USA > Ohio > Women of Ohio; a record of their achievements in the history of the state, Volume II > Part 20
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The Braille work is getting a start in Cleveland and certificates for transcribers have been earned by Mrs. Joseph Marcel, St. Joseph's Academy Alumnae and Miss Helen Pope, Notre Dame Alumnae, Cleveland. They have trained in the Cleveland School for the Blind.
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Still another activity which is engaging the attention of members through- out this country and Europe, is the preliminary work toward the elevation to the rank of sainthood of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, foundress of the Sisters of Charity at Emmitsburg, Md. She established her order in 1809 and is regarded as the foundress of the present parochial school system in the United States.
The present Supreme Pontiff, Pope Pius XII when Cardinal Secretary of State, referred to Mother Seton as "the great pioneer of Catholic Education," and The Apostolic Delegate in Washington, D. C., the Most Rev. Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, writing in behalf of Mother Seton's cause, wrote to Mrs. Sheeran, chairman of the Mother Seton Committee : "It has been my privilege from time to time to further in some small way the cause of Mother Seton and I am following with deep interest the progress of the cause here and in Rome. I unite in prayer with the members of your organization when the great American woman will be enrolled among the Saints of His Church."
The Sisters of Charity at Cincinnati is a foundation from the Emmits- burg convent founded by Elizabeth Bayley Seton, who was a convert to the Catholic Church. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is related to the Bayley family of which Elizabeth Seton is a member. A nephew of Mother Seton, Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, was once archbishop of Baltimore.
CIRCLE OF MERCY
The first Catholic social service society in Cleveland was the Circle of Mercy, organized in 1892 and incorporated in 1894 "to furnish aid to the poor and needy of the city of Cleveland and to hold such personal property as may be necessary for the purpose aforesaid."
A home at 1957 East 70th St. was purchased as a social and work center and here for more than 40 years Circle members have gathered weekly to make garments for the needy children. In the early days, food and fuel were included in the service rendered. Their work now consists chiefly in serving those who are in need of immediate help.
The incorporators of 1894 were Estelle S. Russell, Mary E. Carren, Mrs. George Fenner, Annine M. Carlisle, Catherine J. Wamelink, Dora Faulhaber, Mary Frawley, Helen M. Byerley, Mrs. D. W. Johns and Margaret E. Leslie. It has an enrollment membership of 190 women. The year 1939 saw the burning of the mortgage for the social center building.
LADIES CATHOLIC BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION
Back in 1890 seven women of Pennsylvania, two of whom later came to reside in Youngstown, Ohio, organized the first fraternal association for women in America. The society became known as the Ladies Catholic Bene- volent Association. Mrs. Kate Woods of Union City, Pa., and Mrs. Nellie
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Murray of Erie, Pa., were among the seven signers to the acts of Incorporation. Both of these women, because of their husbands' businesses came to Youngs- town, Ohio and spent the greater part of their life there as leaders in the fraternal, social and religious life of the community.
In the charter and in the acts of Incorporation, signed in April, 1890, this purpose was expressed : "To unite into a fraternal sisterhood all Catholic women of approved moral character and in good physical health who are between such ages and possessing such other qualifications for membership as the constitution and by-laws may prescribe, and for the further purpose of elevating them morally, mentally and socially, of educating them in piety. integrity and frugality; of promoting among them a spirit of contentment with their condition in life; of teaching them to mutually aid and assist one another, and of providing that upon the death of members, benefits may be paid to their families."
An organization of similar objectives had been organized by men some time before, for men. Wives of these members sought to have the charter amended so as to permit women to share in these same benefits. The men objected, being quite convinced, that the entrance of women into the organi- zation would mean immediate failure. The wives of seven of the members decided they would start one of their own. The men's organization has long since passed from the scene of activities, but the women's organization is termed today as "The million dollar society," as in its fifty years of existence it has paid out in death benefits an average of one million dollars annually. Its present reserve fund is $24,000,000 and its actuary rating has passed be- yond the mark demanded by government regulations.
At the first convention held in Erie, Pa., in 1890, after its incorporation another Ohio woman became a leader, Miss Catherine Gaughran, then president of the Young Ladies Sodality in Norwalk, Ohio. She was urged by her pastor, the Rev. C. V. Cheveraux, to become interested and to interest other women in this fraternal work. She was elected the first supreme guard of the society and held this office until her death in 1925, when she was succeeded y Miss Margaret M. Carroll, of Lakewood, Ohio. Mrs. Katherine Muth-Welker of Cleveland, is supreme auditor of the society and Mrs. Augusta Lauber. Toledo, is a supreme trustee.
In Calvary Cemetery, Youngstown, Ohio, the National branch of the .. C.B.A. has erected a shaft in memory of Mrs. Woods, who lies buried there. She is regarded as the foundress of the L.C.B.A. movement, and to her business cumen, and great leadership is attributed much of the success for the sound business foundation given to L.C.B.A. at its founding in 1850. A son and a number of grandchildren of Mrs. Woods still reside in Youngstown.
Ohio is rated as the third state in the Union in point of membership. One who was active in the development of the work in Youngstown with Mrs.
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Woods and Mrs. Murray is Catherine Ryan Gillen, widow of John F. Gillen, a member of a pioneer Youngstown family. Mr. Gillen was the the great grandson of Daniel Shehy, one of the first settlers in Youngstown, who helped to survey the Western Reserve.
Mrs. Gillen with a sister, the late Madame Ryan Burke, assisted in the organization of practically every new parish that was established in the vicinity of Youngstown. Mrs. Gillen's brother, Patrick Ryan, now deceased, was the builder of the beautiful English Gothic cathedral-like church of St. Columba's in Youngstown, in the parish with which the Ryan and Gillen families have been identified throughout their entire lifetime in Youngstown.
SARAH WORTHINGTON PETERS
SARAH WORTHINGTON PETERS, daughter of Thomas Worthington, fifth governor of Ohio, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio. According to Anna Shannon McAllister, who is at work now on the history of Sarah Peters, "she is the exponent of everything fine in Catholic womanhood, and deserves to be rediscovered for the present generation."
A daughter-in-law, Mrs. Rufus King, has told much of the history of Mrs. Peters in two volumes, published in 1888. Sarah Peters has rated short sketches of her life in Scribner's, "Dictionary of American Biography," in the "Catholic Encyclopedia," also in "Woman's Record, or Sketches of Distinguished Women from the Creation to A.D. 1854," by Sarah Josepha Hale.
But Sarah Peters' contribution to the Catholic Church in Ohio is what we are particularly interested in. The fact that four religious communities of women in Ohio, and one men's religious group are at work in Ohio because of her, gives her a special place of honor in this book, "Women of Ohio."
A story is told of Mrs. Peters that she went to Rome in 1853, determined to convert the then reigning Pope Pius IX. She was not of the Catholic faith and was of the reform type of crusader, eager to set the world aright. She believed that the place to start was with the head of the Catholic Church in Rome.
She did not convert the Pope but Rome succeeded in converting her to the Catholic Faith and later she became one of the Church's most zealous, if not the most zealous lay apostle in all of Ohio.
Armed with a letter from Pope Pius introducing her to religious houses of the continent, she visited one after another of them, seeking Religious communities to come to Ohio. Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis, of hospital prominence, the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose sole work is among the aged poor, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who work among delinquent girls and fallen women and the Sisters of Mercy, a teaching order, were the religious orders of women who responded and the Passionist Order, for men was another.
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She used her entire fortune, which was ample, in establishing these com- munities, and in financing several of them over a period of years. In addition to her Catholic charities in 1888 she helped the Quakers in Philadelphia found the Rosina House for Magdalenes.
Sarah was only 16 years of age when she married Edward King, son of Rufus King, once minister to London. He died in 1836 and in 1844 she married William Peters, who was English consul at Philadelphia. He died in 1853 and it was after his death, that she started to Europe to reform the Pope and then the world !
One of the old sisters at the Sisters of Good Shepherd now at Carthage, Ohio, tells the story of her funeral. Mrs. Peters in later years found it neces- sary to use a cane. The cane was very much a part of her and at her death, in the funeral hearse following the one in which her casket was, there was the cane, wrapped in mourning. It was buried in the grave with her.
FLORENCE RUDGE McGAHAN
FLORENCE RUDGE McGAHAN was a member of a pioneer Ohio family, whose grandparents, George and Jane Rudge of Episcopalian faith, cante from England in 1852 and settled in Boardman, Ohio. In 1864 the elder Rudges and their six children, of whom George J., Jr., the father of Florence was one, were received into the Catholic Church.
Her early education and the education of her two sisters, Mary Rudge Walsh and Georgianna Rudge McAleer, was received in her own home, with her mother as their teacher. Their mother, Anna Sullivan Rudge, was a teacher for 16 years prior to her marriage to Mr. Rudge. The three girls entered St. Columba's school, Youngstown, Ohio, for the final years of the elementary school and then Rayen Public High School.
In 1900 the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur of Reading, Ohio, opened Trinity College, Washington, D. C., and Florence enrolled. She was an honor pupil in the first graduating class of 1904. She received her B.A. degree that year and returned for another year to earn her M.A. degree and was one of the first to receive a Masters degree from Trinity College. She taught Latin while majoring in that subject, her thesis for her Masters degree was, "Virgil's Imitations and Imitators, as Studied In His Ecologues."
The Catholic Encyclopedia was then in process of compilation and had among its compilers many of the learned professors of Catholic University. Some of these professors also taught at Trinity College and came to know of Miss Rudge's scholarly attainments. She was invited to join the editorial staff of the Catholic Encyclopedia. the only Ohioan on the staff, and served as translator of articles from Latin, German, French and Italian. She con- tributed many compilations also to this work.
In 1910 she married James P. MeGahan, Youngstown, manager of the Bell Telephone Co. A daughter. Martha, was born the following year and on Nov. 27, 1912, she died in Cleveland following the birth of a son who also died.
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Her daughter Martha was a scholarship student at Vassar and after her graduation in 1933, she engaged in magazine work in California.
Her sisters, Mary and Georgianna, followed a musical career and were church soloists as well as teachers of voice and voice culture, a profession in which both are now engaged in Youngstown, Ohio.
CATHERINE PEIRCE O'CONNOR
As late as 1900 the occupations open to Catholic women in which a reputation could be made, were comparatively few and the chief among these was Journalism.
Among those women in the Western Reserve to attain wide popularity as a writer, was CATHERINE PEIRCE O'CONNOR, who was born in Youngs- town, Ohio, the daughter of Thomas and Helen Peirce O'Connor, pioneers in the life of the community. Her early education was received in the Convent School of the Ursuline Sisters in Youngstown and later at the Ursuline Academy in Toledo, Ohio, now Marymanse College.
She first contributed to the Youngstown Telegram, The Catholic Universe of Cleveland, Ohio, The Pittsburgh Dispatch, Pittsburgh, Pa., and later as Youngstown's first columnist conducted the "She Told John" column for the Telegram of Youngstown, Ohio, and other publications. In 1913 she was chosen from among the newspaper writers to meet in New York the survivors of the lamented Titanic. Among Youngstown survivors whom she welcomed was Caroline Bonnell, now Mrs. Paul Jones, wife of Judge Paul Jones, Federal Judge of Ohio.
In November, 1915, she married Judge Joseph L. Heffernan. Their home was in Youngstown, Ohio, where her only son was born. She died at his birth.
Mrs. Heffernan's writings remain uncollected. Through all her active and varied life Mrs. Heffernan was a person of profound spirituality. She was a woman of great devotion to the Church and works of Charity. She opened a new line of endeavor to local young women in the journalistic field of promise and inspired and encouragd many of the young people with whom she came in contact to seek higher education in preparation for journalism and literary endeavors.
As women in general were slower to be represented in journalism than in literature, Catherine O'Connor Heffernan not only made a success of news- paper work, but paved the way for her many successors. Never among her superiors was there a question of her ability to accomplish those things in newspaper work which are ordinarily supposed to lie outside of woman's scope. She was given the opportunity and succeeded admirably in writing on American politics, religious topics, on subjects connected with the law, technical pursuits, general and special education, art, music and literature.
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A literary critic of rare ability, she furthered the reputations of a number of aspirants to literary fame. Her only son, Joseph Lawrence Heffernan Morgan, adopted at birth by his uncle and aunt, Evan and Anna O'Connor Morgan, studied also with the Ursulines and was graduated with honors from the law school of the University of Detroit in June, 1939.
ANNA SHANNON MCALLISTER
ANNA SHANNON McALLISTER, wife of Earl Sadler McAllister of Bexley, Ohio, has an avocation that is as unique as it is rare. After many years in church and charitable endeavors, she is now devoting her life to the rediscovery of notable Catholic Women of America and has chosen the literary route for the presentation of her discoveries.
Ellen Ewing, granddaughter of Hugh Boyle, one of the first Catholic settlers in Ohio and wife of General William Tecumseh Sherman, Civil War General and one time ranking officer of the U. S. Army, is Mrs. McAllister's first discovery. She published Ellen's life in a book, "Ellen Ewing," published in June, 1936, by Benziger Bros., and selected that same month by the Catholic Book-of-the-Month club.
Her second discovery, "Sarah Peters" will be off the press soon, and it too concerns an Ohio born woman, of whom it has been said, that "she was not only the outstanding woman of her day, but of all times."
Mrs. McAllister was born in Cincinnati, March 11, 1888, and studied with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for two years before her family moved to Columbus where she enrolled with the same Sisters in their St. Joseph's academy. Upon the completion of academy studies she enrolled in Ohio Uni- versity, graduating from there in 1909. Then to Europe with her parents, Frank and Ella Stewart Shannon and her three sisters, where the summer of 1910 was spent in travels on the continent.
She married Mr. McAllister in 1911, and it is to her husband, she says, that she is indebted for "His constant encouragement and intelligent, sym- pathetic help."
Her mother comes from an old colonial family whose ancestors settled in Salisbury, N. C., in 1639 and moved to Stewartown, Pa., now Etna. Pa., after the Revolutionary War. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, of the American Association of University Women and the Colum- bus Chapter of the Penwomen of America.
MARGARET MCCABE
The Fontbonne Residence Home for Girls and the Fenwick Club for men and boys owe their origin to MARGARET MCCABE of Cincinnati, a woman of great piety and of substantial means. She was deeply concerned in the welfare of the girls who were coming to Cincinnati in search of employment. and homeless, friendless and alone and out of work chanced to become a prey to evil influences.
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For their protection, her first venture was to rent a four room cottage which was blessed on June 16, 1882 by Archbishop William W. Elder of Cin- cinnati and was named the Sacred Heart Home. Other women of Cincinnati became interested and the home's popularity outgrew its small quarters until such time as it was necessary to enlarge its facilities to accomodate 70 girls and women.
Although it was not a convent, Miss MeCabe's piety and the rules govern- ing the home did create a religious atmosphere. So much so that eight of the residents desired to form a religious community. Ecclesiastical authorities were not eager to establish a new religious order, but did succeed in having four Sisters of St. Joseph from the New Orleans convent to come to Cincinnati to establish a foundation of their order in Ohio. This was in 1893. The Sisters established a novitiate in the home and took over its direction. They renamed the home the Fontbonne Club for their foundress, Mother St. John Fontbonne of France. It has become a self supporting residence for girls.
Miss MeCabe then directed her efforts towards providing similar services for boys, principally for bootblacks and newsboys, in a home already estab- lished by Father John Poland, S. J. In these she took a personal interest, providing many of them with educational opportunities. It is said of Miss McCabe that many men prominent in civic and religious life in Ohio today, principally in Cincinnati owe their success to her. This club likewise grew, its scope of work broadened until today it has become the beautiful Fenwick Club, so named for the first Bishop of Ohio, Bishop Edward Fenwick, and serves as a residence club for men and boys.
MRS. EDWARD F. BRUCKER
Since coming to Toledo in 1895 from her native Bay City, Mich., MRS. EDWARD F. BRUCKER has proven that a woman can be' engaged in activi- ties outside her home without in any way interfering with her responsibilities to her family. She has served in an official capacity more Toledo organiza- tions than, perhaps, any other woman.
At present the only woman member of the Toledo Public Library Board, Mrs. Brucker has held this position since 1922. Her services brought forth a letter from the librarian, Russell J. Schunck, sent to Bishop Karl J. Alter, which starts out in this manner :
"I am eager to tell you of the fine service which Mrs. E. F. Brucker has rendered this community during the sixteen years of her membership on the board of Trustees of the Toledo Public Library."
He then cites the many committees upon which she has served, book, building, employment, extension, finance and rules, and "in her capacity as head of the important employment committee, she has given wise and helpful guidance to a great many members of our library staff as well as to the librarian.
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"Mrs. Brucker has at all times considered with great fairness the needs of the community and the whole employment problem in so far as it affects local people. The standard for trained public librarians in Toledo has been elevated greatly during her period of office."
He also cites her part in the establishment of nine library branches as well as several school stations and "her remarkably fine record of attendance at board meetings."
Mrs. Brucker is the mother of five children. One son, the Rev. Brucker, is a member of the Jesuit order and is principal of Loyola High School, Chicago. Mrs. Brucker began her organization activities immediately upon her arrival in Toledo, when she became a member of the St. Frances De Sales parish. Among her clubs are The Altar Guild of this parish, the Ladies of Charity of St. Vincent's Hospital, conducted by the Grey Nuns, St. Anthony's Orphanage League. She was organizer and first president of the newly created Cathedral chapel Altar Sodality, now known as Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary cathedral chapter; charter member and one time president of St. Ursula's scholarship association, which provided scholarships for girls and young women in Ursuline academy and Marymanse college; organized and became first president of Spalding Study club. When the World War started overseas, Mrs. Brucker became identified with the National Defense League. then with the departure of her eldest son in the first contingent of Army Engin- eers to cross the seas, Mrs. Brucker joined the Red Cross and became the leader of a Red Cross Auxiliary that included women from all Catholic parishes in Toledo. This work continued until there was "no more war work" to do.
She and her associates had scarcely time to rest, when Bishop Schrembs, then Bishop of Toledo, called together the Catholic Women of the city to work toward a Catholic Community Center in Toledo. Again, Mrs. Brucker was chosen as the leader and thus was the Toledo Council of the National Council of Catholic Women called into being, the first unit of the present Toledo Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Women.
The Toledo group which she organized in 1919 continues to help sponsor the Toledo Community Center.
In 1928, Bishop Schrembs' successor in Toledo, Archbishop Samuel Stritch, now archbishop of Milwaukee, called a meeting to unite all of the Catholic women of the Toledo diocese into a federation to be known as Toledo Diocesan Council N. C. C. W. Again Mrs. Brucker was chosen by Archbishop Stritch to organize and to be its president. She served in this capacity for nine consecutive years. In her leadership of Catholic women's activities in Toledo and later in the Toledo diocese, Mrs. Brucker has the distinction of working with the three Bishops of Toledo, Bishop Schrembs, Archbishop Stritch and the present bishop, Bishop Karl J. Alter. She continues her interest by committee service and in other ways in the various organizations, and is actively identified with the activities of the Cathedral Community House, the Catholic Charities Corp., and the Toledo Community Fund.
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This chapter is respectfully and lovingly dedicated to the many religious Sisterhoods of the Catholic Faith whose members, for more than a century, have given generously of their talents and their service in the development of our beautiful State of Ohio.
The writer is indebted to the episcopal authorities of Ohio, His Grace, the Most Rev. John T. McNicholas, O. P. S. T. D. Archbishop of Cincinnati; His Grace, the Most Rev. Joseph Schrembs, S. D. LL. D. Archbishop-Bishop of Cleveland; His Excellency, the Most Rev. J. J. Hartley, S. T. D. Bishop of Columbus; His Grace, the Most Rev. Karl J. Alter, S. T. D. Bishop of Toledo; His Excellency, the Most Rev. James A. McFadden, S. T. D. Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland, for their letters of introduction to the Superiors of the various Sisterhoods; to these Superiors for their prompt and kindly help in providing valuable material from their archives; to Rt. Rev. Msgr. James M. McDonough, Rector of Our Lady of the Lake Seminary, Cleveland for loan of historical books; to Longmans-Green Co., and Sister Monica and to Benziger Bros., and Anna Shannon McAllister for permission to use material from their published works.
Other sources of material were: "The Life of Bishop Fenwick, O.P.," by O'Daniel; "The History of the Arch- diocese of Cincinnati," by Rev. J. H. Lamott; "The His- tory of The Catholic Church in the Diocese of Cleveland," by Carr; "The Church in Northern Ohio," by Houck; the Centennial Number of "Catholic Telegraph," Cincin- nati; the Catholic Universe-Bulletin, Cleveland and the Catholic Chronicle, Toledo.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Women in Osteopathy, Dentistry and Nursing
CHAPTER ELEVEN
WOMEN IN OSTEOPATHY, DENTISTRY AND NURSING
OSTEOPATHY
HELEN MARSHALL GIDDINGS
HELEN MARSHALL GIDDINGS, president of the Osteopathic Women's National Association and a leading member of her profession in Cleveland, was born in Green Springs, Seneca County and received her professional degree from the American School of Osteopathy.
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