History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc, Part 36

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344

USA > Maryland > Baltimore County > Baltimore City > History of Baltimore, Maryland, from its founding as a town to the current year, 1729-1898, including its early settlement and development; a description of its historic and interesting localities; political, military, civil, and religious statistcs; biographies of representative citizens, etc., etc > Part 36

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His works now fell upon the shoulders of the aged Archbishop Neale, who survived him, however, only about two years. Born near Port Tobacco in 1746 he had, like Carroll, become a member of the Society of Jesus, for which both retained great affec- tion, manifested in a touching way when in 1804 they were deterred from laying aside the Episcopal robe and re-entering the So-

ciety, then existing in Russia, solely out of fear lest a successor should step in who would thwart its re-establishment and op- pose a re-investment of the property for- merly possessed by the suppressed Fathers in Maryland. After the suppression, Neale had labored variously in British Guiana, Charles county, Maryland, and Phila- delphia; was appointed Carroll's vicar-gen- eral, president of Georgetown, finally coadjutor in 1800. His connection with Baltimore was never very close, most of his time being spent near the Visitation Convent in Georgetown, where he died June 15, 1817. The annals of the city speak of his "sound judgment, profound learning, heroic zeal and unaffected humility."

IV.

Most Reverend Ambrose Marechal, (1817-1828.)

Ambrose Maréchal, born near New Or- leans in 1768, was one of those refugees whom the French Revolution drove to the shores of America, and who so amply re- paid the hospitality of their new country with their services. Maryland was the scene of his labors, which merited for him in 1817 the appointment of coadjutor to the aged Archibishop, Neale.

Several events mark out his episcopate as one of the most important in the annals of the American Catholic Church, chief amongst them being his successful opposi- tion to the interference of foreign ecclesias- tics in our affairs. In a document sent to Rome, the Supreme Court of Appeals in such matters, he says: "We fully confess that we have no right to present bishops for the province of Baltimore, yet it is cer- tain that they must be nominated by some

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one. But who, seeing the distance of North America from Rome, is to present capable and worthy subjects. The Irish bishops cannot do so with advantage; it is utterly impossible for them to nominate men who suit our States." As a result the Holy See wisely gave the American bishops the right of nomination.

The evils of trusteeism also required his attention, so that he was forced in a pastoral in 1819 to lay down the precise nature and extent of the rights of the laity in ecclesias- tical affairs. A hardly more inviting task was the settlement of the controversy re- garding the tenure of the estates held by the Jesuit Fathers. It should be remembered that in 1792 the latter transferred this prop- erty to the corporation known as the "Cor- poration of the Roman Catholic Clergy- men," only one farm being assigned to Car- roll and Neale, former members of the So- ciey, but when Maréchal became arch- bishop the payment of the revenues of the plantation was discontinued for the reason that he was not a member of the Jesuit cor- poration. Maréchal contended that the Bull of suppression (1773) vested in the or- dinary all property held by Fathers in Mary- land, and that certain of the estates had been originally given not to the Society but to the church at large, which in fact the above title of the corporation apparently recognized. Rome, to whom the case was referred, required the restitution to the archbishop of one estate or its equivalent. The Fathers, however, having protested, the dispute was compromised by the general of the Society agreeing to pay the archbishop eight hundred Roman crowns annually. These occurrences deserved notice in view of the fact that a decision so favorably to

the Fathers was influenced by President Monroe-surely a wide extension of the Monroe doctrine.

It was during this episcopate that the Cathedral was finally made ready for divine services on May 31, 1821. The work, hav- ing been suspended during the War of 1812, was resumed in 1817 by means of funds arising from a sale of the old cemetery on Charles street, part of the Cathedral grounds on Franklin street, and a lottery, together with private subscriptions. The archbishop secured many valuable presents such as vestments, et cetera, from France, the most valuable being the rich marble al- tar, the gift of the priests at Marseilles, France, his pupils when professor in the seminaries of that country. The first ordi- nation in the new edifice was that of Rev- erend Stephen L. Dubuisson, August 7, 1821.

The Catholic population of the city had increased from eight hundred in 1792 to about ten thousand. A row which took place in 1819 owing to a stuffed "Paddy" being hungfrom the masthead of a schooner betrays the existence of a certain prejudice against the church. But Maréchal, true to the traditions of his predecessors, main- tained a dignified calm in the presence of all opposition, a position which won the es- teem of all classes, quite clearly shown by the immense concourse attending his fun- eral. This event took place in January, 1828, the body being laid to rest in the Ca- thedral, the venerable Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, following the clergy as chief mourner. The chronicles say of him that he was "universally esteemed for his piety, benevolence and learning; tolerant in his principles he respected the religious tenets

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of others and was only anxious to excel in doing good."

V. Most Reverend James Whitfield, (1828-1834.)

James Whitfield was born at Liverpool, November 3, 1770; became a student in the theological seminary at Lyons, where he was ordained in 1809; was for a while a par- ish priest in England; coming to America he became one of the clergy of the Cathe- dral; was finally appointed coadjutor, January 8, 1828.

The beginning of his administration was marked by one of the periodical outbursts of prejudice. During the presidential con- test at that time the friends of John Quincy Adams endeavored to win over the Catho- lics of Maryland by placing some of them on the local tickets. But Mr. Adams' big- oted expressions called forth "An address to the Catholic voters of Baltimore," signed by William Jenkins, William George Reed, T. Parkin Scott and others. Mr. Adams' defeat was doubtless much aided by his mis- take in this regard.

But such outbursts could not retard the advance of the church, whose growth in this administration is well illustrated by the holding of the first two Provincial Coun- cils. The first opened in the Cathedral on October 4, 1829, five bishops being present. Bishop England, of Charleston, preached the sermon, and a letter was addressed to the Pope dilating upon the great increase of the church. "The church of Baltimore like a joyful mother of children has beheld in recently-erected suffragan diocese an off- spring which it has borne to Christ." The results of the Council were very flattering, Archbishop Whitfield writing in 1832,

"Thanks to a special providence over that beloved portion of the people confided to my care, I can say with the Apostle, 'I am filled with consolation, I superabound with joy.' * * A truly Catholic spirit dis- tinguishes Maryland from all other States of the Union, and I venture to say without any fear of wounding the truth that the city of Baltimore is justly renowned for the true and solid piety of its people. Conversions of Protestants in health are also numerous and not a week, in some seasons not a day passes without our priests being called to the bedside of some invalid, who wishes to abjure error and die in the bosom of the church." The second Provincial Council convened on October 20, 1833, and passed decrees regarding the method of electing bishops, opening of new seminaries, et cetera.

The internal administration of the dio- cese showed equal activity. At the time of the first Council there were in Baltimore the churches of St. Peter, St. John, St. Patrick, St. Mary and Chapel of the Sis- ters of Charity, together with the College and seminary of St. Mary; the Catholic population of Maryland being about 70,000 out of about 407,000. To these the arch- bishop added by completing one of the towers of the Cathedral, assisting the completion of the arch-episcopal residence, building the Church of St. James, con- secrated May 1, 1834, and laying the corner-stone of St. Mary's Catholic Or- phan Asylum, September 11, 1828. The religious communities received an addi- tion in the Carmelites, who opened a school which continued until 1852. He also showed great favor to the Oblates, the result of the labors of Reverends Tessier and

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Joubert, to whom the colored refugees from San Domingo had turned for spiritual as- sistance. Established in 1828 they nuni- bered, in 1834, twelve sisters who con- ducted quite a large school distinguished for its piety. Such labors for the colored people of Baltimore met with merited suc- cess, for the archbishop could write in 1832: "In Baltimore many are frequent communi- cants and three or four hundred receive the Blessed Sacrament the first Sunday of the month." Yet it was but little compared with the large mass whom the church could not reach, a difficulty frankly acknowledged by Archbishop Eccleston at a later time.

The matter of education, then as now, was a serious problem. The first Provincial Council had called attention to the need of books free from anti-Catholic bias in the following words: "Good men, men other- wise well informed, deeply versed in science, in history, in politics; the virtuous women, who influence that society which they decorate; the public press; the very bench of justice have all been influenced by ex- traordinary efforts against us. The mind of the very infant is predisposed against us bythe recitalsof the nursery and the school- boy can scarcely find a book in which some one of our institutions or practices is not exhibited far otherwise than it really is and greatly to our disadvantage. The whole system of education is thus tinged through- out its entire course and history has been distorted to our serious injury." As a result Catholics began to publish their books, the Sulpicians forming for the purpose as asso- ciation in 1842 known as the Metropolitan Press, which issued books such as Butler's

. Lives of the Saints and others. After some years the Press was suspended and the work

was left to the regular book trade, the lead- ing book-seller at the time in Baltimore be- ing Mr. Lucas. Several Catholic journals arose at this period throughout the country, among them the Metropolitan in Baltimore, founded in 1853. Archbishop Whitfield did not live, of course, to see all this good work done, but his labors meterially con- tributed to their realization.

One last event saddened, yet glorified his administration, namely, the terrible scourge of cholera which spread such a gloom over the city in 1832. At the request of the civic authorities Catholic nuns went to the as- sistance of the stricken, many of them, how- ever, to pay dearly for their heroism. Sis- ters Mary Frances and Mary George were the first who succumbed, followed by the Oblate sister Antonina and by Reverends Michael Wheeler and William O'Brien. The mayor of Baltimore thus expressed the feelings of the community at the sight of such self-sacrificing devotion: "To behold life thus immolated in so sacred a cause, produces rather a sensation of awe than of sorrow, a sentiment of resignation to the Almighty fiat than a useless regret at the af- flicting event." Archbishop Whitfield also tendered the use of the episcopal residence as a hospital.

In 1834 his own health began to fail; he died October 19th of the same year. His death was preceded by that of Charles Car- roll on November 14, 1832.

His biographer says of the archbishop, that "fond of retirement and indifferent to the opinions of the world he seemed par- ticularly solicitous to merit the favor of Him who seeth in secret and always pre- pared to award the crown of justice to his deserving servants."

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VI.

Most Reverend Samuel Eccleston, (1834-185I.)

We now come to an administration which marks an era of immense progress not only in the church at large, but as well in our city, all the more wonderful as it took place under the most discouraging circumstances. The man, Samuel Eccleston, to whom so much of it is due, was born in Kent county, Maryland, June 27, 1801, of Church of England parents, his grandfather having come to this country from England a few years prior to the Revolution. On the death of his father, when her boy was quite young, Mrs. Eccleston, after some years, married a Catholic gentleman, an event which placed him in contact with those re- ligious influences that eventually brought him into the Catholic church when a stu- dent at St. Mary's College. Being or- dained in 1825, he acted as Vice-President and President of his Alma Mater, until ap- pointed coadjutor to Whitfield in 1834.

No less than five Provincial Councils were held under him, of which a rapid sur- vey will convey a partial idea of his im- mense activity.

The third Provincial Council (first under Eccleston) met April 16, 1834, with nine at- tending bishops.

The fourth opened May 16, 1840, with eleven, and recommended, amongst other things, the formation of temperance socie- ties. This was in advance of the movement inaugurated in 1849 by Father Matthew.

The fifth met on May 14, 1843, with fif- teen bishops.

The sixth on May 10, 1846, with twenty- three. This latter decreed the choice of the

"Blessed Virgin conceived without sin" as the Patroness of the United States, a most happy augury of the benefits invoked upon the nation through the kindly influence of this model of pure womanhood. It also at the request of President Polk, named two chaplains to accompany the army then in- vading Mexico, Reverends John McElroy and Anthony Rey, of the Society of Jesus. The circumstances of this appointment are well worth studying as a good illustration of the need of Catholic soldiers for their own chaplains.

The seventh opened May, 1849, there be- ing present two archbishops and twenty- three bishops, and recommended a National Council to be held in 1850. It also ad- dressed a pastoral to the faithful relating to the sufferings of Pius IX, then a fugitive from Rome as a result of the Revolution of 1848. The bishops gave vent to their feel- ings in language which is highly instruc- tive: "We are not subject to the Sovereign Pontiff as a temporal power, and are de- votedly attached to the republican institu- tions under which we live. We feel our- selves to be impartial judges of events which have resulted in his flight from the Capital, and of the subsequent attempts to strip him of all civil power, yet as friends of order and liberty we cannot but lament that his enlightened policy has not been suffered to develop itself. We must at the same time avow our conviction that the temporal principality of the Roman States has served in the order of Divine Providence for the free and unsuspicious exercise of the spirit- ual functions of the Pontificate. Were the Bishop of Rome the subject of a civil ruler of the citizens of a republic it might be feared that he would not always enjoy that

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freedom of action which is necessary that his decrees and measures be respected by the faithful throughout the world. We know, indeed, that if at any time it please God to suffer him to be permanently de- prived of all civil power, He will divinely guard the free exercise of his spiritual au- thority, as was the case during the first three ages. The Pontifical office is of di- vine institution and totally independent of all the vicissitudes to which the temporal sovereignty is subject." In this connection Archbishop Eccleston as the mouthpiece of the American Catholics, offered the Holy Father on January 18, 1849, a refuge in Maryland. However, judging from the events during the preceding decade it would seem that the refuge would have hardly proved a more pleasant abode than his own Italy. Dislike of the church was then ram- pant. Boston seems to have the distinc- tion of leading the way in the burning of convents, Philadelphia and New York in 1844 proved apt imitators, the flame being fanned by the infamous work of Maria Monk, issued in 1836 by Harper Brothers, of New York, under other names so as to hide their own share in the publication. Baltimore felt the movement when a mob in 1839, under the influence of an anti-Catho- lic spirit aroused by the harangues of a cer- tain Reverend Breckinridge, attempted to destroy the Carmelite Convent in conse- quence of the flight of an insane nun. A few gentlemen repelled their atack for a while when the military came to the rescue and stood guard for three days. The best physicians in the city declared the nun in- sane and not ill-treated. Eccleston's letter to General Leakin, mayor of the city, well expressed the feelings of his people over the

deplorable event: "In Baltimore espe- cially I was not prepared to expect these scenes of violence, little in accordance with the spirit of the Catholic pilgrims who first landed on our shores and offered the open hand of fellowship to the persecuted of every creed and clime." The collective let- ter of the fifth Provincial Council stated, as a contrast to all these disturbances, the atti- tude to be observed by the faithful: "To you, Catholics, we trust for the practical re- futation of all those atrocious calumnies *

Your strict integrity in the daily concerns of life, your peaceful demeanor, your obe- dience to the laws, your respect for the pub- lic functionaries, your unaffected exercise of charity, your sincere virtue will confound those vain men whose ingenuity is exerted to cast suspicion on our principles and evoke against us the worst passions of hu- man nature."

Under such wise guidance the church de- veloped an internal life hardly to be ex- pected under similar circumstances. New religious communities were rapidly estab- lished in Baltimore, chief amongst them be- ing that of the Redemptorists, who exercise their ministry amongst the German Catho- lics in our midst. These about 1840 were estimated at 5,000 in numbers, who up to 1840 seem to have been poorly provided with sufficient pastors of their own national- ity in spite of the efforts of German Domini- cans and Franciscans. Moreover the regular diocesan German priests were frequently unfit for their charges, whilst the laity were often found quite rebellious against the bishops in the regulation of the parish con- cerns. Archbishop Eccleston had in view the elimination of such evils when he brought in the Redemptorists, who took

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possession of the old St. John's in 1840. His hopes have been amply realized, since under these pious men the Ger- man Catholic element has steadily pro- gressed. A brief notice of all the churches established by them is inserted here although not all fall under the present administration. The old church of St. John was first torn down and on its site was erected the present one dedicated to St. Alphonsus, the corner-stone being laid May I, 1842. The venerable Bishop Neuman was its rector from 1848-9 and 1851-2. Whilst the new church was in course of con- struction the congregation worshiped at St. James, which was afterwards perma- nently handed over to the German Catho- lics, the English-speaking Catholics having built the church of St. Vincent de Paul, dedi- cated November 14, 1841. East Baltimore Germans afterwards saw St. Michael's built for their accommodation, the corner- stone of the old church being laid Oc- tober 30, 1850; whilst those in South Bal- timore gradually grew into the parish of the Holy Cross out of the nucleus formed by the erection of a parochial school in 1856 on Federal Hill, and it itself was soon followed by the Fourteen Holy Martyrs, the corner-stone laid July 10, 1870, afterwards handed over to the Benedictines. The Bohemian church of St. Wenceslaus, dedicated 1886, is also in charge of the Redemptorists. Besides this good work of the Redemptorists, mention must be made of St. Anthony's Orphan Asylum, built by them in 1852, and of St. Joseph's Hospital in 1864.

The Visitation Convent was founded in 1837, eleven sisters being transferred from Georgetown, and living for a time in a

house on the corner of Green and Mulberry streets. The present convent is on the corner of Park avenue and Centre street, where the sisters conduct a school for young ladies. The Sisters of Charity were then conducting an orphan asylum, infir- mary and hospital in Baltimore, and schools were in charge of the Carmelites and Sisters of Providence.

In 1846 the Christian Brothers opened a school on the site of old St. Peter's. The Brothers of St. Patrick were likewise en- gaged in educational work, besides manag- ing a model farm in connection with a man- ual labor school founded in 1848 by Rev. James Dolan, pastor of St. Patrick's; they left the diocese in 1853. The Young Catholic's Friends Society, an association of laymen for the relief of the poor and as- sistance of Catholic free schools was found- ed at this time. In 1839 the Catholic Tract Society was founded for the purpose of bringing Catholic truths in a proper fashion to the attention of Protestants.

Besides the above mentioned churches others deserve attention at this period. The second tower and decoration of a part were added to the Cathedral, the portico being also commenced. The church of St. Joseph and the new St. Peter's also arose, the corner-stone of the latter being laid on May 23, 1843, by Archibishop Hughes, of New York.

One last event signalized Eccleston's busy administration, namely, the arrival in Baltimore of the famous Father Matthew, December II, 1849. An idea of this man's extraordinary work may be gained from the fact that the pledge administrated by him to a certain Baltimorean was number 5.774,- 059.

Dau

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Eccleston's constitution, never very ro- bust, gradually gave way under these press- ing labors, until he died at Georgetown, April 22, 1851. The remains lay in state at the convent for a day, and on the following were, after the requiem mass, borne in sol- emn procession through Georgetown and Washington to the Baltimore depot, accom- panied by the President and cabinet, the diplomatic corps and clergy.

VII.

Most Reverend Francis P. Kenrick, (1851-1863.)

Francis Patrick Kenrick was born in Dublin, December 3, 1796; after the usual theological course at Rome he came to America, locating in Kentucky; became coadjutor bishop of Philadelphia in 1830, whence transferred to Baltimore in 1851.

The first important act in his administra- tion was the summoning by virtue of his power as Apostolic Delegate, the prelates to the first Plenary Council, which opened May 9, 1852, there being present five arch- bishops, and twenty-four bishops besides theologians and others. His personality was a powerful element in the sessions, and the decrees doubtless owned much of their wisdom and correct taste to his profound learning. As a supplement to this Council Kenrick held every three years the Provin- cial Councils of his archdiocese, besides holding after it a diocesan synod June 5, 1853, at which were present thirty-five dio- cesan and seventeen priests of religious or- ders. This number does not indicate an extraordinary rapid growth of the Catholic population compared with other dioceses, but slavery had contributed to turn the tide of immigration northward thereby causing

a slower increase. Yet the Catholics of Baltimore in 1857 are estimated at eighty thousand, eight hundred and fourteen (80,- 814) with thirteen (13) churches at their dis- posal. But if Baltimore grew more slowly in numbers, it, however, received at the re- quest of ninth Provincial Council held on May 2, 1858, the prerogative of honor by which its metropolitan occupies the post of distinction in all ecclesiastical assemblies. The new churches which arose were those of the Immaculate Conception, first erected in 1852 in charge of the Lazarists, followed by the present one in 1858; St. Bridget's at Canton, dedicated July 8, 1855; St. Ig- natius, the corner-stone being laid on Sep- tember 25, 1853; a few days before Loyola College also had been opened by the Jesuits, who thus fell heir to the good name of the now extinct St. Mary's. The course of studies is the usual Jesuit collegiate course given at the other colleges at Georgetown and Boston. Besides these churches arose the chapel and school of St. Lawrence at Locust Point, the convent of the Sisters of Mercy, and a chapel on Eager street, No- vember 27, 1853, which was the beginning of the church of St. John, the new church being opened for service June 15, 1856. Among charitable institutions were the St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, the corner-stone of which was laid in 1860; the Infant Asy- lum, Aged Women's Home, St. Agnes Asylum for Destitute Sick, the new Mount Hope. Finally Archbishop Kenrick labored earnestly for the building of a home for aged and destitute clergymen, which, how- ever, was never realized.

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Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson Number of Pages: 1344

Author: Shepherd, Henry Elliott, 1844-1929, ed. 4n
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Uniontown? Pa.] S.B. Nelson
Number of Pages: 1344