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XTbc  Gift  of 


Cia»»..«L».S..75iR        XT! JB00& 


Old  Catholic  Maryland 


ITS  EARLY  JESUIT  MISSIONARIES. 


Rev.  William  P.  Treacy, 


AUTHOR    OF 


" Irish  Scholars  of  The  Penal  Days"  Etc.,  Etc. 


And  call  to  remembrance  the  works  of  the  fathers,  which 
they  have  clone  in  their  generations  ;  and  you  shall  receive 
great  glory,  and  an  everlasting  name.     1  Mac. :  Chap,  n.,  v.  LI. 




ST.  JOSEPH'S  RECTORY, 

SWEDESBORO, 

NEW  JERSEY. 


§JEM.-:- 


*#s 


T7I 


w 


Kte=. 


TO 


mtn^ncc  lames,  |lardmal  lilrbons, 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE, 
THIS  BOOK 

|s  Post  gtwuMnltg  §t&imm 


BY  THE 


^ttifajr. 


lfliSK=r 


PREFACE. 


The  history  of  our  Holy  and  Divine  Religion  in  this 
New  World  is  a  truly  beautiful  and  heroic  story.  In 
pondering  over  it  we  are  moved  to  joyfully  exclaim  : 
"  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  preach  the 
gospel  of  peace;  of  them  that  bring  glad  tidings  of  good 
things."  As  we  read  of  whole  villages  and  entire  tribes 
being  cleansed  in  the  sacred  waters  of  Baptism,  our 
hearts  swell  with  unbounded  gratitude  towards  the 
Author  of  all  graces  and  mercies.  Even  Protestant 
writers  glow  with  the  fire  of  admiration  as  they  depict 
the  planting  of  the  Standard  of  the  Cross  on  the  banks 
of  our  rivers  and  along  the  shores  of  our  great  lakes. 
What  picture,  indeed,  can  be  more  touching,  or  more 
inspiring  than  that  of  our  early  missionaries  carving  the 
fair  sign  of  redemption  on  the  tall  forest  trees  ;  of  our 
black-robed  chiefs  preaching  beside  their  rustic  altars  to 
red  groups  of  savage  warriors? 

After  having  closely  and  calmly  examined  many  old 
dusty  records  and  yellow  manuscripts  I  feel  myself  justi- 
fied in  saying  that  the  early  apostles  of  Maryland  deserve 
a  brilliant  chapter  in  the  History  of  Christian   Missions. 
Their  zeal  and  fortitude,  their  devoted  charity,  their  utter 
contempt  of  earthly  comforts,  their  patience  under  wrongs 
i   and  insults,  their  heroic  conduct  in  the  midst  of   dire 
^hardships  and  great  dangers,  are  worthy  of  the  glorious 
"men  whose  names  are  justly  emblazoned  in  the  histories 
iii 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  India,  China,  and  Japan.  The  same  spirit  that  ani- 
mated the  missionaries  who  first  explored  the  Mississippi, 
the  Ohio  and  the  Illinois  rivers,  the  same  spirit  that  fired 
the  souls  of  the  Fathers  as  they  sailed  the  great  lakes  of 
the  North,  or  the  lazy  and  flower-lined  streams  of  the  far 
South  burned  steadily  and  brightly  in  their  apostolic 
hearts.  If  martyrdom  had  presented  itself  to  them  they 
would  have  as  joyously  embraced  it  as  did  Isaac  Jogues 
in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  or  as  the  heroic  priests,  Lalle- 
mand  and  Brcebeuf,  did  upon  Lake  Huron. 

At  this  distant  date  it  is  not  easy  to  form  a  just  esti- 
mate of  the  labors,  pains  and  successes  of  the  early 
missionaries  of  Maryland.  That  they  were  true  apostles, 
that  they  were  men  filled  with  the  fire  of  Pentecost  is  an 
undisputed  fact.  Though  they  reaped  in  joy,  it  may 
truly  be  said  that  they  sowed  in  tears.  Their  journey  to 
this  continent  in  a  miserable  sailing-vessel  was  a  fit 
prelude  to  the  life  they  were  henceforth  to  lead  in  the 
service  of  the  slave  and  the  untutored  savage.  Here 
they  were  to  be  deprived  of  the  thousand  comforts  and 
advantages  of  the  civilization  of  the  Old  World.  With 
the  poorest  mode  of  conveyance  they  were  obliged  to 
travel  over  vast  tracts  of  forest-country,  and  to  cross  sheets 
of  water  that  seemed  to  have  no  limits.  In  cases  where 
dispensations  were  required  they  had  to  communicate 
with  an  ecclesiastical  superior  who  was  separated  from 
them  by  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic.  Grave  obstacles 
were  often  thrown  in  their  way  by  those  who  should 
assist  and  cherish  them.  A  vile  soldiery  were  glad  to 
hunt  them  down,  while  bigoted  judges  were  only  too 
happy  to  have  an  occasion  to  rebuke  them,  if  not  to  con- 
demn   them    to    punishment.      With  weary  hearts   and 


PREFACE.  V 

bleeding  feet  they  carried  on  the  great  work  for  which 
they  had  left  their  native  land.  Still  they  did  not  grow 
despondent.  They  bravely  toiled  on  and  kept  the  Lamp 
of  Faith  brightly  burning  beside  the  river,  creek,  and  bay, 
and  in  the  depth  of  the  forest  shade.  They  went  around 
with  the  cross  they  loved  hanging  on  their  breasts,  or 
shining  in  their  hands,  scattering  the  rich  seeds  of  peace, 
joy,  and  virtue.  Their  apostolate  was  thrice  blessed,  and 
even  non-Catholic  writers  speak  as  boldly  and  loudly  in 
their  praises  as  we  have  ventured  to  do.  "  Before  the  year 
1649,"  says  a  generous  and  accurate  Protestant  historian, 
"they  labored  with  their  lay-assistants,  in  various  fields  ; 
and  around  their  lives  will  ever  glow  a  bright  and 
glorious  remembrance.  Their  pathway  was  through  the 
desert;  and  their  first  chapel  the  wigwam  of  an  Indian. 
Two  of  them  were  here,  at  the  dawn  of  our  history  ; 
they  came  to  St.  Mary's  with  the  original  emigrants ; 
they  assisted,  by  pious  rites,  in  laying  the  corner-stone 
of  a  State  ;  they  kindled  the  torch  of  civilization  in  the 
wilderness ;  they  gave  consolation  to  the  grief-stricken 
pilgrim ;  they  taught  the  religion  of  Christ  to  the  simple 
sons  of  the  forest.  The  history  of  Maryland  presents  no 
better,  no  purer,  no  more  sublime  lesson  than  the  story 
of  the  toils,  sacrifices  and  successes  of  her  early  mission- 
aries." 

Though  many  of  the  Jesuits  would  naturally  prefer 
laboring  in  England  during  the  Penal  Times  to  evang- 
elizing a  new  country,  still  this  was  not  the  case  with 
all.  Many  a  venerable  Jesuit  in  England,  many  a 
novice,  many  a  lay-brother,  many  a  distinguished 
professor  in  the  colleges  of  Liege,  Watten,  Bruges,  and 
St.  Omer's  longed  and  prayed  to  be  sent  to  Maryland. 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  story  of  the  poor  infidels  who  dwelt  along  the 
shores  of  the  Chesapeake — or  as  that  beautiful  bay  was 
known  to  the  Spaniards,  St.  Mary's — touched  many  a 
generous  heart  in  Europe,  and  when  the  English  Provin- 
cial, Father  Edward  Knott,  asked  for  volunteers  for  his 
American  .  Mission,  Jesuits,  old  and  young,  novices, 
Brothers,  and  Priests  enthusiastically  petitioned  to  be 
sent  to  work  for  the  salvation  of  the  hapless  red  men. 
From  the  letters  of  those  who  asked  to  be  sent  on  the 
Maryland  Mission,  we  can  learn  the  motives  that 
actuated  the  first  Fathers  here,  and  the  spirit  that  guided 
them.  Some  wrote  that  in  going  to  Maryland  they 
wished  to  imitate  the  glorious  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Some 
asked  to  go  there  in  hopes  of  winning  a  martyr's  crown. 
All  wished  to  go,  that  they  might  advance  the  glory  of 
God,  and  procure  the  salvation  of  souls.  "  Whether  I 
die  by  sea  in  my  journey,  or  by  land  in  Maryland," 
wrote  Fr.  Christopher  Morris  from  Liege,  in  1640,  "sure 
I  am  I  shall  have  as  good,  yea  more  glorious  a 
sepulchre  than  in  Liege.  The  cause  will  ennoble  the 
death.  The  inconveniences  of  diet,  apparel  and  lodging 
will  be  made  easy  and  supportable,  by  the  frequent 
memory  of  my  Saviour's  vinegar  and  gall,  and  naked- 
ness, and  hard  bed  of  His  cross."  In  the  same  letter 
Father  Morris  said  that  he  more  highly  esteemed  "  the 
teaching  of  Christ's  cross  in  all  senses  in  Maryland  to 
the  most  honorable  chair  either  in  Liege  or  all  Europe 
besides."  Father  Lawrence  Worsley  wrote  to  Fr. 
Knott :  "  I  had  no  sooner  heard  the  relation  of  the 
happy  success  of  our  Mission  in  Maryland,  and  the  great 
hope  of  converting  souls  to  their  Lord  and  Creator,  but 
J  was  surprised  with  no  small  joy  and  comfort;  which, 


PREFACE.  Vll 

nevertheless,  was  but  little,  compared  with  that  which  I 
received  when  I  read  those  sweet  and  no  less  comfortable 
lines  with  which  your  Reverence  invited  not  any  one  in 
particular,  but  all  in  general,  to  employ  their  lives  and 
labors  in  the  undertaking  of  so  glorious  an  enterprise,  of 
converting  souls  to  God  by  means  of  that  mission.  And 
to  tell  you  the  truth,  my  joy  was  so  great,  that  no 
thought  nor  word  for  a  long  time  could  come  from  me 
which  resounded  not,  '  Maryland.'  "  Since  the  letters  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  were  read  in  the  halls  of  Coimbra, 
Paris,  Rome  and  Louvain,  no  letters  from  distant  missions 
excited  so  much  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  students  and 
priests  as  those  that  came  from  Maryland.  "  Maryland  " 
became  a  loved  name,  a  cherished,  a  venerated  name 
among  apostolic  men.  "  Maryland  "  became  the  watch- 
word among  the  English  sons  of  St.  Ignatius. 

The  names  of  many  of  the  priests  who  attended  to  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  Catholics  of  Southern  Maryland 
are  unfortunately  forgotten  on  earth,  but  we  feel  confi- 
dent they  are  recorded  in  letters  of  golden  light  in  the 
great  Book  of  Life.  Certain  it  is,  that,  at  least  for  the 
first  hundred  years,  they  were,  most  of  them,  confessors 
of  the  faith,  men  who  had  suffered  imprisonment  and 
banishment  for  loyalty  to  conscience ;  men  who,  like  St. 
Peter,  had  worn  chains  for  their  love  of  the  religion 
founded  by  the  Crucified  One.  A  great  number  of  them 
were  scholars  who  had  distinguished  themselves  at  the 
colleges  of  Rheims  and  Douay,  at  Liege  and  Louvain. 
Nothing  can  give  us  a  clearer  insight  into  the  character 
of  the  early  missionaries  of  Maryland  than  a  careful 
examination  of  the  libraries  they  formed.  If  these 
libraries   can   prove  anything,  they  can  show  that  the 


VI 11  PREFACE. 

first  Fathers  in  Maryland  were  serious  and  deep 
scholars.  They  seemed  to  delight  in  the  study  of 
learned  and  profound  works.  They  daily  communed 
with  the  ablest  thinkers  of  Europe ;  they  continually 
feasted  on  the  spiritual  works  of  the  most  approved 
ascetic  writers.  On  their  tables  could  be  seen  the 
Summa  of  St.  Thomas,  the  Commentaries  of  Cornelius  a 
Lapide,  the  Controversies  of  Bellarmine,  and  the  Annals 
of  Baronius.  That  they  made  a  careful  examination  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures  is  told  by  the  fact  that  they  had  in 
their  libraries  many  Testaments  in  Latin,  Greek,  and 
English.  The  learning  of  the  missionaries  is  also  shown 
by  the  fact  that  many  of  them,  no  doubt  while  yet 
students,  wrote  their  notes  on  the  margins  of  their 
books  in  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  note  the  fact,  that  many 
of  the  early  missionaries  of  Maryland  were  of  gentle 
blood.  Many  of  them  were  born  in  lordly  homes,  amid 
the  rich  and  beautiful  fields  of  old  England.  It  is  a  his- 
toric truth,  that  some  of  them  were  lineal  descendants  of 
those  brave  knights  who  accompanied  Richard,  the 
Lion-Hearted,  into  Palestine,  and  fought  under  the  red- 
cross  banner  on  the  plains  of  Ascaloni  Some  of  them 
could  trace  their  noble  pedigree  back  to  the  time  when 
William,  the  Conqueror,  landed  on  the  shores  of  Britain. 
Not  a  few  of  them  were  allied  by  blood  to  one  or  other 
of  the  royal  families  of  the  British  Empire.  But  better 
still,  some  of  their  number  could  count  among  their  kins- 
men, heroes  who  died  as  martyrs  for  the  faith  of  Christ. 
When  we  call  to  mind  how  many  of  Maryland's  mis- 
sionaries were  in  youth  nursed  in  the  lap  of  luxury,  how 
they  were  loved  and  honored  by  vast  numbers  of  ser- 


PREFACE.  IX 

vants  and  dependants,  how  their  every  wish  was  gratified 
by  indulgent  parents,  we  can  more  fully  realize  their 
sacrifice  in  coming  on  the  mission,  we  can  better  appre- 
ciate the  zeal  which  enabled  them  to  endure  the  hard- 
ships and  trials  of  their  daily  toils  and  duties.  Among 
the  missionaries  of  Maryland,  we  find  a  Copley,  three 
Poultons,  a  Mosely,  a  Knight,  a  FitzWilliams,  of  Lin- 
coln, an  Atwood,  of  Beverie,  a  Forster,  of  Suffolk,  a 
Thorold,  a  Whitgreave,  a  Molyneux,  and  several  mem- 
bers of  the  Brooke  family. 

Neither  the  "  dry  powder  "  of  the  Puritans,  nor  the 
famed  claymore  of  the  fanatic  Highlanders,  who  came 
with  the  Parliamentarians,  could  destroy  the  pure  faith 
handed  down  from  their  forefathers  to  the  Catholics  of 
Maryland.  Persecution  failed,  ignobly  failed  in  that  favor- 
ed "  Land  of  Mary."  The  persecutor  and  his  swords  have 
long  since  descended  into  unhallowed  graves,  "  unwept, 
unhonored,  and  unsung."  Even  in  the  last  century,  St. 
Mary's  county  alone,  became  the  mother  of  many  another 
Catholic  settlement,  from  Frederick  to  Kentucky.  To- 
day the  children  of  Southern  Maryland  keep  the  priceless 
pearl  of  Faith  with  them  in  many  a  home  from  Boston 
to  the  Golden  Gate.  The  descendants  of  old  St.  Mary 
families  have  become  distinguished  missionaries  in  the 
far  regions  of  the  West ;  they  have  become  prelates  of 
the  Church,  noted  alike  for  their  piety  and  learning  ;  they 
have  shown  themselves  laymen,  worthy  of  their  grand 
old  Pilgrim  Fathers.  The  chaste  daughters  of  St.  Mary's 
have  filled  the  cells  of  convents  not  only  in  Georgetown, 
Washington,  Baltimore,  Mobile,  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, but  also  in  many  a  European  town  and  city. 


X  PREFACE. 

A  few  words  about  the  custom  which  prevailed  among 
early  missionaries  of  having  aliases  : 

During  the  Penal  Days  cruel  laws  were  in  force  against 
Seminarists  and  Jesuits  who  dared  set  foot  in  England 
and  Ireland.  In  many  cases,  the  penal  laws  against 
Catholic  priests  were  also  put  into  execution  in  the  Brit- 
ish Colonies.  In  order,  therefore,  to  escape  detection, 
Catholic  missionaries  generally  adopted  assumed  names, 
and  put  on  various  disguises.  Outwardly  they  took 
upon  themselves  offices  which  became  only  laymen. 
They  sometimes  acted  in  the  capacity  of  coachmen,  clerks 
or  booksellers.  Often  they  were  forced  to  assume  char- 
acters more  romantic.  A  priest  was  seen  in  Waterford, 
Ireland,  "  with  a  ruffling  suit  of  apparel,  gilt  rapier,  and 
dagger  hanging  at  his  side."  A  Catholic  bishop  was 
seexi  in  the  same  city  dressed  as  a  Highland  piper,  and 
playing  martial  airs  upon  the  national  instrument  of 
Scotland.  Sometimes  the  Fathers  assumed  military 
titles,  such  as  colonel  or  captain.  The  Very  Rev.  Father 
General  was  occasionally  spoken  of  as,  "  his  Lordship." 
Fr.  Hogan  says,  in  speaking  of  the  Irish  Jesuits :  "  On 
account  of  the  dangers  to  which  they  and  the  Catholics 
were  exposed,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  took  or  gave  false 
names  ;  thus  Holywood  is  Jo.  Bus.,  and  sometimes  Bush- 
lock,  Laundrie,  the  Pilot,  etc. ;  Archer  is  Bowman,  or 
Bertram's  eldest  son  ;  Wise  is  Barbarossa  ;  O'Carney  is 
De  Franca ;  Wall  is  Philaberto."  Fr.  Acquaviva,  Gen- 
eral of  the  Society,  was  known  as  "  Claude  Merchaunt  at 
Rouen."  By  a  glance  at  this  book  the  reader  will  see 
how  common  was  the  practice  among  the  Fathers  in 
Maryland  of  assuming  strange  names. 

Though  the  Fathers  were  often  screened  by  their  aliases, 


PREFACE-  XI 

it  was  by  means  of  their  strange  apparel  that  they  the  more 
frequently  escaped  the  hands  of  their  enemies.  We  learn 
from  old  records  that  they  sometimes  attired  themselves 
in  the  trappings  of  worldings,  put  gay  feathers  in  their 
hats,  and  wore  "  scarlet  cloaks  over  crimson  satin  suits." 
If  we  consult  old  writers  we  can  learn  what  spies  and 
priest-hunters  thought  of  the  adroitness  of  the  Fathers 
in  disguising  themselves.  Gee  quaintly  writes  :  "  If  about 
Bloomsbury  or  Holborn  thou  meet  a  good  snug  fellow 
in  a  gold-laced  suit,  a  cloak  lined  through  with  velvet, 
one  that  hath  good  store  of  coin  in  his  purse,  rings  on 
his  fingers,  a  watch  in  his  pocket,  which  he  will  value  at 
^20,  a  very  broad  laced  band,  a  stilleto  by  his  side,  a  man 
at  his  heels,  willing  (upon  small  acquaintance)  to  intrude 
himself  into  thy  company,  and  still  desiring  to  insinuate 
himself  with  thee,  then  take  heed  of  a  Jesuit  of  the 
prouder  sort  of  priests.  This  man  hath  vowed  poverty. 
*  *  *  *  Many  0f  tne  gec>  Priests  and  Friars  go  as  gal- 
lantly as  these,  but  the  Jesuits  have  the  superlative  cog- 
nizance whereby  they  know  one  another,  and  that  is,  as 
I  observed  from  this  time,  a  gold  hat  band  studded  with 
letters  or  characters.  Perhaps  at  another  time  they  may 
have  another  mark,  according  to  their  watch-word  given 
to  them." 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  remark  here,  that  there 
was  not  much  natural  pleasure,  if  there  apeared  to  be 
somewhat  of  romance,  in  the  life  led  by  the  Jesuits  in 
England  during  the  Penal  Days.  We  cannot  help  re- 
membering that  in  a  black,  strong  fortress,  not  far  from 
the  Thames,  a  hundred  grave-like  cells  longed  to  receive 
them.  We  are  still  mindful  that  there  were,  in  Christian 
London,  a  sharp  axe,   and  a   thick  block   that  thirsted 


Xll  PREFACE. 

hourly  for  Jesuit  blood.  We  have  read,  too,  that  when 
some  of  these  gaily-attired  Jesuits  were  stripped  of  their 
finery  to  be  flogged,  or  to  have  their  bodies  quartered 
and  burnt,  rough  hair-shirts  were  found  close  to  their 
skins. 

The  correspondence  of  the  Fathers  in  Maryland  is 
often  a  complete  riddle  to  the  uninitiated.  Many  of  the 
expressions  embodied  in  some  old  letters  that  we  have 
seen,  will,  we  believe,  forever  remain  unexplained.  In 
writing  to  their  friends  in  England  the  missionaries  used 
figures  and  metaphors  never  referred  to  by  our  rhetori- 
cians. Even  the  experts,who  made  a  livelihood  by  hunting 
down  priests,  must  have  been  sometimes  puzzled  to  make 
out  the  meaning  of  some  letters  which  came  by  unlaw- 
ful means  into  their  possession.  When  some  of  the  mis- 
sionaries wished  to  intimate  that  a  great  number  had  been 
baptized,  they  merely  said  :  "  During  our  journey  water 
was  in  great  demand." 

The  writer  of  this  little  work  has  used  in  its  prepara- 
tion, copies  of  the  Roman  Catalogues,  Annual  Letters  by 
the  early  missionaries,  Baptismal  Registers,  old  records 
and  note-books,  private  letters,  deeds,  wills  and  convey- 
ances. He  has  also  consulted  the  Woodstock  Letters,  Br. 
Foley's  English  Records,  Dr.  Oliver's  Collectanea,  Dodds 
Llistory,  the  Annals  of  Annapolis,  Father  Hogan's  Irish 
Records,  and  the  Jesuit  Archives  of  Maryland.  To  His 
Eminence,  James  Cardinal  Gibbons,  the  author  is  indebted 
for  many  facts  gleaned  from  the  Archie piscopal  Archives. 
To  his  esteemed  friend,  Dr.  John  Gilmary  Shea,  the  illus- 
trious historian  of  the  Church  in  America,  he  gives  thanks 
for  valuable  assistance. 


CHAPTER  I. 


When  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  Maryland,  flying  from 
cruel  persecution  in  England,  set  sail  from  Cowes,  in  the 
beautiful  Isle  of  Wight,  in  1633,  they  had  as  companions  of 
their  voyage  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  Frs.  Andrew  White, 
John  Altham,  Timothy  Hayes  and  Brother  Thomas 
Gervase.  The  story  of  their  voyage  in  the  Dove  and 
Ark,  as  told  by  Father  White,  is  a  charming  and  touch- 
ing narrative.  Before  starting,  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Cecilia, 
ua  gentle  east  wind  blowing,"  they  piously  consecrated 
their  little  fleet  to  God,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  'St.  Ignatius, 
and  all  the  Guardian  Angels  of  Maryland.  As  they 
dropped  down  the  British  Channel,  here  and  there  along 
the  shore  some  faithful  and  loving  friends  waved  them 
a  parting  adieu,  and  knelt  down  to  invoke  blessings  upon 
their  heads.  At  Yarmouth  and  Hurst  Castles  they  were 
greeted  by  cheerful  salutes  of  artillery.  Much,  indeed, 
did  the  exile  band  need  encouragement.  A  dangerous 
way  spread  out  before  them.  Besides  the  storms  and 
fogs  to  be  faced,  other  sources  of  fear  awaited  them. 
Turks  and  Pirates,  at  the  time,  everywhere  infested  the 
seas  and  caused  terror  and  dismay  in  the  breasts  of  even 
the  boldest  who  had  to  plough  the  deep.  The  protection 
of  God  and  His  Saints  seemed  the  only  shield  for  the 
poor  pilgrims.  On  one  occasion  of  distress  they  invoked 
the  aid  of  St.  Clement,  and  received  by  the  powerful 
intercession  of  that  Saint  the  needed  succor.  Almost 
every  day,  after  losing  sight  of  land,  they  encountered 

13 


14  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

new  perils.  Still,  in  the  very  midst  of  their  trials  and 
dangers  they  kept  heart.  Men  of  Faith  never  lose 
courage,  never  despair.  On  a  pleasant  evening,  when 
the  waters  enjoyed  a  more  than  ordinary  repose,  they 
had  some  real,  some  home-like  pleasure  in  racing  with  a 
fine  merchant  ship  called  The  Dragon. 

After  many  delays,  and  much  moving  in  out-of-the- 
way  directions,  the  Pilgrims  sailed  out  from  the  coast  of 
Spain  to  the  Fortunate  Isles,  and  thence  steered  for 
Barbadoes.  At  Montserrat  they  met  a  colony  of  Irish- 
men who  had  been  banished  from  Virginia  on  account 
of  professing  the  Catholic  Faith.  After  leaving  behind 
them  the  last  of  the  Caribbee  Islands,  they  at  length 
reached  Point  Comfort  in  Virginia.  There  they  re- 
mained for  a  few  days.  On  the  3rd  of  March  they 
entered  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  "  We  turned,"  says  Father 
White,  "  our  course  to  the  north  to  reach  the  Potomac 
River.  The  Chesapeake  Bay,  ten  leagues  (thirty  Italian 
miles)  wide  flows  gently  between  its  shores ;  it  is  four, 
five,  and  six  fathoms  deep,  and  abounds  in  fish  when  the 
season  is  favorable ;  you  will  scarcely  find  a  more  beau- 
tiful sheet  of  water.  Yet  it  yields  the  palm  to  the 
Potomac  river,  which  we  named  after  St  Gregory. 

"  Having  now  arrived  at  the  wished-for  country,  we 
allotted  names  according  to  circumstances.  And  indeed 
the  Promontory,  which  is  toward  the  south,  we  con- 
secrated with  the  name  of  St.  Gregory  (now  Smith 
Point),  naming  the  northern  one  (now  Point  Lookout) 
St.  Michaels,  in  honor  of  all  the  angels.  Never  have  I 
beheld  a  larger  or  more  beautiful  river.  The  Thames 
seems  a  mere  rivulet  in  comparison  with  it;  it  is  not 
disfigured  with  any  swamps,  but  has  firm  land  on  both 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 5 

sides  of  it.  Fine  groves  of  trees  appear,  not  choked  with 
briers  or  bushes  and  undergrowth,  but  growing  at 
intervals  as  if  planted  by  the  hand  of  man,  so  that  you 
can  drive  a  four-horse  carriage,  wherever  you  choose, 
through  the  midst  of  the  trees.  Just  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  we  observed  the  natives  in  arms.  That  night 
fires  blazed  through  the  whole  country,  and  since  they 
had  never  seen  such  a  large  ship,  messengers  were  sent 
in  all  directions,  who  reported  that  a  canoe  like  an  island 
had  come  with  as  many  men  as  there  were  trees  in  the 
wood.  We  went  on,  however,  to  Heron's  Islands,  so 
called  from  the  numbers  of  these  birds  that  abound 
there.  The  first  island  we  came  to  we  called  St. 
Clement's  Island. 

"  This  island  is  covered  with  cedar  and  sassafras  trees 
and  flowers  and  herbs  for  making  all  kinds  of  salads,  and 
it  also  produces  a  wild  nut  tree,  which  bears  a  very  hard 
walnut  with  a  thick  shell  and  a  small  but  very  delicious 
kernel.  Since,  however,  the  island  contains  only  four 
hundred  acres,  we  saw  that  it  would  not  afford  room  for 
the  new  settlement.  Yet  we  looked  for  a  suitable  place 
to  build  a  fort  (perhaps  on  the  island  itself)  to  keep  off 
strangers,  and  to  protect  the  trade  of  the  river  and  our 
bounderies,  for  this  was  the  narrowest  crossing-place  on 
the  river. 

"  On  the  day  of  the  Annunciation  of  the  Most  Holy 
Virgin  Mary,  in  the  year  1634,"  continues  Father  White, 
"  we  celebrated  on  this  island  the  first  Mass  which  had 
been  ever  offered  up  in  this  part  of  the  world.  After  we 
had  completed  the  Sacrifice,  we  took  upon  our  shoulders 
a  great  cross  which  we  had  shaped  out  of  a  tree,  and 
advancing  in  order  to  the  appointed  place,  with  the  as- 


l6  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

sistance  of  the  Governor  and  his  associates  and  the  other 
Catholics,  we  erected  a  trophy  to  Christ,  the  Saviour, 
humbly  reciting,  on  our  bended  knees,  the  Litanies  of 
the  Holy  Cross  with  great  emotion." 

The  final  resting-place  chosen  by  Leonard  and  George 
Calvert,  brothers  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  the  two  "  hun- 
dred gentlemen  adventurers  and  their  servants "  who 
sailed  from  England  in  the  Dove  and  Ark,  was  the  little 
Indian  village,  known  in  Maryland  history  as  St.  Mary's 
City.  The  fact  that  this  ill-fated  town*  has  almost 
entirely  disappeared  has  long  afforded  writers  a  theme 
for  much  beautiful  and  pathetic  description.  At  present 
scarcely  "  a  stone  is  left  upon  a  stone  "  to  remind  the 
visitor  that  it  once  existed.  A  few  scattered  bricks,  and 
a  vault,  the  very  names  of  whose  occupants  are  un- 
known, are  its  only  relics  now. 

We  may  affirm,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  St. 
Mary's  County,  in  which  St.  Mary's  City  was  located,  is 
one  of  the  most  hallowed  spots  on  this  continent.  As 
Mr.  Bancroft  said,  it  was  at  one  time  "  the  only  home  of 
religious  freedom  in  the  wide  world. "f  Dedicated  itself 
to  the  Virgin  Mother,  nearly  all  its  rivers  and  creeks,  its 
farms  and  villages,  its  roads,  woods,  and  hills  have  been 
placed  under  the  protection  of  saints  and  angels.  The 
Mass-bell  has  been  heard  for  more  than  two  centuries  in 
all  its  hamlets,  and  the  Clean  Oblation,  which  was  fore- 
told by  the   prophet,  has   been   offered   up  in  hundreds^ 

*  "St.  Mary's  never  had  more  than  sixty  houses,  but  the  settlers 
call  town  any  place  where  as  many  houses  are  as  individuals 
required  to  make  a  riot;  that  is  twenty."  Rec.  Eng.  Prov.  Series 
vii. 

f  Bancroft's  Hist.  U.  S.  vol.  I,  240,  247,  Boston,  ISo'J. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I J 

aye,  in  thousands  of  its  devout  old  homes.  It  has  been 
sanctified  by  the  labors  and  sufferings  of  devoted  mis- 
sionaries, and  by  the  faith  and  charity  of  a  pious  and 
truly  Catholic  people. 

St.  Mary's  County  was,  from  its  first  settlement  by 
European  colonists,  a  Catholic  colony,  and  is  to  this 
day,  thank  God,  nearly  as  Catholic  as  Belgium,  Ireland, 
or  French  Canada.  It  is  true  that  the  Protestant  party, 
helped  by  the  English  Protestant  or  Puritan  government, 
was,  from  time  to  time,  in  power,  and  finally,  in  the 
Revolution  of  1689,  gained  complete  ascendency;  still 
the  mass  of  the  people  always  were  Catholic. 

Mr.  Davis,  a  Protestant  author,  writes  as  follows  on 
this  subject: 

"  St.  Mary's  was  the  home — the  chosen  home — of  the 
disciples  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  fact  has  been 
generally  received.  It  is  sustained  by  the  tradition  of 
two  hundred  years  and  by  volumes  of  unwritten  tes- 
timony ;  by  the  proceedings  of  the  privy  council ;  by 
the  trial  of  law  cases  ;  by  the  wills  and  inventories ;  by 
the  land-records  and  rent-rolls ;  and  by  the  very  names 
originally  given  to  the  towns  and  hundreds,  to  the  creeks 
and  rivulets,  to  the  tracts  and  manors  of  the  country. 
The  State  itself  bears  the  name  of  a  Roman  Catholic 
queen.  Of  the  six  hundreds  of  this  small  county,  in  1650 
five  had  the  prefix  St.  .  Sixty  tracts  and  manors,  most  of 
them  taken  up  at  a  very  early  period,  bear  the  same 
Roman  Catholic  mark.  The  creeks  and  villages,  to  this 
day,  attest  the  widespread  prevalence  of  the  same  tastes, 
sentiments,  and  sympathies." 

St.  Mary's  City  was  selected  as  the  headquarters  ot 
the  missionaries.      The  wigwam  of  an  Indian  chief  was 


1 8  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

converted  into  a  place  of  worship,  and  thus  the  poor  hut 
of  a  savage  became  the  first  chapel  in  Maryland.  "As 
this  humble  shelter,"  writes  Mr.  Bernard  Campbell, 
"  must  have  been  too  small  to  admit  the  colonists,  it  is 
most  probable  divine  worship  was  performed  in  the  open 
air.  How  interesting  must  have  been  the  spectacle  pre- 
sented on  the  first  Sunday  after  the  landing,  when  the 
venerable  priest  (Father  Andrew  White),  assisted  by  his 
fellow  missionaries,  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of 
Mass,  with  all  the  pomp  and  splendor  which  the  humble 
means  of  the  colonists  enabled  them  to  impart  to  the 
August  Rite.  Their  Church  was  the  great  temple  of 
nature  ;  the  beautiful  river  of  St.  Mary  spread  her 
broad  and  mirror-like  bosom  at  their  feet ;  around  them 
were  the  deep  forests,  which,  under  the  gentle  influence 
of  spring,  had  now  begun  to  form  the  leafy  canopy  that 
sheltered  our  infant  church."  The  idea  of  Lord  Balti- 
more in  sending  Jesuits  to  Maryland  was  to  afford  the 
colonists  all  the  succors  and  advantages  of  religion.  He 
thought  also  of  the  poor  savages  who  sat  in  the  shades 
of  unbelief.  But,  no  doubt,  he  gave  them  only  a  second- 
ary thought.  But  the  missionaries  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pected to  confine  their  ardent  zeal  to  the  little  band  of 
settlers  at  St.  Mary's,  while  the  woods  around  them  were 
dark  with  the  night  and  gloom  of  souls  who  lived  in 
ignorance  of  all  great  Christian  truths,  to  whom  the  clear 
vision  of  the  Light  of  the  World  had  never  appeared. 
We  know  that  almost  immediately  after  the  landing  of 
the  passengers  of  the  Dove  and  Ark,  Father  Altham  be- 
gan his  work  of  evangelizing  the  Indians.  Father  White, 
after  describing  the  celebration  of  the  First  Mass  on  St. 
Clement's  Island,  thus  writes  :       "  Now  when  the  Gov- 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  19 

ernor  had  understood  that  many  princes  were  subject  to 
the  Emperor  of  Pascatawaye,  he  determined  to  visit  him, 
in  order  that,  after  explaining  the  reason  of  our  voyage, 
and  gaining  his  good  will,  he  might  secure  an  easier  ac- 
cess to  the  others.  Accordingly,  taking  along  with  our 
pinnace  another,  which  he  had  procured  in  Virginia,  and 
leaving  the  ship  (the  Ark)  at  anchor,  he  sailed  round  and 
landed  on  the  southern  side  of  the  river.  And  when  he 
had  learned  that  the  savages  had  fled  inland,  we  went  on 
to  a  city  which  takes  its  name  from  the  river,  being  also 
called  Potomac.  There  the  young  king's  uncle,  named 
Archihu,  was  his  guardian  and  acted  as  regent  in  the 
kingdom  ;  a  sober,  discreet  man.  He  willingly  listened 
to  Father  Altham,  who  had  been  selected  to  accompany 
the  Governor,  for  I  was  still  kept  with  the  ship's  cargo. 
And  when  the  Father  explained,  as  far  as  he  could, 
through  the  interpreter,  Henry  Fleet,  the  errors  of  the 
heathen,  he  would  ever  and  anon  acknowledge  his  own  ; 
and  when  he  was  informed  that  we  had  come  thither, 
not  to  make  war,  but  out  of  good  will  towards  them,  in 
order  to  extend  civilization  and  instruction  to  his  ignor- 
ant race,  and  show  them  the  way  to  heaven  and  at  the 
same  time  with  the  intention  of  communicating  to  them 
the  advantages  of  commerce  with  distant  countries,  he 
gave  us  to  understand  that  he  was  pleased  at  our  coming. 
The  interpreter  was  one  of  the  Protestants  of  Virginia, 
and  so,  as  the  Father  could  not  stop  for  further  discourse 
at  the  time,  he  promised  that  he  would  return  before 
long.  'That  is  just  what  I  wish,'  said  Archihu,  'we 
will  eat  at  the  same  table ;  my  followers  too  shall  go  to 
hunt  for  you,  and  we  shall  have  all  things  in  common.'  " 
In  the  beginning  our  missionaries  were  obliged  to  reside 


20  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND   AND 

at  St.  Mary's  City,  and  not  among  the  Indians  as  some 
of  them  desired.  From  their  headquarters,  however, 
they  sallied  forth,  from  time  to  time,  in  order  to  convert 
the  savages.  Love  and  esteem  for  the  lives  of  the  priests 
seem  to  have  been  the  motive  which  urged  the  rulers  of 
St.  Mary's  not  to  allow  them  to  remain  for  any  long 
period  among  the  Indians.  The  Annual  Letters  for 
1637-8,  say:  "Though  the  authorities  of  this  colony 
have  not  yet  allowed  us  to  dwell  among  the  savages,  on 
account  both  of  the  prevailing  sickness  and  of  the  hostile 
disposition  shown  by  the  barbarians  towards  the  English, 
to  the  extent  of  murdering  a  man  from  this  colony  who 
had  gone  amongst  them  for  the  sake  of  trade,  and  also 
of  entering  into  a  conspiracy  against  our  whole  nation  ; 
still  we  hope  that  one  of  us  will  shortly  secure  a  station 
among  the  barbarians.  Meanwhile,  we  devote  ourselves 
more  zealously  to  the  English  ;  and,  since  there  are  Pro- 
testants as  well  as  Catholics  in  the  colony,  we  have 
labored  for  both,  and  God  has  blessed  our  labors.  For 
among  the  Protestants  nearly  all  who  came  from  Eng- 
land in  1638,  and  many  others,  have  been  converted  to 
the  faith." 

Great  piety,  fervor,  and  peace  soon  reigned  among  the 
inhabitants  of  St.  Mary's.  Many  of  the  leading  gentle- 
men there  made  the  Spiritual  Exercises  according  to  the 
method  of  St.  Ignatius,  and  became  exemplary  Catholics. 
"As  for  the  Catholics,"  say  the  Annual  Letters  for  1639, 
"  the  attendance  on  the  Sacraments  here  is  so  large,  that 
it  is  not  greater  among  the  faithful  in  Europe,  in  propor- 
tion to  their  numbers.  The  most  ignorant  have  been 
catechized,  and  catechetical  lectures  have  been  delivered 
to  the  more  advanced  every  Sunday ;   on  feast  days  they 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  21 

have  been  very  rarely  left  without  a  sermon.  The  sick 
and  the  dying,  who  were  numerous  this  year  and  dwelt 
far  apart,  have  been  assisted  in  every  way,  so  that  not  a 
single  person  has  died  without  the  Sacraments.  We  have 
buried  very  many,  but  we  have  baptized  a  greater  num- 
ber." 

The  early  government  of  Lord  Baltimore's  colony  was 
patriarchal,  and  all  the  settlers  lived  something  after  the 
manner  of  the  chosen  people  of  old.  It  was  not  until 
their  numbers  had  considerably  increased  that  they 
thought  of  framing  a  code  of  laws  and  establishing  a 
political  constitution.  In  1635,  was  convened  the  first 
popular  assembly  of  Maryland,  consisting  of  the  whole 
body  of  "  freemen,"  by  which  various  regulations  were 
framed  for  the  maintenance  of  good  order  in  the  Pro- 
vince. Two  years  later  on,  the  second  assembly  of  Mary- 
land was  convoked.  To  this  council  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries, Fathers  White,  Copley  and  Altham  were  sum- 
moned. The  third  assembly,  was  held  in  1639,  and  was 
rendered  memorable  by  the  introduction  of  a  representa- 
tive body  into  the  provincial  constitution. 

The  infant  colony  of  Maryland  found  itself  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  evils  and  dangers.  The  principal  part  of 
Lord  Baltimore's  followers,  as  Catholics,  could  hope  for  no 
help,  no  protection,  no  friendship  from  their  Protestant 
parent  country.  They  might  well  be  thankful,  indeed,  to 
the  rulers  of  that  kingdom  for  being  permitted  to  forsake 
without  stripes  and  blows,  their  ancestral  homes  and 
hearths,  and  their  rich  and  broad  domains.  Their  next- 
door  neighbors,  the  Virginians,  watched  them  with  an 
eye  of  envy  and  hatred.  The  Indians  who  surrounded 
them  in  the  beginning,  for  the  most  part,  were  friendly 


22  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

towards  them  ;  but  how  long  could  they  rely  on  the  fickle 
friendship  of  those  red  warriors  whose  "  axe,"  as  one  of 
their  chiefs  truly  said,  "  was  always  in  their  hands  ?" 

It  is  a  fact  of  history,  admitted  even  by  Protestant 
writers,  that  the  Catholic  founders  of  Maryland  treated 
the  Indians  in  the  most  humane  and  Christian-like  man- 
mer.  "  Governor  Calvert,"  says  Kilty,  "  made  a  free  and 
fair  purchase  of  the  natives  with  articles  suited  to  their 
state  of  life,  and  brought  from  England  for  that  purpose. 
The  prudence  and  justice  which  dictated  this  policy  in 
preference  to  the  forcible  intrusion  which  had  marked  the 
commencement  of  the  first  Southern  plantation,  appeared 
to  have  governed  the  subsequent  proceedings  of  the  Pro- 
prietary and  his  Officers  for  extending  their  limits  of 
possession."  Still  the  redmen,  sometimes  stirred  up  by 
jealousy,  at  other  times  excited  by  the  deceitful  words  of 
desperate  plotters,  who  hated  to  see  the  Catholic  colony 
flourishing  like  a  garden,  made  deadly  onslaughts  upon 
the  M  pale-faced  "  inhabitants  of  St.  Mary's  City. 

In  1 64 1  the  Indians  grew  extremely  hostile  to  all  who 
were  not  of  their  race.  The  war  whoop  of  the  fierce  Sus- 
quehannoughs  could  be  heard  almost  within  a  bow-shot 
of  the  little  capital  of  the  Maryland  settlement.  Their 
light  steps  could  be  heard  by  attentive  ears  in  all  the  en- 
circling woods.  At  dusk,  too,  their  bark  canoes  could  be 
seen  by  watchful  eyes  gliding  silently  among  the  tall  reeds 
on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Mary's  River.  OfteVi  the  flight 
of  a  frighted  duck,  or  the  cry  of  a  heron,  was  the  only 
signal  given  that  the  Indian  foe  was  near.  We  cannot 
easily  picture  to  ourselves  the  disturbed  condition  of  life 
led  by  the  peaceful  and  virtuous  followers  of  Lord  Balti- 
more during  these  days.    They  rested,  if  rest  they  could 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  23 

under  such  circumstances,  with  their  defensive  weapons 
at  their  pillows.  The  missionaries,  who  had  their  head- 
quarters at  St.  Mary's  City,  shared  in  all  the  trials  and 
hardships  of  the  period.  For  a  time,  as  they  were  mere 
prisoners,  and  could  not  accomplish  the  sublime  end  for 
which  they  had  come,  they  thought  of  removing  from 
the  Capital  to  some  place  of  more  security,  and  in  which, 
or  from  which,  they  could  carry  on  their  apostolic  labors. 
"  Even  the  devoted  and  fearless  missionaries,"  says  a  Pro- 
testant writer,  "  began  seriously  to  think  of  abandoning 
their  station,  and  establishing  themselves  at  Potupaco, 
which  was  less  exposed  to  the  ravages  of  the  cruel  and 
warlike  Susquehannough  tribe." 

About  1644,  one  year  before  the  arrest  of  White  and 
Fisher,  St.  Mary's  City  was  endangered  by  the  rebellion 
of  the  pirate  Ingle  and  the  desperado  Claiborne.  The  in- 
famous histories  of  both  these  bad  men  are  too  well 
known  to  need  a  recital  here.  We  allude  to  them  at 
present  as  being  the  probable  cause  of  the  removal  of  the 
Fathers  from  the  Capital  to  St.  Inigoes.  In  the  above 
year,  when  Claiborne  took  St.  Mary's  City  by  force,  the 
missionaries  were  immediately  obliged  to  fly  for  safety. 
It  has  been  stated  that  they  then  retired  to  St.  Inigoes. 
This  was  a  part  of  the  property  taken  possession  of  by 
the  Fathers  on  their  first  landing  with  the  pilgrims  in 
Maryland. 

After  some  time  Claiborne  was  expelled  from  St. 
Mary's  City,  but  he  and  his  Puritan  party  again  suc- 
ceeded, in  1652,  in  becoming  masters  of  it.  It  is  not  our 
intention  to  depict  the  battles  fought  between  the  con- 
tending parties  from  that  time  to  the  beginning  of  1658, 
when  the  Lord  Proprietary  was  once  more  reinstated  in 


24  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

his  lawful  rights  and  authority.  But  as  many  of  the  facts 
that  help  to  form  the  history  of  that  period  will  throw 
some  light  upon  the  story  of  our  missionaries,  we  shall 
glance  at  them  in  passing. 

After  the  defeat  of  Governor  Stone,  in  1655,  the  Puri- 
tans took  many  distinguished  prisoners  to  Annapolis. 
Among  these  were  Governor  Stone  himself,  Colonel 
Price,  Captain  Gerard,  Captain  Lewis,  Captain  Kendall, 
Captain  Guither,  Major  Chandler  and  all  the  rest  of  the 
councillors,  officers,  and  soldiers  of  Lord  Baltimore. 
Among  the  commanders  and  soldiers  who  fought  with 
Governor  Stone,  we  are  told,  were  many  papists.  From 
these  was  taken  all  their  "  consecrated  ware."  "The  con- 
secrated ware"  consisted  of  "  Pictures,  Crucifixes,  and 
rows  of  Beads,  with  great  stores  of  Reliques."  Histo- 
rians tell  us  that  the  Puritans  of  Providence,  now  An- 
napolis, several  days  after  the  fight  on  the  Severn,  put  to 
death,  in  cold  blood,  four  of  Governor  Stone's  men. 
These  were  William  Eltonhead,  one  of  the  council,  Cap- 
tain William  Lewis,  John  Legatt  and  John  Pedro.  Per- 
secution  again  raised  its  "  red  right  hand  "  in  Maryland. 
The  Catholics  were  prohibited  from  voting,  and  it  was 
11  enacted  and  declared,  that  none  who  profess  and  exer- 
cise the  Popish  (commonly  called  the  Roman  Catholic) 
religion,  can  be  protected  in  this  province  by  the  laws  of 
England  formerly  established,  and  yet  unrepealed  ;  nor 
by  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  etc. ;  but  to  be  re- 
strained from  the  exercise  thereof."  Liberty  was  granted 
to  all  "provided"  it  "be  not  extended  to  Popery  or 
Prelacy." 

The  Puritans  sacked  and  plundered  the  Fathers'  Re- 
sidences at  Portobacco  and  St.  Inigoes.      The  following 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  25 

is  the  Annual  Letter  for  1656:  "In  Maryland,  during 
the  last  year,  our  Fathers  have  passed  safely  through 
grievous  dangers,  and  have  had  to  contend  with  great 
difficulties  and  trials,  as  well  from  enemies  as  from  our 
own  people.  The  English  who  inhabit  Virginia  had 
made  an  attack  on  the  colonists  of  Maryland,  although 
their  own  countrymen,  and  having  guaranteed  their  lives 
on  certain  conditions  they  carried  off  the  Governor  of 
Maryland,  with  many  other  prisoners.  Their  promise 
was,  however,  treacherously  violated  and  four  of  the 
captives,  of  whom  three  were  Catholics,  were  shot  dead. 
Rushing  into  our  houses  they  cried  out  death  to  the  im- 
postors as  they  called  us,  determined  on  a  merciless 
slaughter  of  all  who  should  be  caught.  But  the  Fathers, 
under  the  protection  of  God,  passed  in  a  boat  before  their 
very  faces,  unrecognized  by  them.  After  which,  their 
books,  furniture,  and  whatever  else  was  in  the  house,  fell 
a  prey  to  the  robbers.  With  almost  the  entire  loss  of 
their  property,  private  and  domestic,  and  with  great  peril 
of  their  lives,  they  were  secretly  carried  into  Virginia, 
where  they  now  are  suffering  from  the  greatest  want  of 
necessaries,  and  can  find  no  means  of  support.  They 
live  in  a  mean  hut,  low  and  confined,  not  much  unlike  a 
cistern,  or  even  that  tomb  in  which  the  great  defender 
of  the  Faith,  St.  Athanasius,  lay  concealed  for  many 
years.  To  their  other  miseries  this  inconvenience  is 
added,  that  whatever  comfort  or  aid  under  the  name  of 
stipend  was  this  year  destined  for  them  from  pious  per- 
sons in  England  has  been  lost,  the  ship  in  which  it  was 
carried  being  intercepted.  But  nothing  distresses  them 
more  than  that  there  is  not  a  sufficient  supply  of  wine  to 
enable  them  to  offer  up  the  Holy  Sacrifice.      They  have 


26  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

no  servant,  either,  for  domestic  use,  or  for  directing  their 
way  through  unknown  and  suspected  places,  or  even  to 
row  and  steer  the  boat  when  needed.  Often  over  spa^ 
cious  and  vast  rivers,  one  of  them,  alone  and  unaccom- 
panied, passes  and  repasses  long  distances,  with  no  pilot 
directing  his  course  than  divine  Providence." 

In  1688,  the  Orange  Revolution  swept  over  England ; 
James  was  dethroned,  and  William  and  Mary  took  his 
place.  The  hopes  of  the  Catholics  were  dashed  to  the 
ground,  and  these  saw  with  dismay  a  new  reign  of  terror 
inaugurated.  Catholic  schools  and  chapels  were  every- 
where closed,  and  priests  and  schoolmasters  proscribed 
and  banned.  The  next  year,  1689,  the  English  Revolu- 
tion extended  to  America. 

It  does  not  enter  into  the  scope  of  this  book  to  tell 
how  the  Puritans  took  forcible  possession  of  St.  Mary's 
City.  A  full  account  of  this  sad  event  may  be  found  in 
any  history  of  Maryland.  Suffice  it  is  to  say,  that  the 
venerated  Catholic  settlement  was  for  a  time  in  the  hands 
of  the  bigotted  "  Committee  of  Safety,"  and  that  this  body 
passed  over  the  government  to  Governor  Copley.  The 
first  act  passed  by  the  Assembly  convened  by  this  gen- 
tleman was  one  recognizing  the  title  of  William  and 
Mary.  "  The  next  was  an  act  making  the  Church  of 
England  the  established  church  of  the  province,  and  thus 
putting  an  end  to  that  equality  in  religion  which  had 
hitherto  been  Maryland's  honor.  It  provided  for  the 
division  of  the  ten  counties  into  thirty-one  parishes,  and 
imposed  a  tax  of  forty  pounds  of  tobacco  upon  each 
taxable  person,  as  a  fund  for  the  building  of  (Protestant) 
churches  and  the  support  of  the  (Protestant)  clergy," 
Governor  Copley  died  on  the   12th  of  September,  1693, 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  2J 

and  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  his  former  Secretary,  assumed 
the  government  ad  interim  as  President  until  a  new  Gov- 
ernor should  arrive. 

A  new  Governor  soon  arrived  in  the  person  of  Francis 
Nicholson,  well  known  in  the  histories  of  New  York  and 
Virginia.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  Nicholson  was  at 
one  time  a  Catholic.  I  found,  in  "  The  Documentary 
History  of  New  York,"  the  following  sworn  testimony 
to  that  effect : 

Affidavits  Against  Nicholson. 

The  depositions  of  Nicholas  Brown,  Aged  Twenty  three 
Years,  the  said  Deponent  declares  that  he  being  in  the 
Service  of  Ye  late  King  Anno  One  thousand  six  hundred 
Eighty  Six  some  time  in  July  and  August,  did  see 
Frances  Ye  late  lieu4  Governor  of  Ye  fort  at  New  York 
severall  times  in  Ye  Masse,  but  especially  two  times  in 
Ye  Kings  tent  at  Hunsloheath  in  old  ingland,  being  there 
to  Exercise  his  devotions,  &  did  Ye  same  upon  his  Knees 
before  the  Alter  in  the  papaist  Chappel,  where  the  Mass 
was  said,  that  himself,  this  deponent  is  ready  to  Confirm 
and  declare  upon  Oath  in  testimony  of  the  truth  &  have 
hereunto  Set  my  hand,  In  New  York  this  12th  day  of 
Septemr  Anno  1689. 

Signed  Nicholas  Brown. 


the  13th  7ber  in  New  York 
Then  appeared  before  me  Nichls  Brown  &  sworn  before 
me  the  aforesaid  to  be  the  truth. 

Signed  G.  Beekman,  Justice. 

"  Soon  after  his  arrival,"  writes  Scharf,  "Governor  Nich- 
olson convened  the  Assembly  to  meet  on  the  2 1st  of  Sep- 


28  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

tember,  not  in  St.  Mary's  but  at  Anne  Arundel  town, 
afterwards  called  Annapolis.  This  choice  foreshadowed 
the  doom  of  the  former  city,  the  cradle  of  the  province ; 
and  at  this  session  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government 
was  decided  upon.  The  reasons  alleged  for  the  change 
were  not  without  weight;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  true 
motives  were  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  St.  Mary's  was 
especially  a  Catholic  settlement,  was,  beyond  other  towns, 
devoted  to  the  proprietary  government,  and  was  closely 
connected  with  all  those  ties  and  associations  which  it 
was  the  policy  of  the  new  government  to  break  up.  Great 
was  the  consternation  at  St.  Mary's  at  a  change  which 
brought  her  certain  ruin,  and  a  pathetic  appeal  was  made 
to  the  Assembly  to  reconsider  their  action.  Pathos  and 
humility  were  but  thrown  away  on  the  Lower  House, 
the  coarse  and  almost  brutal  scorn  of  whose  reply  shows 
the  acrimony  of  the  dominant  party.  Remonstance  and 
appeal  were  all  in  vain.  The  ancient  city  was  stripped  of 
her  privileges,  of  everything  that  gave  her  life,  and  she 
was  left  to  waste  and  perish  from  the  earth.  Her  popu- 
lation departed,  her  houses  fell  to  ruins,  and  nothing  is 
now  left  of  her  but  a  name  and  a  memory." 

It  was  in  the  year  1694,  that  the  seat  of  government  was 
moved  from  St.  Mary's  to  Annapolis. 

Father  Andrew  White  was  born  in  London,  it  is  said, 
in  the  year  1579.  Little  is  known  of  his  early  years,  but 
we  may  well  suppose  that  they  were  passed  in  the  prac- 
tice of  virtue  and  in  severe  application  to  study.  The 
great  evangelist  of  America  comes  before  us  at  once  in 
history  as  a  priest  crowned  with  a  halo  of  science  and 
piety.  We  hear  of  him  as  a  newly-anointed  priest  at 
Douay  in  1605,  and  the  following  year  we  see  him  cast 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  29 

into  prison  for  the  faith,  and  thence,  with  forty-six  other 
clergymen,  driven  into  perpetual  banishment.  He  then 
retired  to  Catholic  Spain  and  became  professor  in  one  of 
the  English  or  Irish  Colleges  there.  Soon  after  this  he 
resolved  to  join  the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius,  and  for  that  pur- 
pose left  Spain  and  proceeded  to  Louvain.  Of  Father 
White's  novice-home  we  wrote  the  following  brief  sketch, 
a  few  years  ago,  for  the  Woodstock  Letters  : 

Near  the  Chateau  Cesar,  or  Castrum  Caesaris,  Lou- 
vain, high  up  on  Mont-Cesar,  stand  three  or  four  private 
dwellings  and  a  ruined  stable.  Few,  even  among  the 
students  of  Louvain,  know  that  these  dwellings  occupy 
the  site  of  the  old  English  Jesuit  Novitiate,  and  that  the 
stable  itself  was  once  a  part  of  that  hallowed  house.  When 
the  English  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  were  driven 
from  their  own  country,  in  1607,  they  rented  a  house  on 
Mont-Cesar,  and  used  it  for  a  novitiate.  This  novitiate 
was  opened  by  Father  Parsons,  in  the  same  year,  with  six 
priests,  two  scholastics,  and  five  lay-brothers.  God  gave 
this  novice-home  a  singular  and  wonderful  benediction — 
he  gave  it  an  apostle  and  a  martyr.  While  Hugh  O'Neill, 
Prince  of  Ulster,  occupied  the  Chateau  Cesar,  near  him, 
in  the  humble  Jesuit  novitiate,  Andrew  White,  the  future 
Apostle  of  Maryland,  and  Thomas  Garnett,  a  future  mar- 
tyr, were  passing  their  days  of  probation  in  prayer,  pen- 
ance and  manual  labors.  As  The  O'Neill  spent  several 
months  on  Mont-Cesar,  and  knowing  him  to  be  the  great 
Catholic  hero  of  his  time,  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that 
he  often  visited  the  exiled  English  priests,  and  that  he 
often  saw  the  novices,  White  and  Garnett.  How  proud 
the  old  chieftain  would  have  felt  had  the-  future  destiny  of 
these  two  young  men  been  revealed  to  him  ! 


30  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

Father  White  began  his  novitiate  on  the  first  day  of 
February,  1607.  Besides  Garnett,  Father  White  had  for 
a  fellow-novice  the  illustrious  Father  Henry  More,  the 
historian  of  the  English  Province  and  the  great  grandson 
of  the  martyred  Chancellor,  Sir  Thomas  More.  Among 
confessors  for  the  faith,  among  the  descendants,  the  near 
relatives  of  martyrs,  the  future  Apostle  of  Maryland  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  religious  perfection  and  caught  the 
flame  that  burned  in  his  great  heart  as  he  traversed  the 
forests  or  sailed  the  rivers  of  the  New  World. 

Father  More  faithfully  described  White's  novice-home 
as  seated  on  high  ground,  commanding  the  whole  city; 
below  was  a  walled  garden,  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  hill 
pleasant  walks  among  the  vines,  which  were  ranged  in 
terraces,  and  the  whole,  though  within  the  city  walls,  as 
quiet  and  calm  as  befitted  a  house  of  prayer. 

Father  White,  say  the  Records  of  the  English 
Province,  passed  through  the  usual  probationary  exer- 
cises of  the  noviceship  with  such  satisfaction  to  his  su- 
periors that,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  after  taking  first  or 
simple  vows  of  religion,  he  was  at  once  sent  back  to  the 
labors  and  dangers  of  the  English  Mission.  Nor  did  he 
disappoint  the  expectations  formed  of  him,  refusing  his 
labors  to  none,  whether  instructing  Protestants  in  the 
tenets  of  the  Catholic  faith,  confirming  Catholics  in  vir- 
tue, or  administering  the  sacraments,  until  he  was  called 
by  obedience  into  Spain,  to  labor  in  the  colleges  of  the 
English  Province  there.  He  was  a  man  of  transcendent 
talents,  and  filled  the  offices  of  prefect  of  studies,  profes- 
sor of  Sacred  Scriptures,  dogmatic  theology,  and  He- 
brew, both  at  Valladolid  and  Seville,  with  great  applause, 
and,  as  appears  by  the  Catalogues  of  the  English  Prov- 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  3 1 

ince,  had  also  filled  other  various  responsible  offices 
of  his  Order,  such  as  superior,  minister,  consultor,  and 
confessor.  The  editor  of  the  Maryland  Historical  So- 
ciety's pamphlet  adds  that  he  was  afterwards  professor  of 
divinity,  first  at  Douay  and  then  at  Liege.  The  "  Sum- 
mary "  of  the  deceased  of  the  Province  for  the  year  1656, 
says  of  the  Father  that  in  these  employments  he  gave 
proof  no  less  of  his  talents  than  of  his  virtues,  excelling, 
we  may  truly  say,  in  both. 

Inflamed  with  ardent  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls, 
he  again  petitioned  for,  and  obtained  leave  to  be  sent 
back  to  the  English  Mission,  where,  by  his  anxious  care 
in  the  duties  of  a  missionary,  he  was  preparing  himself 
for  a  glorious  death,  so  often  the  lot  of  the  priest  in  those 
cruel  days  of  exterminating  persecution  ;  when  it  pleased 
God  to  call  him  to  a  more  fruitful  application  of  his  labors 
among  the  Gentiles,  and  to  choose  him  as  the  first  apostle 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  New  World. 

Justly  has  Father  White  been  styled  the  Apostle  of 
Maryland.  His  evangelical  career  in  that  State,  as  well 
among  the  white  settlers  as  among  the  different  Indian 
tribes,  may  be  pointed  to  by  all  Catholics  as  another 
proof  of  the  divine  commission  left  to  their  church  to 
teach  all  nations,  as  a  proof  that  the  spirit  that  helped 
and  guided  the  apostles  in  their  wondrous  works  has 
ever  lovingly  abided  with  her  missionaries.  Father 
White  had  all  the  grand  characteristics  of  an  apostle,  of 
a  man  sent  of  God.  He  was  a  teacher  endowed  with  vast 
learning,  a  priest  who  had  attained  a  high  degree  of 
sanctity.  He  was  undaunted  in  the  midst  of  labors, 
pains,  dangers,  trials  and  persecutions.  At  least  twice  he 
was  seized  by  cruel  bigots  and  cast  into  prison  on  account 


32  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

of  his  devotion  to  our  holy  religion.  His  continual 
austerities,  even  while  confined  in  a  miserable  dungeon, 
at  Newgate,  won  the  admiration  and  pity  of  his  jailors. 
His  burning  zeal  knew  no  bounds,  his  living,  practical 
charity  had  no  limits.  In  order  to  save  men,  in  order  to 
win  souls  to  Jesus  Christ,  he  made  himself  all  to  all.  He 
labored  among  the  settlers  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac 
and  Patuxent  Rivers,  and  down  by  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
with  the  same  zeal,  and  fidelity,  and  joy  with  which  he 
taught  at  Seville  and  Valladolid,  or  worked  for  the  greater 
glory  of  God  among  the  proscribed  Catholics  who  sought 
his  spiritual  aid  even  under  the  grim  shadow  of  Lon- 
don's black  tower.  As  a  fellow-novice  of  Father  Thomas 
Garnett,  martyred  at  Tyburn;  as  a  spiritual  child  of  the 
holy  Father  Robert  Parsons,  who  knew  so  many  dun- 
geons for  Christ's  love ;  as  a  confessor  of  the  faith  him- 
self, he  called  with  power  and  efficacy  upon  the  Pilgrims 
assembled  in  their  wigwam  chapel  to  love  God  above  all 
things,  and  to  cling  with  reverence  and  affection  to  the 
ancient  and  holy  creed  of  England.  But  more  especially 
did  this  truly  great  and  pious  priest  give  undeniable 
proofs  of  the  apostolic  fire  that  animated  him  when  he 
treated  with  the  Indians. 

The  red  men  were  his  favorite  children,  his  chosen  peo- 
ple. The  salvation  of  these  he  desired  with  all  the  love 
and  ardor  of  his  large,  apostolic  heart.  No  labors  were 
too  heavy  when  endured  for  their  sakes,  no  pains  were 
too  acute  when  suffered  in  trying  to  lead  them  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  from  error  to  truth,  from  Satan  to  God.  He 
sought  them  in  their  villages  and  on  their  hunts,  in  the 
depths  of  their  forests,  and  far  out  on  the  stormy  waters. 
He  learned  their  difficult  language  that  he  might  all  the 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  33 

better  enter  into  their  feelings,  learn  their  errors  and  their 
wants,  and  lead  them  into  the  one  true  fold.  He  lost  no 
opportunity,  no  occasion,  of  instructing  them  in  the  prin- 
cipal dogmas  of  faith,  of  preaching  to  them  the  Gospel 
of  Peace. 

The  Annual  Letters  of  the  English  Province  for  the 
year  1656,  in  recording  the  death  of  Father  White,  state 
him  to  have  been  a  man  of  many  extraordinary  virtues, 
and  relate  that  in  his  last  illness  he  was  for  a  long  time 
so  excessively  weak  that  his  death  was  daily  expected, 
he  kept  often  repeating :  My  hour  is  not  yet  come,  nor 
is  St.  John  the  Evangelist's  day.  This  answer  he  would 
always  give  to  those  who  advised  him  to  fortify  his  de- 
parting soul  with  the  last  sacraments  of  the  church.  At 
length,  on  the  very  feast  of  the  "  beloved  disciple,"  at  his 
morning's  meditation  he  heard  these  words  interiorily 
spoken  to  him  :  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  me.  He 
therefore  bade  those  attending  him  to  call  a  priest, 
adding  that  he  must  come  quickly,  for,  should  there  be 
the  least  delay,  he  would  be  dead  before  he  could  receive 
the  last  rites.  Death,  which  quickly  followed,  proved 
his  words  true,  although  when  they  were  spoken  there 
was  no  more  sign  of  approaching  death  than  there  had 
been  for  a  fortnight  before.  Father  White  spent  the  last 
years  of  his  life  in  the  family  of  a  Catholic  nobleman, 
and  died  on  December  27th,  1656,  in  his  seventy-ninth 
year. 

The  gaoler  of  Newgate,  in  which  Father  White  was 
confined  awaiting  his  trial  and  probable  capital  convic- 
tion, noticing  the  rigorous  fasts  of  the  holy  priest,  said 
one  day  to  him  :  "  If  you  treat  your  poor  old  body  so 
badly,  you  will  not  be  strong  enough  to  be  taken  to  be 


34  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

hanged  at  Tyburn."  The  Father  replied:  "It  is  this 
very  fasting  which  gives  me  strength  enough  to  bear  all 
for  the  sake  of  Christ." 

Father  Nathaniel  Southwell  gives  us  the  following 
eulogium  of  Father  White :  "  He  was  a  man  no  less  re- 
markable for  sanctity  than  for  learning  ;  he  would  fre- 
quently take  only  bread  and  water  for  his  refection,  and 
defer  even  that  meagre  fare  until  evening.  So  great  was 
his  humility  that  he  voluntarily  sought  out  occasion  for 
self-abjection.  So  patient  was  he  under  bodily  sufferings 
that  although  laboring  under  a  long  and  most  trouble- 
some infirmity,  yet  was  he  never  heard  to  utter  a  single 
complaint,  but,  as  far  as  was  permitted  him,  he  would 
carry  himself  as  one  in  good  health,  and  in  this  point  he 
was  an  admirable  counterfeiter.  Finally,  in  all  matters 
of  business  whatever,  in  which  he  was  engaged,  there 
seemed  to  be  a  certain  air  of  sanctity  inspired,  so  that 
grave  men  were  not  wanting  who  declared  that  if  they 
had  ever  seen  a  living  saint,  most  assuredly  Father  An- 
drew White  was  the  man." 

The  Annual  Letter  for  1639  gives  the  following  inter- 
esting details :  There  are  in  this  mission  four  priests  and 
one  coadjutor.  All  are  working  in  places  far  distant,  with 
the  hope,  no  doubt,  of  thus  obtaining  earlier  acquaint- 
ance with  the  native  language  and  propogating  more 
widely  the  holy  faith  of  the  Gospel.  Father  John 
Brock,  the  Superior,  with  a  coadjutor  brother,  remains  in 
the  plantation.  Metapawnien,  which  was  given  us  by 
Maquacomen,  the  King  of  Patuxent,  is  a  kind  of  store 
house  for  this  mission,  whence  most  of  our  bodily 
supplies  are  obtained.  Father  Philip  Fisher  lives 
in    the    principal    town    of    the    colony,    to    which     the 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  35 

name  of  St.  Mary's  has  been  given.  Father  John 
Gravenor,  lives  in  Kent  Island,  sixty  miles  distant. 
Father  Andrew  White  is  at  the  still  further  distance  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  at  Kittamaquindi,  the 
metropolis  of  Pascatoe,  having  lived  since  the  month  of 
June,  1639,  m  tne  palace  with  the  King  himself  whom 
they  call  Tayac. 

The  cause  of  the  Father's  going  thither  is  as  follows  : 
We  had  bestowed  much  time  and  labor  in  the  work  of 
the  conversion  of  the  King  of  Patuxent,  an  event  antici- 
pated by  us  all,  both  from  our  recollections  of  kind- 
nesses received — for  he  had  given  to  the  Society  a  farm, 
as  has  been  said — and  because  he  was  considered  very 
powerful  among  the  barbarians,  on  account  of  his  rep- 
utation for  wisdom  and  influence.  -Some  of  his  people 
had  become  Catholics,  and  he  appeared  himself  abund- 
antly instructed  in  the  first  principles  of  the  faith,  when, 
lo  ! — in  the  inscrutable  judgments  of  God — the  unhappy 
man  at  first  procrastinated,  then  by  degrees  grew  indif- 
ferent, and  at  length  openly  broke  off  altogether  from 
the  work  he  had  commenced.  Nor  this  only ;  but  he 
also  gave  indications  of  an  hostility  against  the  whole 
colony  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Whereupon  the 
Governor,  after  prudent  inquiries,  determined,  by  the 
advice  of  his  council,  that  the  Father  should  be  recalled 
from  his  position  with  the  King,  lest  the  barbarian  might 
give  sudden  proof  of  his  perfidy  and  cruelty  against  him  ; 
and  also,  lest  this  hostage,  as  it  were,  being  left  in  the 
King's  power,  the  Governor  himself  might  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  revenge  injuries,  should  the  Patuxent  at  any  time 
declare  himself  an  open  enemy. 

The  conversion  of  Maquacomen  being   despaired  of, 


36  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Father  Andrew  betook  himself  to  the  Tayac  of  Pisca- 
toway,  who  treated  him  very  kindly  at  the  first  inter- 
view, and  became  so  attached  to  him  that  he  afterwards 
always  held  him  in  the  greatest  love  and  veneration,  and 
was  unwilling  that  the  Father  should  use  any  other  hos- 
pitality than  that  of  his  palace.  Nor  was  the  Queen 
inferior  to  her  husband  in  benevolence  to  their  guest,  for 
with  her  own  hands  she  was  accustomed  to  prepare 
meat  for  him  and  bake  bread,  and  waited  upon  him  with 
equal  care  and  attention. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Father  White  the  Tayac  was 
in  danger  of  death  from  a  serious  disease,  and,  when 
forty  conjurors  had  in  vain  tried  every  remedy,  the 
Father  by  permission  of  the  sick  man  administered  as 
medicine  a  certain  powder  of  known  efficacy  mixed  with 
holy  water,  taking  care  to  have  him  bled  the  day  after 
by  a  youth  whom  the  Father  always  had  with  him. 
After  that  the  sick  man  began  daily  to  grew  better,  and 
soon  after  altogether  recovered.  Upon  this  he  resolved 
to  be  initiated  as  soon  as  possible  into  the  Christian 
faith,  and  both  his  wife  and  his  two  daughters  along 
with  him,  for  as  yet  he  had  no  male  offspring.  Father 
White  is  now  diligently  engaged  in  their  instruction, 
and  they  are  not  slow  in  receiving  the  Catholic  doctrine, 
for  through  the  light  of  heaven  vouchsafed  to  them,  they 
have  long  since  found  out  the  errors  of  their  former  life. 
The  King  has  exchanged  the  skins,  with  which  he  was 
before  clothed,  for  a  garment  after  the  European  fashion, 
and  he  makes  some  little  endeavor  to  learn  our 
language. 

The  Tayac  is  greatly  delighted  with  spiritual  con- 
versation, and  seems  to  esteem  earthly  wealth  as  nothing 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  2)7 

in  comparison  with  heavenly ;  as  he  told  the  Governor, 
to  whom  he  was  on  a  visit  with  Father  White  while  he 
was  under  instruction,  and  who  was  explaining  to  him 
what  great  advantages  could  be  enjoyed  from  the 
English  by  a  mutual  exchange  of  wares.  "  Verily,"  he 
said,  "  I  consider  all  these  things  trifling  when  compared 
with  this  one  advantage — that  through  these  mission- 
aries I  have  arrived  at  the  knowledge  of  the  only  true 
God,  than  which  there  is  nothing  greater  to  me,  nothing 
which  ought  to  be  greater."  Not  long  since,  when  he 
held  a  convention  of  other  rulers,  in  a  crowded  assembly 
of  the  chiefs  and  a  circle  of  common  people,  Father  White 
and  some  of  the  English  being  present,  he  publicly 
declared  it  to  be  his  advice,  together  with  that  of  his 
wife  and  children,  that,  abjuring  the  superstition  of  the 
country,  they  should  all  embrace  the  profession  and 
practice  of  Christianity,  for  that  the  only  true  Deity  is 
He  Whom  the  Christians  worshipped,  nor  can  the 
immortal  soul  of  man  be  otherwise  saved  from  eternal 
death  ;  stones  and  herbs,  to  which  through  blindness  of 
mind  he  and  they  had  hitherto  given  Divine  honors, 
being  the  humblest  things  created  by  Almighty  God  for 
the  use  and  relief  of  human  life.  Having  said  this,  he 
cast  from  him  a  stone  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and 
spurned  it  with  his  foot.  A  murmur  of  applause  from 
the  people  sufficiently  indicated  that  they  did  not  hear 
these  things  with  unfavorable  ears.  Thus  there  is  the 
strongest  hope,  that,  when  the  family  of  the  King  is 
purified  by  baptism,  the  conversion  of  the  whole  country 
will  speedily  follow.  In  the  meanwhile  we  heartily 
thank  God  for  the  present  happy  prospect,  and  are 
especially  encouraged  when  we  daily  behold  those  idols 


$8  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

to  be  the  contempt  of  the  natives  which  were  lately 
reckoned  in  the  number  of  their  deities. 

To  the  hope  of  the  Indian  harvest  are  to  be  added  also 
no  mean  fruits  reaped  from  the  colony  and  its  inhabitants, 
to  whom,  on  the  principal  festival  days  of  the  year, 
sermons  are  preached,  and  catechetical  instructions  on 
Sundays.  Our  labors  are  rewarded,  for  not  only  Cath- 
olics come  in  crowds,  but  also  many  heretics,  and  this 
year,  twelve  in  all  renouncing  their  former  errors,  have 
been  reconciled  to  God  and  the  Church.  Our  Fathers 
are  daily  occupied  in  their  Divine  work,  and  dispense 
the  sacraments  to  those  who  come,  as  often  as  circum- 
stances demand.  In  fine,  to  those  in  health,  to  the  sick, 
to  the  afflicted  and  the  dying,  we  strive  to  be  in  read- 
iness to  afford  counsel,  relief,  and  assistance  of  every 
kind. 

From  the  Annual  Letter  for  1640  we  learn  the  follow- 
ing facts  :  In  the  mission  this  year  were  four  priests 
and  one  coadjutor.  We  stated  in  our  last  letters  what 
hope  we  had  conceived  of  converting  the  Tayac,  or  the 
King  of  Pascatoe.  In  the  meantime,  such  is  the  good- 
ness of  God,  the  result  has  not  disappointed  our  expec- 
tation, for  he  has  become  a  Catholic,  some  others  also 
being  brought  over  with  him,  and  on  July  5th,  1640,  when 
he  was  sufficiently  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  faith, 
he  was  solemnly  baptized  in  a  little  chapel,  which,  after 
the  manner  of  the  Indians,  he  had  erected  out  of  bark 
for  that  purpose  and  for  Divine  worship.  At  the  same 
time  the  Queen,  and  her  infant,  and  others  of  the  princi- 
pal men  whom  he  especially  admitted  to  his  councils,  to- 
gether with  his  little  son,  were  regenerated  in  the  bap- 
tismal font.     To  the  King,  who  was  called  Chitomacheu 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  39 

before,  was  given  the  name  of  Charles  ;  to  his  wife  that 
of  Mary.  The  others,  on  receiving  the  Christian  faith, 
had  Christian  names  allotted  to  them.  The  Governor, 
together  with  his  Secretary,  and  many  others,  was  present 
at  the  ceremony,  nor  was  anything  omitted  which  could 
help  the  display  and  which  our  means  could  supply. 

In  the  afternoon  the  King  and  Queen  were  united  in 
matrimony  after  the  Christian  rite;  then  the  great  cross 
was  erected,  in  carrying  which  to  its  destined  place  the 
King,  the  Governor,  Secretary,  and  others,  lent  their 
shoulders  and  hands  ;  two  of  us  in  the  meantime — Fathers 
White  and  Gravenor — chanted  before  them  the  Litany  of 
Loreto  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  And  not  long 
after,  the  same  two  Fathers,  White  and  Gravenor,  had  to 
bear  by  no  light  crosses  of  their  own  ;  for  Father  White, 
in  performing  the  ceremonies  of  baptism,  which  were 
somewhat  long,  had  contracted  fever  from  which  he  only 
partially  recovered,  then  suffered  a  relapse,  and  was  ill 
during  the  whole  winter.  Father  Gravenor  so  completely 
lost  the  use  of  his  feet  as  to  be  unable  to  stand  ;  after 
a  little  he  too  got  better,  though  an  abscess  was  afterwards 
formed,  which  carried  him  off  in  the  space  of  a  few  days, 
upon  November  5th,  1640.  (He  died  at  St.  Mary's  City, 
and  was  buried  in  the  graveyard  there.) 

A  famine  about  this  time  prevailed  among  the  Indians, 
owing  to  the  great  drought  of  the  past  summer  ;  and 
that  we  might  not  appear  to  neglect  the  bodies  of  those 
for  the  care  of  whose  souls  we  had  made  so  long  a  voy- 
age, though  corn  was  sold  at  a  great  price,  we  considered 
it  necessary  to  relieve  them  to  the  utmost  of  our  power. 
Amidst  these  cares,  and  busied  also  in  settling  the  affairs 
of  the  mission,  we  passed  the  greater  part  of  the  winter. 


40  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

On  February  15th  we  came  to  Pascatoe,  joyfully- 
greeted  by  the  inhabitants,  who  indeed  seemed  well  in- 
clined to  receive  the  Christian  faith.  So  that  not  long 
after  the  King  brought  his  daughter,  seven  years  old, 
whom  he  loved  with  great  affection,  to  be  educated  among 
the  English  at  St.  Mary's,  and  to  be  washed  in  the  sacred 
font  of  baptism ;  she  is  beginning  to  understand  the 
Christian  mysteries.  One  of  his  counsellors  also,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken  before,  desiring  that  the  mercies  of  God 
which  he  had  experienced  in  his  own  case  should  be 
brought  to  his  people,  earnestly  prays  that  his  wife  and 
children  may  be  led  to  seek  the  waters  of  salvation,  which 
most  pious  desire,  after  suitable  instruction,  will,  we  hope, 
by  the  favor  of  God,  be  gratified. 

Another  King,  chief  of  the  Anacostans,  whose  territory 
is  not  far  distant,  is  anxious  to  come  and  live  as  one  of 
us  ;  and  from  this  it  is  evident  that  a  rich  harvest  awaits 
us,  on  which  we  may  advantageously  bestow  our  labor, 
though  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  will  not  be  laborers 
sufficient  for  gathering  in  the  abundant  fruits.  There 
are  other  villages  lying  near,  which,  I  doubt  not,  would 
run  promptly  and  joyfully  to  the  light  of  the  Gospel  truth, 
if  there  was  any  one  to  impart  to  them  the  word  of  eter- 
nal life.  It  is  not,  however,  right  for  us  to  be  too  anxious 
about  others,  lest  we  may  seem  to  abandon  prematurely 
our  present  tender  flock  ;  nor  need  those  who  are  sent 
out  to  assist  us  fear  lest  the  means  of  life  be  wanting,  for 
He  who  clothes  the  lilies  and  feeds  the  fowls  of  the  air, 
will  not  leave  those  who  are  laboring  to  extend  His  king- 
dom destitute  of  necessary  sustenance. 

Father  Andrew  suffered  no  little  inconvenience  from  a 
hard-hearted  and  troublesome  captain  of  New  England, 


ITS    EARLY     JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  4 1 

whom  he  had  engaged  to  convey  him  and  his  effects,  and 
at  whose  hands  he  was,  a  little  while  after,  in  great  dan- 
ger of  being  either  cast  into  the  sea,  or  carried  with  all 
his  goods  to  New  England,  a  place  full  of  Puritan  Cal- 
vinists.  Silently  committing  the  affair  to  God,  he  at 
length  safely  reached  Potomac  (commonly  pronounced 
Patemeak).  Having  cast  anchor  in  this  harbor,  the  ship 
became  so  fast  bound  by  a  great  quantity  of  ice  that  it 
could  not  be  moved  for  the  space  of  seventeen  days. 
Walking  on  the  ice,  as  though  it  were  land,  the  Father 
departed  for  the  town,  and  when  the  ice  was  broken  up, 
the  ship,  driven  and  jammed  by  the  force  of  its  moving 
fragments,  was  sunk,  but  the  cargo  was  in  a  great  mea- 
sure recovered. 

By  this  misfortune,  Father  White  was  detained  in  his 
visits  as  long  as  seven  weeks,  for  he  found  it  necessary 
to  procure  another  ship  from  St.  Mary's.  But  the  spiritual 
gain  of  souls  readily  compensated  for  his  delay,  since  the 
ruler  of  the  little  village,  with  the  principal  men  amongst 
its  inhabitants,  was,  during  that  time  added  to  the  Church, 
and  received  the  faith  of  Christ  through  baptism.  Be- 
sides these  persons,  one  was  converted  along  with  many 
of  his  friends ;  a  third  brought  his  wife,  his  son,  and  a 
friend ;  and  a  fourth,  in  like  manner,  came  together  with 
another  of  no  ignoble  standing  among  his  people. 
Strengthened  by  their  example,  the  people  are  prepared 
to  receive  the  faith  whenever  we  shall  have  leisure  to  in- 
struct them. 

Not  long  after  a  young  empress  (as  they  call  her  at 
Pascataway)  was  baptized  in  the  town  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
is  now  being  educated  there,  having  already  become  a 
proficient  in  the  English  language.     Almost  at  the  same 


42  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

time  the  town  named  Portobacco,  to  a  great  extent  re- 
ceived the  faith  along  with  baptism.  This  town,  from  its 
situation  on  the  river  Pamac  (the  inhabitants  call  it  Pa- 
make),  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  Indians,  and  the  con- 
venience of  making  excursions  from  it  in  all  directions, 
we  have  determined  to  make  our  residence  ;  the  more  so 
because  we  fear  that  we  may  be  compelled  to  abandon 
Pascataway,  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  Susque- 
hannoes,  which  nation  is  the  most  hostile  to  the  Chris- 
tians. 

An  attack  having  been  recently  made  on  a  settlement 
of  ours,  they  slew  the  men  whom  we  had  there,  and  car- 
ried away  our  goods,  to  our  great  loss. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  43 


CHAPTER  II. 


Father  White  was  ably  assisted  in  all  his  early  under- 
takings by  Father  John  Altham,  vere  Gravenor,  and 
Father  Timothy  Hays,  alias  Hanmer. 

Father  Altham  was  a  native  of  Warwickshire,  England, 
and  was  born  in  the  year  1589.  He  was  enrolled  among 
the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius  in  1623.  Before  coming  to 
Maryland  he  zealously  served  the  missions  in  the  Devon 
and  London  Districts. 

Father  Hays  was  born  in  Dorsetshire,  in  England,  in 
1584.  Being  already  raised  to  the  dignity  of  the  priest- 
hood, he  entered  a  Jesuit  Novitiate  in  16 17.  For  a  long 
time  he  was  engaged  in  missionary  life  in  London,  where 
he  was  exposed  to  a  thousand  daily  dangers. 

From  the  "  Annual  Letters"  we  learn  many  interesting 
details  concerning  the  labors  of  the  missionaries,  and 
their  mode  of  life.  Thus  we  learn,  that  they  made  many 
excursions,  not  only  by  land,  but  also  by  water.  One  of 
the  Fathers,  writing  in  1640  says  :  We  have  to  content 
ourselves  with  missionary  excursions,  of  which  we  have 
made  many  this  year  by  ascending  the  river  they  call 
Patuxent,  where  some  fruit  has  been  gained  in  the  con- 
version of  the  young  Queen  of  the  town,  that  takes  its 
name  from  the  river  there,  and  her  mother ;  also  the 
young  Queen  of  Portobacco ;  the  wife  and  two  sons  of 
Tayac  the  Great,  as  they  call  him,  who  died  last  year,  and 


44  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

of  one  hundred  and  thirty  others  besides.  The  following 
is  our  manner  of  making  these  excursions.  The  Father 
himself,  his  interperter,  and  a  servant,  set  off  in  a  pinnace 
or  galley — two  are  obliged  to  propel  the  boat  with  oars, 
when  the  wind  fails  or  is  adverse  ;  the  third  steers.  We 
take  with  us  a  supply  of  bread,  butter,  cheese,  corn  cut 
and  dried  before  it  is  ripe,  beans  and  a  little  flour  ;  in 
another  chest  we  carry  bottles,  one  of  which  contains 
wine  for  the  altar,  in  six  others  is  blessed  water  for  the 
purpose  of  Baptism  ;  a  box  holds  the  sacred  utensils,  and 
we  have  a  table  as  an  altar  for  saying  Mass.  A  third 
chest  is  full  of  trifles,  which  we  give  to  the  Indians  to 
gain  their  goodwill — such  as  little  bells,  combs,  fishing- 
hooks,  needles,  thread  and  other  things  similar.  We 
have  a  little  tent  also  for  camping  in  the  open  air,  as  we 
frequently  do ;  and  we  use  a  larger  one  when  the  weather 
is  stormy  and  wet.  The  servants  carry  other  things 
which  are  necessary  for  hunting,  and  for  cooking  pur- 
poses. 

In  our  excursions  we  endeavor,  as  much  as  we  can, 
to  reach  some  English  house  or  Indian  village,  failing 
in  this  we  land,  the  Father  moors  the  boat  fast  to  the 
shore,  then  collects  wood  and  makes  a  fire,  while  the  two 
others,  meantime  go  off  hunting.  If,  unfortunately,  no 
game  can  be  found,  we  refresh  ourselves  with  the  provis- 
ions we  have  brought,  and  lie  down  by  the  fire  to  take 
our  rest.  When  rain  threatens  we  erect  our  hut  and 
spread  a  large  mat  over  it ;  nor,  praise  be  to  God,  do  we 
enjoy  this  humble  fare  and  hard  couch  with  less  content 
than  if  we  had  the"  more  luxurious  provisions  of  Europe. 
To  comfort  us  God  gives  us  a  foretaste  of  what  He  will  one 
day  grant  to  those  who  labor  faithfully  in  this  life,  and 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  45 

mitigates  all  our  hardships  by  imparting  a  spirit  of  cheer- 
fulness, for  His  Divine  Majesty  appears  to  be  present 
with  us  in  an  extraordinary  manner. 

The  Annual  Letters  also  tell  us  how  the  Fathers 
preached  in  the  forests  to  the  Indians,  how  they  baptized 
Princes  and  Princesses,  and  united  in  the  holy  bonds  of 
matrimony  red  Kings  and  Queens.  During  epidemics 
and  famines  the  missionaries  showed  in  an  especial  man- 
ner to  the  unhappy  Indians  the  beauty  of  Christian, 
white-robed  charity,  and  the  fruits  of  apostolic  zeal.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  the  cross  of  the  missioner  was  the 
means  of  working  some  stupendous  miracle  that  caused 
the  red  warriors  to  make  the  woods  ring  with  their 
shouts  of  "glory  to  the  wondrous  God  of  the  Christians." 

Brother  Thomas  Gervase  rendered  important  service 
to  the  missionaries,  and  though  only  engaged  in  waiting 
on  the  Fathers,  and  attending  as  far  as  he  could  under 
the  circumstances  to  their  temporal  wants,  fully  shared 
in  the  merit  of  their  holy  labors,  and  must  ever  partici- 
pate in  the  glory  of  their  undertakings.  This  devoted 
man  was  born  in  Derbyshire,  England,  in  1590.  Thirty- 
four  years  afterwards  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  as 
a  Temporal  Coadjutor.  From  Catalogues  we  learn  that, 
in  1625,  he  was  a  novice  in  the  London  Novitiate,  Clerk- 
enwell.  It  seems  that  after  his  vows  of  religion  he  still 
remained  in  the  same  house,  for  four  years  later  on  we 
find  him  still  in  the  same  place.  In  1633  he  is  mentioned 
as  being  employed  in  humble  and  useful  duties  in  the 
Lancashire  District.  "  It  is  very  probable,"  says  the 
Collectanea,  "  that  he  is  identical  with  Thomas  Latham, 
the  housekeeper  at  Clerkenwell,  mentioned  in  the  report 
of  the  discovery  of  that  Residence  by  the  Pursuivants  of 


46  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

the  Privy  Council  in  1628,  and  committed  with  the  rest 
to  prison."  Brother  Gervase  died  of  the  yellow-fever,  in 
the  August  or  September  of  1637.  The  Annual  Let- 
ter for  that  year  says,  that  "after  enduring  severe  toils 
for  the  space  of  five  years  with  the  greatest  patience, 
humility  and  ardent  love,  he  was  seized  by  the  disease 
prevalent  at  the  time,  and  happily  exchanged  this  wretched 
life  for  that  which  is  eternal." 

Father  Timothy  Hays  returned  to  England  about  the 
year  1636.  That  year  two  other  missionaries  arrived  in 
Maryland,  ^Fathers  John  Rogers,  alias  Bampfield,  and 
John  Wood.  This  last-named  Father  did  not  remain 
many  months  in  the  Maryland  Mission,  perhaps  on  ac- 
count of  ill-health. 

Father  Rogers  was  the  son  of  an  Esquire,  and  was 
born  at  Feltham,  near  Frome,  County  Wilts,  in  England, 
about  the  year  1584.  Feltham  was  his  father's  seat.  He 
was  brought  up  as  a  Protestant,  but  having  been  taken  to 
the  Douay  College  by  Father  Bray  of  the  Society,  he 
was  converted  to  the  true  Faith.  He  entered  the  English 
College,  at  Rome,  in  1604.  The  following  extract  is 
taken  from  the  diary  of  that  College:  "  1604.  John 
Rogers,  of  Somerset,  near  the  town  of  Frome,  aged 
twenty,  not  yet  confirmed,  came  from  Douay  with  Wil- 
liam Worthington  and  Dingley  (Morgan).  On  account 
of  his  weak  health,  his  admission  to  the  College  was  de- 
ferred until  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  when  he 
was  admitted  among  the  alumni  on  January  1,  1605,  and 
took  the  usual  College  oaths  on  the  10th  of  August  fol- 
lowing. Having  completed  his  philosophy  and  theology, 
he  left  the  College  April  21,  161 1,  and  entered  the  So- 
ciety.    On  entering  the  College  he  made  the  following 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES!  47 

statement :  '  My  name  is  John  Rogers.  I  am  twenty 
years  of  age,  and  was  born  in  a  village  called  Feltham, 
the  property  of  my  father,  near  the  town  of  Frome,  in 
Somersetshire.  I  received  the  rudiments  of  education  in 
various  places,  but  mostly  in  a  town  in  Wiltshire,  called 
Heytesbury,  where  I  studied  humanities  for  seven  years. 
Thence,  at  my  father's  wish,  I  went  to  Oxford,  where  I 
lived  half  a  year  in  Oriel  College.  After  this  I  remained 
at  home  idle  for  nearly  two  years,  when  a  soldier  named 
Richard  Diar,  of  the  King's  body-guard,  came  to  my 
father's  house,  and  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  that  I 
should  enter  the  service  of  the  son  of  Lord  Harrington, 
who  was  Lord-in-Waiting  to  the  Prince.  The  soldier, 
having  heard  my  father's  wishes,  turning  to  me  asked  if 
I  was  agreeable.  'On  one  special  condition,'  I  said 
(meaning  that  I  should  preserve  my  religion).  '  Thou 
wilt  be  pure  in  religion/  he  replied  (thinking  I  favored 
Puritanism).  '  I  refused  his  offer.  At  length  my  uncle, 
Lord  Stourton,  asked  my  father  what  he  could  do  for 
me,  and  proposed  my  entering  the  service  of  his  wife, 
the  Lady  Stourton.  To  this  my  father  assented  and 
committed  me  to  her  charge  ;  and  when  I  had  spent  a 
year  there,  by  chance  I  met  a  very  aged  priest,  named 
Father  Bray,  who  had  lived  ten  years  at  Douay,  and  by 
whose  means  I  was  made  a  Catholic,  and  I  then  crossed 
over,  not  without  difficulty,  to  Douay.  My  father  is  an 
Esquire,  living  upon  his  own  estate ;  I  have  only  one 
brother  and  sister,  and  myself,  the  eldest.  I  have  many 
relatives,  some  of  them  Catholics.  My  father  is  still  a 
schismatic,  and  I,  myself,  was  always  so  until  my  con- 
version by  the  above-named  aged  priest.'  " 

In  1624  Father  Rogers  was  a  missioner  in  the  College 


4$  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  In  1655  he  was  at  Watten, 
then  being  seventy-two  years  of  age,  having  spent  forty- 
four  in  the  Society  and  thirty-four  upon  the  mission.  He 
died  at  St.  Omer's  College,  on  August  7th,  1657. 

The  summary  of  the  deceased  members  of  the  English 
Province  for  1657,  thus  notices  this  Father:  "Father 
John  Rogers,  a  learned  man,  and  a  very  sharp  defender 
of  our  Francis  Suarez.  Being  translated  to  the  novitiate 
of  Watten  in  his  declining  years,  he  spent  much  time  in 
prayer,  either  in  his  private  chamber  or  else  before  the 
Blessed  Sacrament  in  the  Church.  He  was  visiting  the 
College  of  St.  Omer  by  way  of  recreation,  and  appeared 
in  perfect  health,  but  was  found  in  the  morning  dead,  yet 
modestly  composed  in  bed,  on  the  7th  of  this  month  or 
September."  Father  Rogers  was,  with  other  Jesuit 
Fathers,  sent  into  banishment  in  16 18,  under  the  name 
of  John  Bampfield.  According  to  Father  Edmund  Coffin, 
Father  Rogers  publicly  defended  theses  of  philosophy 
(metaphysics)  with  Father  John  Port  (Layton)  in  Rome. 
In  Brother  Foley's  sketch  of  the  College  of  St.  Thomas, 
of  Canterbury,  we  read  :  "  Besides  Father  Baldwin,  eleven 
of  the  English  Fathers  of  the  Society  passed  under  the 
charge  of  the  good  Count  Gondomar  into  exile  :  Ralph 
Bickley,  Richard  Bartiet,  John  Bampfield  {vere  John 
Rogers),  Alexander  Fairclough,  John  Falconer,  Henry 
Hawkins,  John  Sweetman,  Francis  Wallis,  Laurence 
Worthington,  Francis  Young  and  William  York.  Most 
of  these  returned  to  England  to  resume  their  arduous 
labors,  braving  alike  the  dangers  of  recapture  and  of  cer- 
tain death  if  caught." 

From  some  cause  or  other  Father  Rogers  was  not  al- 
lowed to  spend  his  life  in  working  on  the  Maryland  Mis- 


ITS     EARLY     JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  49 

sion.  About  1638  he  was  recalled  to  England.  One  year 
or  two  before  his  return,  however,  the  Mission  was  in- 
creased by  the  arrival  of  two  new  Jesuits,  Father  Thomas 
Copley,  alias  Philip  Fisher,  and  Father  John  Knowles. 

Father  Knowles  was  a  native  of  Staffordshire,  and  was 
born  in  1607.  He  entered  the  Society  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen. He  did  not  last  much  more  than  six  weeks  in 
the  Mission.  The  Annual  Letters  say  of  him  that  though 
young  he  "  possessed  remarkable  qualities  of  mind,  which 
gave  great  promise  for  the  future.  He  had  scarcely  spent 
two  months  in  this  Mission,  when,  to  the  great  grief  of 
all  of  us,  he  was  carried  off  by  the  sickness  so  general 
in  the  colony."  The  Letters  add  that  "  none  of  the  three 
'emaining  priests  have  entirely  escaped,  yet  we  have  not 
ceased  to  labor  to  the  best  of  our  ability  among  the 
neighboring  people." 

In  the  Colonial  records  of  Maryland  we  find  frequent 
allusions  made  to  Thomas  Copley,  Esq.  That  this  gen- 
tleman was  held  in  high  esteem  in  Lord  Baltimore's  new 
colony,  no  one  of  the  numerous  writers  who  incidentally 
refer  to  him  ever  seems  to  doubt.  He  was  more  than 
once  invited  to  take  a  place  at  the  council-board  of  the 
legislators  of  Maryland.  In  January,  1637,  he  was  sum- 
moned to  the  "  General  Assembly  held  at  St.  Marie's 
City,"  but  "  Robert  Clerke,  gent.,  appeared  for  him,  and 
excused  his  absence  by  reason  of  sickness."  From  stray 
notes  found  in  the  "  Annals  of  Annapolis  "  we  learn  that 
he  was  on  intimate  terms  of  friendship  writh  some  of  the 
"two  hundred  gentlemen  adventurers"  who,  in  1633, 
sailed  from  England  as  passengers  of  the  Dove  and  Ark. 
Yet,  strange  to  say,  up  to  a  recent  date  his  character  and 
profession  were  involved  in  much  mystery.     Most  of  our 


50  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Catholic  authors  rightly  surmised,  from  his  association 
with  Father  White,  that  he  must  have  been  a  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary. But  they  could  give  very  little  more  information 
concerning  him.  Not  a  few  Protestant  historians  boldly 
asserted  that  he  was  an  accomplished  agent  in  the  secret 
service  of  the  sons  of  Loyola.  Sebastian  F.  Streeter,  how- 
ever, who  had  access  to  some  reliable  documents,  says  : 
"  Notwithstanding  his  title  of '  Esquire,'  Mr.  Copley  was 
a  Jesuit  priest."  What  rendered  Copley  still  more  mys- 
terious, was  the  fact,  that  the  Maryland  Jesuits,  in  their 
reports,  or  Annual  Letters,  never  even  once  made  men- 
tion of  him.  With  no  small  degree  of  satisfaction,  we 
shall  now  trace  as  far  as  we  can,  the  career  of  one  who. 
has  long  puzzled  historians,  and  much  of  whose  history; 
has  up  to  these  times,  been  hidden  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Philip  Fisher. 

Father  Thomas  Copley  was  born  at  Madrid,  in  Spain, 
about  the  year  1594.  His  grandfather,  Lord  Thomas 
Copley,  Baron  of  Welles,  was  son  of  Sir  Roger  Copley, 
of  Gatton,  in  Surrey,  and  of  Elizabeth  Shelley,  sister  to 
Sir  William  Shelley,  the  last  English  Lord  Prior  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem.  Lord  Thomas  had  to  go  into  exile 
on  account  of  his  steadfastness  in  the  faith,  and  had 
much  to  suffer  from  the  enemies  of  the  old  religion.  He 
had  to  sustain  great  losses,  though  he  had  married  one 
of  Sir  John  Lutterel's  daughters — an  heir  of  blood  royal. 
On  his  mother's  side,  Father  Copley  had  also  a  distin- 
guished ancestry.  His  mother,  Margaret  Prideaux,  was 
the  granddaughter  of  Margaret  Giggs,  "  a  gentleman's 
daughter  of  Norfolk,"  who  appears  by  Margaret  Roper's 
side  in  Holbein's  famous  picture  of  Sir  Thomas  More's 
family.     The  great  Chancellor  thus  referred  to  Margaret 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  5  I 

Giggs  in  his  last  letter:  "  I  send  now  my  good  daughter 
Clement,  her  algorism-stone,  and  send  her  and  my  god- 
son, and  all  her's,  God's  blessing  and  mine."  Margaret 
Giggs,  or  as  she  was  known  after  marriage,  Mrs.  Clement, 
was  a  heroic  Christian  woman.  While  the  Charterhouse 
monks  were  in  prison,  having  bought  over  the  gaoler, 
she  daily  visited  them  in  their  cells.  To  do  this  the 
more  securely,  she  disguised  herself  as  a  milk-maid,  and 
carried  on  her  head  a  basket,  which  contained  meat  for 
the  poor  captives.  Suspicion  being  aroused,  and  the 
gaoler  growing  afraid  of  a  fatal  discovery,  she  was  at 
length  refused  permission  to  enter  the  prison.  But  by 
her  importunity  and  presents,  she  obtained  the  gaoler's 
consent  to  ascend  the  roof,  and  through  it,  to  give  some 
little  help  to  the  holy  confessors  who  were  bound  hand 
and  foot  to  posts.  Mrs.  Clement,  on  account  of  the 
growing  persecutions  in  England,  retired  to  the  Low 
Countries—  forsaking,  for  love  of  conscience,  country, 
living  and  rents.  She  died  at  Mechlin,  and  her  body 
was  laid  to  rest  behind  the  main  altar  of  St.  Rumold's 
Cathedral.  Several  of  her  children  survived  her.  One 
of  her  daughters,  Winifred,  married  Sir  William  Rastall, 
nephew  and  biographer  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  Another 
daughter  was  the  holy  and  gifted  Mother  Clement, 
Prioress  of  the  Augustinian  Nuns  of  St.  Ursula,  Louvain. 
Helen,  a  third  daughter,  married  Thomas  Prideaux,  of 
Devonshire.  Of  this  couple  was  born  Magdalen,  an  only 
daughter.  This  young  lady  passed  a  great  part  of  her 
early  life  in  the  peaceful  cloister  of  St.  Ursula,  Louvain, 
under  the  protection  and  guidance  of  some  of  England's 
noblest  daughters.  "  She  had  education  to  many  rare 
qualities,  for  she  was  a  fine  musician,  both  in  song  and 


52  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

instruments,  had  the  Latin  tongue  perfect,  also  poetry, 
and  was  skillful  in  the  art  of  painting  ;  a  woman,  indeed, 
wise,  of  good  judgment,  and  pious  in  godly  matters."  This 
accomplished  woman  was  destined  to  be  the  mother  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

William  Copley,  the  future  husband  of  Magdalen 
Prideaux,  "  coming  into  England "  after  the  death  of 
Lord  Thomas,  his  father,  "  to  enjoy  his  inheritance,  being 
not  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  finding  that  to  pass  the 
Court  of  Wards,  he  must  take  the  oath  of  supremacy, 
not  having,  as  yet,  experience  how  to  escape  that  danger 
as  others  do,  determined  rather  than  commit  such  an  of- 
fence against  Almighty  God,  to  venture  the  loss  of  all 
his  land  for  his  lifetime,  so  that  he  might  enjoy  freedom 
of  his  conscience.  Wherefore,  behold  in  this  resolution 
this  constant  youth,  most  loyal  to  God,  letteth  forth  all 
his  leases  for  small  rents,  taking  fines  in  the  place,  so 
maketh  a  good  sum  of  money,  and  over  the  sea  he  comes 
with  one  trusty  servant,  and  goeth  into  Spain,  where  God 
ordained  that  he  got  a  pension  in  respect  that  his  father's 
worthiness  had  been  well  known  to  strangers."  While 
in  Spain,  William  Copley  met  Magdalen  Prideaux,  and 
took  her  as  his  wife. 

"  In  the  meantime,"  says  St.  Monica  s  Chronicle,  "  the 
Queen  seized  upon  William  Copley's  living,  and  gave  it 
away  to  a  cousin-german  of  his  that  lived  in  her  Court, 
named  Sir  William  Lane,  so  that  for  seventeen  years  the 
said  William  Copley  enjoyed  not  one  penny  of  his  estate, 
but  having  four  children  by  his  marriage,  two  daughters 
and  two  sons,  he  maintained  them  only  by  his  pension. 
At  the  coming  of  the  Infanta  with  Albert,  the  Archduke 
of  Austria,  to  be  princes  of  these  Low  Countries,  he  got 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  53 

his  pension  transferred  into  these  quarters,  for  to  be 
nearer  home,  and  so  came  to  live  in  these  Low  Coun- 
tries." 

When  Thomas  Copley  had  reached  his  ninth  year,  he 
went  with  his  parents  to  reside  at  the  ancestral  seat  at 
Gatton.  Of  his  boyhood  years  in  England  I  find  noth- 
ing recorded.  It  is  almost  certain,  however,  that  he 
received  his  early  education,  both  secular  and  religious, 
from  some  proscribed  priest,  who  acted  as  chaplain  in 
his  paternal  home.  The  influence  of  his  own  family 
must  have,  at  an  early  hour,  turned  his  thoughts  toward 
spiritual  things,  while  the  story  of  all  that  his  heroic  pro- 
genitors had  endured  for  the  cause  of  the  ancient  religion 
of  England,  must  have  aroused  his  enthusiasm,  and  kin- 
dled in  his  young  soul  the  fire  of  high  and  generous 
resolves.  The  stern  laws  against  Catholic  education  in 
England  forced  him  to  proceed  to  the  Continent  to  pur- 
sue his  higher  studies.  As  his  fathers  had  gone  into 
exile  for  the  sake  of  their  religion,  he  now  went  forth  into 
a  strange  land  for  the  love  of  knowledge.  In  161 1,  we 
find  him  among  the  students  of  philosophy  at  the  famous 
University  of  Louvain.  About  one  year  previous,  his 
two  sisters,  Mary  and  Helen,  had  entered  St.  Monica's 
convent  in  the  classic  city  by  the  Dyle.  These  were  ac- 
complished and  brave  girls — worthy  descendants  of 
Margaret  Giggs.  On  their  way  through  Southwark 
they  were  examined  by  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  boldly 
professed  their  faith,  and  refused  to  go  to  a  Protestant 
church,  "  because  they  would  not  be  dissemblers  ;  to  be 
in  their  minds  of  one  religion,  and  make  a  show  of 
another."  While  young  Copley  pursued  his  philoso- 
phical studies  under  some  of  the  most  distinguished  pro- 


54  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

fessors  of  Europe,  then  at  Louvain,  we  may  feel  certain 
that  he  did  not  fail  to  practice  those  virtues  which  ren- 
der a  soul  pleasing  to  its  Maker.  Perhaps,  even  then 
he  envied  the  lot  of  those  brave  missionaries,  who  faced 
the  axe  and  block  in  the  heart  of  London.  We  cannot 
think  that  he  read  of  the  fate  of  his  kinsman,  the  holy 
and  gifted,  and  gentle  Robert  Southwell,  without  a  strong 
feeling  of  emulation.  At  all  events,  a  time  came,  when 
he  was  in  the  flush  and  pride  of  young  manhood,  when 
he  heard  an  interior  voice  that  called  him  away  from  the 
vanities  of  life,  that  called  him  to  take  up  his  cross  and 
walk  in  the  footprints  of  his  Master.  Did  he  pause,  or 
waver,  or  grow  faint-hearted  as  many  a  young  man  has 
done  when  called  to  a  life  of  penance,  mortification  and 
trials?  Did  he  look  with  terror  on  the  death  that,  per- 
haps, awaited  him  ?  No,  the  blood  of  confessors  of  the 
faith,  the  blood  of  martyrs  ran  through  his  veins,  and 
filled  his  heart.  With  a  light  step  and  beaming  eye,  he 
climbed  up  the  stony  stairs  that  led  to  St.  John's 
Novitiate,  on  Mont-Cesar,  Louvain,  and  asked  to  be 
enrolled  among  the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius,  who  were  there 
preparing  themselves  in  prayer  and  mortification  for  the 
death  mission  in  England. 

When  the  English  Jesuits  were  driven  from  their  own 
country,  in  1607,  they  rented  a  house  on  Mont-Cesar, 
Louvain,  and  used  it  as  a  Novitiate.  This  Novitiate  was 
opened  by  the  illustrious  Father  Parsons,  in  the  same 
year,  with  six  priests,  two  scholastics,  and  five  lay-broth- 
ers. Already  one  of  its  novices,  Father  Thomas  Garnett, 
had  shed  his  blood  for  the  faith.  It  had  sheltered,  too, 
among  its  novices,  Father  Andrew  White,  the  future 
"Apostle  of  Maryland,"  and  Father  Henry  More,  the  his- 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  55 

torian  of  the  English  Jesuit  Province,  and  the  great 
grandson  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  To  this  school  of  martyrs 
and  apostles  young  Copley  begged  to  be  admitted,  and 
was  received,  and  welcomed  as  a  worthy  son.  He  had 
Father  John  Gerard  as  his  novice-master.  This  holy  and 
remarkable  priest  had  had  a  career  of  thrilling  and  roman- 
tic interest.  It  has  been  said  by  a  recent  writer,  that  his 
life  "  is  equal  to  anything  which  has  been  published  since 
the  days  of  Defoe."  His  prison-life,  his  manifold  and 
skillful  disguises,  his  escapes  from  spies  and  priest-hunters, 
his  stolen  visits  to  the  faithful  nobility  and  peasants,  form 
a  cfiapter  in  history  which  is  stranger  than  any  fiction. 

After  two  years  of  novitiate,  Thomas  Copley  bound 
himself  forever  to  the  service  of  God  by  the  holy  vows 
of  religion.  Having  completed  his  theological  studies  at 
Louvain,  he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  the  priesthood. 
Though  on  his  entrance  into  religion,  he  assumed  the 
alias  Philip  Fisher,  we  prefer  still  to  call  him  by  his  real 
name,  and  so  we  note  that  soon  after  his  ordination  Father 
Copley  was  sent  on  the  English  Mission.  From  Gee's 
strange  composition,  The  Foot  out  of  the  Snare,  we  learn 
that,  in  1624,  he  was  once  again  in  the  land  of  his  fore- 
fathers. "  Father  Copley,  Junior,  one  that  hath  newly 
taken  orders  and  come  from  beyond  the  seas,"  is  in  Lon- 
don. The  life  of  Father  Copley  in  England,  was  replete 
with  pain  and  peril.  There  were  men  in  London,  at  that 
period,  who  lived  by  hunting  down  priests  and  religions. 
Heartless  spies  were  found  everywhere.  They  loitered 
around  inns,  hung  around  the  castles  and  manors  of 
Catholic  gentlemen,  and  ferreted  out  monks  and  friars 
from  the  most  secret  quarters.  It  was  a  hard  task  for 
Jesuits,  even  beneath   their  strangest  costumes,  and  in 


$6  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

their  most  diverse  pseudo-avocations,  to  escape  these 
wretches.  It  was  in  that  same  year  of  1624,  that  Father 
Henry  Morse,  on  his  arrival  in  England,  in  quest  of 
souls,  was  captured  and  cast  into  York  Castle,  in  which 
he  suffered  from  severe  hunger  and  cold  for  the  space  of 
three  years.  This  same  zealous  priest  was,  after  some 
years,  again  taken  prisoner  and  condemned  to  death.  His 
body  was  divided  into  quarters,  and  exposed  on  four  of 
the  city  gates,  and  his  head  affixed  on  London  Bridge. 

Father  Copley  was  in  England  during  the  excitement 
and  troubles  which  were  created  by  that  bugbear — The 
Clerkemvell  Discovery.  He  may,  indeed,  have  been  one 
of  those  Jesuits  who  were  at  that  time  thrown  into  prison 
through  the  machinations  of  Sir  John  Cooke.  Father 
Thomas  Poulton,  his  kinsman,  was  one  of  the  priests 
who  were  committed  to  the  new  prison.  That  Copley's 
life  and  liberty  were  in  continual  danger,  is  evident  to 
every  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the  times  of 
which  we  speak.  Doubtless  it  was  owing  to  great  dan- 
gers and  troubles  that  he,  through  the  influence  of  pow- 
erful friends  in  Court,  obtained  from  the  King  the  follow- 
ing document : 

"  Whereas,  Thomas  Copley,  gentle? nan,  an  alien,  is  a  re- 
cusant, and  may  be  subject  to  be  troubled  for  his  religion  ; 
and  forasmuch  as  we  are  zuell  satisfied  of  the  conditions  and 
qualities  of  the  said  Thomas  Copley,  and  of  his  loyalty  a?id 
obedience  towards  us,  we  hereby  will  and  require  you,  and 
every  one  of  you,  whom  it  may  concern,  to  permit  the  said 
Thomas  Copley,  freely  atid  quietly,  to  attend  in  any  place, 
and  go  about,  and  foil (nv  his  occupation  ivithout  molestation, 
or  troubling  him  by  any  means  whatsoever  for  matters  of 


ITS     EARLY     JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  57 

religion,  or  the  persons  or  places  of  those  unto  whom  lie 
shall  resort,  and  this  shall  be  your  warrant  in  his  behalf. 
Given  at  our  palace  of  Westminster,  the  $th  day  of  Decem- 
ber, in  the  ioth  year  of  our  reign  (1633)." 

Though  Father  Copley  did  not  sail  for  the  New  Con- 
tinent for  three  years  after  the  Dove  and  Ark  had  entered 
the  Potomac,  and  the  "  First  Mass  "  had  been  offered  on 
St.  Clement's  Island,  still  it  is  likely  that  from  the  very 
beginning  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Maryland  expe- 
dition. Lord  Baltimore  had  obtained  Jesuits,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  to  attend  to  the  inhabitants  of  his  new  set- 
tlement, as  well  as  to  the  red  men  who  dwelt  on  the 
Patuxent  River,  and  along  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake. 
The  superior  business  capacities  of  Father  Copley  must 
have  been  utilized  by  Father  White  and  the  Catholic 
colonists  before  they  spread  out  their  sails  off  the  beau- 
tiful Isle  of  Wight.  But  soon  he  was  called  upon  to  take 
a  more  active  part  in  the  Catholic  colony.  In  1636,  un- 
der the  alias  of  Philip  Fisher,  he  was  appointed  Superior 
of  the  Maryland  Mission.  On  arriving  in  the  new  field 
of  his  labor,  he  took  up  his  residence  at  St.  Mary's  City, 
the  ancient  capital  of  Maryland.  The  wigwam  of  an 
Indian  chief,  which  Father  White  had  converted  into  a 
chapel,  served  him  as  a  place  of  Divine  Service.  Through 
the  prudence  and  zeal  of  Father  Copley,  great  piety,  fer- 
vor, and  peace  soon  reigned  among  the  inhabitants  of  St. 
Mary's.  Many  of  the  leading  gentlemen  there  made  the 
Spiritual  Exercises,  according  to  the  method  of  St.  Igna- 
tius, and  became  exemplary  Catholics.  "As  for  the 
Catholics,"  says  the  Annual  Letter  for  1639,  "  the  atten- 
dance on  the  sacraments  here  is  so   large,  that  it  is  not 


58  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

greater  among  the  faithful  in  Europe,  in  proportion  to 
their  numbers.  The  most  ignorant  have  been  catechized, 
and  catechetical  lectures  have  been  delivered  to  the  more 
advanced  every  Sunday;  on  feast-days  they  have  been  very 
rarely  left  without  a  sermon.  The  sick  and  the  dying, 
who  were  numerous  this  year,  and  dwelt  far  apart,  have 
been  assisted  in  every  way,  so  that  not  a  single  person 
has  died  without  the  sacraments.  We  have  buried  very 
many,  but  we  have  baptized  a  greater  number." 

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, 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  59 

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 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  6 1 

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  164S,  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  nourishing  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.  lingoes',  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. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  63 

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  ;  ne  was  educated  at  St.  Ome'r's  and  entered  the 
English  College  at  Rome  for  higher  studies  in  1 619  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  years,  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. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  65 

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 


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 
errant  me  grace  to  render  Him  some  service,  and  all  the 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  6y 

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 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES  69 

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 
16 10.  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. 


JO  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  was  passed  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  Fenvvick,  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 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  J I 

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 


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 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  73 

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  Liege,  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  161 3;  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. 

*  These  schools  have  probably  the  honor  of  being  the  first  of 
their  kind  established  in  Maryland. 


74  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

The  following  graphic  description  of  Father  Fitzher- 
bert's  journey  to  Maryland  may  prove  interesting  : 

"  1654.  This  year  Father  Francis  Fitzherbert,  destined 
for  Maryland,  at  the  first  intimation  of  our  Superior, 
entered  without  a  single  companion,  but  with  great  mag- 
nanimity and  alacrity,  upon  an  arduous  expedition,  and  a 
long  and  laborious  journey  among  strangers  differing 
wholly  in  morals  and  religion.  Nor,  during  his  entire 
expedition,  did  he  lack  an  abundant  harvest  of  merit, 
through  his  confidence  in  God  and  his  extraordinary 
patience.  Four  ships  sailed  together  from  England,  but 
were  overtaken  by  a  fearful  storm  as  they  were  passing 
the  Western  Isles,  and  the  ship  which  carried  the  Father 
was  so  shattered  that,  springing  a  leak  in  battling  with 
the  continued  violence  of  the  sea,  the  pump,  became 
almost  useless.  Four  men  at  a  time,  not  only  from  the 
ship's  crew,  but  from  among  the  passengers  also,  were 
kept  constantly  working  at  the  great  pump,  each  one  in 
turn  day  and  night. 

"  Having  changed  the  course,  their  intention  was  to 
make  sail  towards  Barbadoes,  but  no  art  or  labor  could 
accomplish  this,  and  so  they  decided  on  abandoning  the 
ship  and  committing  themselves  with  their  wares  to  the 
long  boat.  As,  however,  the  swelling  sea  and  huge  waves 
prevented  this  also,  many  a  form  of  death  presented  itself 
to  their  minds  and  the  habit  of  terror,  now  grown  a 
familiar  thought,  had  almost  excluded  the  particular  fear 
of  death.  The  tempest  lasted  in  all  two  months,  whence 
the  opinion  arose  that  it  did  not  come  from  the  storm  of 
sea  or  sky,  but  was  occasioned  by  the  malevolence  of 
demons.  Forthwith  they  seized  a  little  old  woman  sus- 
pected  of  sorcery,   and   after  examining   her   with    the 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  75 

strictest  severity,  they  killed  her,  whether  guilty  or  not 
guilty,  as  the  suspected  cause  of  all  the  evil.  The  corpse 
and  whatever  belonged  to  her  they  cast  into  the  sea. 
However,  the  winds  did  not  in  consequence  abate  their 
violence,  nor  did  the  raging  sea  smooth  its  threatening 
billows.  To  the  troubles  of  the  storm  sickness  was  added 
next,  which  attacked  almost  every  person  and  carried  off 
not  a  few.  The  Father  himself  escaped  untouched  by 
the  disease,  but  in  working  at  the  pump  somewhat  too 
laboriously,  he  contracted  a  slight  fever  of  a  few  days' 
continuance.  Having  passed  through  multiplied  dan- 
gers, at  length,  by  the  favor  of  God,  the  ship  reached  the 
port  of  Maryland." 

A  regular  chapel  was  probably  built  in  the  time  of 
Father  Fitzherbert,  at  Newtown.  In  the  trial  of  this 
Father  at  St.  Leonard's  Creek,  the  5th  of  October,  1658, 
one  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  was  that  he  tried 
to  force  Dr.  Thomas  Gerrard,  the  proprietor  of  St.  Cle- 
ment's Manor,  Bedlam  Neck,  to  go  to  church  on  Sun- 
days. Father  Fitzherbert  seems  to  have  been  a  very 
zealous  missionary.  This  is  proved  by  the  very  charges  * 
brought  against  him  by  the  enemies  of  religion  in  his 
time.  He  was  a  man  of  courage  and  resolve,  and  we  owe 
him  a  debt  of  deep  gratitude,  on  account  of  the  noble 
course  he  pursued  during  his  famous  trial.  Being 
accused,  among  other  things,  of  preaching  and  teaching 
at  Newtown  and  Chaptico,  he  neither  denied  nor  acknow- 

*  We  learn  from  the  indictment  of  Father  Fitzherbert  that  he 
was  fond  of  preaching  to  his  people,  and  that  he  was  not  unwilling 
to  address  even  Protestant  audiences.  He  was  very  zealous  in 
spreading  Catholic  books  and  Catechisms  all  around  him.  Henry 
Coursey  accuses  him  of  saying  that  "he  must  be  directed  by  his 
conscience  more  than  by  the  law  of  any  country." 


y6  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

ledged  the  charge,  but  defended  himself  under  the  plea 
that  "  by  the  very  first  law  of  this  country,  Holy  Church, 
within  this  province,  shall  have  and  enjoy  all  her  rights, 
liberties,  and  franchises,  wholly  and  without  blemish, 
amongst  which  that  of  preaching  and  teaching  is  not  the 
least.  Neither  imports  it  what  church  is  there  meant ; 
as  by  the  true  intent  of  the  Act  concerning  religion, 
every  church  professing  to  believe  in  God  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  is  accounted  Holy  Church  here. 
Because  by  the  act  entitled  'An  Act  Concerning  Religion,' 
it  is  provided  that  no  person  whatsoever,  professing  to 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  molested  for  or  in  respect 
of  his  or  her  religion,  or  the  free  exercise  thereof.  And 
undoubtedly  preaching  and  teaching  is  the  free  exercise 
of  every  churchman's  religion.  And  upon  this  I  crave 
judgment." 

The  decision  of  the  court  was  favorable  to  Father 
Fitzherbert.  It  is  given  in  the  following  terms  :  "  The 
opinion  of  the  Board  is,  that  it  is  neither  rebellion  nor 
mutiny  to  utter  such  words  alledged  in  the  4th  article,  if 
it  were  proved." 

In  1658  Father  Thomas  Payton  came  to  labor  on  the 
Maryland  Mission.  This  Father  was  a  native  of  Lin- 
colnshire, England,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1607.  He 
entered  the  Society  in  1630.  His  first  priestly  labors, 
we  believe,  were  as  camp  missioner  in  Belgium.  In  1649 
he  was  employed  in  the  London  District,  and  six  years 
later  on  we  find  him  employed  as  missioner  in  the  Hants 
District.  Having  spent  one  year  and  a  half  of  zealous 
toils  in  Maryland,  he  was  obliged  on  account  of  special 
business  to  return  to  England.  Returning  again  to  his 
Maryland  Mission  he  died  on  the  voyage,  January  the 
1 2  th,  1660. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES:  JJ 


CHAPTER  IV. 


In  1 66 1,  that  is  about  twelve  years  before  Father  Mar- 
quette floated  down  the  Mississippi  in  his  birch-bark 
canoe,  and  about  twenty-one  years  before  La  Salle  made 
his  way  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  Father  Henry  Warren,* 
alias  Pelham,  completed  with  distinction  his  fourth  year 
of  theology  in  one  of  the  English  Colleges  on  the  Euro- 
pean Continent.  Immediately  afterwards  he  was  sent  on 
the  "  happy  Mission  of  Maryland."  On  his  arrival,  accord- 
ing to  some  old  documents,  he  obtained  a  conveyance  of 
all  Church  property  from  Mr.  Fenwick  to  himself,  "  Mr- 
Copley's  successor."  On  October  the  6th,  1662,  he  pro- 
cured the  Patent  of  St.  Thomas'  Manor  from  Dr.  Thomas 
Matthews. 

Henry  Warren  was  a  native  of  "  brave  old  Kent,"  in 
England.  He  was  born  in  1635,  and  was  of  good  family. 
He  was  probably  the  brother  of  Father  William,  who,  at 
the  age  of  nineteen,  was  converted  to  the  Catholic  Faith 
by  a  priest  in  England.  William  was  not  a  Jesuit,  as 
Oliver  erroneously  states,  but  a  pious  and  devoted  sec- 
ular priest.  It  was  to  him  that  Father  Barton  referred 
when  he  said  :  "  Father  Warren  was  a  man  who  never 
sinned  in  Adam." 

*  Father  Warren  was  the  son  of  William  Warren  and  his  wife 
Anne  Downes.  He  entered  the  Society  in  1052,  being  then  about 
seventeen  years  of  age. 


yS  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Henry,  having  arrived  at  his  seventeenth  year,  en- 
tered the  Society.  In  February,  1670,  he  was  professed 
of  the  four  vows.  He  was  in  Maryland  at  the  time  of 
his  profession,  as  we  find  him  named  Superior  of  the 
Mission  in  1665.  After  laboring  for  some  years  in  Mary- 
land he  was  recalled  to  England.  During  the  remainder 
of  his  life  he  was  obliged  to  live  in  the  midst  of  dangers 
and  hardships.  He  lived  in  the  midst  of  persecution. 
The  old  block  that  is  now  on  exhibition  in  London 
Tower  was  then  red  and  wet  with  the  blood  of  his  breth- 
ren. He  was  the  minister  of  a  proscribed  creed,  and 
went  on  his  duties  with  a  price  set  upon  his  head.  He 
was  in  England  during  the  bloody  Revolution  of  1688. 
Just  before  this  unhappy  event  great  efforts  were  made 
to  gain  a  firm  footing  at  Oxford  for  the  Fathers.  If  this 
could  be  done  great  hopes  might  be  entertained  of  stem- 
ming the  flood  of  heresy  and  corruption  that  deluged 
the  fair  garden  of  the  Church  in  England.  Father  War- 
ren was  one  of  the  Fathers  chosen  for  this  difficult,  dan- 
gerous, and  important  task.  Among  the  distinguished 
Catholics  at  that  time  in  Oxford  were  William  Joyner, 
the  uncle  of  Father  Thomas  Phillips,  an  author  of  repute, 
and  John  Dryden,  who  but  a  short  period  before  had 
written  of  the  Church  as 

"  A  milk-white  Hind,  immortal  and  unchanged." 

The  arrival  of  William  of  Orange  in  England  quickly 
dashed  the  hopes  of  the  Catholics  to  the  ground.  The 
Revolutionary  storm  burst  forth,  and  Persecution  once 
more  drew  its  merciless  and  blood-stained  sword. 
Throughout  all   England,  but  especially  in  Oxford,  the 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  79 

Catholics  were  hunted  down  and  trampled  upon.  The 
following  letter  from  Father  Warren,  written  some  time 
after,  will  help  to  give  us  an  idea  of  the  state  of  things 
around  him.  The  letter  was  sent  to  the  Provincial,  Fa- 
ther John  Clare  (Sir  John  Warner,  Bart.),  and  is  couched 
in  disguised  terms  for  prudence'  sake : 

Oxford,  2d  May,  1690. 
Hon.  Sir  : — You  are  desirous  to  know  how  things  are 
with  us  in  these  troublesome  times,  since  trade  (religion) 
is  so  much  decayed.  I  can  only  say  that  in  the  general 
decline  of  trade  we  have  had  our  share.  For,  before  this 
turn,  we  were  in  a  very  hopeful  way,  for  we  had  three 
public  shops  (chapels)  open  in  Oxford.  One  did  wholly 
belong  to  us,  and  good  custom  we  had,  viz :  the  Univer- 
sity (University  College  Chapel) ;  but  now  it's  shut  up ; 
the  master  was  taken,  and  ever  since  in  prison,  and  the 
rest  forced  to  abscond.  In  Mag.  (Magdalen  College)  we 
had  one  good  man  in  a  good  station,  and  in  time  might 
have  had  more  concern ;  but  now,  all  is  blown  over,  and 
our  master,  Thomas  Beckett,  one  evening  was  thrown 
down  in  the  kennel,  trampled  upon,  and  had  been  killed, 
had  not  one,  upon  the  noise,  come  up  with  a  candle. 
In  Christ  Church,  though  we  had  no  man,  yet  the  mas- 
ter was  reconciled  by  us,  and  in  a  short  time  would  have 
taken  one  (of  the  Society),  but  now  he  is  fled,  and  the 
shop  shut  up.  In  other  places  all  were  forced  to  fly, 
and  ever  since  to  hide  for  fear  of  the  law.  Mr.  Luson 
(Father  Edward  Levison)  was  so  closely  pursued,  that 
he  was  forced  to  quit  his  horse,  and  by  ways  full  of  water 
and  dirt  to  walk  in  his  boots,  twenty-two  hours  together, 
sometimes  up  to  the  middle,  so  that  before  he  could  reach 


80  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

any  place  to  rest  in  security,  the  blood  was  settled  in  his 
feet.  No  rents  are  paid,  and  worse  things  we  expect,  if 
some  better  settlement  be  not  soon  found  out ;  of  which 
we  are  still  in  some  hope.  Thus,  in  short,  I  have  sent 
you  what  I  know,  and  am,  honoured  sir, 

Your  very  humble  servant, 

Henry  Pelham. 

To  be  a  priest  in  those  times,  to  be  a  priest  who  was 
faithful  to  his  God,  required  no  ordinary  courage.  He, 
who,  like  Father  Warren,  was  true  to  his  vocation  during 
the  Penal  Days,  "  that  dark  time  of  cruel  wrong,"  was 
undoubtedly  a  hero,  an  apostle,  a  noble  soldier  of  the 
Cross.  In  170 1  we  find  Father  Warren  still  laboring  in 
the  Oxfordshire  District.  The  Catholics  at  that  period 
who  claimed  his  ministrations  were  not  numerous,  but 
they  were  far  apart,  and  he  was  obliged  to  serve  them  in 
secret,  and  at  the  peril  of  his  life. 

The  Superior  of  St.  Mary's  Residence,  the  headquart- 
ers of  Father  Warren,  and  from  which  he  sallied  forth 
under  the  cover  of  night,  and  in  disguise,  to  attend  his 
persecuted  flock,  was  Father  Francis  Hildesley,  a  man 
"  who  admirably  administered  the  duties  of  his  office." 
His  co-laborers  were  Fathers  John  Alcock,  alias  Gage, 
Charles  Collingwood,  Edward  Levison,  John  Mostyn, 
and  Thomas  Poulton. 

Father  Warren  was  not  only  a  good  religious  and  a 
fervent  missionary,  but  was  also  a  man  of  great  business 
capacity.  Like  Father  Copley,  he  attended  to  the  tem- 
poral affairs  of  the  Mission,  and  like  him  he  was  prudent 
and  far-seeing.  After  a  long  life  of  constant  toils  and 
sufferings,  he    crowned   his    days  with   a   peaceful  and 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  8 1 

happy  death  in  the  scene  of  his  last  labors  on  June  the 
7th,  1702,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

The  name  of  Father  Peter  Manners  appears  in  the 
Catalogue  for  1664. 

I  will  here  take  the  liberty  of  citing  some  extracts 
from  the  Maryland  Annual  Letters  : 

1669.  Two  Fathers  have  charge  of  the  Maryland 
Mission  ;  a  third,  Father  Peter  Manners,  was  suddenly 
taken  from  amongst  us  in  the  beginning  of  his  fruitful 
labors,  no  less  to  the  regret  than  to  the  loss  of  the  in- 
habitants. To  repair  our  deficiency,  two  priests  and  a 
temporal  coadjutor  were  sent  over  this  autumn,  so  that 
the  Mission  now  comprises  four  priests  and  three  tem- 
poral coadjutors. 

Father  Peter  Manners,  vere  Pelcon,  who  was  one  of 
the  most  zealous  of  the  missionary  Fathers,  was  unhap- 
pily drowned  in  crossing  a  river.  The  Provincial,  Fa- 
ther Joseph  Simeon,  has  left  us  the  following  description 
of  him  : 

Father  Peter  Manners  was  a  native  of  Norfolk,  thirty- 
eight  years  of  age.  He  spent  twelve  years  in  the  So- 
ciety, most  of  them  in  the  Maryland  Mission,  with  great 
zeal  and  fruit.  He  ended  his  days  on  Wednesday  in  the 
Easter  week  of  this  year  (April  24th,  1669),  by  a  sudden 
but  not  an  unprovided  death.  Obedience  directed  him 
to  it,  and  charity  consummated  his  course,  even  amidst 
the  waters,  which  could  not  extinguish  his  charity,  though 
they  did  extinguish  his  life.  For  having  been  summoned 
to  a  distant  call  of  duty,  whilst  crossing  a  rapid  mill- 
stream,  which  had  become  unusually  swollen  by  the 
rains,  he,  together  with   his  horse,  was  carried  away  by 


82  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

the  torrent  and  drowned.  He  was  deeply  regretted  by 
his  people. 

John  Pennington  was  born  in  1647  m  tne  city  of  Lon- 
don. Of  the  Jesuits  that  he  saw  in  his  youthful  days  he 
could  tell  many  a  strange  story.  The  terrible  fate  that 
had  befallen  many  of  them  whom  young  Pennington  had 
met  did  not  deter  him  from  following  their  example.  It 
rather  incited  him  the  more  to  enter  their  ranks  in  the 
hope  of  one  day  attaining  the  martyr's  crown.  Perse- 
cution only  adds  to  the  courage  and  generosity  of  every 
true  child  of  the  Church.  So  in  his  nineteenth  year, 
John  Pennington  put  on  bravely  and  cheerfully  the  pro- 
scribed mantle  of  the  Jesuit,  in  the  Novitiate  of  Watten. 

Watten*  is  about  two  leagues  distant  from  St.  Omer. 
In  1625  the  English  Jesuit  Novitiate  was  removed  from 
Liege  to  that  place.  In  1702,  Clementia,  Countess  of 
Flanders,  founded  a  church  at  Watten  in  honor  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Nicholas,  and  St.  Richerius  ;  and  to 
this  was  subsequently  attached  a  College  of  Regular 
Canons.  On  its  dissolution,  St.  Pius  V.  annexed  it  to 
the  newly-founded  See  of  St.  Omer.  With  the  consent 
of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  and  of  the  Court  of  Brussels, 
the  Church  and  Manor,  with  a  revenue  of  three  thousand 
florins,  were  conveyed  in  perpetuity  by  the  Bishop,  James 

*  A  report  for  1705  observes  :  Although  this  house  (Watten  No- 
vitiate), buried  in  the  remote  solitude  of  the  mountain,  would  seem 
to  be  rather  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  interior  life  alone,  never- 
theless the  novices  once  a  week  gave  catechism  and  Christian 
doctrine  in  the  villages  to  the  distance  of  two  or  three  German 
miles.  On  the  greater  feasts  one  thousand,  and  often  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  from  these  villages  flocked  to  the  church  to  re- 
ceive the  holy  sacraments,  which  might  well  be  styled  the  sanctu- 
ary of  those  rural  districts. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  83 

Blase,  O.  S.  F.,  for  the  Novitiate  of  the  English  Jesuits. 
This  grant  was  ratified  by  the  Father-General  Aquaviva 
in  1612. 

At  Watten  our  youth  learned  to  deny  himself,  to  fly 
from  worldly  grandeur,  and  to  pant  after  the  glory  of 
God.  He  was  carefully  exercised  in  humble  offices  that 
he  might  learn  more  thoroughly  to  understand  the  virtue 
of  humility  of  spirit.  His  hours  were  chiefly  spent  in 
pious  reading,  and  in  close  communion  with  his  Maker 
by  means  of  mental  prayer. 

After  leaving  Watten  Father  Pennington  was  sent  to 
Liege  to  study  his  theology  at  the  celebrated  Jesuit  Col- 
lege in  that  city.  In  1678  he  was  employed  in  mission- 
ary duty  in  the  College*  of  the  Immaculate  Conception 
(Derby  District).  From  England  he  was  sent  out  to 
help  the  missionaries  in  Maryland,  who  stood  very  much 
in  need  of  fellow-laborers.  During  the  time  he  was  in 
Maryland  some  of  the  Fathers,  to  their  other  duties, 
added  that  of  teaching.  In  1677  a  school  for  humanities 
was  opened  by  the  Society,  in  the  centre  of  the  country. 
It  was  directed  by  two  of  the  Fathers.  The  Annual 
Letters  say :  The  native  youth,  applying  themselves 
assiduously  to  study,  make  good  progress.  Maryland 
and  the  recently  established  school  sent  two  boys  to  St 
Omer,  who  yielded   in   abilities  to  few  Europeans  when 

*  About  thirty-eight  years  before  Father  Pennington's  time,  Fa- 
ther Henry  Wilkinson,  in  this  same  residence,  was  arrested,  then 
committed  to  prison,  and  arraigned  at  the  bar,  but  no  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  priesthood  appearing  against  him,  the  heretical 
oath  of  allegiance  was  tendered  to  him,  and  upon  his  refusing  to 
take  it,  he  was  condemned  to  the  penalty  of  premunire.  After 
three  years  imprisonment  he  was  liberated  by  some  soldiers. 


84  O'LD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

competing  for  the  honour  of  being  first  in  their  class. 
So  that  not  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  the  other  products  of  the  ■ 
earth  alone,  but  men  also,  are  gathered  from  thence  to 
bring  those  regions,  which  foreigners  have  unjustly  called 
ferocious,  to  a  higher  state  of  virtue  and  cultivation. 
Two  of  the  Society  were  sent  out  to  Maryland  this  year 
to  assist  the  laborers  in  that  most  ample  vineyard  of  our 
Lord. 

Father  John  Pennington  did  not  last  long  amid  the 
fatigues  and  hardships  of  the  Maryland  Mission.  He 
departed  this  life  on  the  18th  of  October,  1685,  in  the 
thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age.  I  find  him  named  in  some 
documents  as  "  Mr.  John  Pennington  of  St.  Clement's 
Bay."  This  is  sufficient  proof  that  he  resided  for  some 
time  at  Newtown. 

The  name  of  Father  John  Matthews  appears  in  the 
Catalogue  for  1691.  This  Father  was  born  in  London, 
1658,  and  entered  the  Society  on  the  9th  of  October, 
1677.  After  having  served  the  Maryland  Mission  with 
fidelity  and  zeal,  he  died  at  Newtown  on  the  8th  of  De- 
cember, 1694,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  years. 

Father  William  Hunter  came  to  Maryland  in  1692, 
and  became  Superior  of  the  Mission  four  years  later  on. 
Father  Hunter  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  and  was  born 
in  1659.  He  entered  the  Society  in  his  twentieth  year. 
After  his  ordination  he  spent  one  year  in  missionary 
labors  in  England.  He  died  in  Maryland,  August  the 
15th,  1723. 

Father  John  Hall,  another  of  the  missionaries,  came 
to  Maryland  in  1692.  In  1696  we  find  him  named  as 
Procurator.  Before  1698  he  returned  to  Europe  and 
appears  as  Minister  and  Professor  of  Casuistry  at  Ghent 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  85 

for  the  years  1700  and  1 701.  Father  Hall  died  at  Ghent 
on  the  9th  of  July,  1703,  aged  thirty-nine  years. 

Father  James  Gonent,  a  native  of  Artois,  born  in  1653, 
was  not  destined  by  Providence  to  work  in  the  Maryland 
Mission.  This  good  Father  died  on  the  voyage  to  Am- 
erica in  1698. 

The  name  of  Rev.  James  Haddock  appears  in  the 
Catalogue  for  1699.  His  name  is  also  found  in  some  of 
the  old  books  of  the  Newtown  Library.  He  belonged 
to  the  Order  of  Minorites  of  Strict  Observance. 

Father  Matthew  Brooke  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1672. 
Being  already  a  priest,  he  entered  the  Society  in  1699. 
In  the  Catalogue  for  1701  he  is  mentioned  as  being  at 
Liege  preparing  for  his  examination.  He  served  for  a 
short  time  in  Charles  County,  and  died  at  St.  Thomas 
Manor  in  1702. 

Father  William  Wood  came  to  Maryland  in  1700. 
He  was  born  in  Surrey  in  February,  167 1.  He  entered 
the  Society  in  1689,  and  was  professed  of  the  four  vows. 
He  took  the  name  of  Guillick  as  his  alias.  Father  Wood 
spent  twenty  years  in  the  Maryland  Mission,  in  which  he 
died  in  August,  1720. 

Father  Richard  Kirkham,  alias  Latham,  came  to  Ma- 
ryland in  1703.  This  missionary  was  born  in  Lancashire 
on  the  31st  of  July,  167 1.  He  entered  the  Society  in 
169 1,  as  Richard  Latham,  vere  Kirkham.  He  is  named 
in  the  Diary  of  Mr.  Blundell,  of  Crosby.  "  Dr.  Richard 
Latham  came  hither  to  show  the  petition  which  was 
presented  to  the  Queen  by  Bernard  Howard  on  behalf 
of  the  said  Dr.  Latham,  Mr.  Hagerston,  etc.,  March  29th, 
1703,  and  Latham  went  hence  to  Liverpool  in  hopes  to 
take  shipping  to  Virginia,  January  29th,  1703.     I  went 


86  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

with  Mr.  Richard  Latham  to  Liverpool  and  helped  him 
to  buy  goods."  Father  Richard  died  on  his  return  voy- 
age to  England  from  Maryland  in  1708. 

The  name  of  Father  Thomas  Percy,  a  native  of  Shrop- 
shire, appears  in  the  Roman  Catalogue  for  1682.  This 
Father  soon  after  returned  to  England,  and  died  in  Ghent 
January  25th,  1685. 

Father  Henry  Cattaway,  who  also  came  to  Maryland 
in  1703,  was  born  in  Suffolk  in  September,  1675.  He 
entered  the  Society  in  1693.  After  spending  about  three 
years  in  the  Maryland  Mission  he  returned  to  England 
and  served  the  mission  in  the  College  of  St.  Chad,  Staf- 
ford District,  until  17 10,  when  he  was  sent  to  the  College 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  Derby  District,  and  died 
probably  in  the  same  College,  March  13th,  17 18,  aged 
forty-three  years. 

Father  Thomas  Havers  appears  in  the  Catalogue  for 
1705.  This  Father  was  a  native  of  Thelton,  County' 
Cambridge,  born  February  28th,  1668.  He  entered  the 
Society  at  Watten,  September  7th,  1688.  In  1701  he 
was  Prefect  at  St.  Omer's  College.  This  Father  was  of 
a  delicate  constitution,  and  as  the  Catalogue  for  1730 
observes,  extremely  infirm.  He  died  at  Watten,  May  the 
16th,   1737. 

Father  Thomas  Hodgson  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire, 
born  on  the  2d  of  November,  1682.  He  entered  the 
Society  in  September,  1703.  In  171 1  he  was  sent  to  the 
Maryland  Mission.  He  died  at  Bohemia  Manor,  Cecil 
County,  Maryland,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1726. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.'  8? 


CHAPTER  V. 


In  Br.  Henry  Foley's  Collectanea  we  have  the  follow- 
ing account  of  another  early  missionary  :  Father  Edward 
Tidder,  alias  Edward  Ingleby,  was  a  native  of  Suffolk, 
born  1630;  entered  the  Society  September  7th,  1652, 
and  was  professed  of  the  four  vows  (under  the  name  of 
Edward  Ingleby,  according  to  a  list  of  professions  in  the 
archives,  but  as  Edward  Tidder,  in  the  Catalogue  of  the 
Province),  on  February  2d,  1672.  Being  ordained  priest 
April  1 6th,  1661,  he  was  sent  soon  afterwards  to  the 
Maryland  Mission,  where  he  is  traced  from  1663  till  1667. 
In  1669  he  was  missioner,  and  Procurator  or  Superior  in 
the  College  of  the  Holy  Apostles  (Suffolk  District).  In 
1679  he  succeeded  the  martyred  Procurator  of  the  Prov- 
ince, Father  William  Ireland,  and  retained  that  office  for 
some  years,  and  is  named  Edward  Ingleby  in  a  letter 
from  Father  Warner  (alias  Clare),  the  Provincial,  to  the 
Father-General,  dated  St.  Omer's  College,  June  15th, 
1690.  (Anglia,  Stonyhurst  MSS.,  vol.  v.,  n.  1 10.)  The 
temporal  affairs  of  the  Province  had  been  nearly  brought 
to  ruin  by  the  persecution  in  the  Oates  Plot,  and  espe- 
cially by  means  of  a  traitor  agent,  and  Fathers  Edward 
Petre  and  Tidder  made  great  efforts  to  gather  up  the 
scattered  fragments.  Great  difficulty  is  expressed  in  the 
above  letter  of  finding  means  to  support  the  members  of 
the  Province,  who  were  either  lying  in  prisons,  or  had  no 


88  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

patrons  to  whom  to  resort,  for  many  of  the  noblemen 
and  gentry  who  formerly  retained  a  chaplain,  were  then 
afraid  or  unable  to  do  so,  both  on  account  of  their  reduced 
means  and  of  the  dangerous  times.  August,  1678-91,  he 
retired  for  a  short  time  in  concealment,  and  ventured 
back  again  in  November  following,  as  the  Provincial 
expresses  in  a  letter  to  the  Father-General,  November 
7th,  1679.  (Father  John  Warner's  Note  and  Letter- 
Book.)  In  September,  1679,  he  was  appointed  Vice- 
Rector  of  St.  Ignatius'  College,  London  (Id.).  He  is 
mentioned  in  several  other  letters  of  the  Provincial  in 
the  same  Note  and  Letter-Book.  He  went  to  reside  at 
the  New  College  in  the  Savoy,  Strand,  May  24th,  1687. 
(See  Records  S.  J.,  vol.  v.,  p.  265.)  He  was  Vice-Pro- 
vincial in  England  in  1690,  and  his  death  is  recorded  in 
the  Necrology  of  the  Province,  in  the  name  of  Edward 
Ingleby,  in  London,  January  2d,  1699. 

Father  George  Pole  appears  in  Maryland  in  1668. 
This  Father  was  a  native  of  Derbyshire,  and  was  born  in 
1628.  He  entered  the  Society  in  1656.  In  1658  he  was 
missioner  in  the  Yorkshire  District,  and  during  1665  in 
the  adjoining  Residence  of  St  John  (the  Durham  Dis- 
trict). He  died  in  the  Maryland  Mission  on  the  31st  of 
October,  1669. 

We  will  give  here  the  copy  of  a  letter  from  Father 
Joseph  Simeons,  Provincial,  to  the  Very  Rev.  Father- 
General,  recounting  the  death  of  Father  Pole  : 

Very  Rev.  Father  in  Christ,  Pax  Christi  : 

On  the  31st  of  October,  1669,  died  in  Maryland,  Fr. 
Geo.  Pole.  He  volunteered  himself  two  years  before  for 
that  arduous  Mission  in  America,  having  in   the  prcced- 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  89 

ing  year,  when  the  plague  raged  in  London,  heroically 
devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  afflicted.  If  any- 
thing else  in  his  praise  can  be  collected,  it  shall  later  on 
be  put  into  the  form  of  a  eulogy.  In  the  meantime,  I 
humbly  beg  your  Paternity  to  be  pleased  to  order  the 
usual  suffrages  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  Since  the 
Superior  of  Maryland  writes  word  that  Ours,  on  account 
of  their  fewness  in  numbers,  are  worn  out  with  over- 
work, the  sick  even,  as  was  the  case  with  Father  George 
Pole,  being  obliged  to  assist  the  dying,  I  humbly  ask 
your  Paternity  to  allow  the  Provincial  to  send  there  some 
who  have  finished  their  studies. 

Your  V.  Rev.  Paternity's  humble  Serv't  in  Christ, 

Joseph  Simeons. 
London,  28th  Feb.,  1669. 

According  to  the  Annual  Letters  for  1671,  Father 
William  Pelham  died  in  the  Maryland  Mission  in  that 
year.  This  missionary  was  born  about  the  year  1624,  in 
Suffolk,    England.     He    entered    the    Society    in    1643. 

Twelve  years  afterwards  we  find  him  zealously  labor- 
ing at  the  College  of  the  Holy  Apostles. 

The  Fitzwilliams  of  Lincoln,  England,  gave  some  dis- 
tinguished members  to  the  Society  of  Jesus.  William, 
George,  and  John,  alias  Villiers,  were  probably  brothers 
by  blood,  as  well  as  by  the  holy  ties  of  the  religious 
profession.  Father  George  made  his  studies  at  the 
English  College,  at  Rome.  The  other  two  brothers 
pursued  their  studies  both  at  St.  Omer's  and  at  the  Eter- 
nal City.  William  leaves  us  the  following  statement : 
"  My  true  name  is  William  Fitzwilliam.  I  am  son  of 
William  Fitzwilliam  and  Frances  Hilliard,  both  Catholics 


9<D  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND   AND 

and  of  distinction.  I  was  born  in  Lincolnshire.  I  have 
no  relatives  surviving  on  my  father's  side,  and  have  an 
only  sister  married  to  Lord  Percy.  On  my  mother's 
side  are  two  uncles  and  two  aunts  living  in  the  County 
of  Suffolk.  But  for  the  oppression  of  Catholics  by  the 
heretics,  my  parents  would  be  living  in  very  good  cir- 
cumstances." 

Father  John  Villiers  made  his  Novitiate  at  Watten. 
Soon  after  his  ordination  he  was  sent  to  the  Maryland 
Mission  where  his  death  occurred  on  the  30th  of  Octo- 
ber, in  the  year  1665. 

Father  Francis  Pennington  was  born  in  Worcestershire 
in  1644,  and  entered  the  Society  in  his  twentieth  year. 
He,  in  company  with  Father  Nicholas  Gulick  and  two 
lay-brothers  sailed  with  the  royal  fleet  from  London  in 
1675.  They  arrived  safely  in  Maryland  towards  the  end 
of  autumn.  Father  Pennington  soon  became  noted  for 
his  zeal  and  prudence,  and  was  chosen,  in  1684,  to  suc- 
ceed Father  Michael  Forster  as  Superior  of  the  Mission. 
His  days  were  cast  in  evil  times.  He  was  Superior  of 
Maryland  during  the  Protestant  Revolution  of  1689.  He 
witnessed  all  the  horrors  of  that  black  time.  His  heart 
must  have  often  bled  to  see  the  fatal  triumphs  of  the 
enemies  of  religion,  to  see  churches  desecrated,  to  see 
his  people  persecuted  and  his  priests  "  hunted  down  like 
wolves."  To  add  to  the  sorrows  of  Father  Pennington 
he  saw  some  of  his  dear  fellow-priests  dying  at  their  posts 
around  him. 

Though  the  Collectanea  says  that  Father  Francis  Pen- 
nington died  on  his  passage  back  to  Europe,  I  learn  from 
an  old  document  before  me  that  he  expired  on  the  22d 
of  February,  1699,  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Hill,  in  Newtown. 


ITS    EARLY     JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  9 1 

It  is  probable  that  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill  while  visit- 
ing some  members  of  his  congregation. 

Father  Nicholas  Guillick  was  a  native  of  Rouen,  and 
was  born  in  1647.  In  his  twenty-second  year  he  entered 
the  Novitiate  at  Watten.  In  1675  we  find  him  as  mis- 
sioner  at  Watten,  but  even  then  destined  by  his  Superior 
for  the  Maryland  Mission. 

Among  the  missionaries  in  Maryland  in  1677,  was 
Father  Thomas  Gavan,  who  is  thought,  with  much  rea- 
son, to  have  been  the  brother  of  Father  John  Gavan,  who 
suffered  at  Tyburn  on  June  the  30th,  1679.  Father  John 
"  was  a  man  of  remarkable  talent,  and  a  noted  preacher, 
and  was  called  the  silver  trumpet,  from  his  sweet  and 
clear  intonation  of  voice."  The  missionary,  Father 
Thomas  Gavan,  was  probably  of  the  Norrington-Wilts 
family.  He  was  born  in  London  in  1646,  and  became  a 
Jesuit  novice  in  1668.  After  having  labored  for  some 
years  in  Maryland,  he  returned  to  England  in  1685,  and 
served  the  Mission  of  Thelton,  in  the  College  of  the 
Holy  Apostles,  for  some  time.  He  was  then  sent  to  the 
Hampshire  District,  and  subsequently  to  the  College  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier  (the  Hereford  and  South  Wales  Dis- 
trict). He  died  piously  in  Lincolnshire,  on  June  the  4th, 
1712. 

Father  Michael  Forster,  alias  Gulick,  comes  before  us 
in  the  annals  as  Superior  of  Maryland  in  1678.  This 
missionary  belonged  to  a  truly  Catholic  family  of  dis- 
tinction who  suffered  much  on  account  of  their  fidelity  to 
the  ancient  Faith.  His  father,  Mr.  Henry  Forster,  who, 
after  the  death  of  his  wife  entered  the  Society  as  a  Coad- 
jutor Brother,  "  was  a  man  of  birth,  and  highly  connected 
in  the  County  of  Suffolk.     He  was  one  of  the  six  chil- 


92  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

dren  of  Christopher  Forster,  Esq.,  of  the  Parish  of  Cop- 
doke,  in  Suffolk,  by  his  mother,  Elizabeth  Rookwood,  of 
the  ancient  family  of  that  name.  He  married  the  eldest 
of  three  co-heiresses,  daughters  of  a  Mr.  Mason,  of  the 
County  of  Huntingdon,  and  had  twelve  children.  The 
nine  who  survived  infancy,  namely,  six  daughters  and 
three  sons,  all  entered  religion." 

Christopher  Forster  and  Elizabeth  Rookwood,  the 
grandparents  of  this  missionary,  "  were  both  persons  of 
unspotted  fame  and  reputation,  and  great  sufferers  for 
their  religion,  both  as  to  imprisonment  and  loss  of 
means."  Their  son,  Henry,  the  father  of  our  mission- 
ary, was  a  model  of  every  virtue  both  in  the  world  and 
in  religion.  He  "  was  one  of  those  several  Catholic 
families  who  compounded  with  the  King  not  to  be  mo- 
lested from  abroad  upon  the  account  of  religion,  and 
thus  he  and  his  wife  enjoyed  themselves  in  all  peace  and 
prosperity  from  about  the  twenty-fourth  to  the  forty- 
second  year  of  his  age,  in  as  well  a  regulated  family  as 
any  doubtless  in  England,  keeping  always  an  open 
chapel  as  long  as  the  times  did  allow  it,  and  Mass  con- 
stantly about  eight  in  the  morning;  and  at  four  after  din- 
ner on  Sundays  and  Holidays  Vespers  of  the  Divine 
Office,  read  by  the  priest,  and  always  at  nine  at  night  the 
long  litanies,  and  in  Holy  Week  the  whole  office  of  the 
Church  with  all  its  ceremonies."  But  great  trials  and 
troubles  came  at  last.  The  mother  of  our  missionary 
passed  away  suddenly  on  Good  Friday,  about  the  hour 
ofTcnebrae.  She  left  behind  her  nine  children — "three 
sons  and  six  daughters — whereof  Michael^  the  least  and 
last,  had  scarce  a  year  old  complete.  But  this,"  writes 
one  of  Mr.  Forster's  sons,   "  was  as  it  were  only  a  little 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  93 

prologue  to  the  grand  scene  which  soon  followed,  the 
cruel  wars  not  long  after  breaking  out,  and  a  great  per- 
secution against  Catholics,  whereof  my  father  had  his 
share.  What  stories  were  not  raised  against  him  ?  of 
armies  under  ground  which  he  had  trained  up  in  his 
court  by  night ;  of  I  know  not  how  many  cooks,  who 
after  having  dressed  and  served  in  a  vast  number  of  oxen, 
and  not  so  much  as  a  bone  coming  out  again  for  them  to 
pick,  all  quitted  his  house  and  service;  and  the  maid # of 
the  parson  of  the  next  parish  was  said  to  have  taken  her 
oath  that  she  saw  a  cart  load  of  bright  armor  enter  in 
our  great  gate,  which  vain  and  false  report  gained  so 
much  upon  sober  men,  that  three  nights  together  our 
house  was  beset  by  men  sent  by  the  Chief  of  Ipswich  for 
to  discover  the  hidden  arms,  etc.,  but  the  rabble  of  Ip- 
swich was  so  incensed  thereby,  that  they  could  scarce  be 
kept  from  gathering  into  a  head  to  come  and  pull  down 
the  house  over  our  heads,  lest  we  should  cut  their  throats 
with  the  hidden  army,  and  what  they  long  threatened, 
six  or  seven  thousand  not  long  after  of  the  rabble,  out  of 
the  associated  counties  did  in  a  manner  effect,  our  house 
being  the  fourth  they  rifled  and  defaced,  in  so  much  so, 
that  one  Squire  Blosse,  a  Protestant  neighbor,  coming  to 
see  it  afterwards  could  not  forbear  weeping.  Indeed,  my 
father  had  this  advantage  over  his  fellow-Catholic  neigh- 
bors who  complained  more  of  the  insolence  of  their  own 
parishioners  than  of  those  who  came  afar  off,  whereas  the 
whole  parish  urged  and  offered  to  take  arms  to  withstand 
the  rabble,  and  defend  our  house,  which  my  father  re- 
fused, to  hinder  the  mischief  which  might  thence  acrue 
to  the  parish  itself,  choosing  rather  to  see  his  house  and 
self  perish  than  to  permit  any  harm  to  happen  to  any  one 


94  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

of  them,  resolved  according  to  the  example  of  others  of 
his  Catholic  neighbors  to  abandon  all  to  God's  holy 
Providence ;  but  the  parish  would  not  rest  here,  but 
came  in  the  night  with  carts  to  transport  the  chief  mov- 
ables to  their  own  houses,  to  which  my  father  consented 
in  part,  fearing  lest  finding  the  house  wholly  unfurnished 
it  might  occasion  their  own  plunder." 

It  would  be  going  beyond  the  purpose  of  this  book  to 
recount  all  the  trials  and  sufferings  of  Mr.  Henry  Forster. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  the  rabble  endeavored  to 
catch  that  worthy  gentleman  in  order  to  be  able  to  burn 
him  to  death  in  one  of  his  own  rooms ;  that  his  estate 
was  sequestrated,  and  that  being  thus  reduced  in  circum- 
stances he  was  obliged  "  to  break  up  house-keeping,  and 
let  out  half  the  manner  (manor)  house,  with  tillage  to  a 
tenant,  and  make  money  upon  his  own  stock  to  live  upon 
in  the  other  part  of  the  house,  as  it  were  privately,  reduc- 
ing his  family  of  some  twenty,  to  himself,  nine  children, 
and  one  maid,  and  priest  when  at  home."  After  an  end- 
less series  of  persecutions,  Mr.  Forster  determined  to 
leave  England  and  go  into  exile.  He  retired  to  Belgium. 
After  spending  some  time  at  Antwerp  he  removed  to 
Brussels,  where  he  lived  for  nearly  three  years.  During 
this  period  "  he  dieted  himself  and  Michael  with  Mr. 
Bedingfield,  but  put  his  daughters  to  pension  among  the 
Devotes,  and  not  into  monasteries,  not  to  seem  to  thrust 
them  into  religion,  but  to  leave  it  wholly  to  God  and 
their  own  choice." 

Michael,  at  a  very  early  period,  was  sent  to  St.  Omer's 
to  make  his  studies.  On  the  30th  of  October,  1659,  be- 
ing then  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  was  admitted  an 
Alumnus  of  the  English  College  in  Rome.      On  the  5th 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  95 

of  April,  1660,  he  left  the  College  and  entered  the  Society 
at  Watten.  According  to  the  Collectanea  he  came  to 
Maryland  in  1669.  He  died  in  Maryland  on  February 
the  6th,  I684.  Father  John  Warner,  Provincial,  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  Very  Rev.  Father-General,  dated  August  the 
20th,  1680,  mentions  a  report  that  a  school  had  been 
established  in  Maryland,  of  which  Father  Michael  was 
Superior,  in  which  they  taught  humanities  with  great 
success. 

One  of  the  teachers  in  this  early  school  was  Thomas 
Hothersall,  an  Approved  Scholastic,  who  went  by  the 
alias  Slater.  Mr.  Hothersall  was  the  son  of  William 
Hothersall  and  his  wife  Ann  Slater,  both  of  the  middle 
class  of  Society.  "  The  Slaters,"  says  a  note  in  the  Col- 
lectanea, "  were  a  good  Catholic  yeoman  family,  Thomas 
Slater  appearing  in  a  list  of  non-jurors  in  17 15,  as  hold- 
ing an  estate  at  Grimsargh,  adjoining  the  township  of 
Hothersall.  They  were,  later,  connected  by  marriage 
with  the  Heatleys  of  Brindle  Lodge."  Thomas  was  pro- 
bably the  uncle  of  Father  William  Hothersall,  who  was 
the  last  Jesuit  Rector  of  the  English  College,  Rome,  from 
1766,  until  the  Suppression  in  1773.  Mr.  Thomas  Hoth- 
ersall was  born  at  Grimsargh,  and  had  one  brother  and 
two  sisters.  He  was  always  a  Catholic,  and  made  his 
studies  at  St.  Omer's  College.  He  became  a  Jesuit  on 
the  20th  of  June,  1668.  From  the  Catalogue  we  learn, 
that  though  he  studied  theology,  he  was  never  ordained 
priest.  Two  of  this  old  Catholic  and  loyal  Lancashire 
family,  the  Hothersall  family,  probably  uncles  of  Thomas, 
lost  their  lives  in  the  service  of  their  Sovereign  in  the 
civil  war.  These  were  George,  a  lieutenant  at  Liverpool, 
and  John,  a  captain  at  Greenhalgh,   Lancashire.      Mr. 


g6  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Thomas   Hothersall  died  in  Maryland,  in  the  year  1698, 
aged  56  years. 

1 67 1.  In  the  mission  of  Maryland  this  year,  are  two 
priests  and  two  temporal  coadjutors.  The  mission  bears 
no  little  fruit,  as  we  learn  from  the  last  letters,  and  its 
fruit  would  be  still  greater  were  the  labourers  more  in 
number.  Few  are  living  of  those  sent  in  former  years. 
Two  died  this  year,  Father  William  Pelham  and  Thomas 
Sherborne,  a  lay-brother.  There  were  fifty  converts, 
many  of  high  note,  and  fifty-four  were  baptized. 

1672.  Two  priests  and  two  lay-brothers  have  laboured 
diligently  in  the  conversion  of  heretics  and  in  strengthen- 
ing and  instructing  Catholics,  and  no  little  fruit  has  been 
gained  by  them  this  year. 

Since  the  last  account  seventy-four  converts  have  been 
made  and  one  hundred  persons  baptized. 

1673.  This  year  there  were  two  priests,  and  a  lay- 
brother  who  attended  to  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  mis- 
sion, whilst  the  Fathers  devoted  their  labours  chiefly  to 
confirming  the  Catholics  in  their  faith,  and  instilling  unto 
them  the  principles  and  practices  of  piety.  They  treated 
also  occasionally  with  the  Protestants,  of  whom  they  have 
reconciled  twenty-eight  to  the  Church.  They  baptized 
seventy  infants. 

Two  Franciscan  Fathers  were  sent  last  year  from  Eng- 
land as  coadjutors  in  the  labours  of  the  mission,  between 
whom  and  ourselves  fraternal  charity  and  offices  of  mu- 
tual friendship  are  exercised,  to  the  common  good  of  the 
Catholic  cause. 

1674.  There  were  three  priests  this  year  and  one  lay- 
brother.  Thirty-four  converts  were  received,  and  sev- 
enty-five baptisms  administered. 


ITS    EARLY   JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  97 

1677.  The  mission  was  increased  at  the  end  of  the 
year  by  two  members ;  one  a  priest  and  the  other  a  lay- 
brother.  Brother  Francis  Knatchbull  died  here  June  6th, 
1677.  He  was  admitted  at  Watten,  November  20th, 
1671,  and  while  yet  in  his  noviceship,  being  full  of  zeal, 
he  asked  with  great  earnestness  for  the  mission  of  Mary- 
land, and  obtained  his  request  at  the  end  of  the  year 
1674  ;  he  lived  in  it  only  two  years. 

According  to  the  English  Records,  Francis  Knatch- 
bull was  not  a  priest,  but  a  lay-brother.  Father  Robert 
Knatchbull,  who  was  for  some  time  at  Ghent,  and  served 
the  Missions  of  Brough  and  Walton  Hall,  County  York, 
was  a  native  of  Maryland  ;  he  was  born  in  17 16,  made 
his  humanities  at  St.  Omer's,  and  entered  the  Society  in 
1735. 


GL/a/c 


98  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 


CHAPTER  VI. 


Before  proceeding  any  further,  it  may  be  well  to 
devote  some  space  to  the  Protestant  Revolution  of  1689. 
We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  state  that  all  the  non-Catholic 
authors  whom  we  had  occasion  to  consult  speak  in  just 
and  honorable  terms  of  the  Catholics  of  that  period. 
Mr.  Davis,  who  is  one  of  the  very  best  authorities  in 
matters  connected  with  Maryland's  early  history,  and 
who  seems  everywhere  free  from  prejudice,  deserves  our 
gratitude  for  the  manner  in  which  he  deals  with  this 
question.  A  kw  words  are  here  necessary  as  to  the 
character  of  St.  Mary's  early  settlers.  "  These,"  writes 
Mr.  Thomas  D'Arcy  McGee,  in  his  Catholic  History  of 
North  America,  "  were  chiefly  of  the  better  classes  of 
England  and  Ireland  ;  educated  young  men  in  search  of 
employments  ;  heads  of  families  in  search  of  cheaper 
subsistence;  men,  proud  of  their  ancient  faith,  who  pre- 
ferred an  altar  in  the  desert  to  a  coronet  at  court ;  pro- 
fessional or  trading  men,  bound  by  interest  and  sympathy 
to  these  better  classes.  They  composed  a  wise  and 
select  community  worthy  of  their  rich  inheritance." 
From  the  very  beginning  they  treated  others  as  they 
themselves  would  wish  to  be  treated.  They  were 
neither  cruel  nor  unjust.  They  dealt  fairly  with  the 
poor  red  men,  teaching  them  the  comforts  of  civilization 
and  the  consolations  of  religion,  and  paying  them  with 
conscientious  strictness  for  their  furs,  game,  and  land. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  99 

Vile  and  unscrupulous  miscreants  took  advantage  of 
the  friendship  that  existed  between  the  Catholic  settlers 
and  the  Indians  to  accuse  the  former  of  a  black  and 
horrible  crime.  They  accused  them  of  entering  into  a 
compact  with  the  Indians  for  the  purpose  of  slaying  all 
their  Protestant  neighbors. 

"The  history  of  the  Protestant  revolution  in  1689," 
writes  Mr.  Davis,  "has  never  yet  been  fully  written. 
But  there  is  evidence  upon  the  records  of  the  English 
government  to  show  it  was  the  result  of  a  panic, 
produced  by  one  of  the  most  dishonorable  falsehoods 
which  has  ever  disgraced  any  religious  or  any  political 
party — by  the  story,  in  a  few  words,  that  the  Roman 
Catholics  had  formed  a  conspiracy  with  the  Indians,  to 
massacre  the  Protestants.  The  testimony  comes  from 
the  most  respectable  sources — not  only  from  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  also  from  many  of  the 
most  prominent  Protestants  of  the  province,  including  the 
Honorable  Thomas  Smyth,  the  ancestor  of  the  Smyths 
of  Trumpington,  subsequently  of  Chestertown  ;  from 
Major  Joseph  Wickes,  at  one  time  Chief  Justice  of  the 
County  Court,  and  many  years  a  distinguished  repre- 
sentative of  Kent ;  from  the  Honorable  Henry  De 
Courcy  (then  written  Coursey),  a  descendant,  it  is 
strongly  presumed,  of  an  illustrious  Anglo-Norman,  and 
a  perfect  master  of  the  whole  aboriginal  diplomacy  of 
that  period  ;  from  Michael  Taney,  the  high  sheriff  of 
Calvert  County,  and  the  ancestor  of  the  lamented  Chief 
Justice  Taney ;  from  Richard  Smith,  a  brave  and  gen- 
erous spirit,  connected  with  the  family  of  Somerset, 
and  the  forefather  of  the  Smiths  of  St.  Leonard's  Creek, 
and  of  the  Dulanys  and  the  Addisons  ;  and  from  Captain 


IOO  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Thomas  Claggett,  the  progenitor  of  the  first  Anglican 
Bishop  of  Maryland."  With  Mr.  Davis  all  Catholics 
will  heartily  join  in  saying,  "the  opposition  of  these 
Protestants  is,  indeed  honorable,  in  the  highest  degree 
to  their  memory." 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  the  spirit  of  the  party 
that  supplanted  the  Catholic  Governors  in  St.  Mary's. 
What  has  been  written  will  also  show  how  powerless 
were  the  conscientious  little  body  of  Catholics  in  South- 
ern Maryland  to  stem  the  torrents  of  corruption 
rebellion,  fraud,  and  persecution  that  rushed  in  upon 
them  in  1689. 

Coodc's  rebel  friends  succeeded  in  overthrowing  the 
kind  government  of  the  Cal verts,  and  a  new  Governor, 
Sir  Lionel  Copley,  arrived  in  Maryland  early  in  1692, 
and  received  control  of  the  colony  from  the  hands  of  the 
"  Committee  of  Safety." 

Among  those  who  boldly  defended  the  fair  name  of 
the  Catholics  at  this  period,*  were  Michael  Taney  and 
Henry  Darnall.  Both  these  gentlemen  were  high  in  the 
favor  of  the  Lord  Proprietary,  and  were  honored  and 
respected,  by  all  true  lovers  of  peace  and  prosperity  in 
the  province.  Their  letters  proving  the  falsity  of  the 
charges  brought  against  the  Catholics  may  be  found  in 
The  Day-Star.     "  Taney  was  one  of  the   victims    of  a 

*  On  an  old  volume,  a  commentary  on  the  Psalms,  we  find  the 
following  note  : 

Decemb.  ye    29th  1685 
Then  was  this  Booke  &  y°    other 
two  partes  belonging  to  itt 
Lent  to  Mr  Cannon  by  mee 

Henry  Darnall. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  IOI 

cruel  imprisonment,  accompanied  with  gross  insults  and 
indecent  taunts,  in  consequence  of  his  cool  and  inflexible 
refusal  to  sanction  the  iniquitous  proceeding  of  Col. 
Jowles  and  the  other  leaders  of  the  Revolution."  The 
spirit  of  Michael  Taney  will  soon  be  learned  when  we 
say  that  he  was  accustomed  to  make  his  spiritual  reading 
out  of  Rodriguez.  The  old  volume  he  used  is  in  the 
Newtown  library  and  bears  his  name. 

The  success  of  the  Revolution  was  the  destruction  of 
the  hopes  of  St.  Mary's. 

Having  glanced  at  the  periods  preceding,  and  immed- 
iately following,  the  Protestant  Revolution  of  1689,  we 
can  more  easily  form  some  conception  of  the  sufferings 
and  trials  of  the  missionaries  in  Maryland.  What  they 
had  to  endure  from  the  cruelty  and  enmity  of  Coode 
who  considered  them  the  chief  cause  of  the  opposition 
he  met  with,  and  the  strongest  enemies  of  the  Protestant 
religion,  can  without  difficulty  be  fancied.  In  the 
Annual  Letters,  1685-1690,  we  find  the  following: 
"  Our  missions  in  the  West  Indies  of  Maryland,  and 
indeed  of  New  York  underwent  the  same  fate  with  those 
of  England.  In  the  latter  (New  York)  there  were  only 
two  priests,  and  these  were  forced  in  this  storm  to 
change  their  residence,  as  also  the  Catholic  Governor 
himself  (Governor  Dongan).  One  of  them  travelled  on 
foot  to  Maryland,  the  other,  after  many  perils  on  the 
sea,  having  been  captured  and  plundered  by  Dutch 
pirates,  at  length  arrived  safe  in  France.  In  Maryland 
great  difficulties  are  suffered.  Our  Fathers  yet  remain 
to  render  what  consolation  they  can  to  the  distressed 
Catholics." 

After  the  sad  and  baneful  overthrow  of  the  Lord  Pro- 


102  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

prietary's  authority  the  seat  of  government  was  removed 
to  Annapolis.  The  Catholics  were  again  to  be  perse- 
cuted, and  to  be  made  the  victims  of  a  crying  injustice. 
The  Anglican  Church  was  established  by  law  in  Mary- 
land, and  the  Catholics  were  taxed  for  its  support.  Those 
who  have  read  and  studied  the  history  of  the  Established 
Church  in  England  and  Ireland,  can  easily  understand 
the  monstrosity  of  such  an  establishment  in  this  country. 
Catholics  were  obliged  to  build  churches  in  which  they 
would  never  worship  ;  they  were  forced  to  feed  parsons 
whose  services  they  would  never  use,  to  support  a  creed 
which  their  conscience  condemned  as  false. 

The  Brooke  family  in  England,  though  a  few  of  its 
members  unfortunately  lost  the  faith,  were  distinguished 
during  the  Penal  Days  as  bold  and  fervent  Catholics.  Sir 
Basil  Brooke  was  a  loyal  son  of  the  Church.  Sir  Robert 
Brooke,  who  was  knighted  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary, 
"was  always  zealous  in  the  cause  of  the  Old  Religion." 
Through  his  influence  many  laws  favorable  to  the  Cath- 
olics were  passed  in  the  days  of  Mary.  We  count  at  least 
five  of  the  Brooke  family  in  Maryland,  all  natives  of  that 
state,  who  became  Fathers  of  the  Society.  There  were 
two  branches  of  the  family  at  an  early  date  in  Maryland. 
Robt.  Brooke,  the  founder  of  a  Protestant  settlement  in 
Charles  county,  and  whose  estate,  De  la  Brooke,  joined 
the  Fenwick  Manor  at  Cole's  Creek,  as  I  learn  from  an 
old  survey,  was  at  the  head  of  one  of  these  branches.  At 
the  head  of  the  other  was  Francis  Brooke,  a  Catholic,  and 
one  who  was  chosen  by  the  freemen  of  St.  Mary's  hun- 
dred to  represent  them  at  the  Protestant  Assembly  of 
1650.      At  that  famous  Assembly  he  sat  at  the  council- 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  IO3 

board  with  Cuthbert  Fenwick,  Geo.  Manners,  John  Med- 
ley and  Philip  Land^  all  Catholics  like  himself. 

Father  Robert  Brooke  was  born  in  Maryland  on  the 
24th  day  of  October,  1663.  He  probably  made  a  part  of 
his  studies  at  the  school  opened  by  the  Jesuits  in  Mary- 
land in  1677.  He  was  certainly  one  of  those  young 
Marylanders  who  distinguished  themselves  at  St.  Omer's 
and  reflected  much  credit  on  their  native  State.  His 
generosity  of  character  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  en- 
tered the  Society  in  his  twenty-first  year,  at  a  time  when 
the  Church  in  the  Colonies  was  suffering  on  all  sides  and 
from  every  quarter.  Stronger  in  him  than  the  fear  of 
pains,  privations,  and  penalties  was  a  desire  of  his  own 
perfection,  and  a  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls. 
After  having  made  his  Novitiate  at  Watten  and  his  the- 
ology at  Li6ge  he  returned  to  Maryland  about  the  year 
1696.  The  afflicted  state  of  the  oppressed  Catholics 
must  have  pained  and  deeply  wounded  his  priestly  heart. 
Just  two  years  before  his  return,  St.  Mary's  City  had  lost 
its  prestige,  and  Providence  had  become  the  capital — 
Providence,  the  stronghold  of  Puritanism.  In  17 10  Fa- 
ther Brooke  became  Superior  of  the  Mission.  This  was 
then  an  office  of  much  care  and  solicitude.  It  was  indeed 
a  weighty  cross.  Among  other  troubles  he  had  much, 
very  much,  to  suffer  from  Protestant  intolerance.  He 
was  tried  for  saying  Mass  at  the  Chapel  at  St.  Mary's 
City  during  Court  time.  Governor  Seymour  severely 
reprimanded  him,  and  warned  him  under  heavy  penalties 
not  to  repeat  the  offence.  The  Sheriff  of  St.  Mary's 
County  was  ordered  to  lock  up  the  chapel  and  to  keep 
the  key  in  his  possession.  After  many  trials  Father 
Brooke  died  at  Newtown  on  the  18th  of  July,  1714,  aged 


104  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

fifty-one  years.     He  is    called  a   "  worthy  Father "  by 
Oliver. 

Richard  Molyneux  was  born  in  London  in  1696.  He 
was  a  missioner  at  Gateshead  in  1724.  Eleven  years 
afterwards  he  was  sent  to  Maryland,  and  became  its  Su- 
perior in  1736.  He  left  Maryland  in  1749,  and  was  for  a 
time  Chaplain  at  Marnhull  (Hussey  family),  thence  re- 
moved to  Bonham,  county  Wilts,  where  he  died  in  1766. 
He  was  then  Rector  of  the  Residence  of  St.  Thomas,  of 
Canterbury. 

Father  George  Hunter  was  born  in  Northumberland 
in  17 1 3.  He  entered  the  Society  in  1730.  In  1747  he 
was  sent  on  the  Maryland  Mission,  and  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1756.  In  1759  he  was  again  sent  to  Maryland. 
Father  Hunter  was  for  a  long  time  Superior  of  the  Mis- 
sion. In  1769  he  went  to  Canada,  and  thence  to  Eng- 
land again.  Returning  to  Maryland,  he  died  at  St. 
Thomas'  Manor,  Charles  County,  on  the  1st  of  August, 
1779,  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  Fathers  Kingdom 
and  Leonard. 

Father  Hunter  was  noted  as  a  spiritual  director,  and 
gave  many  retreats  at  Newtown,  St.  Inigoes  and  St. 
Thomas'.  It  is  said  that  two  angels  once  took  him  on 
a  sick-call,  and  rowed  him  in  a  boat  across  the  Potomac. 
His  vigils  and  fastings  were  extraordinary.  He  kept 
ward  over  all  his  senses,  and  did  as  much  as  he  could  to 
keep  himself  in  recollection  of  the  Divine  Presence. 

The  following  pious  lines  are  taken  from  his  diary  : 
"  Constant  recollection  and  ever  keeping  ourselves  in  the 
presence  of  God,  having  our  God  constantly  as  a  specta- 
tor of  all  our  actions,  as  in  reality  He  is,  are  in  some 
sense  the  only  means  to  a  virtuous  course  of  life.     At 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  105 

least  it  is  certain  that  we  cannot  arrive  at  any  degree  of 
perfection,  or  be  in  any  degree  acceptable  and  agreeable 
to  our  Divine  Master,  without  this  uninterrupted  recol- 
lection of  spirit,  this  uninterrupted  sanctifying  presence 
of  God." 

Father  Henry  Poulton  labored  zealously  for  some 
time  at  Newtown.  This  good  religious  belonged  to  a 
family  distinguished  alike  in  Church  and  State.  No  less 
than  twelve  of  his  kinsmen  enrolled  themselves  under  the 
standard  of  St.  Ignatius.  His  ancestors  were  gallant 
knights  who  came  from  Normandy  in  the  reign  of  Will- 
iam the  Conqueror.  One  of  his  blood  was  Thomas 
Poulton,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  another  was  Philip  Poul- 
ton, Archdeacon  of  Gloucester.  John  Poulton  of  Des- 
borough  married  Jane,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Richard, 
Lord  of  Desborough.  It  is  indeed  extremely  probable 
that  had  it  not  been  for  their  attachment  to  the  faith  they 
professed,  some  of  the  members  of  this  branch  of  the 
family  would  have  been  advanced  to  high  honors ;  for  in 
addition  to  being  one  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  king- 
dom—  descended,  according  to  a  pedigree  in  the  College 
of  Arms,  from  old  Norman  Princes — the  family  estates 
were  very  extensive,  comprising,  in  addition  to  the  lord- 
ship of  Desborough  and  other  less  important  possessions, 
manors  and  lands  in  Cransley,  Kelmarsh,  Broughton, 
and  Hargrave.  The  Poultons  of  Desborough  were 
staunch  Catholics.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Civil 
War  they  ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  Charles  I., 
although  in  his  reign,  as  well  as  in  the  reign  of  James  I., 
they  suffered  severely  for  their  attachment  to  their  reli- 
gion, as  a  reference  to  the  State  Papers  of  those  days 
abundantly  testifies.    They  were  indeed  supposed  to  have 


106  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

been  implicated  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot ;  and  to  this  day 
a  cottage  at  Desborough  is  shown  as  the  place  where 
this  nefarious  scheme  was  concocted.  Concocted  at 
Desborough,  and  at  the  house  of  a  tenant  of  John  Poul- 
ton, it  may  have  been ;  but  that  he  was  privy  thereto 
was  disproved  by  his  subsequent  conduct  in  sacrificing 
his  fortune,  and  venturing  his  life  in  defence  of  his  sov- 
ereign. As  has  been  said,  no  family  in  England  suffered 
more  on  account  of  religion  and  loyalty.  In  the  reigns 
of  James  L,  and  of  Charles  I.,  their  estates  were  sequest- 
ered, and  they  themselves  repeatedly  fined  ;  notwithstand- 
ing which,  throughout  the  Civil  War,  they  (with  perhaps 
one  notable  exception)  fought  for  their  King,  barely 
escaping  with  their  lives.  At  the  Restoration  in  1661  it 
might  therefore  naturally  have  been  supposed  that  such 
devoted  loyalty  as  was  shown  by  the  Desborough  Poul- 
tons  would  have  met  with  some  sort  of  recognition,  or 
at  least  that  they  would  have  been  free  from  further  per- 
secutions. This,  however,  was  not  the  case,  and  under 
such  circumstances  as  those  herein  briefly  described,  the 
wonder  is,  not  that  the  family  estates  at  last  passed  into 
other  hands,  but  that  they  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  same  family — from  father  to  son — for  so  long  a 
period  as  three  hundred  and  seventy-five  years. 

The  Poultons  were  connected  by  marriage  with  the 
Palmers,  Thimelbys,  Coniers,  and  many  other  families 
of  influence  and  position  of  the  same  faith  as  themselves. 
Giles  Poulton,  the  yougest  son  of  Giles  Poulton  of  Des- 
borough, married  Alice,  elder  daughter  and  co-heiress 
of  Thomas  More,  of  Burton,  in  the  parish  of  Bucking- 
ham,  of  the   same  family  as  the  martyred   Lord  Chan- 


ITS     EARLY   JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  IO7 

cellor,  Sir  Thomas   More.     Of  this  marriage  was   born 
Ferdinando  Poulton,  the  eminent  lawyer. 

Father  Henry  Poulton  was  the  son  of  Ferdinand  Poul- 
ton, of  Desborough,  Esq.,  and  Juliana,  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert Garter,  of  the  County  of  Northampton.  He  was 
born  in  Northamptonshire,  in  1679.  While  still  young 
he  was  sent  to  St.  Omer's  College,  where  he  made  his 
humanity  studies.  This  college  was  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  of  all  the  schools  opened  during  the  Penal 
Days  for  the  instruction  of  the  Catholic  youth  of  the 
British  Empire  who  were  denied  the  rights  of  education 
at  home.  To  it  flocked  the  scions  of  the  noblest  Cath- 
olic families  of  England  and  Ireland.  In  the  streets  of 
the  old  town  of  St.  Omer  could  be  seen  some  of  the  no- 
blest and  bravest  of  the  defenders  of  the  faith  in  these 
countries.  Besides  the  secular  college  for  the  education 
of  youth  there  were  at  St.  Omer  a  college  for  students 
preparing  for  the  priesthood  and  destined  for  the  English 
mission,  a  house  for  Irish  students,  and,  likewise,  a  Jesuit 
one,  destined  for  members  of  the  Society  alone.  We  may 
rest  assured  that  young  Poulton  profited  by  his  stay  at 
St.  Omer's.  We  feel  satisfied  that  he  often  felt  his  heart 
inflamed  with  love  for  the  old  religion  when  he  heard  in 
his  foreign  home  of  her  terrible  sufferings,  when  he  was 
exhorted  by  confessors  and  exiles  for  the  faith  of  his 
forefathers  to  love  her  with  his  whole  heart,  and,  if  nec- 
essary, to  shed  his  blood  for  her  holy  cause.  "  In  the 
College  of  St.  Omer,"  says  an  old  Protestant  writer,  "  a 
city  in  the  Archduke's  country,  there  be  one  hundred  and 
forty  scholars,  most  of  them  gentlemen's  sons  of  great 
worship.  And  I  have  heard  say  for  a  truth  amongst 
those   there    be    not  six  that  ever  were  at  any  of  our 


108  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

churches  in  England,  and  many  of  them  be  about  twenty 
years  of  age."  The  reader  will  here  recall  the  fact  that 
by  one  of  the  Penal  Laws  all  were  obliged  to  appear 
publicly  at  the  services  of  the  English  Established 
Church.  The  violation  of  this  law  was  the  cause  of  the 
complaint  made  by  the  bigoted  writer  just  cited. 

As  Henry  Poulton  advanced  in  years  and  knowledge 
so  also  did  he  advance  in  piety.  Before  having  tasted  of 
the  false  pleasures  of  the  world  he  learned  to  despise 
them.  Just  when  he  had  attained  the  strength  and  years 
of  manhood  he  heard  the  low,  sweet  voice  of  the  Spirit 
of  Love  calling  him  to  a  life  of  perfection.  His  generous 
soul  yielded  to  grace,  and  he  put  on  the  poor  habit  of 
the  sons  of  St.  Ignatius.  His  choice  of  a  state  of  life, 
when  we  recall  the  mission  of  death  before  him  iff  Eng- 
land, must  be  considered  in  every  respect  heroic.  No 
doubt  he  longed  in  his  soul  for  the  fate  of  the  gentle 
Robert  Southwell,  for  the  fate  of  him  who  was  allied  to 
him  by  noble  blood,  Sir  Thomas  More. 

After  Father  Poulton's  studies  and  ordination  he  re- 
turned to  England.  But  we  believe  he  was  not  allowed 
to  remain  long  in  that  country  for  we  soon  find  him  en- 
gaged on  the  Maryland  Mission.  Of  the  missionary 
labors  of  Father  Poulton  we  have  found  no  record.  But 
we  can  easily  imagine  with  what  zeal  he  labored  when 
we  call  to  mind  the  sacrifices  he  made  on  entering 
religion,  the  careful  training  he  had  received  in  fervent 
St.  Omer's,  and  the  generosity  with  which  he  had  left 
his  friends  and  his  native  land  far  behind  him.  God  saw 
fit  not  to  prolong  his  trials  in  Maryland,  for  being  ripe 
for  heaven,  He  called  him  to  receive  his  eternal  inherit- 
ance on  the  27th  of  September,  171 2.     He  died  in  the 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  IOO, 

flower  of  his  age  at  the  Newtown  Station.  He  sleeps 
with  those  good  Fathers  above  whose  graves  arise  no 
tomb,  whose  very  epitaphs  have  been  left  unwritten.  Still, 
in  the  Desborough  Church,  the  church  of  his  ancestors, 
there  stood  a  monument  which  bore  the  following  in- 
scription :  "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  honorable 
family  of  the  Poultons,  who  for  fourteen  generations 
were  lords  of  this  town  of  Desburgh  or  Desborough. 
Descended  from  princely,  most  noble,  illustrious  and 
holy  progenitors  of  this  kingdom.  Besides  this  lordship 
they  possessed  manors  and  lands  in  Cransley,  Kelmarsh, 
Broughton,  and  Hargrave,  in  this  county." 

Father  Poulton  had  three  brothers  in  the  Society, 
namely,  Charles,  Thomas,  and  Giles,  Jun.  The  latter 
held  several  important  positions  in  the  Jesuit  Order,  and 
was  usually  called,  on  account  of  his  virtues  and  meek- 
ness of  character,  "  The  Angel." 

Father  Thomas,  like  Henry,  was  sent  at  an  early  age 
to  St.  Omer's.  There  he  found  a  vocation  to  religion. 
Having  completed  his  nineteenth  year  he  entered  a  Jesuit 
Novitiate.  He  was  afterwards  engaged  in  different  offices 
in  St.  Omer's.  In  1730  we  find  him  acting  as  Prefect  at 
that  College.  Having  left  St.  Omer  he  proceeded  to  the 
Eternal  City.  It  was  there  that  he  made  his  solemn 
Profession  of  the  four  vows.  This  was  in  1734.  Four 
years  later  on  he  was  sent  to  Maryland  to  work  in  that 
field  in  which  his  brother  had  found  an  early  grave.  He 
labored  successfully  for  the  good  of  souls  in  Charles, 
Cecil,  and  St.  Mary's  Counties.  He  was  Superior  of  the 
Mission  for  some  years.  In  1746  he  had  twelve  Fathers 
and  one  lay -brother  to  assist  him.  In  January,  1749,  he 
sank  from  his  labors  at   Newtown.     His  body  was  laid 


I  IO  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

beside  that  of  his  cherished  brother,  Henry.  "  Even  in 
death  they  were  not  divided."  There  is  something  pa- 
thetic in  the  thought  of  these  worthy  scions  of  an  ancient, 
princely  family  reposing  side  by  side  in  the  little  grave- 
yard of  Newtown. 

Nearly  every  country  in  Europe  had  at  one  time  or 
another  one  of  its  missionaries  in  Southern  Maryland. 
England,  Ireland,  France,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Belgium, 
and  Holland  sent  some  of  their  children  to  work  in  that 
chosen  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  Wales,  too,  gave  it  one  of 
her  brave  sons  in  the  person  of  Fr.  Francis  Floyd.  This 
devoted  missionary  was  born  in  the  land  of  St.  David  on 
the  17th  of  November,  1692.  He  entered  the  Society  in 
his  eighteenth  year,  the  day  being  the  7th  of  September. 
He  was  sent  on  the  Maryland  Mission  in  1724.  Four 
years  later,  being  distinguished  by  learning  and  virtue, 
he  was  professed  of  the  four  vows.  He  labored  zealously 
for  some  time  at  Newtown,  where  he  died  on  the  13th  of 
November,  1729,  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I  I  I 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Father  Thomas  Hodgson  was  a  native  of  Yorkshire, 
England,  and  was  born  on  the  2d  of  November,  1682. 
He  became  a  Jesuit  September  3d,  1703,  and  was  sent  on 
the  Maryland  Mission  in  171 1.  He  departed  this  life 
December  14th,  1726. 

Father  John  Bennet,  alias  or  vere  Gosling,  was  a  native 
of  London,  and  was  born  March  17th,  1692.  He  entered 
the  Society  of  Jesus  September  7th,  17 10.  He  arrived 
in  Maryland  about  the  year  1724,  and  labored  in  that 
Mission  for  some  years.  About  the  year  1750  he  was  a 
missioner  at  Lytham,  County  Lancaster.  He  died  at 
Highfield,  near  Wigan,  April  2d,  175  I,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
nine. 

Father  Joseph  or  Josiah  Greaton  was  born  in  London 
on  the  2d  of  February,  1679.  On  July  the  5th,  1708,  he 
entered  a  Jesuit  Novitiate.  According  to  a  paper  in  the 
Jesuit  Archives  he  was  sent  to  Maryland  in  172 1.  "  Oli- 
ver calls  Father  Greaton  the  Apostle  of  Pennsylvania,  as 
he  toiled  in  that  State  for  nearly  twenty  years  before 
going  to  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland.  He  was  the 
founder  of  Catholicity  in  Philadelphia ;  at  first  his  con- 
gregation numbered  eleven  persons.  This  is  said  on  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Westcott.  St.  Joseph's  Church,  together 
with  the  residence  in  Willing's  Alley,  was  built  by  Father 
Greaton  in  1733." 


112  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Archbishop  Carroll  thus  refers  to  Father  Greaton : 
"  About  the  year  1730,  or  rather  later,  Father  Greaton,  a 
Jesuit  (for  none  but  Jesuits  had  yet  ventured  into  the 
English  Colonies),  went  from  Maryland  to  Philadelphia, 
and  laid  the  foundations  of  that  congregation,  now  so 
flourishing ;  he  lived  there  till  the  year  1750,  long  before 
which  he  had  succeeded  in  building  the  old  chapel, 
which  is  still  contiguous  to  the  presbytery  of  that  town, 
and  in  assembling  a  numerous  congregation  which,  at 
his  first  going  thither  did  not  consist  of  more  than  ten 
or  twelve  persons.  I  remember  to  have  seen  this  vener- 
able man  at  the  head  of  his  flock  in  1748." 

The  first  Jesuits  who  labored  in  Pennsylvania  came 
from  the  Maryland  Mission.  Though  there  was  much 
work  to  be  done  on  the  banks  of  the  Patuxent,  Potomac, 
and  Elk  Rivers,  still  the  missionaries  at  Newtown,  St. 
Inigoes,  and  especially  Bohemia,  a  little  later  on,  could 
not  neglect  altogether  the  souls  of  those  of  the  House- 
hold of  Faith  who  dwelt  on  the  shores  of  the  Delaware 
and  on  the  wooded  mountains  of  Penn's  Plantation. 
Though  no  Proprietary  invited  them,  though  no  Gov- 
ernor encouraged  them,  still  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland 
often  penetrated  the  stronghold  of  Quakerism,  disguised 
and  in  secret,  and  ministered  to  the  wants  of  the  few 
scattered  Catholics  of  Pennsylvania,  who  had  as  yet  no 
resident  priest  among  them.  During  the  few  short  years 
that  New  York  possessed  English  Jesuits,  it  is  almost 
certain  that  the  Philadelphia  Catholics  were  visited  by 
missionaries  from  the  banks  of  the  Hudson.  But  it  was 
years  after  the  death  of  Harvey,  Harrison,  and  Gage  that 
the  first  Jesuit  residence  was  built  in  the  City  of  Brotherly 
Love. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  II3 

"  Previous  to  the  year  1733,"  says  an  old  paper  before 
me,  "the  few  Catholics  who  then  resided  in  Philadelphia, 
held  meetings  for  religious  worship  in  a  private  dwelling; 
for  the  public  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion  was  not 
permitted,  according  to  the  laws  of  England,  which  pre- 
vailed in  America  at  that  epoch.  In  the  above  year,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Greaton,  a  priest  of  the  Order  of  Jesuits,  pur- 
chased lots  near  Fourth  Street,  between  Walnut  and 
Willing's  Alley,  and  erected  thereon  a  small  chapel,  ded- 
icated to  St.  Joseph,  which  has  since  been  enlarged." 

We  lately  found  an  interesting  paper  relating  to  the 
first  visit  of  Father  Joseph  Greaton  to  Philadelphia.  On 
this  paper  we  find  the  following  note :  "  This  I  have 
heard  from  Archbishop  Neale,  the  4th  of  December, 
l8i5,the  first  day  he  was  Archbishop  of  Baltimore." 
The  document  itself  is  as  follows  :  "  Mr.  Greaton,  one 
of  the  Jesuits  of  Maryland,  being  informed  that  in  Phila- 
delphia there  was  a  great  number  of  Catholics,  resolved 
to  try  to  establish  a  mission  for  their  spiritual  comfort. 
In  order  to  succeed  the  better  he  went  first  to  Lancaster 
where  he  had  an  acquaintance  by  the  name  of  Mr. 
Doyle.  The  object  of  his  journey  was  to  know  from  his 
friend  the  name  of  some  respectable  Catholic  in  Philadel- 
phia, to  whom  he  could  address  himself,  and  by  whom 
he  could  be  seconded  in  his  laudable  exertions  to  found 
there  a  mission.  Mr.  Doyle  directed  him  to  an  old 
lady,  very  respectable  for  her  wealth,  and  still  more  for 
her  attachment  to  the  Catholic  Religion.  Father 
Greaton  on  his  arrival  at  Philadelphia  presented  himself 
dressed  like  a  Quaker  to  the  lady,  and  after  the  usual 
compliments,  he  turned  his  conversation  on  the  great 
number  of  sectaries  who  were  in  that  city.     The  lady 


I  14  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

made  a  long  enumeration  of  them — Quakers,  Presby- 
terians, Lutherans,  Church  of  England  members,  Baptists, 
etc.,  etc.  The  Father  then  asked  her  :  '  Pray,  madam, 
are  there  here  any  of  those  who  are  called  Papists  ?' 

1  Yes,'  she  replied,  '  there  is  a  good  number.' 

1  Are  you  one  ?'  asked  the  Father. 

The  lady  stopped  a  little,  and  then  acknowledged  that 
she  was. 

*  I  am  one  too,'  added  the  priest. 

This  gave  rise  to  many  other  questions,  among  which 
was  the  following  :  '  Have  the  Catholics  any  Church  ?' 
The  lady  answered  :  '  No,  they  have  none.' 

'  Do  you  think  that  they  would  be  glad  to  have  one  ?' 
continued  Father  Greaton. 

'  Most  certainly,  sir,  but  the  great  difficulty  is  to  find  a 
priest.' 

1  Are  there  no  priests  in  America  ?' 

'  Yes,  there  are  some  in  Maryland,  but  it  would  be 
impossible  to  get  priests  from  that  quarter.' 

*  No,  not  impossible,'  said  the  missionary,  '  I  myself 
am  one  at  your  service.' 

'  Is  it  true  !'  asked  the  lady  with  warm  interest,  '  is  it 
true  that  you  are  a  priest !' 

1  Yes,  madam,  I  assure  you  I  am  a  priest.' 
"  The  good  lady  could  not  contain  her  joy  to  see  after 
so  many  years  a  Catholic  priest,  and  like  the  Samaritan 
woman  who,  having  found  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  ran  to 
announce  it  to  the  citizens  of  Samaria,  she  went  through 
the  neighborhood  and  invited  her  Catholic  acquaintances 
to  come  and  see  a  Catholic  priest  in  her  house.  This 
was  soon  filled  with  Catholics,  for  the  most  part  Ger- 
mans.    Then  Father  Greaton  began  to  expose  to  them 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  I  1 5 

the  object  of  his  journey.  At  that  very  meeting  a  sub- 
scription was  opened  to  raise  sufficient  funds  to  buy  lots, 
and  build  a  Catholic  church.  All  willingly  contributed 
to  this  good  work.  They  bought  lots  and  a  house  of 
their  hostess,  who  acted  in  a  very  generous  manner." 

Father  Greaton  died  on  the  19th  of  August,  1753. 
From  an  old  catalogue  I  learn  that  Father  John  Lewis 
"  officiated  at  his  funeral." 

Father  Thomas  Mansell,  alias  Harding,  was  born  in 
Oxfordshire  in  the  year  1669.  Having  studied  human- 
ities at  St.  Omer's  College,  he  entered  the  Jesuit  Order 
on  the  7th  of  September,  1686.  In  1700,  having  been 
ordained  priest  some  time  previous,  he  was  sent  on  the 
Maryland  Mission.  Father  Mansell's  name  is  closely 
interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  mission  of  Bohemia, 
Cecil  County,  Md.  The  following  passages  from  an 
able  article  on  Bohemia,  in  the  Woodstock  Letters,  will 
not,  therefore,  be  out  of  place  : 

The  Fathers  of  St.  Mary's  were  ever  on  the  alert  to 
seize  any  opportunity  of  spreading  the  Gospel.  Re- 
strained by  unjust  laws  which,  on  occasions,  were 
almost  as  inflexible  as  those  of  the  penal  code  in 
England,  they  nevertheless  were  untiring  in  their  efforts 
in  the  midst  of  hardships  and  dangers.  Their  bitter  foes 
of  the  Established  Church,  the  Puritans  no  less  hostile, 
false  brethren,  who,  be  it  said,  were  by  God's  grace,  very 
few,  might  pass  still  severer  laws  against  the  faith,  but 
they  could  not  quench  the  zeal  of  the  sons  of  St. 
Ignatius.  Crippled  in  resources,  doubly  taxed  to 
support  the  Established  Church  and  the  government, 
the  Fathers  found  means  to  keep  alive  their  enterprises, 
and  to  bring  the  word  to  many  souls  in  danger  of  losing 


Il6  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

the  faith.  In  1704,  Father  William  Hunter,  the  Superior 
of  the  Maryland  Mission,  determined  to  found  a  new 
centre  of  apostolic  work  in  Cecil  County,  on  a  part  of 
what  was  called  Bohemia  Manor.  He  had  been  led  to 
take  this  step  by  the  needs  of  some  Irish  families,  who 
had  settled  there,  of  whom  some  unhappily  had  fallen 
into  heresy.  Catholics  from  St.  Mary's  County  or  from 
England,  who  had  also  taken  up  their  abode  near 
Bohemia,  claimed  the  attention  of  the  Superior  ;  and  he 
was  most  willing  to  help  them,  though  at  the  time  there 
were  but  nine  Fathers  in  the  Mission  which  embraced 
all  the  counties  then  formed  on  the  Western  Shore  of 
the  State.  No  doubt,  the  faithful  in  Cecil  County  had 
been  visited  now  and  then  by  the  Jesuits  of  St.  Mary's 
County.  But  the  Indian  tribes  offered  special  attractions 
to  the  zealous  missionaries. 

Father  Thomas  Mansell  was  chosen  to  undertake  the 
work.  The  Superior  had  made  a  good  choice.  Father 
Mansell  was  a  man  of  learning,  having  just  made  his 
profession  in  February  of  this  year  (1704) ;  he  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  Mission,  in  which  he  had  labored 
for  four  years,  and  knew  the  toil  and  sacrifice  expected 
of  him.  Moreover,  great  zeal  for  souls,  in  which  he 
imitated  his  brother,  Father  William,  and  the  vigor  of 
age  attracted  the  eyes  of  the  Superior  towards  him. 
Leaving  St.  Mary's  in  1704,  Father  Mansell  sailed  to  the 
Chesapeake  and  up  this  inland  sea  to  Elk  River,  turning 
a  few  miles  above  its  mouth  into  Bohemia  River.  A 
short  sail  now  brought  him  to  Little  Bohemia  creek,  and 
to  the  landing  not  far  from  the  present  residence.  Here 
he  founded  the  first  Mission  for  the  Eastern  Shore  of  the 
State.      "  It   is    highly  probable,"    says    Mr.    Johnston, 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I  \J 

u  that  he  brought  with  him  the  ancient  cross,  which  has 
been  at  Bohemia  ever  since.  This  cross  is  about  five 
feet  high  and  is  said  to  have  been  brought  to  St.  Mary's 
by  the  first  settlers  who  came  there  from  England.  It  is 
made  of  wrought  iron  and  certainly  looks  ancient 
enough  to  have  been  brought  over  by  the  Pilgrims,  who 
came  in  the  Ark  and  the  Dove!' 

Father  Mansell  must  have  had  his  dwelling  in  what  is 
now  the  kitchen  of  the  residence.  The  first  chapel  was 
close  by ;  it  was  torn  down  and  enlarged  at  the  end  of 
the  last  century. 

Oliver  says  that  Father  Mansell  "  zealously  cultivated 
the  Maryland  Mission  until  his  death,  on  the  1 8th  of 
March,  1724." 

The  name  of  Peter  Atwood  is  written  on' the  pages  of 
several  books  in  the  Newtown  Library.  Father  Atwood 
came  from  Worcestershire,  England.  He  was  born  in 
1682,  on  the  1 8th  of  October.  His  mother  was  Wini- 
fred Petre,  of  Belhouse,  near  Kelvedon,  the  seat  of  the 
Stanford  Rivers  branch  of  the  Petre  family.  On  his 
mother's  side  he  was  of  noble  descent,  and  was  con- 
nected not  only  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
Priests  of  England,  but  also  with  several  illustrious 
members  of  the  laity  who  suffered  for  the  Catholic  Faith 
in  the' black  Tower  of  London.  His  father  was  George 
Atwood  of  Beverie,  near  Worcester.  The  Atwoods 
suffered  much  on  account  of  their  constancy  in  the 
Faith.  One  of  them,  a  Dominican  priest,  was  put  upon 
the  hurdle  because  he  held  fast  to  the  doctrine  handed 
down  from  the  Apostles. 

Our  young  missionary  made  his  humanities  at  St. 
Omer's    College.      Being   called  to   a  religious  life   he 


I  l8  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

entered  the  Society  in  September,  1703.  He  made  his 
novitiate  amid  the  deep  solitude  that  reigned  around  the 
Watten  House.  No  doubt  he  was  one  of  those  novices 
who  gave  instructions  to  the  children  of  the  neighboring 
rural  districts.  About  the  time  that  he  was  making  his 
theological  studies  at  Liege  we  learn  that  great  zeal  for 
the  salvation  of  souls  animated  the  students  in  that  city. 
Some  of  them  spent  all  their  free  time  in  instructing  and 
preparing  for  confession  many  heretical  English,  Irish, 
and  Scotch  soldiers,  and  would  bring  them  when  ready 
to  a  confessor  in  the  Church.  Before  he  left,  it  is  said, 
that  the  Fathers  devoted  their  chief  care  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  English  soldiers,  besides  visiting  those  in  good 
health,  of  whom  they  brought  many  into  the  Church, 
and  assisted  numbers  at  death,  while  quartered  here. 
Many  general  confessions  were  heard,  but  the  greatest 
praise  and  highest  success  of  the  College  of  Liege  was 
its  own  progress  towards  perfection,  in  peace,  union, 
fervor,  and  regular  religious  observance,  combined  with 
the  care,  labor,  and  industry  of  the  professors  towards 
all. 

Father  Atwood  left  the  quiet  and  peace  of  his  Liege 
room  and  entered  upon  his  missionary  life  in  Maryland 
in  171 1.  He  labored  zealously1  in  Charles  County,  and 
also  in  Cecil  County,  on  the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland. 
He  seems  to  have  succeeded  Father  Thomas  Mansell,  as 
Superior  of  Bohemia  Manor.  "In  1732,"  writes  Mr. 
Johnston  in  his  History  of  Cecil  County,  "  Peter  Atwood, 
who  is  then  said  to  be  of  St.  Mary's  County,  purchased 
another  tract  of  land  called  '  Askmore,'  from  Vachel 
Denton.  This  tract  was  supposed  to  contain  550  acres, 
and   had  been  granted  to   John    Browning  and    Henry 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I  19 

Denton  in  1668.  Denton  claimed  it  by  right  of  sur- 
vivorship, and  from  him  it  descended  to  his  son,  Vachel 
Denton,  who  as  before  stated,  sold  it  to  Atwood." 

The  Annual  Letter  for  1728,  informs  us  that  Father 
Atwood  was  then  Superior  of  the  Mission  with  eleven 
Fathers  and  three  lay-brothers  to  assist  him.  The 
Fathers  were  scattered  throughout  an  immense  tract  of 
country  and  strenuously  labored  in  protecting  and 
propagating  the  Catholic  Faith.  The  temporal  coadjutors 
attended  to  domestic  affairs,  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
land,  the  product  of  which  supported  the  missioners. 
Besides  the  land,  there  was  no  other  source  of  support 
belonging  to  the  mission.  On  this  subject  Arch- 
bishop Carroll  wrote  :  "  Catholics  contributed  nothing 
to  the  support  of  Religion  or  its  ministers;  the  whole 
charge  of  its  maintenance,  of  furnishing  the  altars,  of 
traveling  expenses,  fell  on  the  priests  themselves ;  and 
no  compensation  was  ever  offered  for  any  service  per- 
formed by  them  ;  nor  did  they  require  any,  so  long  as 
the  produce  of  their  lands  was  sufficient  to  answer  their 
demands.  But  it  must  have  been  foreseen,  that  if 
religion  should  make  considerable  progress,  this  could 
not  always  be  the  case." 

During  Father  Atwood's  missionary  life  in  Maryland 
many  cruel  and  despotic  laws  were  made  in  that 
Province  against  all  professing  the  Catholic  Faith. 
£100  reward  was  offered  to  any  one  who  should 
11  apprehend  and  take  a  Popish  Bishop,  Priest  or  Jesuit, 
and  prosecute  him  until  convicted  of  saying  Mass,  or  of 
exercising  any  other  part  of  the  office  or  function  of  a 
Popish  Bishop  or  Priest"  Catholics  were  forbidden  the 
rights  of  education  at  home,  and  they  were  not  allowed 


120         OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

under  heavy  penalties  to  send  their  children  to  the 
Catholic  schools  of  the  Old  Continent.  One  of  the 
stanzas  in  the  poem  of  Thomas  Davis  on  the  Penal 
Days  in  Ireland,  with  very  slight  modification,  would 
naturally  find  a  place  here  : 

"  They  bribed  the  flock,  they  bribed  the  son, 
To  sell  the  priest  and  rob  the  sire  ; 
Their  dogs  were  taught  alike  to  run 
Upon  the  scent  of  wolf  and  friar. 
Among  the  poor, 
Or  on  the  moor, 
Were  hid  the  pious  and  the  true." 

So  galling  were  the  Penal  enactments  enforced  in  Fa- 
ther Atwood's  days  that  he  and  a  great  number  of 
prominent  Catholic  gentlemen  conceived  the  plan  of 
flying  from  persecution  to  one  of  the  French  settlements. 
This  was  what  their  fathers  had  done  before  them  when 
they  sailed  away  from  England,  when  they  hastily  passed 
down  by  the  Lizzard  Rocks  on  the  coast  of  their  native 
land.  "  Charles  Carroll  and  his  brother  James  were  at 
the  head  of  the  movement,  and  among  those  who  in- 
tended to  join  it  we  find  the  names  of  Henry  Darnall, 
Henry  Darnall,  Jr.,  William  Diggs,  John  Diggs,  Benja- 
min Hall,  Clement  Hall,  William  Fitz  Redmond,  Henry 
Wharton,  Charles  Diggs,  Major  Nicholas  Sewell,  and 
Richard  Bennett." 

On  Christmas  Day,  1734,  Father  Atwood,  being  Su- 
perior of  the  Mission,  while  notes  of  gladness  filled  the 
earth,  and  our  churches,  in  Catholic  countries,  at  least, 
rang  with  the  "  Gloria  in  Excelsis,"  yielded  up  his  faith- 
ful soul  to  God  in  one  of  the  chambers  of  the  Newtown 
Manor. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  121 

On  the  5th  of  January  of  the  same  year,  one  of  the 
young  Fathers  died  on  the  Maryland  Mission,  and  very 
probably  at  Newtown.  This  was  Father  John  Fleetwood. 
This  Father  was  a  native  of  London,  and  was  born  in 
the  year  1703.  He  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  Fleetwoods 
of  Drury  Lane.  This  was  the  favorite  haunt  of  the 
Catholics  during  the  Penal  Times.  In  a  very  old  work 
I  find :  "  The  Provincial  of  the  English  Jesuits  often 
stayed  at  Mrs.  Fleetwood's  house,  in  Drury  Lane." 

After  his  priesthood  our  youthful  missionary  labored 
with  courage  and  zeal  at  Broughton  Hall,  County  York, 
England.  This  was  the  seat  of  the  ancient  family  of 
Tempest,  and  was  a  chaplaincy  and  mission  of  the  Resi- 
dence of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel.  We  may  easily 
imagine  how  Broughton  Hall  was  watched  by  spies,  and 
considered  a  dangerous  post  for  a  missionary,  when  we 
remember  that  Father  Nicholas  Tempest  had  been  one 
*of  Oates'  victims. 

Father  John  was. probably  the  brother  of  Father  Wal- 
ter Fleetwood,  a  distinguished  English  missionary,  and 
one  whom  we  find  at  Liege  in  the  time  of  Father  Jenkins 
and  others  of  the  Maryland  Fathers.  Father  Walter 
.Fleetwood  "  is  named  in  a  curious  old  pamphlet,  entitled 
The  Present  State  of  Popery  in  England  (1733),  as  having 
kept  the  Catholic  school  at  Twyford,  Hants,  where  Pope, 
the  poet,  passed  some  part  of  his  youth.  The  school  is 
represented  as  containing  upwards  of  one  hundred  schol- 
ars at  that  time  (1733),  and  was  chiefly  under  the  care  and 
direction  of  one  Father  Fleetwood.  Dr.  Husenbeth 
states  that  this  '  Fleetwood  left  Twyford  about  the  year 
1732,  and,  after  living  a  short  time  at  Paynsley,  went  to 


122  OLD   CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

Liege,  and  became  a  Jesuit.'  '  He  was,  I  presume,  of  the 
Fleetwood  family  of  Calwich,  County  Stafford.'  " 

Father  John  Fleetwood  came  to  Maryland  in  1733. 
The  days  of  his  toils  and  pains  were  not  long  on  that 
mission.  He  had  not  labored  many  months  here  before 
God  in  His  Infinite  Wisdom  saw  fit  to  call  him  to  receive 
his  eternal  reward.  Fleetwood  Joaiines  is  inscribed  on 
one  of  the  Newtown  Library  books.  In  a  former  chap- 
ter we  said  that  most  of  the  missionaries  were  distin- 
guished students.  Is  it  not  a  touching  fact  that  the  only 
epitaphs  written  for  them  were  written  by  their  own 
hands  when  they  wrote  their  names  upon  the  books  they 
loved  and  studied  in  their  youth  ?  In  the  library,  and 
not  on  marble  monuments  in  the  graveyard,  we  find  the 
names  of  the  missionaries  written. 

One  hundred  years  after  the  Act  of  Toleration  was 
passed  a  young  Irish  Jesuit,  Father  James  Carroll,  came 
to  Maryland  to  fulfil  in  part  the  Mission  of  the  Irish' 
race.  With  all  the  zeal  of  a  generous  and  faithful  soul 
who  had  seen  the  sufferings  of  Mother  Church  both  in 
England  and  in  Ireland,  he  set  out  upon  his  missionary 
labors.  With  the  fire  and  eloquence  of  an  apostle  he 
preached  the  sublime  doctrine  of  "Jesus,  and  Him  Cru- 
cified." But  he  did  not  last  long.  After  about  seven 
years  on  the  Maryland  Mission  he  had  a  holy  end  at 
Newtown. 

About  two  years  before  Father  Carroll's  death  he  was 
joined  in  his  labors  by  Father  Michael  Murphy,  also  a 
native  of  Ireland.  This  Father  was  born  on  the  1 8th  of 
September,  1725.  Having  made  a  great  part  of  his 
studies  in  the  "  Island  of  Saints  and  Doctors,"  and  hav- 
ing witnessed  the  desecration  and  profanation  of  sacred 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 23 

vessels  and  holy  altars  ;  having  seen  the  pillage  and  the 
burning  of  grey  abbeys  and  ivied  convents,  he  left  his 
native  land  and  became  a  member  of  the  English  Prov- 
ince. This  was  on  the  7th  day  of  September,  1745.  On 
the  very  same  day,  and  probably  at  the  same  moment, 
another  young  Irish  student  entered  the  Novitiate  at 
Watten.  This  youth's  name  was  John  Butler.  Father 
John  Butler,  who  became,  on  the  death  of  his  brother, 
the  tenth  Lord  Cahir,  was  the  son  of  Thomas,  eighth 
Lord  Cahir,  and  his  wife  Frances,  daughter  of  Sir  Theo- 
bald Butler.  He  was  born  on  the  8th  of  August,  1727, 
and  received  his  education  at  St.  Omer's.  After  his  or- 
dination he  took  charge  of  the  Mission  of  Hereford.  In 
1778  he  was  almost  universally  nominated  by  the  Pre- 
lates of  Ireland  to  fill  the  vacant  See  of  Limerick,  and 
the  nomination  was  actually  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See, 
and  the  bulls  had  arrived  in  Ireland ;  but  Father  Butler, 
who  had  protested  from  the  first  against  the  violence 
done  to  his  humility  and  the  retirement  he  so  much 
loved,  resolutely  refused  to  accept  the  dignity,  and  died 
in  his  holy  obscurity  at  Hereford. 

Nine  years  after  his  entrance  into  the  Society  Father 
Murphy  was  sent  on  the  Maryland  Mission.  On  July 
the  8th,  1759,  he  peacefully  expired  at  the  Newtown 
Manor.  His  missionary  life  though  brief,  was  very  suc- 
cessful, and  full  of  merit. 

From  the  Newtown  Note-Book  I  learn  that  Father 
Wappeler  was  on  Britton's  Neck  in  May,  1744.  Wil- 
helm  Wappeler  was  a  native  of  Numan  Sigmaringen, 
Westphalia,  and  was  the  worthy  uncle  of  the  Rev.  Her- 
man Kemper,  "  one  of  the  ablest  scholars  and  most  val- 
uable members  of  the  Fnglish  Province."     Wappeler  was 


124         nLn  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

bom  January  the  22d,  171 1.  Twenty-seven  years  after 
he  assumed  the  habit  of  St.  Ignatius. 

"  In  1741,"  says  a  distinguished  writer,  "two  German 
Jesuits  were  sent  to  Pennsylvania  for  the  instruction  and 
conversion  of  German  emigrants,  who  from  many  parts 
of  Germany  had  come  into  that  Province.  Under  great 
hardships  and  poverty  they  began  their  laborious  under- 
taking, which  has  since  been  followed  by  great  benedic- 
tions. Their  names  were  Father  Schneider,  from  Bavaria, 
and  Father  Wappeler,  from  the  Lower  Rhine.  They 
were  both  men  of  much  learning  and  unbounded  zeal. 
Mr.  Schneider,  moreover,  was  a  person  of  great  dex- 
terity in  business,  consummate  prudence,  and  undaunted 
magnanimity.  Mr.  Wappeler  having  remained  about 
eight  years  in  America,  and  converted  and  reclaimed 
many  to  the  Faith  of  Christ,  was  forced  by  bad  health  to 
return  to  Europe.  He  was  the  person  who  made  the 
first  settlement  of  the  place  called  Conewago." 

The  first  Catholic  Church  built  at  Conewago  is  thus 
described  by  a  recent  writer :  "  It  was  a  small  log  church 
with  two  rooms  attached,  in  or  near  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent edifice.  The  style  of  the  architecture  gave  the  build- 
ing the  appearance  of  a  private  dwelling ;  and  it  was 
chosen  to  conform  to  and  not  to  violate  the  letter,  if  not 
the  spirit  of  the  stringent  Penal  Laws  then  in  force  in 
the  colonies." 

In  1754,  and  for  some  years  later,  we  find  Father 
Wappeler  as  Prefect  of  St.  Omer's  College.  He  after- 
wards labored  on  the  English  Mission  in  the  Yorkshire 
District  and  at  Liverpool.  He  spent  some  time  at  Ghent 
and  Bruges.  He  died  in  the  latter  city,  and  was  there 
interred   amid  the    ringing  of  "  sweet  cathedral    bells." 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  125 

On  his  death  Bishop  Carroll  wrote  :  "  Father  Wappeler's 
candor  and  artless  disposition  of  heart  always  endeared 
him  to  me." 

Father  Wappeler  had  been  at  Ghent  during  the  sup- 
pression of  the  College  in  1773,  and  was  examined  before 
the  Commissioners.  In  the  Life  of  St.  Thomas  of  Here- 
ford, written  by  Father  Constantine  Susysken,  the  Bol- 
landist,  we  find  a  letter  of  this  Father,  on  "  the  Relick 
of  St.  Thomas."  As  many  of  the  missionaries  of  Mary- 
land spent  some  time  in  Ghent  before  beginning  their 
apostolate  in  the  New  World,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
the  reader  to  learn  something  about  the  Jesuit  house 
there.  It  is  the  writer's  impression  that  this  building  still 
stands,  and  was  pointed  out  to  him  some  few  years  past. 

"  The  (English)  House  of  the  Third  Probation  was 
opened  about  the  middle  of  the  month  of  August,  162 1 
(at  Ghent).  It  was  founded  by  the  pious  bounty  of  Anne 
Dacre,  Countess  of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  a  warm  and 
sincere  friend  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  She  was  widow 
of  Philip,  Earl  of  Arundel,  who  died  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  October  19th,  1595,  a  martyr  for  the  Catholic 
Faith,  after  an  imprisonment  of  ten  years  and  a  half,  not 
without  suspicion  of  having  been  poisoned.  Hither  the 
veterans  often  retired  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  last 
passage  into  eternity.  Dodd  observes  :  '  About  these 
times  also,  in  1622,  the  Jesuits  purchased  a  house  in 
Ghent,  which  was  to  be  a- place  of  residence  for  such  of 
their  Fathers  as  were  disabled  either  through  age  or  in- 
firmity, or  any  other  way  rendered  unserviceable  for  the 
mission.' " 

The  principal  object,  however,  of  the  College,  was  for 


126 


OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 


the  use  of  the  Fathers*  making  their  third  year's  pro- 
bation, after  completing  their  studies  and  course  of  teach- 
ing, before  the  solemn  professions  of  the  last  vows-  of 
religion. 

In  1767-8  the  Novitiate,  or  House  of  First  Probation, 
was  removed  from  Watten  to  Ghent,  which  then  became 
the  House  of  the  First  and  Third  Year's  Probation. 

At  the  suppression  in  1773  it  shared  in  the  fate  of  the 
other  Continental  Colleges. 

*  In  a  letter  from  Ghent  for  1624,  we  find:  "  The  Fathers  in  the 
third  year's  probation  added  to  other  duties  (as  in  former  years) 
the  hearing  the  confessions  of  English,  Irish,  and  Scotch  soldiers, 
whether  of  those  escaped  from  Holland,  or  of  the  Spanish  auxil- 
iary camp  in  the  neighborhood.  About  ten  English  gentlemen, 
some  of  them  of  high  families,  made  retreats  here  with  much  fruit, 
especially  in  the  case  of  three  who  decided  upon  leaving  the  world 
and  entering  upon  a  religious  life." 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  \2J 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


It  seems  likely  that  Father  Robert  Harding  spent 
some  time  at  Newtown.  At  all  events,  I  found  his  name 
on  one  of  the  books  there.  Father  Harding  was  born 
on  the  6th  of  October,  1701.  Having  pursued  his 
studies  in  one  of  the  English  Colleges. on  the  Continent 
he  caught  the  flame  of  the  apostolic  fire  that  burned  and 
glowed  around  him.  In  his  twenty-first  year  he  became 
a  fervent  novice  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  About  eleven 
years  afterwards  he  was  sent  on  the  Maryland  Mission. 
He  became  distinguished  as  a  missionary  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  succeeded  Father  Greaton  as  Pastor  of  the 
old  church  in  Philadelphia.  Under  his  patronage,  and 
through  his  exertions,  St.  Mary's  Church  was  built.  He 
was  untiring  in  his  labors  in  behalf  of  his  little  flock. 
"  In  the  meanwhile,"  says  a  Philadelphia  writer,  "  Father 
Harding  was  not  idle  at  old  St.  Joseph's.  He  instructed 
the  faithful  and  buried  his  beloved  dead  in  the  little 
'  God's  Acre  '  west  of  the  Church,  whose  humble  mounds 
were  shaded  by  two  gigantic  Walnut  trees.  It  was 
rather  the  increasing  demand  for  resting  places  for  those 
who  '  sleep  in  the  Lord,'  than  the  increased  number  of 
those  '  fighting  the  combat '  that  induced  Father  Hard- 
ing, in  1763,  to  employ  the  money  of  Father  Greaton  in 
purchasing  '  St.  Mary's  Burying  Ground  ' — and  building 
that  Church,  which,  in  18 10,  was  enlarged  to  its  present 


128         OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

noble  dimensions.  Father  Harding  also  assisted  Father 
Farmer  in  his  missionary  duties,  and  so  arduous  were 
his  labors  that  he  died  at  St.  Joseph's,  Philadelphia,  on 
the  1st  of  September,  i7/j;Vbeloved  by  all  and  keenly, 
bitterly,  and  affectionately  remembered." 

Father  Harding  certainly  labored  at  St.  Thomas, 
Charles  County,  and  likewise  in  Prince  George's,  Mary- 
land. Archbishop  Carroll  refers  to  Father  Harding  as 
one  "whose  memory  remains  in  great  veneration." 

The  following  are  the  opening  words  in  Mr,  Harding's 
Will :  "  First,  I  bequeath  my  soul  to  God,  hoping 
through  the  infinite  merits  of  our  only  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  to  obtain  life  everlasting,  and  my  body  to  be 
decently  interred." 

In  the  Newtown  Library  I  find  on  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament,  published  in  1582  —  "Jacobus  Breadnall, 
1769,  Societatis  Jesu."  Father  Breadnall  was  born  on 
the  8th  of  April,  17 18.  In  his  twenty-first  year  he  en- 
tered the  Society.  He  was  enrolled  among  the  Professed 
Fathers  eighteen  years  later  on.  In  1749  he  was  at  St. 
Thomas'.  From  the  very  foundation  of  the  Maryland 
Mission  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  been  customary  for 
the  Fathers  to  say  Mass  in  private  houses.  This  is  to 
enable  all,  even  those  persons  who  live  at  a  great  distance 
from  any  church,  to  assist  at  the .  Holy  Sacrifice.  In 
times  of  persecution,  when  all  the  churches  were  closed, 
or  in  the  hands  of  our  enemies,  of  course  it  was  abso- 
lutely necessary,  if  the  people  were  to  hear  Mass  at  all, 
that  the  missionaries  should  celebrate  in  some  farm- 
house or  manor.  This  they  usually  did.  What  a 
beautiful  picture  it  is  to  see  the  priest  in  some  neat  little 
room,  surrounded  by  a  band  of  pious  and  faithful  wor- 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 29 

shippers,  offering  up  the  Immaculate  Lamb  to  the 
greater  glory  of  God,  and  for  the  atonement  of  the  sins 
of  mankind.  It  seems  that  in  Father  Breadnall's  time 
this  pious  practice  of  celebrating  in  private  houses  was 
forbidden  by  the  bigots  of  Maryland.  Indeed,  we  read 
that  he  was  indicted  for  saying  Mass  in  this  manner. 
He  was  also  tried  for  endeavoring  "  to  bring  over  a  non- 
juror person  to  the  Romish  persuasion."  With  regard 
to  the  charge  of  saying  Mass  he  was  acquitted,  as  he 
proved  that  he  was  allowed  to  offer  up  the  Holy  Sacri- 
fice "  by  an  order  issued  by  her  Majesty,  Queen  Anne, 
dated  at  Whitehall,  January  3d,  1 705-6."  As  the  second 
charge  was  not  proved,  he  was  set  free.  Father  Bread- 
nail  died  in  Maryland  on  the  9th  of  April,  1772. 

Father  John  Lewis*  was  a  native  of  Northamptonshire, 
born  September  the  19th,  1721.  He  made  his  humanity 
studies  at  the  famous  College  of  St.  Omer's,  that  illus- 
trious home  of  confessors,  scholars,  and  martyrs.  On 
September  7th,  1740,  he  entered  the  Society  at  Watten. 
He  was  professed  of  the  four  vows,  February  2d,  1758. 
In  the  same  year  he  was  sent  to  Maryland.  He  labored 
in  different  parts  of  that  Mission  with  great  success.  In 
1753  ne  was  engaged  in  missionary  work  at  Bohemia. 
He  was  at  Bohemia  also  in  1758.     In  1765  he  labored 


*  During  the  Revolutionary  War,  in  1778,  the  "  Geneial  Monk,'' 
a  British  sloop  of  war,  anchored  off  St.  Inigoes,  fired  a  ball  through 
the  house,  which  was  near  killing  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lewis,  who  had 
just  left  his  bed,  over  which  the  ball  passed.  The  fracture  of  the 
wall,  produced  by  the  ball  in  its  passage  through,  may  be  seen  at 
the  present  day,  near  the  corner  of  the  northwest  chamber  on  the 
first  floor.  Bishop  Fenwick. 


I3O  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

at  White  Marsh.*  In  1769  he  was  at  St.  Inigoes.  On 
an  old  and  torn  sheet  of  paper  we  find — "  Appendix  to 
ye  first  page."  On  this  paper  may  be  read  the  following 
address  :  "  To  the  Rev'1  Mr.  John  Lewis,  at  Newtown,  in 
St.  Mary's  County."  Near  the  address  we  read :  "  To 
be  put  in  yf  Post-office  at  Annapolis  and  forwarded  with 
care  and  speed."  The  reason  why  the  letter  was  sent 
from  Annapolis  and  not  from  Bohemia  is  told  in  the  let- 
ter itself  in  a  P.  S.  :  "You  rather  send  ye  letter  to  Mr. 
Mosley  if  you  write  to  me ;  for  if  you  write  by  ye  Post 
y°  letter  in  all  probability  will  be  intercepted.  I  have 
reason  to  suspect  it,  because  they  would  not  let  this  letter 
go  Willi  /  Post,  but  zuas  obliged  to  take  it  home  again,  and 
to  try  another  channel"  It  is  evident  from  the  tone  of 
the  letter  that  at  the  precise  time  it  was  written  Father 
Lewis  was  Superior.  Father  Manners  begs  of  him  to 
write  regarding  the  business  on  hand  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  adds :  "  be  sure  your  order  shall  be  punctually  ob- 
served, and  complied  with  to  a  tittle."  He  reminds 
Father  Lewis  to  write  Warwick  legibly,  otherwise,  he 
says,  "  ye  letter  will  go  to  Frederick  Town  and  be  put  into 
ye  office,  where  it  may  lie  for  half  a  year,  as  it  happened 
in  Mr.  Harding's  time;  for  they  never  will  send  it  except 
they  meet  with  an  accidental  opportunity."  In  Father 
Mosley's  "Day  Book"  for  1764,  I  find  the  following 
references  to  Father  Lewis:  "  1764,  Augt  1  ith,  I  arrived 
at  Bohemia  with  Mr.  Lewis:"  "Aug*  14th,  Mr.  Lewis 
returned."     From   the  same   Book  we  learn  that  Father 


*  White  Marsh  is  situated  about  midway  between  Annapolis 
and  Washington,  in  Prince  George's  County,  Md.  It  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Society  in  1760.  It  is  a  place  of  deep  his- 
toric interest. 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I3I 

Lewis  was  at  Bohemia  from  the  17th  of  November,  1764 
to  the  2 1st  of  the  said  month.  The  following  entries  by- 
Father  Lewis  are  found  in  Mosley's  "  Ordo  :"  "  5th  June, 
1787  :  Buried  Jenny  Parks  at  St.  Joseph's.  Eodem  die, 
R.  Jos.  Mosley  in  ye  Chapel.  R.  I.  Pace. — J.  Lewis." 

From  the  year  1634  to  a  date  nearly  150  years  nearer 
our  time,  the  English  Province  continued  to  send  learned 
and  zealous  missionaries  to  Maryland.  Though  engaged 
in  a  continual  and  deadly  fight  with  error  and  corruption 
in  England,  though  persecuted  and  bleeding  from  every 
pore,  still  she  generously  spared  some  of  her  tried  and 
devoted  sons  for  the  arduous  and,  at  times,  perilous 
Mission  on  the  borders  of  the  Chesapeake.  She  sent  to 
Maryland  apostolic  men  like  White,  Altham,  Morgan, 
Copley,  Sewall,  Hartwell,  Chamberlain,  Casey,  Cooper, 
Roels,  Carteret,  Lawson,  O'Reilly,  Diderick,  De  Ritter, 
Geisler,  Phillips,  Beeston,  Brown,  Harrison,  and  Scaris- 
brick.  Despite  hardships  and  persecutions,  these  true 
sons  of  St.  Ignatius  heroically  kept  the  Banner  of  the 
Cross  triumphantly  waving.  While  some  of  them  labored 
among  the  settlers  and  slaves  and  red  men  of  the  Eastern 
and-  Western  Shores  of  Maryland,  others  preached  in 
Virginia,  Delaware,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  York.  Their 
motto  was — "  To  The  Greater  Glory  Of  God."  They 
preached  Jesus  and  Him  Crucified.  Like  the  Crusaders 
of  old  they  cried  out  in  chorus — "  Not  to  us,  O  Lord, 
give  glory,  but  to  Thy  Name."  Dwelling  in  the  forests 
with  the  red  men,  occupied  in  the  "  quarters  "  of  the  poor 
colored  slaves,  they  knew  little  of  the  evils  in  store  for 
them.  They  knew,  it  is  true,  that  the  princes  and  the 
mighty  ones  of  the  earth  stood  in  judgment  against 
them.     They  knew  that    the    French   philosophers  and 


132  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Jansenists  hated  them  with  a  relentless  hatred.  They 
knew  that  their  brothers  in  France  were  accused  of 
regicide  and  immorality  by  Le  Pelletier  de  St.  Fargean 
and  Chauvelin.  They  knew  that  they  had  bitter  ene- 
mies in  D'Aranda,  Choiseul  and  Pombal ;  in  Manuel  de 
Roda,  Campomanes,  Grimaldi,  Monino,  and  the  Duke  of 
Alva;  but  in  the  innocence  and  purity  of  their  conscience 
they  feared  not.  Judge  then  of  their  sorrow  when  they 
learned  of  the  total  suppression  of  the  entire  Society 
throughout  the  world.  Picture  to  yourselves  their  grief 
when  they  received  the  Papal  Brief  and  the  following 
letter  that  came  in  a  small  ship  from  the  coast  of  Eng- 
land : 

"  To  Messrs.  the  Missioners  in   Maryland  and  Pennsyl- 
vania : 
To   obey  the  orders  I   have   received    from  above,  I 
notify  to  you  by  this  the  Breve,  of  the  total   dissolution 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus ;  and  send  withal  a  form  of  de- 
claration  of  your  obedience  and  submission,  to  which 
you   are  all  to  subscribe   as  your  brethren  have  done 
here ;  and  send  me  back  the  formula  with  the  subscrip- 
tions of  you  all,  as  I  am  to  send  them  up  to  Rome. 
Ever  Yours, 

Richard  Deboren,  V.  Ap." 
"October  6th,  1773." 

Like  true  followers  of  Ignatius  they  bowed  their  heads 
in  perfect  submission.  Like  their  Brethren  of  Europe, 
of  Asia,  and  of  Africa,  they  bent  in  reverence  before  the 
decree   of  the  Vicar  of  Christ.     They  urged  not  their 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  133 

innocence ;  they  pointed  not  to  their  labors.  They  heard 
and  obeyed. 

The  following  note  is  so  pertinent  to  the  present  sub- 
ject that  I  think  it  well  to  give  it  here : 

"  The  Brief  of  Suppression  was  ordered  into  execution 
in  such  a  way  that  it  was  to  take  effect  only  when  it  had 
been  communicated  by  the  Bishop  to  the  local  Superior 
within  his  jurisdiction.  As  the  Mission  of  Maryland 
formed  a  part  of  the  London  District,  it  devolved  upon 
Bishop  Challoner  to  notify  Father  John  Lewis,  Superior 
in  1773,  of  the  Suppression.  After  the  dissolution  of 
the  Society,  Father  Lewis  was  appointed  Vicar-General, 
and  continued  to  govern  the  Mission  in  America  for  the 
English  Bishop,  during  the  seven  years  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle.  *  *  *  *  After  the  termination  of 
the  war,  Father  Lewis  was  unanimously  chosen  Superior 
at  a  meeting  of  the  clergy  of  the  Southern  District  of 
Maryland,  held  at  Newtown  September  23d,  1783.  At 
this  meeting  were  present  Benedict  Neale,  Ignatius  Mat- 
thews, James  Walton,  Peter  Morris,  John  Bolton,  John 
Boarman,  and  Augustine  Jenkins ;  Mr.  Matthews  col- 
lected also  the  votes  of  Benjamin  Roels  and  Leonard 
Neale,  who  were  absent." 

At  the  time  of  the  Suppression  there  were  twenty 
Fathers  working  zealously  in  various  parts  of  the  Mis- 
sion. These  Fathers  were  John  Ashton,  Thomas 
Digges,  James  Framback,  Ferdinand  Farmer,  Lucas 
Geisler,  George  Hunter,  John  Lewis,  John  Lucas,  Mat- 
thias Manners,  Ignatius  Matthews,  Peter  Morris,  Joseph 
Mosley,  Benedict  Neale,  James  Pellentz,  Lewis  Roels, 
Bernard  Rich  (Diderick),  J.  B.  Ritter  (de),  James  Wal- 
ton, John  Bolton,  and  Robert  Molyneux.     Besides  these 


134  0LD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

the  Mission  had  some  subjects  pursuing  their  studies  in 
Europe  at  the  time  of  the  Suppression.  From  the  Bea- 
dle's Diary,  lately  published  in  the  Letters  and  Notices, 
we  learn  that  on  the  suppression  of  the  College  at  Liege 
some  of  the  Fathers  and  scholastics  almost  immediately 
left  that  city.  Ignatius  Brooke  left  Liege  on  Monday, 
September  27th ;  Charles  Neale,  Francis  Beeston,  and 
Joseph  Boone,  September  29th ;  Charles  Boarman,  Sep- 
tember 30th. 

From  an  old  document  we  learn  that  Father  Lewis 
died  at  Bohemia,  March  24th,  1788. 

Father  Joseph  Mosley,  alias  Joseph  Framback,  was 
the  brother  of  Father  Michael,  who  was  for  some  time 
Superior  of  the  Residence  of  St.  Winifred,  and  who  died 
at  Holy  Well.  He  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  in  1730, 
and  studied  his  humanities  at  St.  Omer's  College.  He 
entered  the  Society  in  his  eighteenth  year.  Early  in  1759 
he  was  a  missioner  at  Bromley,  in  the  College  of  the 
Holy  Apostles.  Though  the  Collectanea  says  he  was 
sent  to  Maryland  about  1764,  we  know  from  unquestion- 
able sources  that  he  came  here  at  least  five  years  before 
that  time.  From  his  own  writings  I  know  that  he  spent 
the  Easter  of  1759  at  St.  Joseph's  Forest  in  Maryland. 
In  his  Ordo  B "ap tiz a torn m,  which  was  kindly  sent  us  from 
the  Archives  of  the  Maryland  Province,  we  find  the  date 
1760.  Some  may  think  that  he  brought  this  "Ordo" 
from  England,  but  on  the  first  page  we  read  :  "  St.  Jo- 
seph's, St.  Mary's  County,  Christenings  of  Jos.  Mosley, 
1760."  Besides,  I  find  in  an  old  Catalogue  :  "  1760, 
Joseph  Mosley  at  Newtown."  Mr.  George  Johnston,  the 
historian  of  Cecil  County,  says  that  Mosley  was  at  Bo- 
hemia in  1760.     This  *s  a  mistake.      He  himself  says  in 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 35 

his  "  Day  Book,"  as  we  noted  elsewhere,  that  he  arrived 
at  Bohemia,  August  nth,  1764,  in  company  with  Father 
John  Lewis.  There  is  also  the  authority  of  an  old  cata- 
logue for  saying  that  he  did  not  arrive  at  Bohemia  before 
that  year.  From  his  "  Day  Book  "  we  learn  that  on  the 
31st  of  August,  1764,  he  began  his  "journey  and  Mis- 
sion in  Queen  Ann's  and  Talbot  County."  On  Septem- 
ber 2d  he  "  first  kept  Church  in  Queen  Ann's  Cty."  On 
the  9th  of  the  same  month  he  "  first  kept  Church  in  Tal- 
bot Cty."  On  the  5th  of  October  he  received  a  visit 
"  from  Mr.  Harding,  who  arriv'd  from  Philadelphia."  On 
the  15th  of  October  Mr.  Harding  returned  to  Philadel- 
phia and  he  accompanied  him  thither.  On  that  occasion 
he  received  from  "  Mr.  Manners  4£  cur.  for  Paint  for  ye 
House."  On  the  21st  of  October  he  "preached  at  Phil- 
adelphia in  ye  old  chapel."  On  the  23d  of  October  he 
left  Philadelphia  in  company  with  Mr.  Harding.  On  the 
next  day,  having  parted  with  Mr.  Harding  on  the  way, 
he  arrived  at  Bohemia.  In  1765,  he  settled  at  St.  Jo- 
seph's, Talbot  County.  The  precise  day  was  the  1 8th  of 
March.  On  the  2d  of  February,  1766,  he  had  the  hap- 
piness of  making  his  religious  profession  to  Father  Far- 
mer. In  a  catalogue  we  find  "Joseph  Mosley,  1769,  at 
St.  Joseph's,  E.  S."  On  the  15th  of  June,  1775,  he  had 
the  sad  privilege  of  burying  Father  Matthias  Manners, 
who  died  at  Peace  with  God  and  man,  at  Bohemia.  Fa- 
ther Mosley  himself  died  at  St.  Joseph's  Station,  June- 
3d,  1787,  aged  fifty-six  years.  He  was  interred  in  the 
chapel  which  he  himself  had  erected. 

Father  Mosley  kept  a  very  faithful  record  of  all  mar- 
riages, burials,  baptisms,  and  conversions.  He  also  took 
note  of  the   numbers  of  confessions  he  heard,  and  the 


I36  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

number  of  times  he  distributed  the  Holy  Eucharist.  In 
his  Note-Book  we  find  :  "  Confessions  received  at  Easter 

and  Communicants   from  y"  year  1759  to  A.  D. 

1787."  During  the  Easter-time  of  the  year  1759,  in  St. 
Joseph's  Forest,  he  heard  1078  confessions.  Out  of  this 
number  945  were  communicants.  At  Easter,  1760  and 
1 76 1,  the  number  of  confessions  and  communions  was 
nearly  the  same  as  in  1759.  It  seems  that  in  1762  he 
was  no  longer  in  St.  Joseph's  Forest,  for  in  that  year  he 
states  that  he  heard  955  confessions  "  in  Sakia  and  New- 
port." In  1763,  and  up  to  August  in  1764,  he  continued 
to  labor  with  much  fruit  at  Sakia  and  Newport. 

If  the  zeal  of  Father  Mosley  was  great  while  among 
the  Catholics  of  St.  Mary's  County,  it  burst  into  a  bright 
and  all-consuming  flame  on  his  arrival  on  the  Eastern 
Shore.  Here  he  found  few  members  of  the  true  fold. 
And  sad  it  is  to  relate,  that  some  who  had  been  brought 
up  in  the  Catholic  Faith  had  grown  cold,  and  others, 
alas,  had  fallen  away  altogether  from  the  Church.  One 
of  the  principal  causes  of  these  losses  was  the  lack  of 
priests  and  Catholic  teachers.  Persecution,  too,  had 
much  to  do  with  them.  "  There  is  reason  to  believe," 
writes  the  historian  of  Cecil  County,  "  that  the  Protest- 
ants of  Sassafras  Neck,  Middle  Neck,  and  Bohemia 
Manor  petitioned  the  legislature  at  the  session  of  1756, 
praying  that  stringent  measures  might  be  taken  against 
the  Jesuits.  At  all  events  the  lower  house  at  this  session 
was  about  to  pass  a  very  stringent  bill  prohibiting  the 
importation  of  Irish  Papists  via  Delaware,  under  a  pen- 
alty of  £20  each,  and  denouncing  any  Jesuit  or  Popish 
priest  as  a  traitor  who  tampered  with  any  of  his  Majes- 
ty's subjects  in   the  colony."     It  is  true,  that,  owing  to 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 37 

the  governor's  "  having  prorogued  the  legislature  shortly 
after  it  was  introduced,"  the  bill  did  not  pass  ;  but  still 
private,  petty,  harassing,  cunning  persecutions  went  on 
everywhere  in  Cecil  County.  It  is  no  wonder  then  that 
under  the  bonnet  of  a  Quaker  lady  could  be  seen  the 
meek  face  of  a  little.  Rachel  Murphy;  it  is  no  wonder 
that  one  sometimes  met  a  gentleman  with  a  broad- 
brimmed  hat  who  was  known  to  his  neighbors  as  Eph- 
raim  O'Keefe.  Among  the  converts  made  by  Father 
Mosley  I  find  a  Rachel  McGonigal.  Among  the  con- 
verts made  by  Father  John  Bolton,  after  the  death  of 
Mosley,  I  find  Mary  O'Keefe,  Jonathan  Callahan,  and 
"  an  Irish  woman  at  Mr.  Summer's,  called  Catharine 
Murphy." 

Father  James  Farrar  was  enrolled  among  the  sons  of 
St.  Ignatius  in  1725.  His  name  occurs  for  the  first  time 
in  old  catalogues  for  the  Maryland  Mission  in  the  year 
1733.  He  was  in  Newtown  in  1742.  I  find  his  name 
mentioned  in  that  year  in  the  Newtown  Day  Book.  He 
was  professed  of  the  four  vows  in  1743.  He  returned  to 
England,  probably  in  1747.  According  to  Oliver  he 
died  at  Hooton  in  Cheshire,  on  the  18th  day  of  July, 
1753,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  He  was  buried  in  the 
Chancel  of  Eastham. 

Father  James  Ashby,  alias  Middlehurst,  was  born  in 
Lancashire  on  the  18th  of  October,  17 14.  He  made  his 
noviceship  at  Watten,  that  favorite  home  of  religious 
fervor.  Four  years  after  his  entrance  into  the  Society, 
he  was  probably  a  priest  before  becoming  a  Jesuit,  we 
find  him  on  the  Maryland  Mission  laboring  with  Fathers 
Richard  Molyneux,  Bennet  Neale,  James  Farrar,  and 
Thomas   Poulton.     During  his  missionary  life  in  South- 


I38  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

ern  Maryland  he  was  stationed  in  various  places.  At 
one  time  we  find  him  laboring  zealously  at  St.  Inigoes ; 
again  we  find  him  at  St.  Thomas',  and  again  at  Newtown. 
In  the  Catalogue  for  1758  we  find  "James  Ashby,  late 
of  Newtown."  Father  Ashby  spent  several  years  at  this 
latter  place,  and  to  his  labors  the  people  there  are  in- 
debted for  the  present  Newtown  Church.  He  also  built 
a  house  at  St.  Inigoes  for  the  Fathers.  This  structure 
was  of  solid  brick  and  contained  twelve  rooms.  It  was 
unfortunately  burned  down  some  years  ago,  and  in  its 
destruction  were  lost  many  documents  and  books  which 
would  help  to  throw  much  light  upon  St.  Inigoes'  his- 
toric Residence. 

Father  Ashby  died  at  Newtown  on  the  23d  of  Septem- 
ber, 1767.  He  lies  beside  the  church  he  had  labored  so 
hard  to  build.  His  name,  it  is  sad  to  say,  is  forgotten 
in  Britton's  Neck,  though  he  it  was  who  gave  that  con- 
gregation the  church  in  which  they  have  for  many  gen- 
erations knelt  to  worship  God.  To  Father  George 
Fenwick's  notes  I  am  indebted  for  the  knowledge  that 
Father  Ashby  was  the  builder  of  the  present  church  at 
Newtown. 

In  the  old  Newtown  Note-Book  I  find  the  name  of 
George  Thorold.  This  was  one  of  the  most  laborious  of 
all  the  missionaries  of  Southern  Maryland.  He  toiled 
faithfully  and  ardently  in  the  Mission  for  the  space  of 
forty-two  years. 

Father  George  Thorold  was  born  of  a  wealthy  family 
in  Berks,  February  1  ith,  1670.  Having  reached  his 
twenty-first  year  he  renounced  the  world,  and  all  worldly 
.advantages,  and  consecrated  himself  to  religion  by  enter- 
ing the  Society  of  Jesus.     Before  coming  to  America  he 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 39 

had  been  chaplain  at  Michaelgate,  Bar  Convent,  York. 
The  missioners  of  the  Yorkshire  District  lived  in  per- 
petual danger.  "After  London,"  it  is  said,  "York  was 
more  deeply  dyed  in  the  blood  of  English  martyrs  than 
any  city  in  England."  From  this  we  can  deduce  what 
manner  of  life  Father  Thorold  led  while  on  the  English 
Mission.  It  was  in  York  Castle  that  the  martyred  Fa- 
ther Nicholas  Postgate,  while  a  prisoner,  composed  the 
touching  and  beautiful  verses  beginning  with  the  stanza  : 

"  O  gracious  God,  O  Savious  meek, 
O  Jesus,  think  of  me, 
And  suffer  me  to  kiss  Thy  feet, 
Though  late  I  come  to  Thee." 

The  hymn  is  still  used  in  the  wild  moorlands  of  Ug- 
thorpe.  We  wonder  if  Father  Thorold  did  not  teach  it 
to  his  people  on  the  banks  of  St.  Mary's  River  or  down 
by  St.  Clement's  Bay?  Towards  the  end  of  his  long- 
missionary  life  how  appropriate  this  verse  would  be  on 
the  lips  of  the  venerable  priest  himself: 

"  My  wearied  wings,  sweet  Jesus,  mark, 
And  when  thou  thinkest  best, 
Stretch  forth  Thy  hand  out  of  the  ark, 
And  take  me  to  Thy  rest." 

We  may  reasonably  suppose  that  there  was  scarcely 
a  congregation  in  Southern  Maryland  which  did  not 
enjoy  the  care  and  zeal  of  Father  Thorold.  In  1725  he 
was  appointed  Superior  of  the  Mission.  This  position 
he  held  for  about  nine  years.  He  died,  crowned  with 
labors  and  merits,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1742. 

Father  George  was  probably  brother  to   Edmund  or 


I4O  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

Epiphanius  Thorold,  alias  Turner,  who  was  distinguished 
in  the  home  missions,  and  who  was  for  a  time  Superior 
of  the  Mission  of  Market  Rasen,  in  the  College  of  St. 
Hugh. 

I  find  also  the  name  of  James  Whitgreave  in  the  old 
Newtown  Note-Book.  Father  James  Whitgreave  was 
the  son  of  Thomas  Whitgreave,  Esq.,  of  Mosley,  County 
Stafford,  and  his  wife  Isabella,  daughter  of  William 
Turville,  Esq.,  of  Aston-Flamville.  His  father's  second 
wife  was  Isabella,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Sir  Aston 
Cokayne,  Kt,  of  Pooley,  County  Warwick.  On  his 
maternal  side  Father  Whitgreave  had  several  kinsmen 
who  were  distinguished  and  hoi}*  members  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus. 

Moseley,  the  birthplace  of  James  Whitgreave,  was  a 
hamlet  near  Wolverhampton.  "  The  original  abode  of 
the  Whitgreave  family  was  at  Whitgreave  near  Stafford, 
where  in  the  time  of  Henry  II.  '  Clemens  Filius  Huberti 
de  Whitgreave  '  gave  to  the  Priory  of  St  Thomas,  on  the 
river  Sow,  eight  acres  of  land  in  the  territory  of  Whit- 
greave. The  family  continued  at  Whitgreave  till  the 
time  of  Henry  IV.,  when  William  de  Whitgreave  who 
had  married  Joan,  granddaughter  and  heiress  of  David 
de  Malplas,  was  appointed  bailiff  of  Stafford,  to  which 
town  he  removed.  Robert,  one  of  the  younger  sons, 
became  an  officer  in  the  royal  Exchequer,  and  Escheator 
of  the  County  of  Stafford,  and  in  the  former  capacity 
accompanied  Henry  V.  into  France.  He  bought  the 
Manors  of  Burton  and  Bridgford,  with  other  estates  in 
the  county  of  Stafford,  as  also  the  manor  of  Longford  in 
Shropshire,  and  settled  at  Burton  near  Stafford.  His 
grandson,  another   Robert,  in   the  time    of  Henry  VIII., 


ITS    EARLY     JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I4I 

received  the  manor  of  Bridgford  for  his  portion  as  a 
second  son,  and  married  Dorothy  Noel  of  Hilcott,  in  the 
county  of  Stafford.  Their  fourth  son,  Thomas,  by  his 
marriage  in  the  time  of  James  I.,  with  Alice,  daughter 
and  co-heiress  of  Henry  Pitt,  a  '  merchant  of  the  Staple  ' 
acquired  the  estate  of  Moseley,  which  passed  to  his  only 
son,  Thomas.  This  gentleman  became  an  officer  in  the 
royal  army  during  the  Civil  Wars,  and  had  the  honor  of 
sheltering  in  his  house  Charles  II.,  after  the  battle  of 
Worcester.  On  the  Restoration  he  received  a  pension 
from  the  King,  and  was  appointed  gentleman  Usher  to 
the  Queen,  Catharine  of  Braganza.  His  only  surviving 
son,  Thomas,  married  Isabel  Turville,  and  had  besides 
other  children,  Thomas  and  James,  who  became  priests 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  The  present  Henry  Whit- 
greave,  Esq.,  of  Moseley,  his  brothers  and  sisters  are  the 
great,  great,  great-grandchildren  of  Thomas  Whitgreave 
above  mentioned,  who  saved  the  life  of  his  Sovereign. 
The  old  house  at  Moseley  (built  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth) 
in  which  Charles  was  sheltered,  and  the  priest's  hiding- 
place  there  in  which  he  took  refuge,  when  his  life  was 
endangered  by  a  threatened  search  from  the  Puritans, 
still  exist. 

"  The  mission  at  Moseley  was  served  by  the  Fathers 
of  the  Society  till  its  suppression,  and  to  them  the  family 
is  indebted  for  the  consolations  of  religion  during  the 
darkest  days  of  persecution  in  England." 

The  story  of  how  the  grandfather  of  Father  Whit- 
greave saved  the  life  of  King  Charles  is  very  romantic. 
As  it  will  help  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  early  home 
of  our  missionary  in  old  England  we  shall  give  it  in  as 
few  words  as  possible  :  After  the  defeat  of  the  royal  army 


I42         OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

at  Worcester,  the  King  was  obliged  to  fly  for  his  life  to 
the  woods  and  fields.  Searches  were  made  for  him  by 
the  Puritans  on  all  sides.  For  a  time  the  royal  fugitive, 
with  his  hair  cut  short,  and  wearing  "  an  old  green 
woodriff's  coat,  and  a  white  steeple  crown  hat,"  labored 
in  the  woods  with  a  peasant,  and  concealed  himself  at 
night  in  a  tree,  which  was  long  afterwards  known  as  the 
Royal  Oak.  The  friends  of  his  Majesty  soon  sought  out 
for  him  a  more  suitable  dwelling-place.  This  was  the 
house  of  Thomas  Whitgreave  upon  whose  loyalty  and 
fidelity  the  King  could  fully  depend.  Charles  rode  up 
to  Whitgreave's  on  a  mill  horse.  He  was  received 
respectfully  by  that  gentleman  and  Mr.  Hudleston,  "  a 
priest  of  the  Holy  Order  of  St.  Bennet,"  who  resided  at 
Moseley  House. 

"  For  the  better  security  of  his  Majesty's  retreat,  Mr. 
Whitgreave  sent  all  his  servants  betimes  in  the  morning, 
each  to  their  several  employments  abroad,  except  one 
cook  maid,  a  Catholic,  who  dressed  their  diet ;  and  it  was 
farther  pretended  Mr.  Hudleston  had  a  cavalier  friend  or 
relation,  newly  escaped  from  Worcester,  who  lay  pri- 
vately in  his  chamber  unwilling  to  be  seen.  So  that  this 
grand  secret  was  imparted  to  none  in  the  house  but  Mr. 
Whitgreave's  mother,  whom  my  Lord  Wilmot  presented 
to  the  King,  and  whom  his  Majesty  graciously  saluted 
and  confided  in.  At  that  time  Mr.  Hudleston  had  with 
him  at  Mosely  under  his  tuition,  young  Sir  John 
Preston,  and  two  other  youths,  Mr.  Thomas  Palin  and 
Mr.  Francis  Reynolds,  nephews  to  Mr.  Whitgreave. 
These  he  placed  at  several  windows  in  the  garrets  from 
whence  they  had  a  prospect  of  all  the  passages  from  all 
parts    to  the    house,  with   strict   charge   given    them    to 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  143 

bring  timely  notice  of  any,  whether  soldiers  or  others 
that  came  near  the  house,  and  herein  the  boys  were  as 
exact  and  vigilant  as  any  sentinel  could  be  on  his 
guard."  While  the  king  was  engaged  in  eating,  which 
he  did  in  the  Priest's  Room,  he  was  waited  on  by  Mr. 
Hudleston  and  Mr.  Whitgreave,  while  "  old  Mistress 
Whitgreave  was  called  in  and  commanded  to  sit  down 
and  carve,"  for  her  royal  guest. 

Mistress  Whitgreave  seems  to  have  been  a  lady  of 
great  benevolence.  Many  of  the  poor  soldiers  who  were 
maimed  and  wounded  at  Worcester  sought  relief  at  her 
door,  and  these  she  took  into  her  house,  and  with  great 
tenderness  and  charity  washed  and  dressed  their  bleeding 
scars.  During  the  King's  concealment  "  he  was  pleased" 
to  inquire  how  Roman  Catholics  lived  under  the  present 
usurped  Government;  Mr.  Hudleston  told  him  they  were 
persecuted  on  account  of  their  religion  and  loyalty,  yet 
his  Majesty  should  see  they  did  not  neglect  the  duties 
of  their  Church ;  hereupon  he  carried  him  upstairs,  and 
showed  him  the  Chapel,  little,  but  neat  and  decent.  The 
King,  looking  respectfully  upon  the  altar,  and  regarding 
the  crucifix,  and  silver  candlesticks  upon  it,  said  :  '  He 
had  an  altar,  crucifix,  and  silver  candlesticks  of  his  own, 
till  my  Lord  of  Holland  broke  them,  which  (added  the 
King)  he  hath  now  paid  for." 

One  afternoon  a  party  of  the  rebels  unexpectedly  came 
to  search  Moseley  for  Mr.  Whitgreave ;  their  approach 
was  timely  discovered  and  a  servant  came  running  up 
stairs  towards  the  chamber  where  the  King  lay,  and 
cried  out — "  Soldiers,  soldiers  are  coming  !"  Upon  this 
the  King  was  immediately  conveyed  by  Mr.  Whitgreave 
into   the  private    place  or  receptacle  before  mentioned, 


1. 14  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

which  always  stood  open  and  ready  in  case  of  contin- 
gencies for  his  Majesty's  retreat.  And  Mr.  Whitgreave, 
to  prevent  further  search,  and  thereby  secure  the  King 
from  hazard  of  discovery,  generously  went  down  and 
exposed  himself  to  the  sight  and  fury  of  the  soldiers, 
who  violently  seized  upon  him  and  would  have  hurried 
him  to  prison  as  a  person  engaged  for  the  King  in  Wor- 
cester fight,  but  he  assured  them  that  he  had  been  a  long 
time  sick  and  infirm  at  home,  and  called  in  the  neighbors 
to  attest  the  same ;  wherefore,  after  much  dispute,  they 
at  length  let  him  go  and  departed.  When  they  had 
quitted  the  town,  and  not  before,  Mr.  Whitgreave  re- 
turned, and  with  Mr.  Hudleston,  helped  the  King  out  of 
his  confinement,  and  attended  him  in  his  chamber.  Mr. 
Hudleston  knew  the  King  was  acquainted  with  his  char- 
acter and  function,  and  consequently  also  of  his  being 
obnoxious  to  the  sanguinary  laws,  and  therefore  said  : 
"  Your  Majesty  is  in  some  sort  in  the  same  condition 
with  me  now,  liable  to  dangers  and  perils,  but  I  hope 
God,  that  brought  you  hither,  will  preserve  you  here, 
and  that  you  will  be  safe  in  this  place  as  in  any  castle  of 
your  dominions."  The  King  addressing  himself  both  to 
Mr.  Whitgreave  and  Mr.  Hudleston,  replied  :  "  If  it  please 
God  I  come  to  my  crown,  both  you  and  all  of  your  per- 
suasion shall  have  as  much  liberty  as  any  of  my  sub- 
jects." 

How  badly  King  Charles  kept  his  promise  is  well 
known  to  all  who  are  acquainted  with  English  history. 

Father  James  Whitgreave  was  born  March  the  14th, 
1698.  His  humanities  were  made  at  St.  Omer's,  and  his 
novitiate,  which  he  began  in  his  seventeenth  year,  at  the 
Jesuit  House  at  Watten.     He  came  to  Maryland  in  his 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 45 

twenty-sixth  year,  and  labored  strenuously  in  that  Mis- 
sion for  the  space  of  fourteen  years.  A  part  of  this  time 
he  spent  at  Bohemia  Manor.  In  1738  he  returned  to 
England  and  became  a  missioner  in  the  College  of  St. 
Chad  (his  native  County  of  Stafford),  being  declared  its 
Rector  in  1743.  The  ancient  town  of  Wolverhampton, 
it  is  stated,  was  the  headquarters  of  St.  Chad's  College 
or  District.  In  the  year  996  a  monastery  was  founded 
there  by  Wulfrana,  sister  of  King  Edgar,  and  widow  of 
Aldhelm,  Duke  of  Northampton,  in  honor  of  whom  this 
town,  previously  called  Hampton,  received  the  appelation 
of  Wulfranis-Hampton,  of  which  its  present  name  is  a 
corruption.  The  monastery  continued  until  the  year 
1200,  when  it  was  surrendered  to  Hubert,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  was  subsequently  annexed  by  Edward 
IV.  to  the  Deanery  of  Windsor.  On  the  revival  of  reli- 
gion on  the  accession  of  James  II.,  the  English  Jesuits 
had  a  flourishing  College,  and  a  large  residence  and 
chapel  at  this  town.  In  fact,  Wolverhampton  was  called 
the  Little  Rome  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  Cath- 
olics there.  It  was  also  the  seat  of  the  long-lived  labors 
of  Father  William  Atkins,  who  died  a  martyr  for  the 
Faith  in  Stafford  gaol,  17th  of  March,  1681,  at  the  age 
of  eighty  years,  being  under  sentence  of  death;  and 
Wolverhampton  also  had  for  its  missioner  for  some  years 
the  blessed  Martyr,  Father  John  Gavin,  who  suffered  at 
Tyburn. 

Father  James  Whitgreave,  after  having  passed 
through  many  dangers  and  hardships,  both  in  Maryland 
and  in  England,  passed  to  a  better  life  at  Moseley,  on 
the  26th  day  of  July,  1750.  As  already  intimated,  he 
had  a  brother  in  the  .Society.     This  Father  labored  un- 


I46         OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

ceasingly  in  the  Missions  of  Salden,  of  Oxford,  and  of 
St.  Chad. 

Father  Joseph  Hattersty  was  born  in  London  on  the 
15th  of  October,  1735.  He  was  the  son  of  Joseph 
Hattersty  and  Elizabeth  Grogan,  both  fervent  Catholics. 
He  entered  the  English  College  at  Rome  as  an  alumnus 
in  1749.  Four  years  later  on,  in  company  with  Father 
Anthony  Lowe,  who  was  afterwards  imprisoned  by  the 
Revolutionists  who  had  taken  Dunkirk,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  Society.  "  After  his  ordination,"  says  Oliver, 
"  he  offered  himself  with  a  good  and  willing  mind,  and 
generous  heart,  for  the  American  Mission."  He  arrived 
in  Maryland  July  12th,  1762.  He  was  working  on  the 
Newtown  Mission  during  the  years  1768  and  1769.  On 
May  the  8th,  177 1,  he  died  at  Philadelphia,  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty-five.  The  Catalogue,  after  mentioning  his 
death,  adds  that  he  was  "  a  most  holy  and  zealous  mis- 
sioned" 

Father  Hattersty  was  one  of  those  zealous  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries who  were  accustomed  to  go  from  St.  Joseph's, 
Philadelphia,  into  the  Southern  part  of  New  Jersey.  He 
paid  visits  to  the  scattered  Catholics  of  Gloucester  and 
Salem  Counties,  and  no  doubt  did  much  good  wherever 
he  went. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 47 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Father  Vincent  Phillips  was  for  some  time  at  New- 
town. I  find  his  name  in  a  few  places  in  the  old  Note- 
Book  of  that  house.  He  was  a  native  of  Worcestershire 
and  was  born  on  the  23d  of  September,  1698.  His 
novkeship  was  made  at  Watten.  This  he  began  in  his 
nineteenth  year.  After  his  ordination  he  was  sent  from 
the  Continent  back  to  England  and  served  the  Missions 
in  the  London  and  Suffolk  Districts.  Probably  no 
district  of  the  English  Province  of  the  Society  suffered 
so  severely  as  the  College  of  St.  Ignatius,  or  the  London 
District.  It  contained  within  its  limits  the  very  seat  of 
the  persecuting  government,  with  its  judicial  courts  and 
State  prisons,  which  at  one  period  formed  the  principal 
residences  of  the  Fathers,  while  Tvburn  was  witness 
of  the  deaths  of  seventeen  and  St.  Paul's  Churchyard  of 
one  of  its  martyrs  for  the  Faith,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
numbers  who  died  within  its  prison-walls,  noble  con- 
fessors in  the  same  cause.  So  bitter  was  the  hatred  the 
Puritans  bore  everything  loved  and  cherished  by  Cath- 
olics that  they  even  tore  down  the  old  Signs  of  Redemp- 
tion that  had  been  raised  in  the  public  ways  of  London 
during  the  days  of  living  faith.  From  an  old  absurd 
paper  we  learn  that  the  Golden  Cross  in  Cheapside  was 
torn  down  in  1642,  and  with  infamous  irreverence 
carried   in    funeral    procession.        More   than    ordinary 


I48  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

courage  was  needed  by  the  missionaries  who  served  in 
the  London  District,  and  this  no  doubt  Father  Phillips 
possessed.  While  in  the  Suffolk  District  this  Father 
was  Chaplain  at  Gifford's  Hall,  once  the  seat  of  the 
religious  Mannock  family.  This  mission  was  not  with- 
out its  dangers,  and  a  very  amusing  story  is  told  of  an 
Anglican  clergyman  there  who  was  once  mistaken  for  a 
Jesuit  and  nearly  stoned  to  death  by  an  excited  mob. 

Oliver  says  that  Father  Phillips  was  professed  while 
serving  the  Maryland  Mission,  in  1735.  About  nineteen 
years  afterwards  he  returned  to  England  and  became  a 
missioner  in  the  Oxford  District. 

Father  Phillips  died  at  the  home  prepared  for  "  veter- 
ans," at  Ghent,  in  1760. 

Father  James  Walton  was  one  of  the  missionaries  of 
Newtown.  He  is  marked  in  the  old  catalogues  as  being 
in  that  residence  in  1778  and  1780.  Father  Walton  was 
an  humble  man,  and  most  zealous  in  working  for  the 
salvation  of  his  neighbor.  He  seemed  to  have  nothing 
so  much  at  heart  as  the  advancement  in  perfection  of  his 
spiritual  children.  Archbishop  Carroll,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  says  that  Father  Walton  was  indefatigable  in  his 
labors  in  behalf  of  those  committed  to  his  care.  The 
journey  of  Father  Walton  from  St.  Mary's  County  to 
Frederick,  where  he  began  to  "  live  alone  "  on  the  27th 
of  June,  1768,   must  have  been   indeed   a  trying  one.* 

*  Father  John  Williams,  a  native  of  Flintshire,  Wales,  had  been 
at  Frederick  before  the  year  1768.  On  Father  Walton's  arrival  in 
that  town,  Father  Williams  returned  to  England,  where  he  died, 
in  Monmouthshire,  in  1793,  or  as  some  say  in  1801.  Father  James 
Pellentz,  who  spent  ten  years  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  was  at 
Frederick  for  eighteen  months. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  I49 

Mounted  on  his  horse,  and  in  disguise,  he  had  to  ride 
through  many  a  hamlet  hostile  to  Catholics,  and  espe- 
cially to  Jesuits.  To  a  kind  Providence  alone  he  had  to 
trust  for  food  and  for  shelter,  when  night  came  down 
upon  his  way.  He  passed  upon  his  dangerous  route 
many  a  one  who  was  ready  to  imbrue  his  hands  in  the 
blood  of  every  Papist  priest  in  the  land.  But,  thanks  to 
God,  the  holy  missionary  arrived  safely  at  his  place  of 
destination,  there  to  work  without  tiring  for  the  glory  of 
his  Creator  and  Redeemer. 

Father  Walton  was  engaged  in  missionary  work  at  St. 
Inigoes  for  some  time.  He  was  the  successor  of  Father 
Ignatius  Matthews  in  that  residence.  He  sank  from  his 
labors  at  this  last-named  place  in  1803.  His  loss  was 
severely  felt  in  the  Mission.* 

In  one  of  the  books  of  the  Newtown  Library  I  find 
the  name  of  John  Boone.  This  Father  belonged  to  a 
fine  old  Catholic  family  in  Maryland  which  gave  many 
of  its  members  to  the  service  of  the  Church.  Father 
John  had  a  cousin  and  a  brother  who  were  members  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus.  Father  Joseph,  his  cousin,  was  the 
son  of  Henry  Boone  and  Miss  Spalding,  his  wife,  of 
Charles  County,  Maryland.  Joseph  accompanied  his 
half-sister,  Rachel,  to  France,  and  went  himself  to  St. 
Omer's  College,  and  was  there  educated,  ordained,  and 
finally  died.  Father  Edward  Boone,  Father  John's  bro- 
ther, labored  zealously  on  the  English  Mission,  and  died 

*  Bishop  Leonard  Neale  announced  Father  Walton's  death  in  a 
letter  to  Father  Marmaduke  Stone,  Superior  in  England.  In  this 
letter  the  Bishop  says  :  "  The  Rev.  Mr.  Walton  is  gone  to  a  better 
life  to  receive  the  reward  of  his  faithful  and  laborious  exertions. 
His  loss  is  severely  felt." 


150  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

happily  at  Danby,  Yorkshire.  Nor  were  the  Boone 
family  wanting  in  patriotism.  One  of  them,  John,  was  a 
Lieutenant  in  the  Maryland  Line  during  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  Another  of  the  Boones  was  elected  High 
Sheriff  of  Maryland.  Father  John  Boone,  being  ordained, 
was  sent  on  the  Maryland  Mission  in  1765.  About  five 
years  later  he  returned  to  England  and  there  labored 
with  much  fruit  for  fourteen  years.  In  1784  he  again 
returned  to  his  beloved  Mission.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
"  Select  Body  of  the  Catholic  Clergy,"  held  at  White 
Marsh  in  1794,  he  was  present.  About  one  year  after- 
wards he  yielded  up  his  faithful  soul  into  the  hands  of 
his  Creator. 

It  would  have  been  difficult  for  the  English  Province 
to  supply  its  Mission  with  priests  during  the  Penal  Days 
if  God  had  not  called  many  young  Americans,  chiefly 
Marylanders,  to  work  in  His  vineyard  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  The  priest  of  whom  we  are  just  going  to 
speak,  like  the  Boarmans,  the  Sewalls,  and  the  Fenwicks, 
was  a  native  of  Maryland.  Ignatius  Matthews,  being 
already  ordained  priest,  entered  the  Society  at  Watten 
on  the  7th  of  September,  1763.  After  his  noviceship, 
and  some  studies,  he  was  sent,  in  1766,  to  the  Maryland 
Mission.  He  was  at  St.  Inigoes  29th  March,  1784.  He 
died  at  Newtown,  May  the  1  ith,  1790,  at  the  age  of  sixty. 
I  have  been  informed  that  there  is  a  fair  picture  of  this 
Father  in  a  private  residence  at  Washington.  It  is  in 
India  ink,  and  is  the  work  of  Ethelbert  Cecil,  a  young 
artist,  whose  great  talent  was  lost  for  want  of  encourage- 
ment and  proper  cultivation.  The  artist  represents  Fa- 
ther Matthews  as  a  venerable,  yet  hale   man.     He  is  in 


ITS    EARLY    JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  151 

the  act  of  delivering  a  sermon  to  his  congregation  in  the 
Newtown  Church. 

Father  Ralph  Falkner  was  a  native  of  Maryland.  It 
is  likely  that  he  made  his  humanities  at  the  school 
opened  by  the  Jesuits  at  Bohemia  in  1745  or  1746.  It 
may  be  well  to  remark  here  that  it  was  in  this  school 
that  Archbishop  Carroll  made  a  part  of  his  studies.  It 
is  also  probable  that  his  cousin,  Charles  Carroll,  of  Car- 
rollton,  also  studied  here  for  some  time. 

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 


152  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND   AND 

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  Li6ge.  On  the  Suppression  of  the  Jesuit 
House  in  that  city,  he  returned  to  his  native  State. 
Though  he  left  Liege  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  Bore/nan  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. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 53 

the  meeting  convened  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  in  J  793,  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  1 2th,  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." 


154  <~>LD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

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 


ITS    EARLY   JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 55 

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  Li6ge. 

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  Li6ge.  The  ground  occu- 
pied by  the  house,  garden,  etc.,  was  purchased  in  16 14 
or  161 5  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 


I56  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND    AND 

to  the  College  for  a  country  or  villa-house  by  Lord  Cas- 
tleman.  Liege  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  Liege  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  Incamatione  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 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 57 

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  sinners,  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." 


$8  OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 


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. 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 59 

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  I  ith, 
1734.  He  entered  the  Society  on  the  7th  of  September, 
1758.     He  served  the  Mission   at  Stonyhurst  for  eleven 


l6o  OLD    CATHOLN      MARYLAND    AND 

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,  17^8.  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 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  l6l 

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, 
1 761.  Soon  after  his  ordination  in  1 771,  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 


l62         OLD  CATHOLIC  MARYLAND  AND 

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  Dni  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 :  u  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 
his  existence,  after  receiving  most  calmly  and  piously 
all  the  rights  of  the  Church.  Let  our  Brethren  know  of 
his  death." 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT     MISSIONARIES.  1 63 

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  nth  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  Liege 
which  during  the  Suppression  continued  for  a  time  the 
good  work  of  the  English  Scholasticate.  Having  been 
ordained,  he  left  Liege,  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 


164  OLD    CATHOLIC    MARYLAND   AND 

was  born  November  7th,  1746,  and  entered  the  Society 
September  7th,  1765.  At  the  time  of  the  Suppression 
he  was  studying  philosophy  at  Li6ge;  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  175 1 .  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,  1773,  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  181 1. 

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 
Churches,  and   Colleges,  the  Orphanages  and  Asylums 


ITS     EARLY    JESUIT    MISSIONARIES.  1 65 

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! 


APPENDIX. 


CATALOGU  E 

OF 

EARLY  JESUITS   IN    MARYLAND. 
1 634-1805. 

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. 

167 


1 68       CATALOGUE   OF   EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

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  Patuxent.  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. 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND         1 69 

1652 — Laurence  Starkey.  This  year  Claiborne,  and  his  Puritan 
party,  took  possession  of  St.  Mary's  City  and  persecuted  the 
Catholics  of  Maryland. 

1653 — Laurence  Starkey  alone  in  Maryland.     Father  Copley  died. 

1654 — Francis  Fitzherbert,  alias  Darby  ;  Laurence  Starkey.  About 
1654  Father  Francis  Rogers  came  to  Maryland,  but  remained 
only  a  short  time  in  that  Mission. 

1655 — Francis  Fitzherbert,  at  St.  Inigoes  ;  Laurence  Starkey  at- 
tending to  the  outlying  missions.  This  year  the  Fathers  were 
again  persecuted.  They  had  to  fly  to  Virginia  for  safety. 
Their  residences  at  St.  Inigoes  and  Portobacco  were  sacked 
by  the  Puritans.  The  missionaries  suffered  much  in  Virginia 
where  they  lived  in  a  low  and  mean  hut  not  unlike  a  cave. 

1656— The  Fathers  still  forced  to  live  in  Virginia. 

1057 — No  missionaries  in  Maryland.  Father  Starkey  died  in  the 
midst  of  his  trials  in  Virginia,  on  the  13th  of  February,  1657. 

1658 — Jesuits  again  in  Maryland.  Francis  Fitzherbert ;  Thomas 
Payton.  This  year  Father  Fitzherbert  was  arrested  and  tried 
for  teaching  and  preaching  at  Newtown  and  Chaptico.  He 
defended  himself  under  the  charter,  and  was  acquitted. 

1659 — Francis  Fitzherbert.  Father  Payton  returned  to  England 
on  business. 

1660 — Francis  Fitzherbert.  Father  Payton,  returning  to  America, 
died  on  the  voyage,  January  12th,  1660. 

1661 — Francis  Fitzherbert;  Henry  Warren,  alias  Pelham.  This 
year  William  Bretton,  gent.,  gave  a  piece  of  land  on  Newtown 
Hundred  as  the  site  of  a  new  church,  and  for  a  graveyard. 
The  new  church  was  at  first  dedicated  to  St.  Ignatius,  but 
afterwards  it  was  placed  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier. 

]0r,2 Henry  Warren.     Father  Fitzherbert  returned  to  Europe. 

[663 This  vear  Father  Warren  obtained  a  conveyance  of  Church 

lands  from  Cuthbert  Fenwick   to  himself,    "  Copley's  succes- 
sor."    Father  Edward  Tidder,  alias  Ingleby,  in  Maryland. 

1664 Henry  Warren  ;  Edward  Tidder  ;  Peter  Manners,  vere  Pel- 
con.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  Peter  Maimers  and 
George  Pole  were  identical. 


I/O       CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

1665 — Henry  Warren;  Edward  Tidder  ;  Peter  Manners.  This 
year  Father  Fitzwilliams,  alias  Villiers,  died  in  Maryland. 

1666 — Henry  Warren  ;  Peter  Manners  ;  George  Pole  ;  Edward 
Tidder. 

1667 — Henry  Warren  ;  Peter  Manners;  Edward  Tidder;  George 
Pole. 

1668 — Henry  Warren  ;  George  Pole  ;  Peter  Manners.  This  year 
Father  Henry  Warren  purchased  the  Newtown  estate  from 
Mr.  William  Bretton  for  40,000  pounds  of  tobacco. 

1669 — Henry  Warren,  alias  Pelham  ;  William  Warren,  alias  Pel- 
ham.  It  is  thought  that  these  two  missionaries  were  brothers. 
Father  Peter  Manners  died  on  the  24th  of  April,  and  Father 
George  Pole  on  the  31st  of  October. 

1670 — Henry  Warren  ;  William  Warren. 

1671 — Two  missionaries  in  Maryland.  Father  William  Warren 
died  on  the  7th  of  February. 

1672 — Two  Fathers  in  Maryland. 

1673 — Two  Franciscans  arrived.  Great  harmony  existed  between 
them  and  the  Jesuits. 

1674 — Father  Clavering  ;  Father  Waldegrave,  alias  Pelham. 

1675 — Francis  Pennington  ;  Nicholas  Gulick.  Both  these  Fathers 
came  with  the  Royal  Fleet  from  London. 

1676 — Francis  Pennington  ;  N.  Gulick. 

1677 — Thomas  Gavan,  Superior,  with  five  companions — some 
priests  and  some  Coadjutor  Brothers. 

1678 — Michael  Foster,  Superior  ;  Francis  Pennington  ;  Thomas 
Gavan  ;  Nicholas  Gulick. 

1679 — Michael  Foster,  Superior  ;  Francis  Pennington  ;  Thomas 
Gavan. 

1680— The  same. 

1681 — The  same. 

1682 — To  those  in  1679  is  added  Father  Thomas  Percy. 

1683 — The  same.  Father  Percy  returns  to  England.  A  new 
Mission  was  begun  at  New  York  with  Thomas  Harvey,  alias 
Barton,  as  Superior,  and  Henry  Harrison,  alias  John  Smith, 
as  assistant  missionary. 

1684 — Francis  Pennington,  Superior;  Thomas  Gavan;  John  Pen- 
nington, at  Newtown.     Father  Foster  died  on  the  6th  of  Feb- 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.       \J\ 

ruary. — New  York  :  Thomas  Harvey,  Superior  ;  Henry  Har- 
rison, 

1685 — Francis  Pennington,  Superior;  Thomas  Gavan  returned  to 
England  ;  Father  John  Pennington  died  at  Newtown  on  the 
18th  of  October. — New  York  :  Thomas  Harvey  ;  Henry  Har- 
rison. 

1686 — Francis  Pennington,  at  Newtown  Manor. — New  York  : 
Thomas  Harvey,  Superior;  Charles  Gage;  Henry  Harrison. 

1687 — Francis  Pennington. — New  York:  Thomas  Harvey ;  Charles 
Gage  in  England. 

1688 — Francis  Pennington. — New  York  :  Thomas  Harvey  ;  Henry 
Harrison. 

1689 — Francis  Pennington. — New  York  :  Fathers  Harvey  and 
Harrison  are  driven  out.  Father  Harrison,  in  trying  to  make 
his  escape  to  France,  is  taken  by  Dutch  pirates.  Father 
Harvey  walked  to  Maryland. 

1690 — Francis  Pennington  ;  John  Matthews.  Father  Harrison  is 
in  Ireland. 

1691 — Francis  Pennington  ;  John  Matthews. 

1692 — William  Hunter,  Superior,  residing  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor; 
Francis  Pennington  at  Newtown  Manor ;  John  Matthews. 

1693 — Francis  Pennington,  Superior ;  William  Hunter ;  John 
Matthews. 

1694 — Francis  Pennington  ;  William  Hunter.  Father  John  Mat- 
thews died  at  Newtown,  December  the  8th,  1694. 

1695 — William  Hunter,  Superior;  Francis  Pennington.  Father 
Harrison,  at  Loretto. 

1696 — William  Hunter,  Superior;  John  Hall;  Robert  Brooke. 
Father  Thomas  Harvey  died  in  Maryland,  aged  84.  He  spent 
65  years  in  the  Society. 

1697 — William  Hunter,  Superior;  John  Hall,  Procurator;  Robert 
i  Brooke  ;  Henry  Harrison. 

1698 — William  Hunter,  Superior ;  Father  James  Gonent  died  on 
the  voyage  to  Maryland,  December  28th,  1698. 

1699 — William  Hunter;  Father  Francis  Pennington  expired  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Hill  at  Newtown,  the  22d  of  February,  1699. 
Rev.  James  Haddock,  O.  Min.  Str.  Obs. 

1700 — William  Hunter,  Superior ;  Robert   Brooke  ;  George  Tho- 


172       CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

rold  ;  William  Wood,  alias  Guillick,  or  Kellick ;  Thomas 
Mansell.  "  Father  Harrison  is  on  his  way;  but  nothing  has 
been  heard  of  him,"  says  the  Maryland  Catalogue. 

1701 — William  Hunter,  Superior ;  Robert  Brooke  ;  Thomas  Man- 
sell  ;  George  Thorold,  and  another  Father.  Father  Harrison 
died. 

1702 — William  Hunter,  Superior;  Robert  Brooke;  Thomas  Man- 
sell  ;  George  Thorold.  Father  Matthew  Brooke  died  at  St. 
Thomas'  Manor ;  Father  Henry  Warren  died  in  England  on 
June  7th,  1702. 

1703 — William  Hunter,  Superior;  Robert  Brooke;  Thomas  Man- 
sell  :  George  Thorold  ;  William  Wood  ;  Richard  Kirkham, 
alias  Latham  ;  Henry  Cattaway.  Father  John  Hall  died  this 
year,  July  9th,  at  Ghent. 

1704 — William  Hunter,  Superior,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  Robert 
Brooke,  at  Newtown  Manor;  Thomas  Mansell,  at  Bohemia 
Manor ;  William  Wood  ;  Geo.  Thorold ;  Richard  Kirkham  ; 
Henry  Cattaway  ;  Thos.  Havers. 

1705 — William  Hunter,  Superior ;  Brooke,  etc.,  as  the  past  year. 

1706 — The  same,  except  that  Father  Cattaway  returned  to  Eng- 
land. Father  Mansell  obtained  the  patent  for  St.  Xavier's, 
Bohemia. 

1707 — William  Hunter,  Superior ;  Robert  Brooke;  George  Thor- 
old ;  William  Wood  ;  Thomas  Mansell. 

1708— The  same. 

1709 — The  same. 

1710 — Robert  Brooke,  Superior. 

1711 — Robert  Brooke,  Superior;  Thomas  Mansell;  William 
Hunter;  George  Thorold;  William  Wood;  Thomas  Hodg- 
son ;  Peter  Atwood ;  Richard  Thomas,  alias  Webster ; 
Charles  Brockholes ;  Francis  Beaumont,  alias  or  vere 
Williams. 

1712 — The  same.  Father  Henry  Poulton  died  this  year  at  New- 
town Manor,  the  27th  of  September. 

1713 — The  same.     Father  Thomas  Hodgson  at  Bohemia. 

1714 — The  same.  Father  Robert  Brooke  died  at  Newtown 
Manor,  18th  of  July.     Thomas  Mansell,  Superior. 

1715 — Thomas  Mansell,  Superior;  the  rest  the  same. 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.        1 73 

1716 — The  same.  It  is  said  that  Father  Brockholes  returned  to 
England  this  year. 

1717 — The  same. 

1718 — The  same.    Father  Francis  Beaumont  returned  to  England. 

1719 — The  same.     Father  William  Gerard  arrived. 

1720 — The  same.  George  Thorold  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor. 
Father  William  Wood  died  in  the  month  of  August. 

1721 — William  Hunter  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  Joseph  Greaton  ; 
Thomas  Mansell ;  George  Thorold  ;  William  Gerard  ;  Thomas 
Hodgson ;  Peter  Atwood ;  Richard  Thomas.  Father  Man- 
sell  obtains  the  deed  of  Bohemia,  Cecil  Co.,  Md. 

1722— William  Hunter,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor,  Charles  Co.,  Md. 
The  rest  the  same. 

1723— George  Thorold,  St.  Mary's  Co.,  Md.  Thomas  Mansell; 
John  Bennet ;  Peter  Atwood ;  Joseph  Greaton ;  Richard 
Thomas.  Father  William  Hunter  died  at  Port  Tobacco,  15th 
August,  1723. 

1724 — Thomas  Hodgson,  at  Bohemia;  George  Thorold;  Peter 
Atwood  ;  Richard  Thomas  ;  William  Gerard ;  John  Bennet, 
vere  or  alias  Gosling,  was  living  at  Annapolis,  at  Mrs.  Car- 
roll's ;  James  Whitgreave  came  in  December ;  Francis 
Floyd ;  Henry  Whetenhall ;  Peter  Davis ;  James  Case. 
Father  Thomas  Mansell,  alias  Harding,  died  at  St.  Inigoes 
August  18th. 

1725 — George  Thorold,  Superior,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  the  rest 
the  same. 

1726 — George  Thorold,  Superior;  the  rest  the  same.  Father 
Hodgson  died  at  Bohemia,  December  the  18th. 

1727 — George  Thorold,  Superior  ;  Peter  Atwood  ;  William  Gerard  ; 
Jas.  Whitgreave;  Henry  Whetenhall;  Francis  Floyd;  John 
Bennet;  Peter  Davis;.  Richard  Thomas;  James  Case; 
Joseph  Greaton. 

1728 — Peter  Atwood,  Superior;  John  Bennet  at  Annapolis.  The 
rest  as  in  the  past  year. 

1729— George  Thorold,  Superior,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Peter 
Atwood,  in  Charles  Co.  ;  Father  Francis  Floyd  died  at  New- 
town Manor,  Nov,  13th.    Father  Bennet  returned  to  England. 

1730 — George  Thorold,  Superior;  Peter  Atwood. 


174   CATALOGUE  OF  EARLY  JESUITS  IN  MARYLAND. 

1731 — George  Thorold,  Superior;  Peter  Atwood ;  Father  Wm. 
Gerard  died  at  St.  Inigoes,  the  16th  of  April.  Father  James 
Case  died  in  the  same  station,  the  15th  of  February. 

1732 — George  Thorold,  Superior;  Peter  Atwood  in  St.  Mary's  Co., 
Md. ;  Henry  Whetenhall ;  Father  Robert  Harding  arrived. 

1733 — Peter  Atwood,  Superior,  in  St.  Mary's  Co.,  Md.  George 
Thorold ;  Henry  Whetenhall,  in  Ann  Arundel  Co.,  Md.  ; 
Robert  Harding  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor ;  Jas.  Quin  ;  James 
Whitgreave  in  Ann  Arundel  Co. ;  Joseph  Greaton  at  Philadel- 
phia, Penn. ;  Richard  Molyneux ;  Vincent  Philips ;  James 
Farrar  ;  Arnold  Livers. — Pennsylvania  :  St.  Joseph's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  built  this  year. 

1734 — George  Thorold  was  appointed  Superior  of  the  Maryland 
Mission  in  March  ;  Henry  Whitenhall ;  James  Quin  ;  James 
Whitgreave  in  Ann  Arundel  Co'. ;  Robert  Harding ;  Peter 
Davis ;  Richard  Molyneux ;  Thomas  Gerard  ;  Arnold  Livers 
at  St.  Thomas'  Manor ;  Vincent  Philips ;  some  say  that 
Father  Thorold  continued  Superior  urtfil  June,  and  that  he 
was  then  succeeded  by  Father  Atwood.  Father  Atwood  died 
on  Christmas  Day,  1734,  at  the  Newtown  Manor.  Father 
Thomas  Leckonby,  sen.,  died  at  Portobacco,  Dec.  16th,  1734. 
Father  John  Fleetwood  died  on  the  5th  of  January,  probably 
at  Newtown. 

1735 — Vincent  Philips ;  George  Thorold ;  James  Quin  ;  Father 
Richard  Thomas  died  the  16th  of  January. 

1736 — Richard  Molyneux,  Superior  ;  George  Thorold. 

1737 — Richard  Molyneux,  Superior,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor ;  James 
Quin  in  Ann  Arundel  Co. ;  James  Whitgreave ;  Robert 
Harding  ;  Thomas  Gerard  ;  Vincent  Philips  ;  Arnold  Livers 
at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  George  Thorold,  in  Ann  Arundel  Co., 
Md.  James  Farrar  in  Ann  Arundel  Co. — Pennsylvania  :  Jos. 
Greaton  at  St.  Joseph's  Church. 

1738 — Richard  Molyneux  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor ;  George  Thor- 
old ;  Jas.  Whitgreave,  St.  Mary's  Co. ;  James  Farrar;  Thomas 
Poulton  came  on  the  4th  or  28th  of  April.  On  this  last  day  he 
gave  testimony  to  grants. 

1739 — Richard  Molyneux,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  (old  indenture) ; 
Owen  Joseph  Kingsley,  who  spent  some  time  on  the  Mary- 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.        1 75 

land  Mission,  died  at  Watten,  the  24th  of  January,  agad  42. — 
Pennsylvania:  Jos.  Greaton. 

1740 — Richard  Molyneux,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Richard  Arch- 
bold  ;  Robert  Harding;  Arnold  Livers,  at  Newtown. — Penn- 
sylvania: Joseph  Greaton. 

1741 — Richard  Molyneux;  Thomas  Poulton,  in  Charles  Co.; 
George  Thorold  ;  John  Digges  ;  James  Quin,  in  "  Queen  Ann 
County." — Pennsylvania:  Joseph  Greaton;  Henry  Neale ; 
Theodore  Schneider,  at  Goshenhoppen. 

1742 — Thomas  Poulton,  at  Bohemia  Manor;  Robert  Harding; 
Benedict  Neale,  at  Newtown  ;  James  Quin  ;  Jas.  Farrar,  at 
Newtown  ;  Thos.  Digges ;  Arnold  Livers,  at  Newtown  ;  Father 
George  Thorold  died  the  15th  of  November,  at  St.  Thomas' 
Manor.  This  venerable  missionary  had  spent  more  than 
forty  years  in  Maryland. — Pennsylvania  :  Joseph  Greaton  ; 
Henry  Neale  ;  Father  William  Wappeler  purchased  seven 
lots  in  Lancaster,  Penn. ;  Theodore  Schneider. 

1743 — Richard  Molyneux,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Bennet  Neale; 
James  Farrar ;  James  Ashbey  ;  Thomas  Poulton. — Pennsyl- 
vania :  Joseph  Greaton  ;  Henry  Neale  ;  William  Wappeler  ; 
Theodore  Schneider. 

1741 — Richard  Molyneux;  Thomas  Poulton;  James  Farrar; 
James  Ashbey  ;  Thomas  Poulton  ;  Bennet  Neale. — Pennsyl- 
vania ;  Joseph  Greaton  ;  Henry  Neale  ;  Theodore  Schneider ; 
William  Wappeler.  This  Father  was  for  a  part  of  1744,  at 
Newtown. 

1745 — Richard  Molyneux  ;  Thomas  Poulton,  at  Bohemia  ;  Vin- 
cent Philips  ;  Robert  Harding ;  James  Farrar  ;  Arnold 
Livers  ;  Thomas  Digges  ;  Benedict  Neale  ;  James  Ashbey. 
A  school  opened  at  Bohemia.  Father  James  Whetenhall 
died  the  27th  of  May,  in  England.  Father  Quin  was 
accidentally  killed  in  getting  out  of  a  ferry  boat,  which  was 
being  dragged  by  his  horse,  on  Choptank  River,  November 
27th. — Pennsylvania:  Joseph  Greaton,  Superior;  Theodore 
Schneider  ;  Henry  Neale  ;  William  Wappeler. 

1746 — The  same  with  Father  James  Le  Motte,  alias  Lancaster. 
Father  Whitgreave  in  England.  Thomas  Poulton,  at 
Bohemia. 


I76       CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

1747 — George  Hunter  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Thomas  Poulton,  at 
Bohemia ;  James  Farrar  ;  Benedict  Neale,  at  Deer  Creek, 
Baltimore  Co.,  Md. — Pennsylvania:  Joseph  Greaton  ;  The- 
odore Schneider  ;  Henry  Neale  ;  William  Wappeler. 

1748 — Richard  Molyneux  ;  Robert  Harding,  Prince  George's  Co., 
Md.  ;  Vincent  Philips,  in  St.  Mary's  Co.,  Md.  ;  Thomas 
Poulton,  at  Bohemia.  John  Kingdom,  at  Bohemia  ;  Father 
John  Digges  died. — Pennsylvania  :  Father  Henry  Neale  died 
in  Philadelphia.  Father  Wm.  Wappeler  returned  to  Europe. 
Richard  Molyneux,  Superior  ;  he  returns  to  England  the  next 
year. 

1740 — Geo.  Hunter,  in  Charles  Co.,  Md. ;  Vincent  Philips;  John 
Kingdom,  at  Bohemia ;  Robert  Harding  ;  Arnold  Livers  ; 
Benedict  Neale,  at  Deer  Creek,  Baltimore  Co.  ;  Thomas 
Digges ;  James  Ashbey,  St.  Mary's  Co.  ;  James  Carroll  ; 
Richard  Ellis  ;  James  Lancaster ;  James  Breadnall,  at  St. 
Thomas'  Manor.  Father  Thomas  Poulton  died  at  Newtown 
Manor,  Jan.  23d. — Pennsylvania  :  Joseph  Greaton,  Theodore 
Schneider. 

1750 — George  Hunter,  at  Port  Tobacco;  John  Kingdom,  at  New- 
town ;  Benedict  Neale,  at  Deer  Creek  ;  John  Lewis,  at 
Bohemia;  Arnold  Livers,  at  Newton;  Thomas  Digges,  in 
Sequanock  ;  Robert  Harding ;  James  Ashbey,  at  St.  Inigoes  ; 
Theodore  Schneider,  in  Penn.  ;  Jos.  Greaton,  at  Bohemia. 

1 7 •">  1 — George  Hunter;  Benedict  Neale;  Joseph  Greaton,  at 
Bohemia.  Father  John  Bennet,  alias  Gasling,  died  the  13th 
of  April,  in  England. — Pennsylvania :  Robert  Harding ; 
Theodore  Schneider. 

1752 — George  Hunter;  Father  Hunter  made  his  Retreat  at  St. 
Inigoes  ;  Jos.  Greaton. — Pennsylvania  :  Robert  Harding  ; 
Theodore  Schneider,  at  Goshenhoppen. 

1753 — George  Hunter;  John  Lewis,  at  Bohemia  ;  Benedict  Neale, 
at  Deer  Creek,  Baltimore  Co.  Father  Joseph  Greaton  died  at 
Bohemia,  the  10th  day  of  August.  Father  John  Lewis 
"  officiated  at  his  funeral."  Father  James  Farrar  died  at 
Hooton  in  Cheshire,  the  ISth  of  July.— Pennsylvania  :  Robert 
Harding,  at   St.  Joseph's,    Philadelphia ;    Mathias    Manners, 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.       \JJ 

alias  Sittinsperger,  Conewago  ;  Theodore  Schneider,  in  Here- 
ford Township,  Berks  County. 

1754— John  Lewis,  at  Bohemia  ;  George  Hunter,  at  St.  Thomas' 
Manor ;  Michael  Murphy,  at  Newtown  Manor. — Pennsyl- 
vania: Robert  Harding;  Mathias  Manners;  Theodore 
Schneider. 

1755 — George  Hunter;  James  Carroll;  Michael  Murphy. — Penn- 
sylvania; Robert  Harding;  Mathias  Manners;  Theodore 
Schneider. 

1756 — Father  George  Hunter  returned  to  England  in  October. 
Father  James  Carroll  died  at  the  Newtown  Manor.  Father 
James  Lancaster  died  at  Loretto,  on  the  3d  of  December. — 
Pennsylvania  :  Robert  Harding,  Theodore  Schneider,  Mathias 
Manners. 

1757 — James  Ashbey,  alias  Middlehurst;  William  Boucher.  Fa- 
ther Boucher  was  but  a  short  time  on  the  Maryland  Mission. 
He  died  in  England  on  the  28th  of  September,  in  this  year. — 
Pennsylvania :  the  same. 

1758 — Richard  Molyneux  died  in  England.  George  Hunter  was 
in  England  in  March  of  this  year.  Father  Ferdinand  Steyn- 
meyer,  alias  Farmer,  came  to  Philadelphia,  and  remained  in 
that  city  until  his  death,  in  178(5.  John  Lewis,  at  Bohemia  ; 
James  Breadnall ;  James  Ashbey,  "  late  of  Newtown,"  now  at 
St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  Father  James  Augustin  Framback  came 
with  Father  James  Pellentz  and  two  other  Jes-uits  from  Eng- 
land ;  Father  Pellentz  spent  ten  years  at  Lancaster,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  one  year  and  a  half  at  Frederick  Town,  Md. — 
Pennsylvania  :  the  same. 

1759 — George  Hunter,  Superior,  returned  from  England,  the  1st  of 
July.  Father  Peter  Davis  died  in  England,  the  1st  of  July. 
Father  Michael  Murphy  died  at  Newtown  Manor ;  John  King- 
dom arrived  from  England  with  Father  Hunter;  Joseph  Mos- 
ley  at  Newtown. — Pennsylvania:  Ferdinand  Farmer,  Robert 
Harding,  Mathias  Manners,  Theodore  Schneider. 

1760 — George  Hunter  ;  Richard  Boucher  died  in  England;  Vin- 
cent Phillips  died  at  Ghent,  in  Belgium  ;  John  Kingdom,  Jo- 
seph Mosley,  at  Newtown,  Pastor  of  St.  Joseph's  Church,  St. 
Joseph's  Forest,  St.  Mary's  County,  Md. ;  James  Framback. — 


I78       CATALOGUE   OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

Pennsylvania :  Father  Frederick  Leonards  arrived,  and 
formed  a  new  settlement  with  German  colonists. 

1761 — George  Hunter;  Thomas  Gerard  died  in  England;  John 
Kingdom  died  at  Portobacco  ;  Lewis  Benjamin  Roels  arrived 
from  England,  the  24th  of  June  ;  John  Lewis  ;  James  Ashbey 
at  St.  Inigoes ;  Arnold  Livers,  James  Framback.  Father 
John  Digges  died  in  November. — Pennsylvania :  Ferdinand 
Farmer,  Robert  Harding. 

1762 — Ralph  Falkner ;  Father  Joseph  Hattersty  arrived  July 
12th  ;  Joseph  Mosley  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor. 

1763 — St.  Mary's  Church,  Philadelphia,  was  begun  this  year.  Jo- 
seph Mosley,  at  St.  Thomas',  attending  Sakia  and  Newport. 
John  Williams  at  Frederick.  He  begins  to  build  the  Church 
and  Residence. 

1764 — George  Hunter  ;  Joseph  Mosley  went  to  Bohemia  ;  Father 
Frederick  Leonards  died  the  28th  of  October,  at  Portobacco. 
— Pennsylvania  :  Ferdinand  Farmer  ;  Robert  Harding  ;  Fa- 
ther Theodore  Schneider  died  at  Goshenhoppen. 

1765 — George  Hunter,  Superior;  James  Walton  and  Ignatius 
Matthews  arrived  in  St.  Mary's  County  in  December  ;  John 
B.  De  Ritter  and  John  Boone  came  on  the  31st  of  May  ;  John 
Lewis  at  White  Marsh  ;  Joseph  Mosley  settled  at  St.  Joseph's, 
Talbot  County,  Md.,  on  the  18th  of  March. — Pennsylvania  : 
Ferdinand  Farmer  ;  Robert  Harding  ;  James  Pellentz,  at  Phil- 
adelphia. 

1766 — James  Ashbey,  at  Newtown  Manor;  John  Bolton  and  James 
Breadnall,  at  Newtown  ;  Richard  Molyneux  died  in  England, 
the  17th  of  May;  John  Lewis;  Joseph  Mosley. — Pennsylva- 
nia :  Ferdinand  Farmer ;  Mathias  Manners  ;  Robert  Harding. 

1767 — George  Hunter;  Arnold  Livers,  at  St.  Inigoes;  James  Ash- 
bey died  at  Newtown  ;  James  Walton. — Pennsylvania  :  Fer- 
dinand Farmer  ;  Robert  Harding  ;  Philip  O'Reilly,  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

1768 — George  Hunter  ;  James  Walton  began  to  live  alone  at  Fred- 
erick, the  27th  of  June  ;  John  Williams  left  Frederick,  July 
27th,  and  returned  to  England  ;  Joseph  Hattersty  and  Peter 
Morris,  at  Newtown  ;  John  Lewis;  James  Breadnall. — Penn- 
sylvania :  Ferdinand  Farmer ;  Robert  Harding. 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.       1 79 

1769 — George  Hunter,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  James  Walton, 
Manager  at  Newtown  ;  Joseph  Mosley,  at  St.  Joseph's,  on  the 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland ;  George  Knight ;  Joseph  Hat- 
tersty,  at  Newtown  ;  John  Lewis,  at  St.  Inigoes  ;  Father  Hun- 
ter went  to  Canada,  May  24th,  and  thence  to  England  ;  Philip 
O'Reilly  returned  to  Ireland.  —  Pennsylvania:  Ferdinand 
Farmer  ;  Robert  Harding  ;  Luke  Geisler  arrived  at  Philadel- 
phia, March  the  26th. 

1770 — Father  Hunter  returned  from  England,  May  18th  ;  James 
Breadnall  ;  Peter  Morris  ;  John  Lucas  came  from  England  ; 
John  Boone  returned  from  Europe  (Father  Hunter)  ;  James 
Walton  ;  Joseph  Hattersty,  at  Philadelphia. 

1771 — John  Lewis  ;  Peter  Morris  ;  Robert  Molyneu.x  ;  Joseph  Hat- 
tersty died  at  Philadelphia,  the  8th  of  May,  aged  35 ;  Father 
Hattersty  was  a  most  holy  and  zealous  missionary  ;  James 
Pellentz  ;  James  Walton,  in  St.  Mary's  County,  Md.  ;  John 
Bolton  arrived  March  21st;  Mathias  Manners,  at  Bohemia. 

1772 — John  Lewis,  in  St.  Mary's  County,  Md.  Father  James 
Breadnall  died  at  Newtown,  September  the  1st,  according  to 
some.     I  think  he  died  in  1775. 

1773 — Twenty  Fathers  in  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania.  Their 
names  are:  John  Ashton,  Thomas  Digges,  James  Framback, 
Ferdinand  Farmer,  Luke  Geisler,  George  Hunter,  John  Lewis, 
John  Lucas,  Mathias  Manners,  Ignatius  Matthews,  Peter 
Morris,  Joseph  Mosley,  Benedict  Neale,  James  Pellentz,  Lewis 
Roels,  Bernard  Rich  (Diderich),  J.  B.  De  Ritter,  James  Wal- 
ton, John  Bolton,  and  Robert  Molyneux.  If  it  be  true,  as  I 
have  good  grounds  to  think  it  is,  that  Father  Harding's  death 
occurred  only  in  1775,  then  there  were  twenty-one  Fathers  of 
the  English  Province  in  this  country  at  the  time  of  the  Sup- 
pression. 

1774 — John  Bolton ;  Father  Richard  Gillibrand,  who  served  the 
Maryland  Mission  for  some  time,  died  at  Bath,  March  23d. 
Robert  Molyneux  at  Philadelphia  ;  Anthony  Carroll  in  the 
same  city  ;  John  Carroll  arrived  on  the  26th  of  June  ;  Sylves- 
ter and  John  Boarman  came  the  21st  of  March  ;  Chas.  Sewall 
and  Augustine  Jenkins  came  the  24th  of  May  ;  Mathias  Man- 


180      CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY   JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND." 

ners  at  Bohemia  ;  Ferdinand  Farmer  at  Philadelphia.  John 
Baptist  De  Ritter  at  Goshenhoppen. 

1775 — John  Lewis,  Superior  and  Vicar-General,  at  St.  Inigoes  ; 
Austin  Jenkins  ;  Robert  Molyneux  ;  Mathias  Manners  died  at 
Bohemia  on  the  15th  of  June;  Joseph  Mosley  at  Bohemia; 
Philip  O'Reilly,  a  missionary  for  some  time  in  Maryland,  and 
afterwards  distinguished  in  Guiana,  died  in  Dublin  the  24th  of 
February  ;  Anthony  Carroll  left  for  England  on  the  7th  or  8th 
of  May.  Bernard  Diderick  attended  Baltimore  and  Elk  Ridge 
from  1775  to  1784. 

1776 — Augustine  Jenkins  ;  Peter  Morris,  at  Bohemia  ;  James  Wal- 
ton ;  Ferdinand  Farmer  at  Philadelphia  ;  Robert  Molyneux  at 
Philadelphia. 

1777 — Arnold  Livers  died  at  St.  Inigoes,  August  16th. 

1778 — George  Hunter,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  James  Walton,  at 
Newtown  ;  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia. 

1779 — John  Lewis,  at  Bohemia ;  Superior  and  Vicar-General ; 
Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia;  Father  George  Hunter 
died  at  St.  Thomas',  on  August  the  1st,  and  was  buried  beside 
Father  John  Kingdom  and  Father  Leonards.  Ignatius  Mat- 
thews at  Port  Tobacco. 

1780 — John  Lewis,  Superior  and  Vicar-General;  Ferdnand  Far- 
mer and  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia ;  John  Ashton  ; 
Ignatius  Matthews,  at  Port  Tobacco;  James  Walton,  at  New- 
town Manor;  Austin  Jenkins  with  Father  Walton  ;  John  Car- 
roll, at  his  mother's  residence  in  Montgomery  County  ;  Thos. 
Digges ;  Joseph  Mosley,  Talbot  County,  Md.  ;  Benedict 
Neale  ;  John  Bolton,  in  Charles  County  ;  Charles  Sewall. 

1781—  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia;  Father  Wappeler  died 
at  Ghent,  in  Belgium, — an  old  paper  before  me  says  he  died 
at  Bruges. 

1782 — John  Lewis,  Superior,  at  Bohemia;  Bernard  Diderick;  Ig- 
natius Matthews,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Peter  Morris  died 
suddenly  at  Newtown,  November  the  19th  ;  Lewis  Roels. 

1783 — Ferdinand  Farmer,  at  Philadelphia  ;  John  Boarman,  at  Port 
Tobacco;  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia. 

1  78  I — James  Walton  succeeded  Ignatius  Matthews  as  Pastor  of  St. 


CATALOGUE  OF  EARLY  JESUITS  IN  MARYLAND.   l8l 

Inigoes  on  the  19th  of  December  ;  Henry  Pile  arrived  in  the 
month  of  July  ;  John  Boone. 

1785 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia;  Father  Walton  builds 
the  second  church  at  St.  Inigoes.  He  laid  the  corner-stone 
on  the  13th  of  July ;  John  Ashton,  Procurator;  Ferdinand 
Farmer  at  Philadelphia  ;  James  Pellentz,  Conewago  ;  Charles 
Sewall,  at  Baltimore  ;  Luke  Geisler,  in  Lancaster  County,  Pa. 
John  Lewis,  at  Bohemia;  Henry  Pile,  at  Newport,  Charles 
County,  Md. 

1786 — Father  Ferdinand  Farmer  died  at  Philadelphia  on  the  17th 
of  August ;  Father  John  Baptist  De  Ritter  died  on  the  3d  of 
October;  Robert  Molyneux  at  Philadelphia;  Luke  Geisler 
and  Francis  Beeston  with  Father  Molyneux ;  St.  Peter's 
Church,  New  York  City,  was  to  have  been  opened  on  the  4th 
of  November  of  this  year.  The  "  first  stone  "  of  St.  Peter's 
was  laid  by  the  Spanish  Minister.  Luke  Geisler  died  at  Cone- 
wago, August  10th. 

1787 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Philadelphia  ;  Francis  Beeston  with 
Father  Molyneux  ;  Benedict  Neale  died  at  Newtown  on  the 
20th  of  March  ;  Joseph  Mosley  died  at  St.  Joseph's,  Talbot 
•  County,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  which  he  himself  had 
built ;  John  Bolton  succeeded  Father  Mosley  at  St.  Joseph's, 
Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland. 

1788 — Charles  Sewall  at  Baltimore  ;  Father  John  Lewis  died  at 
Bohemia,  the  24th  of  March.  Robert  Molyneux  left  Philadel- 
phia to  succeed  Father  Lewis  ;  Francis  Beeston  at  Philadel- 
phia ;  Francis  Neale  left  Li6ge  on  the  3d  of  April,  and  was  in 
Baltimore  in  November  ;  John  Bolton,  at  St.  Joseph's,  Talbot 
County. 

1789 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Bohemia. 

1790 — Francis  Beeston,  at  Philadelphia,  up  to  the  29th  of  May  ; 
Charles  Sewall,  at  Baltimore  ;  Robert  Plunkett ;  Francis  Neale. 
Father  Ignatius  Matthews  died  at  Newtown  on  the  11th  of 
May.  Francis  Beeston  spent  a  part  of  this  year  at  Bohemia. 
Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1791— John  Ashton  and  Robert  Plunkett,  at  White  Marsh  ;  Fran- 
cis Beeston,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor. 


1 82       CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND. 

1792 — James  Framback,  at  Frederick  ;  Charles  Sewall,  at  Balti- 
more ;  Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1793 — Bernard  Diderick  died  in  September,  at  Notley  Hall ;  Fran- 
cis Beeston,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Charles  Sewall,  at  Bo- 
hemia ;  Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1794 — Father  Louis  Roels  died  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor  on  the  27th 
of  February  ;  Father  John  Lucas  died  on  the  11th  of  Septem- 
ber ;  Father  Anthony  Carroll  was  killed  by  robbers  in  London 
on  the  5th  of  September  ;  Father  John  Boarman  died  at  New- 
town ;  Francis  Beeston,  at  Baltimore. 

1795 — Father  John  Boone  died  at  St.  Inigoes  on  the  11th  of  April ; 
at  the  same  station  died  Father  James  Framback,  on  the  17th 
of  August. 

1796 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Georgetown  College,  in  June  ;  Fran- 
cislBeeston,  at  Baltimore. 

1797 — John  Ashton,  at  White  Marsh  ;  Charles  Sewall,  Agent  of  the 
Corporation  ;  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Newtown  ;  Henry  Pile,  at 
Newport,  Charles  County,  Md.  Francis  Beeston,  at  Baltimore. 

1798 — James  Walton,  in  St.  Mary's  County ;  Charles  Sewall,  at  St. 
Thomas'  Manor  ;  Austin  Jenkins,  at  Newtown  ;  Robert  Moly- 
neux, Superior,  at  Newtown  ;  John  Bolton,  at  St.  Joseph's, 
Talbot  County. 

1799 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Newtown  ;  John  Bolton  at  St.  Joseph's, 
Talbot  County,  Md  ;  Austin  Jenkins,  at  Newtown ;  Henry 
Pile,  at  Newport  ;  Charles  Sewall,  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor. 

1800 — Father  James  Pellentz  died  at  Conewago  on  the  13th  of 
March  ;  Father  Augustine  Jenkins  died  at  Newtown  Manor, 
on  the  2d  of  February  ;  Sylvester  Boarman  arrived  at  New- 
town, August  14th  ;  Robert  Molyneux,  at  Newtown  ;  Henry 
Pile,  at  Newport. 

1801— John  Bolton,- at  St.  Joseph's,  Talbot  County  ;  Robert  Moly- 
neux, at  Newtown  ;  Ignatius  B.  Brooke,  at  Newtown  ;  Henry 
Pile,  at  Newport ;  Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1802 — John  Bolton  came  to  Newtown  on  the  7th  of  April ;  Ignatius 
Baker  Brooke,  Newtown  ;  Robert  Molyneux,  Newtown,  Fran- 
cis Neale,  at  Georgetown  College. 

1803 — Robert  Molyneux,  Ignatius  B.  Brooke,  and  John  Bolton,  at 
Newtown  ;  Father  Joseph  Doyne  died  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor, 


CATALOGUE    OF    EARLY    JESUITS    IN    MARYLAND.       1 83 

Charles  County,  Md.  ;  Father  James  Walton  died  at  St.  In- 
igoes  ;  Henry  Pile  served  at  Newport  and  Cob  Neck,  Charles 
County  ;  Charles  Sewall,  St.  Thomas'  Manor  ;  Sylvester  Boar- 
man,  at  St.  Inigoes  ;  Francis  Neale,  at  Georgetown  ;  Charles 
Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1804 — Robert  Molyneux,  at  Newtown  ;  Ignatius  B.  Brooke  and 
John  Bolton,  at  Newton ;  Charles  Sewall,  at  St.  Thomas' 
Manor  ;  Sylvester  "Boarman,  at  St.  Inigoes  ;  Francis  Neale,  at 
Georgetown  College  ;  Henry  Pile,  at  Newport,  Charles  Co., 
Md. ;  Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  Tobacco. 

1805 — Father  Molyneux  left  Newtown  in  August,  and  went  to 
Georgetown  College  ;  he  was  appointed  Superior  of  the  Mis- 
sion, and  resided  at  St.  Thomas'  Manor;  Ignatius  B.  Brooke, 
John  Bolton,  at  Newton  ;  Francis  Beeston  ;  Sylvester  Boar- 
man,  at  St.  Inigoes  ;  Father  Thomas  Digges  died  at  Balti- 
more ;  Charles  Sewall,  St.  Thomas'  Manor ;  Francis  Neale, 
at  Georgetown  College  ;  Father  Charles  Neale,  at  Port  To- 
bacco. 


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