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ST. AGNES' CEMETERY
ALBANY, NEW YORK
"He is not here ; for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."-St Matthew, xxviii : G.
St. Agnes' Cemetery
ITS . .
Past and Present Associations
EDITED BY MYRON A. COONEY
FREDERICK S. HILLS, COMPILER AND PUBLISHER ALBANY, NEW YORK, 1899
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CEP 71890
Leroy ir
41354 COPYRIGHT, 1899 BY FREDERICK S. HILLS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]
AUG 1 6 1899 Register of C
JECONA COPY; 45446 July 30, 98 .-
PREFATORY
HE object of the publisher has been to prepare an elaborate and attractive work upon St. Agnes' Cemetery, beautifully illustrated, and to give in brief a history of its founders. In preparing the work herewith presented for publie eriticism or approval, the publisher has sought to give a history in a form befitting the beauty and solemn grandeur of this, one of our most beautiful cities of the dead. To the architectural, artistic and natural beauties he has given mention in a necessarily limited form, as fuller and freer pen-pictures of the many topies meriting extensive notice were impossible within the space devoted to such subjects.
St. Agnes' Cemetery : many who planned it, and worked for it, now sleep within its shades, beneath the sod where taste and tenderness have wrought their names in marble, and it has been left to later generations to carry on their beneficent work.
"So many born, so many died to-day -- Thousands of angels passing up and down ; They come to us, they go to wear their crown, And keep 'twixt heaven and earth an open way."
SKETCH OF ST. AGNES' CEMETERY
A narrow home; and far beyond it lieth The land whereof no mortal lips can tell. We strain our sad eyes as the Spirit flieth; Our fancy loves on heaven's bright hills to dwell.
P FROM the river bank, on a gentle declivity which crowns the grassy slopes above the current of the Hudson, at a point where the most beautiful panorama of the stately river unfolds itself to view, is St. Agnes' Cemetery, where sleeps a multitude of Albany's former cherished citizens. In that silent resting place over which the summer sun spreads a dazzling mantle of light, and the winter snows fling, as a tribute, their spotless shroud, are those who were ever associated with the busy life and progressive fortunes of the twin hilled city. This solemn spot, the shrine to which hundreds of visitors repair in early spring, in the full flush of summer and in the mellow autumn, to lay some loving tribute upon the earth that covers some dear one or to breathe a prayer in remembrance, bears the name of the fairest, gentlest, purest Christian maiden who ever appeared before the Heavenly Throne in the white robe of virginity, washed in the blood of the Lamb by martyrdom.
Our true resting place and earthly home is beneath the sod. The brief span of life, the short sojourn in sumptuous mansion or humble dwelling, the few fleeting hours of joy, sorrow, triumph or suffering, are insignificant when compared with the ages that must elapse after we have finished our course and when we lie down on our last couch, there to await the final consummation. Time and the world go on in their ceaseless round and relentless progress, regardless of those who fall by the way. The most prominent figure of the day is forgotten on the morrow, when laid away in the silent grave. Names which once, as living realities, thrilled or convulsed
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the world are now but nebulous phantoms on the pages of history, occasion- ally evoked " to point a moral or adorn a tale." Even those who were in life objects of tender care and loving solicitude in their little circle, become but fading images in the hearts of those they have left behind when Time shakes its healing wings over the soul which sorrows had parched and dried. It is a wise, beneficent provision of our nature that Time should dull the keen edge of grief, however heartless it might seem at first to forget those once so dear to us. It would be a forbidding world and rayless life, were sorrow to sit always beside us as a companion, recalling the loss and separation which Death has caused.
It is to mitigate to some extent the oblivion of the grave, this forgetful- ness of the silent inhabitants there, that so much attention, liberality and artistic skill are expended upon our cemeteries. While we may not make our hearts perpetual shrines for the mental images of the loved ones who have gone before, we can bestow loving care on the earthly tenement in which their dear forms are laid. The best skill of the sculptor, the landscape artist, the florist and the experienced cemetery superintendent, are enlisted in this gracious work. The time has long passed away when the cemetery was only a collection of individual graves, arranged without order or harmony of design, when an expensive and artistic monument lost much of its attrac- tiveness by the incongruity of its surroundings. As in the laying out of modern cities, convenience, harmony and good taste and the fitness of the individual parts to make up a congruous whole, are taken into consideration, so in the City of the Dead these qualities should be combined and applied in their most comprehensive meaning. Such a result has been attained in St. Agnes' Cemetery.
Thirty years ago the Right Rev. Bishop Conroy of Albany, stood on a wide platform on the brow of the hill, clad in his episcopal robes, mitre on head and crozier in hand, pronouncing the solemn words which converted the verdant slope into consecrated ground. It was a fair Spring day,
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May 19, 1867, and thousands of spectators lined the grassy declivity from the platform down towards the Troy road. Beside the Bishop stood Rev. Father Burke, who was to succeed him in after years as bishop of Albany; Rev. Father Wadhams and Rev. Father Ludden, who were also to wear the mitre on a future day ; Rev. Fathers Bayard, Noethen, Smith and Taney. St. Agnes' Cemetery was incorporated on May 9, 1867. The incorporators were : Bishop Conroy, Rev. Edgar P. Wadhams, Peter Cagger, John Tracey, William S. Preston, James Hall, William Cassidy, Thomas Mattimore, John Stuart, Joseph Clinton, Thomas Kearney. Robert Higgins, John MeArdle, John Mullen and Henry Leuke. To these gentlemen, whose wise fore- thought suggested the idea, are the Catholices of Albany indebted for the beautiful City of the Dead. The grounds were purchased by Mr. Peter Cagger from the former owners and conveyed to the new cemetery. Many of the founders and incorporators are buried there.
The first interments made in St. Agnes' Cemetery were the bodies of Catharine N. Haggerty, William H. Poe and Thomas Poe, June 2, 1868. A month later Peter Cagger was laid at rest in the beautiful grounds.
On May 14, 1867, at a meeting of the Trustees of the Cemetery, Mr. Peter Cagger was elected first president of the association. At the same meeting Mr. Thomas Kearney was elected secretary, and Mr. William S. Preston, treasurer. Mr. Kearney declined to serve and Mr. John Stuart was chosen secretary in his place. President Cagger was one of the most active and earnest of the incorporators. After the lamentable death of the first presi- dent, there was not a moment's hesitation as to the selection of a successor : Mr. William Cassidy was the unanimous choice of the trustees. It was he who drew up and prepared the rules and regulations for the government of the cemetery. His broad, comprehensive mind and practical methods did much towards giving the new cemetery a successful inauguration. Right Rev. Bishop Conroy, became the third president of the association, and the result of his zeal and labors was shown in the development of plans for improving and beautifying the grounds.
The next president was Right Rev. Bishop MeNeirny, and during his twenty years' term of office, he was indefatigable in his efforts to bring the cemetery to the standard of picturesque beauty, good taste and harmonious symmetry, of which it is now such a striking example. He was succeeded by Bishop Burke.
The first superintendent of St. Agnes' Cemetery was John B. Gordon, and the ten years of his administration were years of toil in converting the hillside into something like cemetery shape. At a meeting of the trustees on June 20, 1867, Messrs. William H. Grant and Donald G. Mitchell were appointed engineers to lay out the grounds. Peter Hogan and Peter Brown. engineers, were engaged successively by the Cemetery Association. The former had charge of the engineering part of the work for the first seven years after the cemetery was opened. Mr. Gordon was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Behan in 1877.
On October 6, 1886, the present superintendent. Benjamin D. Judson took charge of the cemetery and has abundantly vindicated the wisdom of the choice. His ten years' experience as assistant superintendent of the Albany Rural Cemetery left him admirably equipped for the duties of the position to which he was appointed. The improvements made upon the grounds of St. Agnes' Cemetery during Superintendent Judson's administra- tion can only be appreciated by those who recall to mind its condition and appearance eleven years ago. Labor, skill and money have been liberally expended in placing the avenues, lawns, buildings, fences and other appur- tenances in the most substantial condition. The drainage is complete, and the grounds are ornamented with a choice collection of trees and hardy shrubs and plants.
To-day St. Agnes' Cemetery will take high rank in its admirable man- agement and care. The modern landscape lawn plan which harmonizes with nature and avoids tawdry show, prevails in all works of improvement upon the grounds and about the office at the entrance of the grounds.
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The transaction of business is according to the most approved system, with its full set of maps and books of record.
The success of Mr. Judson's arduous labors is largely to be attributed to the progressive spirit of the Board of Trustees and the hearty co-operation of the lot-owners.
He has a valuable assistant superintendent, Charles I. G. Flaherty, of Albany, who has proved a faithful co-worker with Superintendent Judson.
The extent of the cemetery is about fifty acres, and a master-hand by a careful course of modern landscape gardening has developed the latent beauty of the place, and has converted the slopes of the hill on all sides and the unsightly ravine that divides the old from the new portion of the ceme. tery into scenes of picturesque beauty. The ravine has been filled up to an extent to give its sides symmetrical proportions; sweeping curves have replaced sharp turnings of the roads and the latest and most improved modern methods have been put into successful operation. The thinning out of the thick groves of evergreens has made a vast improvement in the appearance of the grounds.
A very pleasing instance of the reverence and thoughtfulness shown by the lot-owners, is the number of lots which now receive constant attention from the " Perpetual Care Fund." The interest on the amount placed in this fund by owners of lots, relieves them from all anxiety as to the caring for the last resting place of themselves and their loved ones who have gone before. One pleasing feature in the history of St. Agnes' Cemetery is the liberal manner in which the trustees have responded to calls for assistance from Catholic institutions of Albany. The Cemetery Association, by its timely aid, has relieved many a worthy charity or educational enterprise from embarrassment just at the time it was most needed.
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Since the organization of the Cemetery Association, over thirty years ago, thirty-four persons have held the office of trustee, eighteen of whom died in office. The following is the list :
*Right Rev. Bishop Conroy, Term of service. 1867 to 1895
*Right Rev. Bishop Wadhams,
1867 to 1874
*Right Rev. Bishop MeNeirny. Right Rev. Bishop Burke,
..
1872 to 1894
1873
*Peter Cagger,
..
..
1867 to 1868
* William Cassidy.
1867 to 1873
*Joseph Clinton,
James Hall,
1867 to 1870
*Matthew Hawe,
1874 to 1880
*Robert Higgins,
1867 to 1893
*Thomas Kearney,
1867 to 1874
*John McArdle,
1867 to 1887
*Patrick McHugh,
ISSI to ISS2
*Michael McHugh,
1891 to ISO5
*William D Morange,
1869 to 1895
*John Mullon,
1867 to 1886
William S. Preston,
1867 to 1876
* John Stuart,
*John Tracey,
1867 to 1875
Henry Leuke,
1867
*Thomas Behan,
1874 to 1878
Charles Tracey.
1875
M. N Nolan,
IS75
R. J. Carmody.
1876
*Terence J. Quinn,
1876 to 1878
Michael Delehanty,
18SI
P. J. Wallace,
ISS2
Thomas B. Coleman,
1886
James G. Fitzgerald,
1878
Peter J. Flinn,
1SS7
Thomas A Stuart,
1896
Thomas W. Cantwell,
1896
.
* Dead
1.4
IS82
John H. Farreil,
1867 to ISSO
*Thomas Mattimore,
1867 to 1885
IS67 to 1873
HE DIOCESE OF ALBANY was erected by the Holy Sec in 1847, and was then bounded on the north and east by the limits of the State of New York, extended south to the forty-second degree of north latitude, and west to the eastern limits of Cayuga, Tompkins and Tioga counties. This vast territory, now the seat of several epis- scopal sees, embraced the territories which had been sanctified by the early mis- sions along our northern borders and the famous Iroquois missions. It was the scene of early martyrdoms, including those of Fathers Jogues and Rene Goupil, and was the birthplace and long the home of the saintly Indian virgin, Catharine Tegakouita. Few parts of our republic have so heroic and interesting a Catholic history. In and about Albany proper, prior to the Revolution, Catholicity had scarcely a resting place. The earliest church in Albany was erected in 1798. under the zealous efforts of Rev. John Thayer, a convert to the faith from Boston. Fathers Burke and Kohlmann, Rev. Mr. McQuaid, Rev. Michael O'Gorman and Rev. Michael Carroll, were success- ively the pastors at Albany. The city was blessed in 1830, by the advent of the Sisters of Charity, who conducted the schools and orphan asylum. Churches were built in other parts of the diocese, at Carthage, Utica, Verona, Oneida, Florence, Constableville, Salina, Schenectady, Sandy Hill, Bing- hamton, Saratoga and other places. Right Rev. John McCloskey, co-adjutor of Archbishop Hughes of New York, afterwards the first American Cardinal, was appointed first Bishop of Albany in 1847, and at that time Albany possessed four churches, one of which, St. Mary's, became his Cathedral. In the remainder of the diocese there were about forty churches, but there were not priests enough to give each church a pastor. Bishop McCloskey's adminis- tration was eminently successful, as was evidenced by the rapid and wonder- fil increase of churches and priests, schools, academies, asylums and other works of the Church. In 1864, Bishop McCloskey became Archbishop of New York, and left to the Albany diocese as the fruits of his labors and of his clergy and people, one hundred and thirteen churches, eight chapels, and fifty stations, eighty-five priests, and the diocese had received the Augustin- ians, Franciscans, and Oblates of Mary Immaculate ; also the Ladies of the Sacred Heart, the Sisters of Mercy, Christian Brothers, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Joseph, the Canadian Gray Nuns, and Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. His successors in the charge of the Albany diocese were Bishops Conroy, MeNeirney and Burke.
HE RIGHT REV. JOHN JOSEPH CONROY, second Bishop of Albany, his predecessor being Bishop, afterwards Cardinal McCloskey, was born at Clonaslee, Queens County, Ireland, in the year 1819. He came to America when a boy of eighteen years and after a course of instruction at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmets- burg, Md., he was ordained priest in 1842. Then he became president of St. John's College, Fordham, from which he was transferred to the pastorate of St. Joseph's Church, Albany. He was consecrated Bishop of Albany, October 15, 1865, resigned on account of ill health on October 10, 1877, and was transferred to the see of Curium on March 22, 1878. He was one of the original incorporators of St. Agnes' Cemetery. It was upon his application to the mother house of the Ladies of the Sacred Heart that in 1853 an academy of that order was founded in Albany. He was one of the founders of St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, and in 1868, he dedicated the new St. Mary's church. He was a man of great learning and remarkable executive ability and was beloved by Albanians of all denominations. For twenty years he was pastor of St. Joseph's church, and it was mainly through his efforts that Madame Albani was enabled to win her world-wide reputation. Albany is full of monuments of the good work done by him-churches, schools, orphan asylums, cemeteries, all institutions for the welfare of his flock, received his care. Bishop Conroy died Nov. 20, 1895, and his remains rest in the Episcopal vault of the Cathedral of the Immacculate Conception. Bishop Conroy was not only a learned theologian, but he was remarkable for administrative ability and intellectual power, and would have been dis- tinguished in any other sphere of life, if devotional piety had not led to his ecclesiastical vocation. He was thoroughly patriotic and all his influence was given during the civil war to promote the preservation of the Union. Albany in many ways experienced the benefits of his abounding goodness and zeal to join in all that tended towards the benefit and improvement of the community.
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Rt. Rev. John's. Conway. T. D.
HE RT. REV. EDGAR PRINDLE WADHAMS was born in Lewis Township, Essex County, N. Y., May 21, 1817, of Protest- ant parents. After receiving an elementary education at home. he was sent to Middleburg College, Vermont, where he graduated in 1838. Of an earnest and pious mind he studied theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York city. He reached divine orders and was attending a mission at Ticonderoga, N. Y., when yielding to his own reasoning and study, he became a Catholic and went to St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Md., where he was formally received into the church by the learned Father Fredet in June, 1846. He received minor orders in the following year and was ordained a priest by Bishop McCloskey, of Albany, in his pro-Cathedral of St. Mary's, on January 15, 1850. He served first as an assistant under Bishop MeCloskey, of St. Mary's and in the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of which he became pastor in 1866. He was made Vicar-General of the diocese of Albany, his zeal and ability being recognized by all. He was one of the original Board of Directors of St. Agnes' Cemetery Association and served from 1867 to 1874. The diocese of Ogdensburg was created in 1872. Father Wadhams was chosen as its first Bishop and was consecrated at the Albany Cathedral by Archbishop MeCloskey, on May 5, 1872, and installed in his diocese the following May. As the diocese was large and much of it a wilderness, Bishop Wadhams' labors were hard and his resources limited, but in this he fulfilled the great rule of his life in the ministry .- "The priests are for the people, not the people for the priests." Bishop Wadhams died December 5, 1891, and his tomb is in the crypt of the Cathedral in Ogdensburg, N. Y .. where he labored so faithfully for nearly twenty years.
HE RIGHT REV. FRANCIS MONEIRNY, third Bishop of Albany, was born in New York city, April 25, 1828. His first studies were at the College of Montreal under the Sulpician Fathers. He then entered the Seminary of St. Sulpia, in the same city, for the purpose of preparing himself for the priesthood. After distinguished success as professor in his Alma Mater, he was ordained priest by Arch- bishop Hughes in 1854. That greatest of American prelates appointed him his secretary, and Bishop MeNeirny accompanied the Archbishop to Rome in the year of his ordination, to witness the promulgation of the sublime doctrine of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX. On his return he became pastor of St. Mary's Church, at Rondout, and in 1871 he was named co-adjutor to Bishop Conroy. His consecration as Bishop took place on April 21, 1872, in the same cathedral where, eighteen years before, he was ordained priest. lle was the fourth President of St. Agnes' Cemetery Association, serving from 1872 to 1894. He succeeded Bishop Conroy in the care of the Albany Diocese in 1877. Ile was a prelate of exceptional ability, rare eloquence, great mental culture, most refined taste, courtly manner and unremitting devotion to the responsible duties of his high office. Ile was one of those rarities in ecclesiastical circles a singing bishop, possessing a superb well-trained voice. His rule was gentle and paternal, and both priests and laity loved him and revere his memory. His keen, logical intellect, ineisive literary style and varied mental equipments distinguished him wherever he went and attracted attention in Rome itself. His eloquence was of the most attractive kind, clear and forcible, going straight to the heart of his theme in a manner that enlisted the rapt atten- tion of his hearers. Bishop MeNeirny's body rests in the vault of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception beside that of his immediate predecessors. The fatal illness seized him during the divine services on Christmas Day, but he insisted upon officiating both morning and evening. Death came with the New Year, leaving a city to mourn its loss. He died in Albany, January 2, 1894.
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Rt. Rer. Francis. He Veny. T. D.
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+ Thomas M. A. Buke. Bishop of ulvary.
HE RIGHT REV. T. M. A. BURKE, who presides at present over the diocese in which St. Agnes' Cemetery is located, is the fourth Bishop of Albany, being appointed on May 18, 1894. He was born in Ireland in 1840 and was brought to this country whilst yet a child. His father, Dr. Ulic Burke, first settled in Utica, N. Y., and in that city the earlier years of the future bishop were spent. His bent was always towards the religious and it did not require advice or persuasion to lead him towards the holy ministry. His aspirations were in that direction from the beginning, and when in 1855, at the age of fifteen, he had fitted himself to pass a collegiate entrance examination, he was sent to St. Michael's College, Toronto, and the following year to St. Charles College, Ellicott City, Md. Having made a brilliant record in college, the young candidate for the priesthood was ordained on June 30, 1864, at St. Mary's Seminary, Balti- more, Bishop MacFarland, his former pastor in Utica, officiating on the occasion. Albany was his first mission and he was appointed assistant to Rev. C. Fitzpatrick, of St. John's Church, and after seven months was transferred to St. Joseph's Church, with which his name has been so long and so gloriously associated. He became its rector in 1874, having been for eight years in charge of the parish under Bishop Conroy. In 1887 he became viear-general of the diocese, and frequently the entire administration of its affairs fell upon his shoulders. In 1871 and 1889 he visited Rome and the Holy Land. After his visit to Jerusalem he became Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, and upon his appointment as Bishop of Albany, he was elevated to the highest order of knighthood, being made a Knight of the Grand Cross. The ceremony of his consecration as bishop took place at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, July 1, 1894, and it was the most impressive ever known in the Capital City. Thousands flocked to the magnificent temple of religion to do honor to the truly great man, great in his devotion, his humility, his simplicity, his profound learning and his work in the service of God. His administration as bishop has been a remarkable success and has given a powerful impetus to the advancement of the faith to which his heart and soul have been devoted.
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P ETER CAGGER, the first President of the Board of Trustees of St. Agnes' Cemetery, and the man whose faith, energy, and liberality first developed the possibilities of "The Silent City," was one of the most distinguished citizens of his time. Few members of the Albany bar left a brighter or more lasting record, than Peter Cagger. Born at Albany. November 10, 1814, of Irish parents, his entire, life was spent in his native city. As a political leader he has had no equal since his death. The following just tribute has been paid to him by one who knew him well :
"Bold, sagacious, the sole daring manager of the interests of a great party, he was so happily constituted as to attract without effort, in seasons of fieree political excitement, the most potential among those of antagonistic sentiment, and to number among his friends his most bitter political opponents. A Catholic of the Catholics, his very name a tradition and household word among the people of his faith ; largely identified with the history of the old church in Albany ; an intelligent, conscientious and faithful behever, he was, at the same time, the chosen confidant, the familiar friend, the trusted, most honored and reliable adviser of many whose religions bias might have suggested other counsel and far different associations. To the young, the middle-aged, his contemporaries and the old there was something so genial, so magnetic and so inspiring about Peter Cagger that the abrupt intelligence of his sudden and unlooked for death was clothed with additional pain." Mr. Cagger married the daughter of James Maher, who was State librarian and a gallant soldier in the war of 1812. His second wife was the sister of William Cassidy. Mr. Cagger's first law experience was in the office of Reynolds & Woodruff, which he quitted to form a partnership with Mr. Samuel Stevens. Then followed the firm of Hill, Cagger & Porter, which will go down to posterity as one of the most remarkable combinations of ability and fitness for the several depart- ments of a great law firm ever known in the annals of the State. On the 6th of July. 1868, while riding with Mr. Devlin, in Central Park, New York city, Mr. Cagger was thrown from the carriage and instantly killed. This distressing event cast a gloom over his native city, whither his remains were tenderly carried.
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