USA > Maryland > Old Catholic Maryland and its early Jesuit missionaries > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
In 1638, Father Ferdinand Poulton, aliases John Brock and Morgan, was appointed Superior of the Missions in place of his kinsman, Father Copley. The following year Copley was again named Superior, and resided at St. Mary's City. Father Poulton lived with the Pro- prietary, at Mattapany, on the Patuxent ; Father John Altham on Kent Island, and Father Andrew White in the palace of the Indian king, whom they called Tayac, at Piscataway, on the Potomac, almost opposite Mount Vernon.
Father Copley had, to a great extent, to confine his labors, at least for some years, to the English settlers at the capital of the Province. Most of the Protestants who came from England, in 1638, were converted by him. "To Father Philip Fisher," says the Annual Let- ter for 1640, " now residing at St. Mary's, the capital of the colony, nothing would have been more agreeable than to labor in the Indian harvest, if he had been per- mitted by his superiors, who could not, however, dis- pense with his services. Yet his goodwill is not left without its rewards, for while those among the Indians, of whom we have spoken, are being cleansed in the waters of baptism, as many are, at the same time,
1
59
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
brought back from heretical depravity into the bosom of the Church by his active industry."
In the course of time Father Copley began to make excursions through the country for many miles around St. Mary's. With true zeal he labored for all the settlers and the Catholic Indians, who lived between St. Mary's City and Charles County. In wills and other legal doc- uments I trace his footsteps in places far apart. At Cal- verton Manor, which stood at the head of the Wicomico, he was always a welcome guest. The proprietor, the Hon. Robert Clerke, loved and esteemed him for his many virtues and shining qualities. At Calverton Manor the zealous missionary occupied a chamber which was known as "The Priest's Room." . At the head of St. Clement's Bay he gathered his flock at the hospitable home of Luke Gardiner, who owned a farm there of about two hundred acres. The distinguished Governor, Thomas Green, seems to have had a special regard for him. This gentleman gave him several presents for the benefit of his Church. Cuthbert Fenwick, one of the grand old Catholic founders of St. Mary's, was his inti- mate friend, and acted for a long time as his trustee. Few names in Maryland history shine with a brighter lustre than Cuthbert Fenwick. "Mr, Fenwick was one," says the Protestant author of the Day-Star, "who breathed the spirit of Copley, of Cornwallis, and of Cal- vert."
Without having passed through the red fire of perse- cution, a glory would be wanting to the early mis- sionaries of Maryland, which is never wanting to truly apostolic men. Without their having suffered for jus- tice' sake, we should miss a halo from their heads,
60
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
which is never missing from the heads of the heroic fol- lowers of the Victim of Calvary. Early, indeed, did the light and glory of persecution shine round about the apostles of Maryland. As the Parliamentary party grew strong in England, so did the violence and intolerance of the Puritans increase wherever the British flag was raised. Even from the very beginning the missionaries and the Catholics in general began to suffer in Southern Maryland from the bigotry and Pope-hatred of the Pro- testants of Virginia and the "saints " of New England, : who were invited to take a peaceful abode among them. Not much more than a decade of years after that mem- orable day on which Father White, amid hymns and prayers, planted the rude cross on Heron Is'and, "he was seized by some of the English invaders from Vir- ginia, the avowed enemies of civil and religious liberty, and carried off a prisoner to London." Father Copley was taken with Father White and sent back to England in irons. Thus was the seal of a true apostleship put upon his devotedness and labors.
"In 1645," say the Annual Letters, "the civil war was raging in all the counties of England with the most savage cruelty on the part of the Parliamentary rebel soldiers, universally against Catholics. Not a few of the Society were seized and committed to prison. It ex- tended even to Maryland, where some heretical zealots, to curry favor with the Parliament, carried off two of our Fathers, viz: Andrew White and Philip Fisher, whose family name was 'Cappicius.' Both were brought to England and tried, but acquitted on urging that they had not entered England of their own accord, but had been forcibly and illegally brought thither. Father Fisher
61
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
boldly returned to Maryland, but Father White was not allowed to do so on account of his advanced age, and he died a few years later in England."
Where Father Copley spent the interval between 1645 and 1648, I know not. Certain it is that he did not return to America before 1648. Perhaps he worked secretly on the mission in England, or probably he re- sided in some Jesuit house on the old continent. The following letter, addressed to the General of his Order, Father Vincent Caraffa, gives an account of his arrival in Maryland, and we trust is interesting enough to be reproduced in full :
OUR VERY REV. FATHER IN CHRIST :- At length my companion and myself reached Virginia, in the month of January, after a tolerable journey of seven weeks ; there I left my companion, and availed myself of the opportu- nity of proceeding to Maryland, where I arrived in the course of February. By the singular providence of God, I found my flock collected together, after they had been scattered for three long years; and they were really in more flourishing circumstances than those who had oppressed and plundered them. With what joy they received me, and with what delight I met them, it would be impossible to describe, but they received me as an Angel of God. I have now been with them a fortnight, and am preparing for the painful separation; for the Indians summon me to their aid, and they have been ill-treated by the enemy since I was torn from them. I hardly know what to do, but cannot attend to all. God grant that I may do His will for the greater glory of His Name. Truly, flowers appear in our land ; may they
.
62
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
attain to fruit. A road by land, through the forest, has just been opened from Maryland to Virginia ; this will make it but a two days' journey, and both countries can now be united in one mission. After Easter I shall wait on the Governor of Virginia on momentous business, may it terminate to the praise and glory of God. My companion, I trust, still lies concealed, but I hope will soon commence his labors under favorable auspices. Next year I trust to have two or three other colleagues, with the permission of your Paternity, to whose prayers and sacrifices I earnestly commend this mission, myself, and all mine.
Dated from Maryland this Ist March in the year of God, 1648.
I remain your Very Rev. Paternity's most unworthy servant and son in Christ,
PHILIP FISHER.
Though Father Copley had much to suffer from per- secution on the part of the Puritans, and also from pirates and desperadoes like Ingle and Claiborne, who disturbed the peace of Lord Baltimore's colonists, still it is proba- ble that after his return to Maryland he found tranquility around him. In 1649 the great Toleration Act was passed, and all were free to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.
Father Copley died in 1653. The manner and place of his death are unknown. He sleeps his long sleep, perhaps, in the little burial ground at St. Inigoes', but his grave is a secret unknown to man, and so remains, unmarked by cross or stone. Thus mystery in death, as well as in life, hangs around this scion of the Copleys.
1.
,
! . 63
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
Yet not in vain has this devoted priest lived and died. His wigwam-chapel is replaced in many an American city by magnificent churches and marble cathedrals ; his little flock has increased to millions ; the persecutions. he endured have helped to win freedom of conscience for whole peoples; the flowers that he saw bloom have long since attained to fruit-rich and abundant. A grand and flourishing Church has sprung up in fields that he wa- tered with his tears. Though no one can point out his grave in the lonely " God's Acre" of Southern Mary- land, it is a consolation to us to remember that his bones rest in a soil over which a white harvest is now ready for the sickle.
.
64
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
CHAPTER III.
-
In 1638, Father Ferdinand Poulton, alias John Brock, arrived in Maryland and became Superior of the Mission. He was a pious and devoted priest.
The Poulton family had several of its members in the Society. Father Ferdinand (whose name in confirma- tion was John), alias John Brooks, or Brock, alias Mor- gan, was the son of Francis Poulton and Ann Morgan. In the Maryland catalogue he appears as John Brock (vere Morgan). He had an uncle named Ferdinand Poulton who was at one time a member of the Society, but left about 1623, and was known in England under the alias of John Morgan. The Father Ferdinand Poul- ton of Maryland was born in Buckinghamshire in 1601 or 1603 ; he was educated at St. Omer's and entered the English College at Rome for higher studies in 1619 as John Brookes, aged 18; he entered the Society in 1622. He was at St. Omer's in 1633, at Watten 1636; was Su- perior in Maryland under the alias of John Brock for several ycars, beginning with 1638. In 1640 (19th Sep- tember) Governor Calvert specially summoned him as Ferdinand Poulton, Esquire, of St. Mary's County, to the Assembly. He was accidentally shot while crossing the ' St. Mary's River, June 5, 1641, says an old catalogue, though Br. Foley has July 5th. Father Poulton was professed of the four vows, December 8, 1635.
£
65
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
There seems to have been a great intimacy between the Calverts and Poultons. I find that William Poulton alias Sachervall, a secular priest and brother of Father Ferdinand, was chaplain to Mary Lady Somerset, a daughter of Lord Arundell of Wardour, and sister-in- law to Cecil Calvert Lord Baltimore.
We are glad to be able to give a part of a most inter- esting and edifying letter from the pen of poor Father Ferdinand Poulton, written only a few weeks before his sad death occurred. After giving some details, most of which are already given in the Annual Letters above cited, Father Poulton continues : "However, shortly after our arrival Father White again fell sick, and has not yet recovered his strength ; and indeed I fear that from his age, and increasing infirmities, nature will shortly succumb to such great labors. I will use my utmost endeavors to preserve his life, that this great work of God, the conversion of so many infidels, may prosper- ously and happily progress, as well because he possesses the greatest influence over their minds, as that he, best of any of the rest, understands and speaks their language. Many of the inhabitants are instructed for baptism, and many of the higher ranks show themselves inclined to- wards the Christian faith, amongst whom the chief is the King of the Anacostans, uncle of King Patorieck. A few months ago King Pascatoway sent his daughter, who is to succeed him in his dominions, to the town of St. Mary, that she may be there educated among the Eng- lish and instructed for baptism. Indeed, I hope, by the favor of God, unless our helpers fail, that in a short time there will be a great accession to the Christian faith in these barbarous nations. And this, although on account
I
66
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
of the dearness of corn and the increased expenses and deficiency of living, we are pressed by great difficulties ; nor are there here in this colony any who are either able or willing to furnish us with alms, and Divine Providence shows that neither by our own exertions, nor of those . for whose salvation we labor, be they Christians or Pa- gans can we hope for support. However, we have no fear but that He will provide us with necessaries, Who feeds the birds of the air that neither sow nor reap, and Who suppliest the Apostles, whom He sent forth without staff or scrip to preach the Gospel, with everything need- ful; for the same reason He also of His Divine Provi- dence will see fit to supply His unworthy servants with means of sustentation. The very thought in the Prefect of recalling us, or of not sending others to help us in this glorious work of the conversion of souls, in a cer -. tain manner takes away faith in the Providence of God and His care of His servants, as though He would now less provide for the nourishment of His laborers than formerly. On which account our courage is not dimin- ished, but rather increased and strengthened; since now God will take us into His protection, and will certainly provide for us Himself, especially since it has pleased the Divine Goodness already to receive some fruit however small of our labors. In whatever manner it may seem good to His Divine Majesty to dispose of us, may His holy Will be done. But, as much as in me lies, I would rather, laboring in the conversion of the Indians, expire on the bare ground, deprived of all human succor and perishing of hunger, than once think of abandoning this holy work of God from the fear of want. May God grant me grace to render Him some service, and all the
67
ITS EARLY , JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
rest I leave to His Divine Providence. King Pascatoway lately died most piously. But God will for his sake, as we hope, quickly raise up seed for us in his neighboring King Anacostin, who has invited us to come to him, and has decided himself to become a Christian. Many like- wise in other localities desire the same. Hopes of a rich harvest shine forth, unless frustrated by the want of laborers who can speak the language 'and are in sound health."
Father Roger Rigby, alias Robert Knowles, of whom we have already said a few words, came to Mary- land in 1641. This missionary was a native of Lan- cashire, England, and was born in the year 1608. Having attained his twenty-first year he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Watten. He was raised to the sublime dignity of the Priesthood in the year 1638, and was then, we believe, sent to labor in England.
1642. In the mission of Maryland for the year just elapsed, we have had only three priests, and of these one was confined by sickness for three months. This was Father Roger Rigby-the other two being Father Philip Fisher, Superior of the mission, and Father Andrew White ; all three were sent to different parts for the pur- pose of collecting more spiritual fruit. The Superior, Father Fisher, remained principally at St. Mary's, the chief town of the colony, in order that he might take care of the English, of whom the greater number are settled there, and also of such Indians as do not live far distant or are engaged in passing backwards and for- wards. Father White betook himself to his former station at Pascataway, but Father Roger went to a new settlement called in the vulgar idiom Patuxen, for a
×
68
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
better opportunity of learning the Indian language, also that he might better instruct some neophytes, and scat- ter the seed of faith along the bank of that great river. This was almost the only fruit of his labors (there).
The severest trials of the missionaries came from the ingratitude and injustice of men styling themselves Catholics. The oppression and hatred of enemies were to be expected. The children of darkness naturally hate the brightness of day, the pure glories of light. But that the sons of the Church should seek to oppress and persecute Her, though, alas ! a sin so common in our own days, is a thing not only base and unnatural in itself, but even a crime, the very thought of which causes deep pain in every noble heart, and causes every generous breast to swell with indignation and horror. And so the conduct of some of the Catholics of the colony, who sought to infringe upon the rights of the Church, caused the missionaries the most bitter pangs. A mis- sionary writes as follows from Maryland, in 1642 : " One thing, however, remains to be mentioned with a passing notice, viz : that an occasion of suffering has not been wanting to us from those from whom we rather expected protection ; who, in anxiety for their own interests, have not hesitated to violate the immunities of the Church by endeavoring to enforce here the unjust laws passed in England, that it shall not be lawful for any person or community, even ecclesiastical, in any manner, even by gift, to acquire or possess any land, unless the per- mission of the civil magistrate be first obtained. And when our Fathers declared this to be repugnant to the laws of the Church, two priests were sent from England to teach the contrary doctrine. But it ended quite the
69
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES
reverse' of what was expected, for our reasons being adduced and heard, and the matter itself more clearly examined and understood, sentence was given in our favor, and received the full concurrence of the laity generally."
Father John Cooper is mentioned as being in Mary- land in 1644, and Father Bernard Hartwell is noticed as dying there in 1646. We are of the opinion that these missionaries were in Maryland in 1642. In a letter for that year we read : "To our great comfort, two new Fathers have recently come to us from England, they have had a bad voyage of fourteen weeks, though it usually does not take more than six or eight. But of these, of their labors and fruits, we shall, please God, speak another time. We hope indeed that it will be abundant, and thus far we may predict much from their present zeal and unity of soul with us."
If these Fathers here alluded to were not Cooper and Hartwell we are at a loss to know who they could have been, as no other new names occur in the Roman Cat- alogue about that period.
Father Cooper was a native of Hants, and was born in 1610 .. In his twentieth year he entered the Society of Jesus. In 1645, he was one of those Fathers who were violently carried off to Virginia "to the great damage of religion." He underwent many trials in that place and died there in 1646.
Father Bernard Hartwell was born in 1607, in Bucks, England, and became a Jesuit in 1626. He was em- ployed for some time at St. Omer's College. We find that he served in that college as Prefect and Minister. As already stated he died in Maryland, in 1646.
70
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
Father Laurence Starkie probably succeeded Father Copley as Superior. This Father was sometimes called Sankey and Sanchez. There is no doubt that he lived for some time at St. Inigoes with Father Copley. From the fact that his name is often coupled in wills and other documents with Father Francis Fitzherbert's name I conclude that he likewise lived with that Father for some time at Newtown. He was born in the year 1606, and entered the Society about 1636. He was sent to the Lancashire District, in 1638. He arrived in Mary- land, in 1649. This was the year in which the great Toleration Act waspassed in the Maryland Assembly. The majority of those who made religious freedom the law of the land were Catholics. Some of the Assembly- men who voted for liberty of worship belonged to the Newtown Congregation. We may name among them the unfortunate Walter Peake, William Bretton, Cuth- bert Fenwick, Thomas Thornborough, John Mansell of St .. . Clement's hundred, and the Honorable Robert Clarke. The Catholic settlers of Maryland had been treated as helots in their native land by the " sincere followers of the pure doctrine of the heaven-sent Re- formation ;" they had since their arrival on the shores of the Chesapeake felt the hatred of the Virginia Pro- testants ; Claiborne and Ingle, both enemies, deadly enemies, to the Faith of Rome, planned and plotted for their utter destruction, and hovered around them like vultures ready to pounce upon them in a moment of
; weakness; and so they wished to be avenged. And they avenged themselves sweetly, gloriously, triumph- antly. They passed the Toleration Act, and the history of mankind will forever proclaim to the world in the
.
-
71
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
praise it gives them that they are avenged, fully, honor- ably avenged. Little, perhaps, they dreamed in the moment of their generosity in according to others what had been so long, and so cruelly denied themselves, that their kindness and magnanimity would be ill requited. Yet such unfortunately was the case. Puritans who had been expelled for non-conformity from Virginia and other places, the "Saints" who loved the sword and gloried in the shedding of human blood, but hated the Cross and abominated the purity of holy water, stalked in upon them from the wasted fields of England, and from red scenes of carnage in Ireland, and began to op- press and persecute them. Troopers who had learned canting hymns and fearful oaths in the camp of Carlyle's charming hero, Oliver Cromwell, began to despise their rights, and to trample their benefactors as worms beneath their feet. The missionaries became objects of special hate, and victims not to be spared. The light that shone upon Father Starkie on the day of his arrival was turned to gloom and darkness. As, in England, he found him- self proscribed and banned. To evade his enemies he was obliged to adopt every species of disguise. When he wished to visit the gentleman in his manor, or the Indian in his hut, he was obliged to dress as a farmer, or a soldier, and wear a beard that covered his breast. He had to adopt more than one alias. At last being betrayed, he was obliged to fly into Virginia where he died in 1657. What this Father and others suffered in Virginia we do not fully know. But from the enmity of Virginia at that period of its history towards Catholics we may easily guess. Forced to live unknown, to hide
1
.
!
1
1
1
72
OLD CATHOLIC MARYLAND AND
their priestly character, to pass as men of the world, they often suffered, no doubt, from hunger and want. In time of sickness they had no kind hand to assist them, no friendly voice to cheer them. They sank amid an accu- mulation of wrongs, injuries, and miseries, and were cast into the earth by strangers in a foreign land, without a prayer for their souls, without a tear for their sorrows, without a cross to mark their graves.
In a school-book is written "Thomas Sankey, July 3rd, 1608." This can hardly have been Father Starkey's book, as we cannot believe that he wrote his name in it when only two years old. Though nearly everything regarding the life of this Father is now lost, in his own time, however, he seems to have been widely known. In wills, he is sometimes termed the " well-known priest, Father Starkie."
About Copley's time there was in St. Mary's County a gentleman who signalized himself by his many virtues and untiring zeal. His name was so often connected with works of mercy that some Protestant historians have mistaken him for one of the Fathers. We refer to Mr. Ralph Crouch, who, it will be seen from the follow- ing account of him, taken from the English Records, was merely a layman while in Maryland: "Brother Ralph Crouch, a native of Oxford, who entered the So- ciety as a temporal coadjutor, was born in 1620, and joined the novitiate at Watten, about 1639. Soon after he left the noviceship, and went to Maryland, where for nearly twenty years he was the 'right hand and solace' of the English Fathers in that laborious and extensive · mission. Being a man of some education, he opened .
-
-
73
ITS EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES.
schools* for teaching humanities, gave catechetical in- structions to the poorer class, and was assiduous in vis- iting the sick. He was a man full of zeal and charity, and ready for every good and pious work. Being at length re-admitted to the Society in 1659, he returned to Europe, completed his noviceship at Watten, and was admitted to his vows in 1669. He spent the remainder of his life at Liége, remarkable for piety and patience in sufferings, especially in his last protracted sickness. He died a model of edification to all, November the 18th, 1679, at the age of fifty-nine."
Mr. Crouch while in Maryland was greatly assisted by some other religious laymen. Among these was a sur- geon, Henry Hooper. This gentleman, who died about 1650, left a legacy to Ralph Crouch for such "pious uses as he thinks fit." Surgeon Hooper is mentioned in the Annapolis Records as one of those who came with Fa- ther Copley.
The next Father who labored in Newtown was Fran- cis Fitzherbert, alias Darby. " He was a native of Derby- shire ; born 1613; entered the Society 1634; and was made a Spiritual Coadjutor, September 15th, 1655. He was camp Missioner at Ghent in 1645 ; then Missioner in Portugal ; afterwards Professor of Moral Theology at Liege, and in 1654 was sent out to the Maryland Mis- sion. Returning from Maryland in 1652, he was sent to the Devonshire District. In 1672, he was in the Oxford- shire District, having been unoccupied for several years, owing to some difficulty in placing him in England." He died at St. Omer's, May 22d, 1687.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.