with letters or characters. Perhaps at another time they may have another mark, according to their watch-word given to them."
It may not be out of place to remark here, that there was not much natural pleasure, if there apeared to be somewhat of romance, in the life led by the Jesuits in England during the Penal Days. We cannot help re- membering that in a black, strong fortress, not far from the Thames, a hundred grave-like cells longed to receive them. We are still mindful that there were, in Christian London, a sharp axe, and a thick block that thirsted
xii
PREFACE.
hourly for Jesuit blood. We have read, too, that when some of these gaily-attired Jesuits were stripped of their fincry to be flogged, or to have their bodies quartered and burnt, rough hair-shirts were found close to their skins.
The correspondence of the Fathers in Maryland is often a complete riddle to the uninitiated. Many of the expressions embodied in some old letters that we have scen, will, we believe, forever remain unexplained. In writing to their friends in England the missionaries used figures and metaphors never referred to by our rhetori- cians. Even the experts, who made a livelihood by hunting down priests, must have been sometimes puzzled to make out the meaning of some letters which came by unlaw- ful means into their possession. When some of the mis- sionaries wished to intimate that a great number had been baptized, they merely said: "During our journey water was in great demand."
The writer of this little work has used in its prepara- tion, copies of the Roman Catalogues, Annual Letters by the early missionaries, Baptismal Registers, old records and note-books, private letters, deeds, wills and convey- ances. He has also consulted the Woodstock Letters, Br. Foley's English Records, Dr. Oliver's Collectanea, Dodd's History, the Annals of Annapolis, Father Hogan's Irish Records, and the Jesuit Archives of Maryland. To His Eminence, James Cardinal Gibbons, the author is indebted for many facts gleaned from the Archiepiscopal Archives. To his esteemed friend, Dr. John Gilmary Shea, the illus- trious historian of the Church in America, he gives thanks ·for valuable assistance.
CHAPTER I.
When the Pilgrim Fathers of Maryland, flying from cruel persecution in England, set sail from Cowes, in the beautiful Isle of Wight, in 1633, they had as companions of their voyage the Jesuit missionaries, Frs. Andrew White, John Altham, Timothy Hayes and Brother Thomas Gervase. The story of their voyage in the Dove and Ark, as told by Father White, is a charming and touch- ing narrative. Before starting, on the Feast of St. Cecilia, "a gentle east wind blowing," they piously consecrated their little fleet to God, the Blessed Virgin, St. Ignatius, and all the Guardian Angels of Maryland. As they dropped down the British Channel, here and there along the shore some faithful and loving friends waved them a parting adieu, and knelt down to invoke blessings upon their heads. At Yarmouth and Hurst Castles they were greeted by. cheerful salutes of artillery. Much, indeed, did the exile band need encouragement. A dangerous way spread out before them. Besides the storms and fogs to be faced, other sources of fear awaited them. Turks and Pirates, at the time, everywhere infested the seas and caused terror and dismay in the breasts of even the boldest who had to plough the deep. The protection of God and His Saints seemed the only shield for the poor pilgrims. On one occasion of distress they invoked the aid of St. Clement, and received by the powerful intercession of that Saint the needed succor. Almost every day, after losing sight of land, they encountered
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OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
new perils. Still, in the very midst of their trials and dangers they kept heart. Men of Faith never lose courage, never despair. On a pleasant evening, when the waters enjoyed a more than ordinary repose, they. had some real, some home-like pleasure in racing with a fine merchant ship called The Dragon.
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