USA > Maryland > Old Catholic Maryland and its early Jesuit missionaries > Part 11
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Father Falkner was raised to the sublime dignity of the priesthood on the 7th day of March, 1761. One month after his ordination he set sail for Maryland. I fear that nearly everything relating to his missionary career has been lost. Ralph Falkner, written upon an old book at Newtown, is the only trace I find of him in the Mission.
The Neales, of Maryland, gave to that State some of its most distinguished sons. Captain James Neale, the worthy ancestor of that pious and well-known family, came to the Colony before the year 1642. In that year he had his " Plantation" near the mouth of the Wicomico surveyed for his settlement. He was soon appointed the Privy Councillor of Maryland, and is said to have been a great favorite of the Crown. One of his daughters was named after the wife of Charles I., "Henrietta Mariah." Among his descendants were many who consecrated their lives to the service of the Church, both as priests and nuns. Right Rev. Leonard Neale, the second Arch- bishop of Baltimore, was of his line. Even at this pres- ent moment one of the Missionary Fathers at St. Inigoes bears his name and inherits his blood.
Among those who are at rest in the quiet. Newtown
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Churchyard is another of the Neales, Father Benedict. This worthy Father was born in Maryland on the 3d of August, 1709. After having pursued his studies on the European Continent, he resolved to devote his life to the labors of an apostolic life. And so, in his nineteenth year, he entered the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus. Not long after his ordination he was sent on the Mary- land Mission. This venerable priest must have labored in Southern Maryland for a period of no less than half a century. During that long time how much merits he must have amassed for Heaven. He died amidst his labors on the 20th of March, 1787.
Father John Boarman,* who had two brothers, Charles and Sylvester, in the Society, was born in Charles County, Maryland. The date of his birth was January 27th, 1743. He joined the Order on the 7th of Septem- ber, 1762. He pursued his philosophical and theological studies at Liége. On the Suppression of the Jesuit House in that city, he returned to his native State. Though he left Liége on the 22d of November, 1773, he did not arrive in the Mission before the 24th of March in the following year. Father Boarman was at Port To- bacco in 1783. He was present at the meeting convened at Newtown, September 23d, 1783. He also attended
* During the cruel sway of the Parliament Commissioners, Thomas Matthews, John Dandy, and William Boreman acknowl- edged the Pope's supremacy in open court. The Boarmans have clung lovingly to the Faith which William Boreman confessed at the peril of loss of property, and even of life. Some of their num - . ber have borne the rich boon of Catholic Truth to homes in the . far West, and one of them is a member of the Society, in the Mis- souri. Province,
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the meeting convened at St. Thomas' Manor in 1793, and that held at White Marsh in 1794. Father Boarman was, according to the best authorities, a pious, zealous, and devoted priest. His labors were incessant and most fruitful. During twenty years he prayed and toiled for the people committed to his paternal care. God was pleased to call this saintly priest to Himself in 1794, in the fifty-first year of his age. He died at Newtown, and was there interred amidst the prayers and tears of his sorrowing congregation,
No name is more familiar to the student who examines the books of the Newtown Library than that of Augus- tine Jenkins. His name is found written in the pages of several Latin, French, and English works. Augustine Jenkins was a native of Maryland, and was born January the 12th, 1742. His ancestors, who were natives of Wales, fled from persecution to Maryland, and as early as 1660 established themselves at the head of the St. Mary's River. His father was a gentleman highly es- teemed in Southern Maryland; his mother was the daughter of Captain Thomas Courtenay. He had sev- eral brothers who left St. Mary's County on account of the persecutions they had to suffer at the hands of the enemies of the Catholic Faith. The members of the Jenkins family always proved themselves devoted chil- dren of the Church. "They flourished under the pater- nal government of the Calverts, and suffered persecution under the Protestant Ascendancy, but neither prosperity, the hope of reward, nor pains and penalties, ever caused them to swerve from that which they cherished above all things, the faith for which they had forsaken their parent land."
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The Jenkins family took a patriotic part in the Revo- lutionary War. In 1812, no less than five of Father Jenkins' nephews did battle for their country against the foreign foe.
White Plains, which originally belonged to the Jenkins . : family was described to me by one who saw it many years ago as being a charming place. Rows of tall pop- lars guarded the avenue leading up to the venerable residence. A rich green lawn lay spread before it. Pebbled walks, fringed with snow-white shells, over which drooped fragrant and delicate flowers, wound around it in graceful curves. Everything within the mansion, as well as its surroundings, bespoke the elegant and refined taste of its inmates. The influence of early associations will generally last through life. It is almost impossible for one whose childhood and early boyhood were passed in the midst of elegance and refinement to grow rude or unpolished in manners and behavior. This is the reason why the missioners of Maryland, whether in the hovels of the poor white settlers, or in the wigwams of the Indians, could always be · distin- guished as gentlemen by birth and education. The effect of his first education at White Plains was always seen in the conduct and bearing of Augustine Jenkins. He was sweet, affable, and gentlemanly in all his ways. He felt perfectly at his ease as well in the cottage as in the manor. The charm of his manners was universally felt. He had a winning grace about him that won the affection of all who came in contact with him. His gen- erous heart, which was a well of goodness, overflowed with kindly feeling. It is, indeed, no wonder then, when
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we also take into account his zeal and solid virtue, that he proved most successful as a missionary.
Young Jenkins, while still a gay-hearted boy, had to endure the pangs of a wide separation from his home and friends. It was resolved that the pious, gentle youth should proceed to the Old Catholic Continent to prose- cute his studies. We can fancy that we see him bidding farewell to his little playmates and brothers; we can imagine that we behold him kneeling humbly to receive his cherished parents' blessing. He arises, embraces all, and drives down to meet the boat that awaits him; but before he is out of sight of his loved home he looks back upon the scenes of his childhood with a fond and linger- ing gaze.
After having spent some years in Europe, young Jen- kins resolved to enter the Society of Jesus, which he did on the 7th of September, 1766. After his noviceship he continued his studies at Liége.
The first English Novitiate of the Society of Jesus was commenced at St. John's, Louvain, in 1607. In 1614 it received students in Philosophy and Divinity, as well as novices ; a separate house in the garden being fitted up for the latter. At the end of the same year, however, the Novitiate was removed to Liége. The ground occu- pied by the house, garden, etc., was purchased in 1614 or 1615 by Father John Gerard, and the house was built with money furnished by English Catholics. A few years later, Maximilian, Elector of Bavaria, assigned an annual pension for the maintenance of the College, and thus became its founder, though the premises were Eng- lish property. Towards the end of the seventeenth cen- tury the farm at Chevremont was purchased and given
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to the College for a country or villa-house by Lord Cas- tleman. Liége continued to be the theologate of the English Province until the year of the Suppression of the Society, 1773.
Father Jenkins was that year at Liége engaged in studying his fourth year of theology. His Professor of Sacred Scripture was Father Thomas Barrow, " a prodigy of learning ;" a man of almost universal genius. Our young missionary studied the controverted points of reli- gion under the learned and holy Father Anthony Brun- ing, a distinguished theologian of his time. Of Jenkins' Theological Professor, Rev. Thomas Ellerker, Oliver says : "he was a worthy scholar of such a master as Father John Thorpe. At the end of Rhetoric, in 1755, this promising young man entered the Novitiate, and in the sequel became one of the ablest professors of theol- ogy that the English Province ever produced. . His treatise De Incarnatione may be regarded as a master- piece.
' From his cradle
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ; And to add greater honours to his age Than man could give him, he died fearing Heaven.'"
Among those who served in the Maryland Mission who had the good fortune to be students with Father Jenkins under such able professors, were: Fathers Charles Sewall, John Boarman, John Boone, and Leon- ard Neale.
After his studies and ordination Father Jenkins re- turned to Maryland. He arrived on the 24th day of
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May, 1774. A few years later on we find him engaged at Newtown. His apostolic work had the special bless- ing of Heaven on it. He made many converts, reclaimed hardened sinner's, and led pious souls to a higher degree of sanctity. His confessional was always surrounded by penitents, and the people flocked around him to re- ceive Holy Communion from his hands. He was, as Archbishop Carroll truly said, "a man without guile," the loved and tender father of his flock.
The Rev. Father Jenkins, after many labors and pains, died a happy death at Newtown on the 2d of February, in the year of our Lord 1800.
Bishop Carroll writes in April, 1780: "With Father Walton, at Newtown, lives, among others, that man without guile, Father Jenkins. I am told he is almost adored by his acquaintance; and I dare say, very deservedly."
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CHAPTER X.
John Lucas was born on the 5th of May, 1740. Twen- ty-three years afterwards he entered the Society. Soon after his elevation to the priesthood he was sent on the Maryland Mission. That was in 1770. He died in Maryland in 1795.
It was about the time that Father Lucas labored in the Mission that one of the Fathers died heroically in the performance of one of his priestly functions .* The Father, some say it was Lucas himself, being summoned on a sick-call in the depth of a dark and raw night, was overtaken by a heavy snow-storm. For some time he struggled on bravely towards the house of the sick man. At length, being overcome by the cold and fatigue, he fell prostrate on the ground. Some farmers passing early the next morning to their work found him dead in the snow. As we write, the words of the poet Longfel- low come naturally to our mind :
" There, in the twilight cold and grey, Lifeless, but beautiful he lay, And from the sky serene and far A voice fell like a falling star, Excelsior."
This may be the place to insert an anecdote which we have on very good authority. One evening a Protestant
* Related by Rev. James Fitton who died in Boston a few years ago.
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gentleman rode past the Newtown Manor on his way to Long Point. The hour was calm and beautiful. The sun was sinking behind the groves of Bedlam Neck. A flood of glory lit the waters of St. Clement's Bay. The traveller rode on leisurely, little dreaming that the heav- ens would soon be rent by forked lightning. Yet such was the case. On his return home a terrific storm swept over Bedlam Neck. The rain fell in torrents, the sky grew pitchy black, the winds lashed the tranquil waters : to fury. In his fright, the wayfarer sought an asylum in the hospitable old Manor. The Fathers received him very kindly and remained with him for hours at the par- lor fire. About midnight the bells of the house were rung with violence. In a moment one of the attendants rushed into the room and announced an urgent sick-call. Without a moment's hesitation one of the Fathers arose and begged the guest to excuse him, as he had to attend to a sick-call. The gentleman was surprised and urged the Father to wait until the storm had abated. The Fa- ther smiled graciously and said : " My dear sir, it is im- possible for me to remain. At all hazards I must attend the sick." Soon the sound of a horse's hoof could be heard on the road leading from the Newtown Manor. The Father was on his way to visit the dying. The Protestant gentleman was so touched by the devoted charity of the priest that he exclaimed: "The religion that produces such heroic self-sacrifice must be divine." He prolonged his stay at the Manor, received instruction, and became a good and fervent Catholic.
Joseph Doyne was born in Maryland, November 11th, 1734. He entered the Society on the 7th of September, 1758. He served the Mission at Stonyhurst for eleven
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years. Having been sent on the Maryland Mission, he labored in different parts of the lower counties. He was for a long time at St. Thomas' Manor in Charles County. He is mentioned many times in the letters of Bishop Carroll. I find his name in several of the books of the Newtown Library. He was a member of the Select Body of the Catholic Clergy. He took part in the meet- ing convened at St. Thomas' Manor in 1793. He was also present at the meeting held at White Marsh in 1794. He was one of those Fathers who wished to join "the Institute of the Faith of Jesus." He died at St. Thomas' Manor, 1803.
The name of Robert Molyneux is closely connected with the history of the Newtown Mission. This learned scholar and eloquent preacher was born at or near Formby, County Lancaster, July 24th, 1738. He was ` descended from a high and distinguished family. The pictures hanging on the walls of his ancestral chambers were well calculated to inspire him with generous and noble sentiments. On September 7th, 1757, he entered the Society. He had the happiness of seeing one of his brothers, William, a member of the Order. In 1764 Father Robert was a Master at Bruges College. Soon after his ordination he was sent on the Maryland Mis- sion. So highly did Archbishop Carroll esteem him that he was anxious to make him his Coadjutor Bishop, but he could not be persuaded to accept the post. In 1786 and 1787 we find him distinguishing himself in Philadelphia as a good and zealous priest, and as a re- · markably eloquent speaker. In 1789 we find him em; ployed in missionary work at Bohemia. He spent the
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year 1796 at Georgetown, and 1797 and 1798 at New- town. In 1805 he is said to be in St. Mary's County. At the meeting held at Georgetown in 1805, it was re- solved that Robert Molyneux and Charles Sewall should take care of the business affairs of Cedar Point Neck. On the Restoration of the Society in this country, he was appointed the first Superior of the Mission. While Superior he won the confidence and affection of his sub- jects by his kind and affable manner. Father Molyneux was no ordinary man. On account of his learning, zeal, and solid virtue, he may well be considered one of the chief glories of the Society of Jesus in this country. He died at Georgetown in 1808, universally regretted by the clergy and laity.
Father John Bolton was born October 22d, 1742. He entered the Novitiate at Watten on the 7th of September, 1761. Soon after his ordination in 1771, he was sent on : the Maryland Mission. In 1780 he was zealously em- ployed in Charles County. He was sent by his Superior to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1787. I find an entry for that year in Father Mosley's "Ordo" as fol- lows : "9th September, I, Jno. Bolton buried for ye first time at St. Joseph's, Talbot." At the meeting held at St. Thomas' Manor on the 4th of October, 1793, Father Bolton was present. He was also at the meeting held
at White Marsh on the 25th of February, 1794.
There
are two shelves full of venerable breviaries in the present. Leonardtown Library. At the top of the title-page of one of these books, which was printed in 1759, I find " Joan. Bolton." Father Bolton's labors on the Eastern / Shore were most fruitful. He not only confirmed the
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Catholics he found there on his arrival, but led a great many wanderers into the true fold. In Mosley's "Ordo" I find : "ab anno Dñi 1787, J. Bolton, R. Jos. Mosley's successor." Then follows a long list of converts made by him in various places along the Eastern Shore of Maryland and in Delaware. Among his converts were many Quakers. That he devoted himself, like another Peter Claver, to those of African descent is proved by the vast number of colored persons whom he received into the Church. Father Bolton died at the Newtown Manor in the autumn of 1809.
Bishop Carroll thus announces the death of Father Bolton, in a letter to Father Charles Plowden : "I am sorry to inform you that another of my, and indeed your, contemporaries, tho' some years older, has dropped off. Our honest and worthy Brother, the Rev. Mr. John Bolton, departed this life on the 9th of this month, in a most religious and placid manner. With moderate abil- ities, but an excellent will to fulfil the duties of his call- ing, he consecrated his days to them, always with punc- tuality and cheerfulness, winning the affections of his congregation wherever he lived, and never making an enemy. His sickness did not last more than a week; it was contracted in the service of his neighbor, whom he visited and watched over till near midnight, and, in order to be in time at his chapel the next day (Sunday), left him with a profuse perspiration to expose himself to a noxious dew, which brought on the fever that terminated 1
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his existence, after receiving most calmly and piously all the rights of the Church. Let our Brethren know of his death."
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Father Peter Morris, after having labored zealously during thirteen years, died suddenly at Newtown of apo- plexy. He was born on the 8th of March, 1743, and entered the Society on September the 7th, in the year 1760. He came to Maryland in 1770.
Arnold Livers enriched the Newtown Library with several of his books. This Father was born in Mary- land on the IIth of May, 1705. He entered the Society at Watten, September the 7th, 1724. On the 2d of Feb- ruary, 1742, he was professed of the four vows. After having finished his studies he came back to Maryland and died here August 16th, 1777, aged seventy-two.
Father Francis Xavier Neale was born in Charles County, Md., June 3d, 1756. He made his classical studies, like his brothers, Leonard and Charles, at St. Omer's ; afterwards he went to the " Academy " at Liége which during the Suppression continued for a time the good work of the English Scholasticate. Having been ordained, he left Liége, April 3d, 1788, and returned to America and served on the old Missions of the Society in Maryland. When permission was obtained by Arch- bishop Carroll to establish a novitiate, one of the first to enter the Society, on the Feast of St. Francis Borgia, October the 10th, 1806, was Father Francis Neale, and at the same time he was made Master of Novices, having under him Brother, afterwards Father John McElroy. There is in the Alexandria Residence a fine portrait in oil of Father Neale. He died at St. Thomas' Manor, December 20th, 1837.
Father Sylvester Boarman was a native of Maryland, and the brother of John and Charles, both Jesuits. He
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was born November 7th, 1746, and entered the Society September 7th, 1765. At the time of the Suppression he was studying philosophy at Liége; and, before return- ing to Maryland, was ordained and became a very zealous missioner. . From old records I learn that he returned to his native State on the 24th of March, 1784. He was stationed at Newtown in 1800. He was at St. Inigoes in 1805. He died at Newport, Charles County, in 1811.
Father Ignatius Baker Brooke was a native of Mary- land, and probably the nephew of a Father of the same name who died at St. Omer's College, in 1751. He was born on the 21st of April, in the very year in which his uncle died. He entered the Society on September the 7th, 1770. At the time of the Supression, I773, he was at Ghent. He was at Newtown in 1802. When Father Robert Molyneux left that Mission for Georgetown, in 1805, Father Brooke became his successor. He re- mained as Superior at Newtown until 1811.
Father Brooke lived long enough to see a second Archbishop ruling in Maryland. What joy it must have given the venerable priest's heart to see the progress the Church had made in his native State before his eyes closed in death. He had known days of darkness and persecution for the Faith that he loved. But now, before he sinks to rest, he sees it in all the beauty of its rise. What transports would he not feel if he could behold it now in the mid-day of of its majesty and glory! What consolation would not fill his heart if he saw the
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. Churches, and Colleges, the Orphanages and Asylums
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that now cheer and bless the land. Even a hundred years ago, 1789, when the great and good Archbishop Carroll was consecrated Bishop of Baltimore, none could dream of the marvelous, and almost miraculous splendor of the Church in Maryland in this year of our Lord, 1889. .
DEO GRATIAS!
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APPENDIX.
- CATALOGUE OF
EARLY JESUITS IN MARYLAND. 1634-1805.
I prepared this Catalogue some years ago, and published it in the Woodstock Letters. I trust it may prove of some service to Catholic historical students.
W. P. TREACY.
1634-Andrew White ; John Altham, alias Gravenor ; Timothy Hayes ? alias Hanmer ; Residence, St. Mary's City, Md. 1635-The same. All at St. Mary's City.
1636-Thomas Copley, alias Philip Fisher, Superior; Andrew White; John Rogers ? alias Bamfield ; John Wood ? Father Hayes returned to England about this time. St. Mary's still the principal Residence.
1637-Thomas Copley ; Andrew White ; John Altham. All prob- ably residing at St. Mary's. Father Knowles died soon after his arrival.
1638-Ferdinand Poulton, aliases John Brock and Morgan, Supe- rior ; Andrew White ; Thomas Copley. At St. Mary's City. Fathers Rogers and Wood in England.
1639-Thomas Copley, St. Mary's City ; Ferdinand Poulton, with. the Proprietary, at Mattapany on the Patuxent ; John Altham, on Kent Island ; Andrew White, in the palace of the king, whom they call Tayac, at Piscataway.
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1640-Thomas Copley, St. Mary's City ; Ferdinand Poulton, Mat- tapany ; Father Altham died at St. Mary's City, November 5th of this year. During 1640 the missionaries made various excursions among the Indian tribes. They baptized the Em- peror and Empress of Piscataway, and visted the King of the Anacostans.
1641-Thomas Copley, St. Mary's City ; Andrew White, at Pis- cataway ; Roger Rigby, at a new settlement which in the vul- gar idiom they call l'atuxent. In this year the missionaries opened a residence at Portobacco ; almost the whole town " received the Faith with baptism." Father Poulton died.
1642-The same as to missionaries and residences.
1643-Andrew White at Portobacco. The rest as in 1641.
1644-It is supposed that Father Copley, owing to the attacks of Claiborne and Ingle, removed from St. Mary's City to St. Inigoes. Father John Cooper arrives in Maryland.
1645-Bernard Hartwell, Superior, at St. Inigoes; Andrew White and Thomas Copley ; probably residing at Portobacco. Both these missionaries were this year taken prisoners by a party from Virginia. They were put in irons, and taken back to England. The other missionaries, Father John Cooper and Fathers Hartwell and Rigby fled to Virginia.
1646-Bernard Hartwell, the only missionary in Maryland, died this year, probably at St. Inigoes. Roger Rigby, who had great influence among the Indians, and who was high in the esteem of Leonard Calvert, died of hardship in Virginia. Fa- ther John Cooper died in Virginia.
1647-This year the Catholics of Maryland mourned over the ab- sence of their beloved and devoted missionaries.
1648-Father Copley returned boldly to Maryland. He was re- received by his dear flock as "an Angel from God." One of his companions, perhaps Father Laurence Starkey, remained in Virginia.
1649-Thomas Copley, Superior, at St. Inigoes ; Laurence Star- key, alias Sankey. Father Starkey attended to the different outlying missions, Newtown, Portobacco, etc.
1650-Thomas Copley, Superior ; Laurence Starkey. 1651-The same.
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