^m :,;,:\ IfiiM Si 11 I I II Ii .Y^LE«¥MH¥EI^SIir¥" Bought with the income of the William C. Egleston Fund 19^» THE RIGHT REV. EDWARD DOMINIC FENWICK o. P. Nihil 0b0tat: Fr. Laurentius F. Kearney, O.P., S.T.M. Fr. Thomas M. Schwertner, O.P., S.T.Lr. Umprrotantr: Fr. Raymundus Meagher, O.P., S.T.Lr. Prior Provincialis. Nihil obatat: Rev. Petrus Guild ay, Ph.D. ^Imprimatur: Jacobus Cardinalis Gibbons, Archiepiscopus Baltimorensis, Baltimorae, die Aprilis 20, 1920. THE RIGHT REV. EDWARD D. FENWICK, O.P. THE RIGHT REV. EDWAED DOMINIC FENWICK O.P. FOUNDER OF THE DOMINICANS IN THE UNITED STATES PIONEER MISSIONARY IN KENTUCKY APOSTLE OF OHIO FIRST BISHOP OF CINCINNATI BY VERY REV. V. F. O'DANIEL, O.P., S.T.M. THE DOMINICANA 487 Michigan Avenue, N. E. WASHINGTON, D. C. FOR SALE BY FREDERICK PUSTET CO. (Inc.) NEW YORK CINCINNATI 52 Barclay Street 436 Main Street Copyright, 1920 By V. F. O'Daniel, O.P. TO THE MEMORY OF HIS PARENTS RICHARD J. AND NANCY HAMILTON O'DANIEL TO WHOSE EXAMPLE AND THOUGHTFUL CARE UNDER GOD HE OWES THE GREATEST BLESSINGS OF HIS LIFE THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR CONTENTS Chapteb Page Foreword xi I. Lineage, Birthplace and Early Boyhood ... 1 II. Student Abroad: Becomes a Dominican. ... 30 III. ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 41 IV. Future Field of Labor 64 V. Returns to America #83 VI. A New Province or Dominicans 99 VII. Early Buildings and Missionary Labors. ... 110 VIII. An Unpleasantness 127 IX. "An Itinerant Preacher" 166 X. Early History of Ohio 182 XI. Missionary in the North 194 XII. A Companion at Labor 213 XIII. Appointed Bishop 230 XIV. Visit to Rome 255 XV. New Dioceses and Episcopal Candidates. . . . 273 XVI. Joys, Sorrows and Labors 283 XVII. Dedication of the Cathedral and Renewed Efforts 305 XVIII. The Jubilee of Leo XII, Missions of the Northwest and Some Set-Backs 320 XIX. Commissary of the Dominican Master Gen eral. Sustained Zeal 336 XX. Brighter Prospects 352 XXI. Zeal Rewarded 368 XXII. Further Progress 382 XXIII. A Glorious Ending 399 XXIV. A Final Word 427 Bibliography 445 Index 453 ILLUSTRATIONS Page The Right Rev. Edward D. Fenwick, O.P Frontispiece Holy Cross Convent and College, Bornheim, Belgium 36 Saint Rose's Church and Priory, Kentucky 169 Saint Thomas of Aquin College, Kentucky 169 Father Fenwick Discovering the Dittoe Family 201 Saint Joseph's, the Mother Church and Convent of Ohio . . . 222 Saint Patrick's, Cincinnati's First Catholic Church 246 Saint Peter's Cathedral, Cincinnati 393 Saint Francis Xavier's Seminary, Cincinnati 393 The Athenaeum, Cincinnati 393 The Fenwick Club, Cincinnati 427 Tablet that Long Marked Bishop Fenwick's Tomb 441 Mausoleum in which Bishop Fenwick is now Buried 441 IX FOREWORD. The general reader, as a rule, has but an imperfect conception of the endless labor and painstaking care involved in a book of the character of the one which we now present to the public. We venture to believe, how ever, that a few chapters will suffice to show the his torian the delving, the toil, the study, the time and the patience demanded in its preparation. The difficulty of the task was augmented by the fact that the wori is a pioneer in its field, while investigation proved that the little that had hitherto been written about Bishop Edward D. Fenwick is replete with error. For this reason, no time, no labor nor pains were spared to make this biography of Ohio's apostle accurate and reliable in every detail. Ever and always, the author has sought to base his narrative on bed-rock, drawing the history of the friar prelate from only first-hand sources. The footnotes show but few instances in which he failed to accomplish this. Documents, however, especially if they are litigious or written with a view to gain a point, cannot always be taken at their face-value. For this reason, all documents were carefully studied in order to detect what was alloy of bias and prejudice, and what genuine historic truth. Because he was the founder of the Dominicans in the United States, and twice their superior, Bishop Fenwick's life is intimately and in separably connected with the early history of that Order in the country, no less than with that of the Church in Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan. The same xii FOREWORD. searching care has been given to these matters as to the life of the prelate himself. Another effort that involved no little difficulty was that of making the narrative at once popular and scien tific. We have sought to adapt the text of the story to the general public, for whom the book is principally written. The copious footnotes are largely intended to satisfy the demands of the scholar. It must be left to others, however, to judge how far we have succeeded in such an endeavor. But it should be noted that, in order to accommodate the work to the general reader, we have at times taken the liberty of changing the archaic ab breviations, etc., in the old documents to those in mod ern usage. The purpose of this will be patent to all, and should not, we think, offer cause for unfavorable criticism. Two chapters of the work, mutatis mutandis, have already appeared, substantially, in The Catholic His torical Review. Chapter I, "Lineage, Birthplace and Early Boyhood," for instance, was largely published in that magazine (V, 156 ff.) under the caption of " Cuth- bert Fenwick — Pioneer Catholic and Legislator of Maryland." Similarly, Chapter VIII, " An Unpleas antness," was printed with few changes by the same publication (VI, 15 ff.) under the title of "Fathers Badin and Nerinckx and the Dominicans in Kentucky, A Long Misunderstood Episode in American Church History." So again, many of the documents and facts found in Chapter XIII, " Appointed a Bishop," were given to the Review (V, 428 ff.) in the form of a letter. These various contributions to our leading Catholic his torical publication elicited not a little favorable com ment. FOREWORD. xiii The narrative was submitted in manuscript form to several scholars of note, from all of whom it received a warm approval. This, together with the charming char acter of its subject, his deep spirit of religion and self- sacrifice, and his heroic and tireless labors in the cause of the Church, emboldens us to beleive that his biog raphy will be accorded a hearty welcome. We venture to hope, furthermore, that it will prove a source of no little interest and edification to our Catholic reading public, as well as a fund of information for the Catholic historian. It was written at the request of the Most Rev. Henry Moeller, archbishop of Cincinnati, whose archdiocese celebrates the centennial of its foundation. the coming year. In a few instances we have been obliged to take sides against those with whom we would much rather have been in accord. This was forced upon us in the interest of what we are convinced is historic truth. Few his torians are so fortunate as to escape the painful duty of recording some unpleasant things. In these instances we have sought to lay before the reader the plain facts of the case, giving to each side its due merit; and we trust that we have not sinned against charity. Grateful acknowledgment is due to the late Cardinal Gotti, O.S.A., and other custodians of the Propaganda Archives, Most Rev. Hyacinth Cormier late Master General of the Dominicans, Rev. Paul C. Mercier and Rev. Louis Nolan, O.P., through whose courtesy or as sistance many of the documents used for this book were obtained in Rome. Similar acknowledgment is made to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Moeller, Bishop O'Donaghue of Louisville, the president and archivist of Notre Dame University, the late Rev. Ed- xiv FOREWORD. ward I. Devitt, S.J., of Georgetown University, Rev. Anthony J. Maas, S.J. (then provincial), and Rev. Joseph Swinge, S.J., archivist of the Maryland-New York Province of Jesuit Fathers, for access to Amer ican archives. Among others, besides the three eccle siastical censors, who have placed us under a debt of gratitude are Professor Leo F. Stock, Ph.D., Rev. P. T. McAllister, O.P., Rev. John H. Lamott, S.T.D., Miss Alice McShane of the library of the Catholic Uni versity, and Mr. Frederick V. Murphy, graduate of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. Lastly, but not least, we must attest our indebtedness to the Very Rev. J. R. Meagher, O.P., provincial, for his sympathy in the work and for the generosity which enables us to offer the life of Bishop Fenwick at a price which, at present, were otherwise impossible. We also take advantage of this occasion heartily to thank all those who have in any wise aided us in the work. V. F. O'Daniel, O. P. The Dominican College, > Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C, June 29, 1920. Life of Edward Dominic Fenwick CHAPTER I LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY BOYHOOD Before the Ark and the Dove, bearing their cargoes of men and equipment for a settlement in the New World, reached their destination, Lord Baltimore wrote to his friend, Lord Wentworth, that besides his brothers, Leonard and George Calvert, "very near twenty other gentlemen of very good fashion" had accompanied the enterprise.1 These twenty or so gentlemen were persons of high social standing whose wealth enabled them, in addition to defraying the expenses of their transporta tion, to contribute towards the establishment of the pro posed colony of Maryland. Others, too, it would seem, of some means but of less rank were among the first pas sengers on the two staunch little vessels. The greater number of Maryland's earliest settlers, however, were men of small, if any, worldly possessions. Many of them were unable to meet even the cost of the long voyage across the Atlantic. In the hope of finding a home in the unbroken forests of America where they could worship God freely in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, or of bettering their temporal condi tions — perhaps of both — this class of colonists volun tarily bound themselves to the more fortunate of the i Letters and Dispatches of Thomas Wentworth Straford (edited by Rad- cliffe), I, 178-79. 2 1 2 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. settlers whom they were thus obliged, by contract, to serve for a stipulated period in payment of their trans portation to Lord Baltimore's palatinate. In later years such immigrants often pledged their services to mer chants or masters of ships; and these not infrequently let or sold the labor thus due them to the wealthier colonists. Those who came to the province in this humble capa city were known as "redemptioners" or indentured servants. Those who emigrated at their own expense were called freemen. The term of servitude for the former ran, as a rule, from two to five years, according to age, value of service and other circumstances. When the time of their contracts expired, they also became freemen, immediately enjoying equal civic rights and privileges with the independent planters, and were en titled to a certain portion of land for themselves, their wives and their children. Prior to the "Protestant Revolution" of 1689 at least, a large portion of the colony's population, at tracted perhaps no less by the tolerance of the first two lords proprietary than by the prospects offered by their generous government, came to America under such con ditions. To come in this status was then considered no disgrace. In fact, many who arrived indentured for their passage money soon rose to prominence after ob taining their freedom, and married into the best colonial families. Some, indeed, of the most honored names in Maryland's history were either redemptioners or the descendants of redemptioners. Among this class, in the early days of the province, were Catholics of equally as high birth and breeding as the some twenty or so " gen tlemen of very good fashion" of whom Lord Cecelius LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 3 Calvert wrote to his friend. Doubtless the reduced cir cumstances of these were largely due to the fines and confiscations to which those of their faith were subjected by the odious laws that then existed in the mother coun try, and that brought many of the wealthiest and noblest of the old English Catholic families to abject poverty. Such an adventurer was the original American pro genitor of the first bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Right Rev. Edward Dominic Fenwick, whose life story is re corded in these pages. Cuthbert Fenwick, of whom we speak, was a scion of one of England's oldest and staunchest Catholic families, as well as one of the most striking and influential builders of Maryland during the first two decades of its history. Davis says of him that he was "the fairest exponent of that system of religious liberty, which had constituted the very corner-stone of the first settlement under the charter " procured by Ce- celius Calvert, the lord proprietary.2 No doubt the training which young Fenwick had received at home prepared him for the part that he was to play in the des tiny of the new colony. Long-standing traditions, when traced to their sources, are generaly found to have had their origin in historic truth. So it has proved in the present instance. Tradi tion had long connected the Fenwicks of Maryland, through their first American forbear, Cuthbert Fenwick, with the Fenwicks of Fenwick Tower, Northumberland County, England. But the actual mention of the name " Cuthberte " in its proper place in the family annals in Great Britain, together with the incessant recurrence of the same Christian names in the colony, seems positively and definitely to establish the identity of the " Lord of 2 Davis, The Day Star of American Freedom, p. 207. 4 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Fenwick Manor," Maryland, and to place beyond dis pute his connection with the historic family of the same patronymic in the north of England.3 Thus, though he came to America as a redemptioner, Cuthbert Fenwick could possibly boast of the oldest, if not of the noblest, lineage among the early planters of the Baltimore palatinate. The Fenwicks of Northumberland, England, can be traced back to the twelfth century. The principal house of the family was that of Fenwick Tower, not far from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In course of time, however, numerous cadet branches came into existence, spreading the influence of the line widely through the north.4 Their loyalty to the Catholic faith is said to have been s Saint-Geobge, Pedigrees Recorded at the Herald's Visitations of the County of Northumberland (edited by Joseph Foster), p. 50; Hodgson, A History of Northumberland, II of P. 2, 75. — This seems to be the first time that the Christian name of Cuthbert occurs in the family annals. * Saint-Geoege, op. cit., pp. 50-55, and Hodgson, op. cit., pp. 75—76 and 112-114, show that the early Maryland colonist belonged to the cadet houses of Langshaws, or Longshows, and Nunriding. William B. Goodwin, Ohio, who during many years has made a thorough study, from authentic sources, of the Fenwicks, both in England and America, has given us the following pedigree of the Cuthbert Fenwick who came to Maryland with its first settlers: (1) Robert de Fenwick, about 1190, Ville de Fenwick. (2) ^Robert de Fenwick, son and heir, about 1230, Ville de Fenwick. (3) Thomas de Fenwick, third son of Fenwick, possessor of the Manor of Capheaton, afterwards sold to the Swinburns; also later Prior of Hexham Abbey. (4) Sir Thomas de Fenwick, Knight of the Manor of Fenwick. (5) Alan de Fenwick, of Fenwick, third son. (6) Sir John de Fenwick, Knight of Fenwick. (7) Sir John de Fenwick, second son, knighted in the French War by King Henry V and given the motto "Perit ut vivat," and Manor of Trouble Ville, in Normandy. In this generation Fenwick Tower descended to Sir John's elder brother, Sir Alan de Fenwick. (8) John Fenwick, to whom his father gave Newburne Hall. (9) Sir Roger Fenwick, fourth son, Constable of Newcastle and Esquire of the Body to King Henry VII. (10) Sir Ralph Fenwick, Knight, who married the sole heiress of Mitford of Stanton. (11) Anthony Fen wick, second son, who received the house of Langshaws from his mother. (12) Stephen Fenwick of Langshaws, son and heir. (13) George Fenwick of Langshaws, living in 1615. (14) Cuthbert Fenwick, fourth son, whose eldest brother, William, son and heir to George mentioned above, was twelve years of age in 1615. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 5 long of the most steadfast. The records of Britain's dark penal days, imperfect and incomplete as they are, bear mute but eloquent testimony to the fidelity of many of them to their religion, as well as of the fines imposed on them for having the courage to be recusants in the face of laws most intolerant. It is not improbable, in deed, that the family of Cuthbert had been thus reduced to straits that obliged him to come to America as a re demptioner. But if he were a passenger on the Ark or the Dove, which is more than likely, another explanation might be advanced for his emigrating in so humble a capacity. The young man's conscience might have forbidden him to take the prescribed test oath; and to avoid a thing so odious to Catholics he elected to enlist in Lord Balti more's enterprise among the adventurers indentured to others, whose oaths seemed to have sufficed for those bound to their service. Yet he appears to have arrived in the colony a poor man. In any case, the noble youth had not less to expect in the New World than in the Old. At home, one of his faith could look for little or nothing except trouble and persecution. In the broad domains of America, and under the kindly and tolerant rule of a man like Cecelius Calvert, he might hope to plant his name and posterity forever. It may be, too, that he had in him some of the spirit of adventure which was then rife among those of his class and age in Great Britain. Thus more than one influence, perchance, had its part in bringing to Mary land one of the most charming personages of its early history. The young cavalier's father was George Fenwick of Longshows, or Langshaws, a cadet branch of the main 6 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. line of Fenwick Tower. In the family there were nine children, six boys and three girls. Cuthbert, as is shown by Saint-George's pedigrees of Northumberland, was the fourth son, and was living in 1615. The precise date of his birth is not known; but his own testimony, given in April, 1654, that he was then forty years of age, " or thereabouts,"5 proves that he was born probably in 1613 or 1614, making him twenty or twenty-one years old when he landed on the shores of the New World. Both the time of his arrival in Maryland and the ques tion as to whether he was a passenger on the Ark or the Dove have been subjects of discussion. The difficulty arises from a petition of Thomas Cornwallis, made in 1652, for grants of land in virtue of having "trans ported" twenty-two servants into the colony from 1634 to that date. Amongst these servants he mentions Cuth bert Fenwick as one of four whom he " brought and ex ported " from Virginia in 1634. But against this record we have two others, both belonging to 1639, and in both of which Fenwick is mentioned just as explicitly as one of ten men servants whom the wealthy landholder brought "into the province in 1633."6 These two en tries, dating as they do to a period much nearer Fen- wick's arrival in the settlement, ought to outweigh the s Archives of Maryland (Vol. X), Judiciary and Testamentary Business of the Provincial Court, 1649/50-1657, p. 372. 8 Land Records, Annapolis, Maryland, Liber I, p. 110, and Liber A. B. H., pp. 94 and 143-44. See also Richardson, Sidelights on Maryland History, I, 12, 14, 15, 417.— Mrs. Richardson, it seems to us, by no means substan tiates her claim that Cuthbert Fenwick was not a passenger on the Ark or the Dove. And it should be noted here that the words "transported" and "imported," so often found in the early Maryland records, had not then the ugly meaning with which they have since come to be invested. They simply meant the payment of the colonists' fare to the New World. Not unfrequently do we find a man claiming land for the " transportation " of his wife or child, or even of himself. After all, it may very well be that Fenwick was merely in the employment of Cornwallis; and that the worthy commissioner and councilor brought the clever young man over to look after his business as his attorney. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 7 single statement of later years, when lapse of time, pressure of business and the increased number of im ported persons all conspired to make the memory less clear and trustworthy. The argument is all the stronger in view of the careless manner in which records of that day were written, and of the almost verbal agreement of the two earlier entries of Cornwallis' claims. Again, the fact that Cuthbert Fenwick's name ap pears as one of the witnesses to the will of George Cal vert, a brother of the lord proprietary, July 10, 1634,7 shows that he must have been among the early settlers long enough to win the confidence of those in charge of the province. But this would hardly have been pos sible, had he not come to America in the Ark or the Dove. Tradition, also, of long standing, insists on placing the distinguished pioneer legislator among the original group of adventurers who landed on Saint Clement's Island and assisted at the holy sacrifice of the Mass, March 25, 1634, the first day of the new year according to the old Julian calendar. The little documentary discrepancy may be explained on the supposition that Fenwick remained in Virginia, where we know the pilgrims tarried for more than a week on their journey, to transact business for his master, Cornwallis, and then continued his way to Maryland. But be this as it may, the young scion of the noble house of Fenwick Tower did not long remain subject to Corn wallis. The treatment that he received from this high- minded gentleman was most kindly and generous. In deed, because of the esteem in which he was held by his patron, and the exceptional advantages he derived from intimate association with such a man, it was perhaps for tunate for the young cavalier that he fell, at that period i Maryland Historical Magazine, I, 363-64. 8 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. of his life and in a new, uncivilized country, under the wholesome influence of a person of Cornwallis' char acter. Cornwallis was a leader among the colonists and one of the two commissioners appointed by Lord Balti more to assist Governor Calvert in the affairs of the province. From the start, he seems not merely to have placed implicit confidence in Fenwick's honesty, but to have entrusted matters of much moment to his prudence, judgment and ability. A perusal of the records that still remain, tempts us to believe that the commissioner regarded Cuthbert Fenwick as a friend, an associate and an adviser rather than as one in his employment. They were both possessed of rare parts, splendid char acters, -tireless energy, and unimpeachable integrity. Both were just such men as were needed to build up a commonwealth in the primeval forests- of the New World. Kindred spirits, they appear to have been in separable, and to have acted together — at least from the time Fenwick obtained his freedom — in all important concerns of the province during most of the first two decades of its existence. Indeed, almost from the be ginning we see Fenwick, though a young man in his twenties, acting as the commissioner's attorney to look after his business and vast estates, not merely during his visits to England and absence on matters of personal or colonial interests, but when he was at home. For this reason, although married, having a family and possess ing broad acres in his own right, Fenwick long lived — perhaps until 1651— at Cornwallis' manor, known as " The Cross."8 In March, 1638, Fenwick sat in the colonial assembly of freemen called to consult the welfare of the budding s It is remarkable how often the names of Fenwick and Cornwallis are linked together in the records of that day. LINEAGE, BntTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 9 state. It was the second meeting of its kind in the prov ince, but the first of which we have any satisfactory ac count. For Cuthbert Fenwick it marked the beginning of a notable career in what was to become the lower house of the general assembly. Taking an active part in the deliberations of this body, whose proceedings are among the most noteworthy in Maryland colonial rec ords, he becomes at once a man of mark, as well as a conspicuous historic personage. His rise was rapid, and thenceforth, to the time of his death, he figured prominently in the legislative meetings of provincial Maryland. On one occasion, during the absence of Cornwallis, whose attorney he was, he sat by special summons of Leonard Calvert in the governor's council to take the place of the commissioner.9 It would seem, indeed, that he was the only man to receive such an order in the history of the province. A man of sterling worth and inflexible honesty, pos sessed of a charming character which he appears to have handed down to his posterity, Cuthbert Fenwick won the confidence and the good-will of his fellow-colonists, both bond and free. As may be seen from the record of his voting at the assemblies of which he was a member, gentle and considerate though he was, he had a will that refused to be swerved from what he felt to be his duty. On various occasions he is found taking sides against the governor and his council and secretary. Once he cast his vote against a measure that was favored by all his associates.10 » Archives of Maryland (Vol. I), Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1637/38-1664, pp. 88-89. io Archives of Maryland (Vol. I), Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly, 1637/38-1664; (Vol. 3), Proceedings of the Council, 1636-1667; (Vol. IV), Judicial and Testamentary Business of the Provincial Court, 1637-1650; and (Vol. X), Judicial and Testamentary Business of the Pro vincial Court, 1649/50-1657: all passim. 10 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Few, if any, of the original colonists were more fre quently members of the legislative body than Cuthbert Fenwick. His political life, however, may be said to have reached its climax in the assemblies of 1649 and 1650. In the former, which is specially noted for pass ing the historic act of religious toleration, he was the first member of the financial committee. Davis is of the opinion that he was probably also the speaker of the lower house on this occasion.11 We may imagine the in terest that one of his staunch Catholic faith took in the "Act Concerning Religion" at a time when everything boded so ill for his Church and its adherents. In the Protestant assembly of 1650 he was chairman of a joint committee on " Laws and Orders " composed of mem bers of both houses. The assembly of 1650 was controlled by the Puritans who, apparently in a spirit of religious bias, imposed an oath of secrecy upon its members. For refusing to take the oath Thomas Matthews, the Catholic burgess elected by Saint Inigoes Hundred, Saint Mary's County, was expelled from the lower house. Cuthbert Fenwick was then elected by the same voters to succeed the ejected member. But Fenwick also scented danger in the meas ure, for he had been a victim of religious intolerance both in England and in Maryland. He saw only too clearly that an assembly sworn to secrecy would be a dangerous weapon in the hands of men whom he had every reason to fear might be disposed to use it against those of his faith. Like Matthews, he refused to take n Davis, op. cit., p. 212. — Some writers question Davis' supposition that the assembly sat in two houses in 1649. But Bacon (Laws of Maryland at Large — study on the assembly of 1649), Bancroft (History of the United States of America, I, 349), and other authors of note are of the same opinion as Mr. Davis. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 11 the oath, unless assured that it contained nothing op posed to his religion or his conscience. Though he was told that he would be expelled from his seat if he did not take the oath of secrecy without limitation or reserve, by tactful prudence and firmness he managed not merely to retain his place, but to elicit from the legislative body a declaration that they had never intended to bind any member in a way that would infringe upon his religion or trespass upon his conscience.12 In view of the strong Puritan prejudices of the day, this was not only a notable triumph for the clever legislator ; it was a victory of im portance. As is shown by Maryland's subsequent his tory, Fenwick understood the trend of the day and set himself to counteract its consequences. From the time he obtained his freedom, he is styled: " Cuthbert Fenwick, Gentleman." Governor Calvert, representing Lord Baltimore, calls him, in official docu ments: "Our trusty Cuthbert, Gentleman"; or "Our beloved Cuthbert Fenwick, Gentleman." Indeed, the title " gentleman," which in those days had a special sig nificance as implying nobility of birth, is rarely ever omitted from his name in the records of the times. Few men of his day were the recipients of so many signs of good-will from his fellow-colonists, or of so many commissions of trust and importance, as Fenwick. Few were so frequently employed in the service of the province. Time and again was he appointed to positions that demanded good judgment and no little courage. Though favor and regard were shown him by the gov ernor, this did not prevent him from being a champion of the rights of the people. More than once we see him a member of a committee, of which he was the chairman, 12 Archives of Maryland, Vol. I, as above, 237 fi., and 273 ff. 12 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. appointed to draw up a list of the grievances of the free men of the colony, or to draft the laws which they wished to have enacted. Of the innumerable juries on which he served, he was almost uniformly the foreman. Again and again does his name appear as the executor or ad ministrator of estates; as the appraiser of property; as a delegate to take or to pass judgment on an inventory; as an arbitrator of difficulties, either chosen by the court or selected by the parties concerned; as the attorney of people in every station of life to prosecute or to defend their cause before the assembly. Although the historians of Maryland have done little more for this interesting and deserving personage than to preserve his memory, the colonial records for nearly a score of years are literally burdened with the repeti tion of Cuthbert Fenwick's name. With the exception of Thomas Cornwallis, perhaps no other man of the time was more actively engaged, or took a more prominent part in the affairs of the little colony along the Chesa peake Bay. None manifested a keener interest in its welfare. The chronicles show him to have been a leader in all that made for good. His was a record of which Maryland and his numerous descendants may be justly proud.18 It was but natural that a man of such splendid capac ity and tireless activity should rapidly accumulate a competent fortune, even in a country so new and uncul tivated as Maryland then was. Only a few years, in fact, had passed before we find Cuthbert Fenwick one of the largest taxpayers in the colony, indicating that he was one of the largest property holders. His rise was is See note 10. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 13 the result, not of fortune or accident, but of character, industry and ability. It is furthermore worthy of note that in 1645, because of his faithful discharge of his duty as attorney for his friend, Cornwallis, during the insurrection of Richard Ingle and William Claiborne, the evil geniuses of the province, the Catholic legislator was made prisoner by the rebels. Not only was he held a prisoner in their ship; he was subjected to many hardships and indigni ties.14 Under these trying circumstances he seems to have shown the same strength of purpose and singleness of mind that stand out as a prominent trait of his wHble life. And in this he was a prototype of his saintly de scendant of the same patronymic, the first bishop of Cin cinnati. But of this we shall speak on a later page. Of Cuthbert Fenwick's educational opportunities nothing is definitely known. Yet, while we nowhere find it stated that he was a barrister or legal practitioner, the frequency with which he acted as attorney for the colonists, not only to transact their business, but to prosecute or to defend their cause before the court, and the acquaintance which he seems to have had with the nice points and technicalities of law, would indicate that he was a man of culture and possessed of no mean knowl edge of jurisprudence, if not a lawyer. For a time he was one of a committee of three appointed " to hear and determine " all causes in the province, whether civil or criminal, "not extending to life or member."15 In his capacity as attorney for Cornwallis he showed his fear less spirit by bringing suit (1644-1645) against Gov ernor Calvert for 100,000 pounds of tobacco, then the i* Davis, op. cit., p. 210; Archives of Maryland, Vol. X, as above, 253-54 and 371-73. is Archives of Maryland, Vol. Ill, as above, 150-151. 14 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. legal tender of the country. The case is one of the most interesting in the early annals of the province, and shows that Fenwick possessed considerable skill in the management of such proceedings.16 But the sturdy pioneer was not merely a leader in civic matters. Staunch and practical in his faith, he was like wise prominent and active in the affairs of his Church. Withal he was humble and unpretentious. From the outset, he was a steadfast and special friend and adviser of the Jesuit Fathers, Maryland's earliest missionaries, and was their trusted agent in the management of tem poralities. Nor did he hesitate to defend them in misun derstandings with even such strong men as John Lew- ger, secretary of the province, Governor Calvert and the lord proprietary.17 Doubtless, it was in this way that were laid the foundations of a lasting and extraordinary friendship towards that distinguished body of ecclesias tics, which may be noticed to this day among Cuthbert Fenwick's descendants in Maryland. Beginning with one of Cuthbert's own sons, it is remarkable how many of them, as a result no doubt of this devotion, have borne the baptismal name of Ignatius, after the sainted founder of that institute, since the days of their forefather who helped to lay the cornerstone of Maryland, the " Land of Sanctuary." As has been stated, Cuthbert Fenwick seems to have lived at The Cross, the manorial home of Captain Corn wallis, until 1651. But in this year he received from Lord Baltimore a grant of 2,000 acres of land lying on the Patuxent River and adjoining the historic De La i« Archives of Maryland, Vol. IV, as above, 292-94. "Hughes, The History of the Society of Jesus in North America- Documents, I, P. 1, passim; Text, I, 484-85 and 567-68, and II, 33 25, 38 LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 15 Brooke Manor, which belonged to Robert Brooke.18 To this new estate, whither he appears to have moved at once, Fenwick gave the name of St. Cuthbert's, in honor of his patron saint. Even in his lifetime, however, it was commonly called Fenwick Manor, and was so known for more than a century. Thereafter he devoted his talents largely to the cultivation of his property and to beautifying his home, in which he perhaps hoped that his name might be perpetuated in the New World. Unfortunately, his days were cut short, when in the prime of life. He was but one or two and forty years of age at the time. As may be seen from his will atid that of his wife, he did not live to erect the mansion he proposed to place on Saint Cuthbert's Manor, but died in a house constructed on another part of his plantation lying on a branch of Saint Cuthbert's Creek. The pre cise time of his death is not known. His will, however, signed March 6, 1655 (Old Style, 1654), and the ap pointment of Mrs. Fenwick as administratrix of his es tate by the court, April 24, 1655, show that he died be tween these two dates.19 The assembly of October and court of December, 1654, by indicating his presence at their transactions, prove that he remained active to the end. One regrets the loss to the young Catholic colony in being thus deprived of so capable a man in the heyday of his vigorous mentality and at the height of his use fulness. Cuthbert Fenwick was twice married. Of his first wife, the date of the marriage, or that of her death no is Land Records, Annapolis, Maryland, Liber A. B. H., p. 158; Richard son, op. cit., I, 291; Thomas, Chronicles of Colonial Maryland (ed. of 1913), pp. 360-61. Fenwick's land was surveyed, April 24, 1651. ib Cuthbert Fenwick's will is in Liber S of the Provincial Court Records, Annapolis, pp. 219-20. 16 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. record has been discovered. But his relations with Corn wallis cause one to fancy that she was at least a relative, if not a daughter, of the early commissioner. She left her husband four children, Thomas (doubtless named after Cornwallis), Cuthbert, Ignatius and Teresa. In 1649, he was again joined in holy wedlock — this time with Mrs. Jane Eltonhead Moryson, widow of Robert Moryson of Kecoughtan (now Hampton), Virginia.20 The second Mrs. Fenwick was a daughter of Richard Eltonhead of Eltonhead, Lancashire, England, and be longed to a family probably not less distinguished than that of Fenwick himself. Her brother, the Hon. Wil liam Eltonhead, a member of the Maryland colonial council, was put to death by the Puritans in 1655. The fruit of this marriage was three sons, Robert, Richard and John. Fenwick was survived by all his children, ex cept Thomas, whose early death is shown by the absence of his name from the wills of both his father and his step mother. The early Catholic legislator, one cannot but believe, was a devoted husband and a fond father. At the time of his death he possessed some thousands of acres of land, lying along the beautiful Patuxent River and extending, Thomas tells us, from the present Cat Creek to Saint Cuthbert's (now Cuckold) Creek.21 To his wife he be queathed " the land west of Deep Branch at St. Cuth bert's Neck absolutely," and "plantation during life." The residue of his real estate he willed to be equally di vided among his sons, Cuthbert, Ignatius, Robert, Rich ard and John; except that the eldest who bore his own Christian name, and who was "to be the Lord of the 20 Fenwick's marriage contract with the widow Moryson is in Liber S of the Provincial Court Records, Anapolis, pp. 218-19, and is dated August 1, 1649. 21 Thomas, op. cit., p. 360. LINEAGE, BHtTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 17 Manor" and to have Saint Cuthbert's proper for his plantation, was to receive an extra hundred acres. Teresa's portion, as was often the case with daughters in times past, consisted of personalty. Following the tenor of his life, he remembered the Church in the per sons of Fathers Starkey and Fitzherbert. As the children were still minors, Mrs. Fenwick was appointed their guardian. Being a woman of business ability, affairs continued to prosper under her adminis tration. But unfortunately she did not long survive her husband, a circumstance that seems to have caused the youthful family, thus left without the guidance of her good judgment, considerable inconvenience. This, how ever, they were able to overcome as they grew in age and experience. Jane Eltonhead Fenwick's will is dated November 24, 1660, and was probated on the twelfth day of the follow ing month. It shows that she divided the land left to her by her husband into three parts, called the " home plan tation," "Little Fenwick" and "Mousieur's Planta tion." These she ordered to be equally distributed among her own three sons, Robert, Richard and John. To her stepchildren, Cuthbert, Ignatius and Teresa, she gave servants, stock and other personalty. Like her husband, Mrs. Fenwick did not forget her Church in her last will and testament. The document is evidence of the bond of unity and harmony and affection and mutual confidence that existed in the family; for she appointed her stepsons, Cuthbert and Ignatius, on attaining the legal age of one and twenty years, guardians of her own children during their minority.22 It is worthy of note «2Mrs. Fenwick's will is in Will Book No. I, pp. 114 ff., Land Office, Annapolis, Maryland. 3 18 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. that no little value and interest attach to her will as giv ing a fair idea of the home comforts, the wardrobe of colonial dames, and the household furnishings among the wealthier of Maryland's settlers. It throws much light upon an important branch of history, the social and domestic life of the past. There may be those who will think that we have given too lengthy a sketch of the noble Catholic pioneer in the life of one of his remote descendants, Bishop Edward D. Fenwick of Cincinnati. But it must be borne in mind that such things as we have written, apart from being of keen interest to many readers, contain a lesson to inculcate which should be the prime purpose of every history or biography. They show that the good that is in parents passes down from generation to generation. Again, the story of Maryland — the most elite of the Anglo-American colonies — until religious bias and in tolerance began to mar its beauty, is the most glorious of our colonial days. And Cuthbert Fenwick, as has been said, was a leader in the making of that history. He was a man of the same caliber and spirit as the first two Lords Baltimore, Leonard Calvert, Thomas Corn wallis and other champions of religious toleration. A steadfast and practical Catholic, he stood boldly for his faith and in defense of liberty of conscience. His spirit of honesty and fraternal charity, as his kindly, even dis position and judicial temperament, not only caused him to be trusted and respected by all, but made for the peace, harmony and prosperity of the palatinate. The character which we have described the pioneer legislator seems to have transmitted to his posterity. We find it exemplified in the life of the first bishop of Cincinnati, and in other descendants of Cuthbert Fen- LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 19 wick to this day. Hence they have ever been not merely among the foremost Catholics, but important personae in the drama of colonial Maryland and in the later his tory of the state. Like their original American pro genitor, they have been almost uniformly true to their religion. And as they intermarried with the leading families of their own faith, the blood of Cuthbert Fen wick runs in the veins of the best Catholic circles of what was once Lord Baltimore's palatinate. Some of his de scendants, it is true, have occasionally joined lives with those not of the Church. But ordinarily their fidelity was such that, if they did not make converts of those with whom they were united in wedlock, their children were brought up to be steadfast in their adherence to the Church of Rome. Although few patronymics are more common in Mary land, rarely if ever does one meet with a Fenwick who does not profess fidelity to Christ's Vicar on earth. As a noted author expresses it : " Through evil, and through good, after the lapse of many years, in the midst of vast social and political revolutions, they have clung, with the fondness of children, to the faith of their first fore father."28 Nor is this true only of those who remained in the place of their origin. It is perhaps equally true of those descended from the same line in Kentucky, Missouri and portions of the south. Like their first American forbear again, everywhere have they been conspicuous for their civic virtues. Everywhere, whether in wealth or in poverty, they have stood high in the circles in which they lived. It may be said without fear of contradiction that few other Mary land families have so faithfully maintained the best tra- 23 Davis, op. cit., p. 208. 20 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. ditions of their colonial sires. From the beginning of the stormy days that led to the American Revolution to the present time, many have been the responsible posi tions, civil, military and professional, filled with credit by descendants of Cuthbert Fenwick. So also have they been among our most highly honored and deeply revered Catholic clergy and hierarchy. No doubt the Fenwick blood and character, together with the careful religious training so uniformly given to their children by parents of this stock, had their part in the formation and devel opment of these vocations. Thus, it seems to us, no apology is needed for this lengthy sketch of Maryland's early legislator. The biography that passes lightly over the things that were a shaping and molding power in the life of its subject, must lack interest, impart little instruction, and fail to accomplish the good which it should be the object of every writer to effect. There can be no doubt that the facts we have laid before the reader, exercised a strongly formative influence upon the saintly friar whose life we are to trace in these pages. In none of the Anglo- American colonies was the spirit of the later inhabitants more profoundly affected that was that of the Catholics in Maryland by the memories handed down from the earliest settlers. To this day, owing probably to the fact that the state is still largely agricultural, such mem ories continue to be a part of Maryland Catholic life, and to exert a molding force upon those of the old faith. This power for good was strong in the boyhood of Ed ward Fenwick. The future bishop's piety, meekness and humility rather quickened than chilled his patriotism. His ear liest extant letters show his deep love for his native land LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 21 — especially for the state of his birth. Tradition tells us that he gloried in the spirit of liberty which animated the colonists at the time of the revolution, and in the fearless ness with which they maintained their rights against the tyranny of the mother country. He could not but have felt an honest pride in the part taken by his relations, and notably that by his father, in the efforts of Mary land to throw off the yoke of England and to establish a free and independent American commonwealth. Nor was this all. Maryland, it has been handed down to us, was a subject on which the bishop was wont fre quently to speak. He knew the history of the colony, and was filled with its traditions. As a missionary in the mid-west he delighted to tell of its Catholic origin — how its founder's tolerant spirit made it a home and a refuge for the poor and oppressed of all nations. He gloried in the steadfast loyalty of its Catholics to the Church dur ing the dark days of trial, persecution and suffering. Well he might ; for there is indeed much in the annals of colonial Maryland of which those of Cecelius and Charles Calvert's faith may be justly proud. But the apostle of Ohio, humble and unpretentious as he was, had a spe cial reason for exultation in this part of his native col ony's history. Not only had his first American progen itor been one of its earliest settlers and most influential members; his nearer forefathers had continued to be among its leading men, staunchly true to their religion, and faithful to its practices. Through these some of the best blood, not of Maryland only, but of America, coursed in his veins. In this, however, the lowly ambas sador of Christ seems to have found no cause of glory. Such things, indeed, could not fail to make a strong impression upon a youth of Edward Fenwick's pious 22 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. and sympathetic disposition. The persecutions had not ceased at the time of his birth. There are reasons, in fact, for believing that the influence thus exercised upon his boyish mind had not a little to do with turning his thoughts, when a student abroad, towards the priesthood and the religious life, that he might further the cause of the Catholic religion in his native land. Robert, Cuthbert Fenwick's eldest son by his second marriage, is said to have died young. And as from 1663, when he had not yet attained his majority, we find no further mention in the colonial registers of Ignatius, born of the first marriage, it would seem that he also died early and without issue. Of Teresa, the only daugh ter, there is no trace after the death of her stepmother. John, the youngest of the family, appears to have left no descendants. Cuthbert and Richard are soon seen ris ing in the esteem of the colony, and receiving appoint ments as justices of the peace, an important position in the early days. The former, however, drops from the records from 1676, which is supposed to have been the year of his death. He is said to have left one child, a daughter, who married but had no issue. Thus, it would appear, all the Fenwicks of the Cath olic line of Maryland came from Richard, the early legislator's second son by Jane Eltonhead. Yet it was a prolific race and increased rapidly. But anti-Catholic prejudice had now gained the upper hand in the colony. All enjoyed toleration, except those of the faith of the first two lords proprietary who had established the palatinate as a home for religious liberty. Catholics, sad to say, could no longer hope for preference or to hold positions of profit, honor or trust. This was forbidden by law. From 1689, the year of the " Protestant Revo- LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 23 lution," therefore, until the struggle for independence, we find no record of the Fenwicks taking part in affairs of state. They continued, however, generally to pros per, even under the drastic restrictions placed upon the adherents of their religion, to stand high in the com munity, and to exert a wholesome influence for the good of the province. It took the American Revolution (1774-1783) to tear down the barriers of intolerance against Catholics in a colony that had been established by Catholics as an asylum for religious toleration. From that time we see the descendants of the sturdy pioneer lawmaker, together with their coreligionists, coming again into their rights. When the Anglo-American colonies formed their union to resist the unjust encroachments of the mother coun try, the Fenwicks rallied gallantly to the standard of freedom and independence. Foremost among them was Ignatius Fenwick of Wallington, the father of the future priest, organizer of Dominican life in the United States, and bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio. At the outbreak of actual hostilities, he enlisted in the Maryland militia as a commissioned officer, rising to the rank of colonel. From the start, he took a keen interest in the Maryland convention and the Maryland committee of public safety, and was a warm supporter and an active member of both. In 1776 he was elected delegate from Saint Mary's County, then the home of practically all the Maryland Fenwicks, to the committee chosen to frame the state's first constitution. And though broken in health, perhaps a result of exposure and hardships inci dent to the war, he held positions of importance in his native county until the date of his death.24 24 Among the Fenwick names found in the Muster Bolls of Maryland as being in the Revolutionary War are, besides Colonel Ignatius, two or three 24 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Ignatius, the youngest son of Richard Fenwick and his second wife, whose name is not known, married Eleanor Clarke of Piney Point, belonging to one of Maryland's best Catholic families. One of their sons, Ignatius Fenwick of Cherryfields was joined in wed lock with Mary, daughter of Edward and Ann Neale Cole, and through her became the father of Rev. John C. Fenwick (the first English-speaking American to become a Friar Preacher), and grandfather of the sub ject of this volume. The future bishop's mother was Sarah, daughter of Michael Taney and Sarah Brooke.26 Little Edward was born August 19, 1768. The place of his birth was Saint Mary's County, on the Patuxent River, whose great natural beauty has caused it, not in~ aptly, to be likened to the majestic Hudson. He was the fourth of a family of eight children, six boys and two girls. As is evident from their wills, both his grand father and father were wealthy men for their day. Richards (one a sergeant, one a corporal, and another a private in the Marirte); Francis; Major Philip; Captain Philip; and Captain Ignatius, commander, first, of the Lydia, and then of the brigantine Sally. Enoch was in the colonial commissary department. And among the names of the committee chosen in Saint Mary's County to uphold the Convention of Annapolis in 1775 are those of John, Edward, Enoch and Ignatius Fenwick. The last mentioned was probably either Colonel Ignatius or his father, Ignatius Fenwick of Cherryfields. 25 The four families mentioned here were among the oldest and most conspicuous of colonial Maryland. The Neales and Coles were Catholics when they came to America. The Brookes and Taneys were not; but some of them were converted, and their descendants have remained in the Church. — The future bishop belonged to the sixth generation of Fenwicks in America. His family tree runs: (1) Cuthbert Fenwick and Jane Elton head. (2) Richard Fenwick and his second wife, name unknown. (3) Ignatius Fenwick and Eleanor Clarke. (4) Ignatius Fenwick of Cherry fields and Mary Cole. (5) Colonel Ignatius Fenwick of Wallington and Sarah Taney. (6) Edward Fenwick, the bishop. This descent differs con siderably from some of the family trees that we have seen. But the old wills and other records at Leonardtown and Annapolis, Maryland, seem to leave no doubt as to the correctness of the pedigree which we have given. And it agrees with the later family trees that have been got up since the documents have been better arranged and become better known. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 25 Colonel Ignatius Fenwick of Wallington, at the time of his death, possessed large landed estates, not only in various parts of his native county of Saint Mary's, but also in Charles and Prince George's counties. Thus, as the Fenwicks are said to have been among the most princely of southern gentlemen, one may more readily imagine than portray the boyhood days of little Edward at the manorial mansion that stood on the sloping hills, overlooking the calm, stately stream below. Perhaps the ideal picture of the homes of the well-to-do planters of Maryland in the distant past, drawn by a clever writer, may not be far from a counterpart of that wher^ the subject of this sketch was born and passed his earliest years. It is not easy [says Mr. Johnson] to picture the combined ele gance and simplicity of those old homesteads — the appearance they presented of an aristocratic state mingled with good repub lican good-fellowship. The entrance to the place was, perhaps, through a wood of old oaks and chestnuts, that had passed their sapling growth a century before George Calvert, first Baron of Baltimore, appeared as a stripling in the English Court. Emerg ing from the wood, the road was lined with a double colonnade of locusts or beeches with footpaths between. Nearing the mansion, pines and furs replaced the deciduous trees, and the evergreen branches formed a symbol of the ever fresh hospitality awaiting the approaching guest. Before the door stood the old elms, planted by the founder of the family, and the lawn was terraced in the English style. The turf a special pride of the master of the house — was so thick and close that it would be hard to find a finger's breadth of earth without its blade of grass. Conifers stood at intervals over the half dozen acres forming the lawn, and at either end of the ter race a catalpa with a trunk of Californian proportions shaded a rustic seat. The house itself was in most cases a long, low struc ture of brick. The finest residences were remarkable for their 26 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. large and striking appearance. The rooms of the old houses were grouped about a large hallway in which some of the family usually sat. The walls everywhere were wainscotted to the ceil ing. Sometimes the woodwork was finely carved and of rare ma terial. Upon the walls hung the portraits of the ancestors of the family, often as far back as six or seven generations. A side board in the dining-room displayed a portion of the plate, bear ing the family crest. Flanking the plate stood a great army of glasses and decanters. For in the early days the proper dis charge of the sacred duty of hospitality involved various strong potations.26 Around or near the mansion, of course, were clustered other buildings, such as the dwellings for the slaves or servants, the well-supplied smoke-house, from the roof of which hung huge quarters of mast-fed swine, and the heaping barns : all of which gave the home of the wealthy southern planter, in bygone times, the appearance of a village. No doubt the mansion of Colonel Ignatius Fenwick had also a special room, as was the custom with many of the better-to-do Catholic families of Mary land, if not an adjoining chapel, where the priest came to administer to the spiritual welfare of the family, servants and neighbors. It was likely in the family home or chapel that little Edward was baptized. Here too, perhaps, he received much of his early religious in struction, and eagerly drank in the words of the good Jesuit missionary that helped to nourish his vocation. Certainly, as may be seen in his after life, he learned to love and admire the Jesuit Fathers whose zealous labors had been witnessed by all Maryland. Probably, indeed, had not the Society of Jesus been suppressed at the time, he would have joined the religious body that had done so much for Catholicity in his native colony, instead of that established by the apostolic Saint Dominic. 26 Johnson, Old Maryland Manors, pp. 8-9. LINEAGE, BIRTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 27 Though the future apostle was blessed with affluence, a happy home and good Catholic parents, he was early to pass through the ordeal of sorrow and affliction, which perhaps, in the designs of providence, was intended to try his young soul and to prepare him for the work that God had decreed he should accomplish. Barely had he attained the use of reason, when the discontent occa sioned by England's maltreatment of her colonies broke out into the conflict known as the American Revolution. When Colonel Ignatius Fenwick, true patriot that he was, enlisted in his country's cause, Edward's mother was largely deprived of her husband's protection, and the family of the ministrations of their father. The terror and hardships of those days along the shores of the Chesapeake are known to all. To a mother, often unprotected, with a number of dependent children and surrounded by dangers, they must have been specially appalling. In fact, Mrs. Fenwick appears to have died during the war, possibly succumbing to its horrors. In deed, the conflict had not long come to an end with the Treaty of Paris, when Colonel Ignatius, whose bravery and virtues deserve an honorable place in history, passed to his eternal reward. This was in March, 1784. The double loss of both parents was all the severer for the seven surviving children, because the eldest, James, was the only son who had attained his majority, while the younger were still in need of a mother's affection, the wisdom of a father's guidance and the support of his stronger hand. His after life as a religious, priest and bishop give color to the tradition of Edward's early piety and purity of heart. But, while there may have been outward signs of a divine call, there seems to be no solid ground for the 28 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. assertion, which one sometimes reads, that from his ear liest years he longed to consecrate himself to the service of the Church, and that his vocation was carefully fos tered by his parents. The idea appears to have laid hold on him only after the death of his parents, and while he was a student of the English Dominican Fathers, at their college of the Holy Cross, Bornheim, Belgium.27 Of Edward Fenwick's early education httle is known. But the fact that, as Father Raymond Palmer tells us, he was "educated latterly at Bornheim College," that he entered that institution, late in 1784, " to complete his humanities," and that he finished his classical course at Holy Cross and at Saint Omer's (Liege is probably meant) in somewhat less than four years, would indicate that he had made considerable progress in his studies at a prior date.28 The scant school equipment of Maryland at that period and the affluence of his father lead us to believe that, after the custom which obtained among many of the wealthier planters, the youth's first steps in learning were taken in the paternal mansion under private tutors. In the light of Palmer's statements, it is quite likely that the future American missionary and bishop had been sent to Liege or some other European 27 His father, for instance, in his will, makes Edward, when he becomes twenty-one years of age, co-executor of the estate with his brother James. (Will is dated March 16, and was probated, April 6, 1784.) Register of Wills Office, Leonardtown, Maryland, Liber J. J., No. I, p. 259. as Palmee, Anglia Dominicana (MSS.), Part III A, p. 722 (Archives of the Dominican Fathers, Haverstock Hill, London, England) ; same, Obituary notices of the Friar-Preachers, or Dominicans, of the English Province, p. 26; and same, notes for the writer. — The English Jesuits established a col lege at Saint Omer, French Flanders, about 1590. In 1762 or 1763, owing to the persecutions of the French Parliament, it was transferred to Bruges. Thence, after the suppression of the Society, in 1773, it was moved to Liege. The institution seems to have retained its original name, in common use at least, at Bruges and Liege. Hence, perhaps, the use of the word "St. Omer's" by Palmer. LINEAGE, BHtTHPLACE, EARLY BOYHOOD 29 college near the end of the Revolutionary War, and before his father's death. Colonel Ignatius Fenwick's will, in addition to giving evidence of his own fair attainments, shows that he was solicitous for the schooling of his children. Earnestly does he exhort James, the eldest child and executor, to see that his younger brothers shall receive " a good and genteel education" befitting their station in life. The same solicitous exhortation is then addressed to Edward, the second son, to fulfill this paternal request, in case of James' death. This also seems to show that James' edu cation was then completed, and that Edward's was under way.29 But it is now time to pass to a new era in our subject's hfe — an era that was to prepare the way for a notable and fruitful career. 29 The names of Colonel Ignatius Fenwick's children, and the order of their births, were: James, Mary, Sarah, Edward, Michael, Thomas, Nicholas and Charles. James married, first, Mary Lancaster; secondly, Teresa Brent. He died in 1823. He reared, no family by his second wife; but by the first he had three children, Edward, Mary and Henrietta. Edward appears to have died without issue. Mary married William Brent, and Henrietta married William Plowden. Both had descendants who became conspicuous in Maryland and elsewhere. Mary, Colonel Ignatius Fenwick's second child, died in girlhood and before her father. Sarah married Nicholas Young, who belonged to one of Maryland's - best known families. She was the mother of Rev. Nicholas Dominic Young, the celebrated Dominican mis sionary, Brother Robert Young, who died in Kentucky as a Dominican novice, and Rev. Benjamin A. Young, S.J. She was also the grandmother of Rev. Nicholas Raymond Young, O.P. Many of her descendants have been useful members of various communities of nuns in different parts of the country. Michael Fenwick became a physician, and married Ann Aminta Manning. Both died young, leaving a daughter, of whom we have been unable to find any trace after her childhood. Thomas also became a physician. He married Sarah Young, sister to Nicholas Young mentioned above, and through his sons, Notley, Ignatius and Edward, became the progenitor of apparently the only descendants of Colonel Ignatius Fenwick who still bear the family name. Nicholas seems to have died without issue; and Charles is said to have been drowned while still In his boyhood. CHAPTER II STUDENT ABROAD: BECOMES A DOMINICAN It was England's spirit of intolerance and persecu tion towards Catholics, after her apostasy, that inspired the first two Lords Baltimore, George and Cecelius Cal vert, with the idea of founding the colony of Maryland as a "Land of Sanctuary," in order that those belong ing to their Church might find in the wilderness of the New World a peaceful home, and worship God with safety and freedom according to their faith and their conscience. The same intolerant spirit had long before compelled the religious orders in Great Britain to seek refuge on Continental Europe. There they established colleges for the education of English Catholic youth, and novitiates for the reception and training of those who desired to enter their respective organizations. From these institutions, during all the years when the gallows and the rack, the pillory and the quartering knife were busy with their bloody work, zealous mis sionaries returned at the peril of their lives to keep the smouldering spark of faith aglow in the hearts of their fellow-countrymen.1 i However greatly those of us with English blood in our veins regret the fact, historic truth and candor oblige us to confess that nowhere have religious intolerance and persecution been so heartless and brutal, or carried to such excesses as in England. The darkest pages in Christian history are those which treat of the cruelties and barbarities to which the Catholics of Britain and Ireland were long subjected. Although a few of the clergy of every class, in the early days of the apostasy, proved faithless to their sacred calling, the great mass of them, both secular and regular, stood staunch in the hour of trial. They were hunted like wild beasts, and scat- 30 STUDENT ABROAD 31 The Dominicans were among the orders that suffered most in the long period of relentless oppression. At one time, in fact, the Enghsh province of Friars Preacher was on the verge of becoming extinct. Until 1658, or for more than a century, with the exception of a short respite under Queen Mary, it had depended upon for eigners for recruits, or upon foreign convents for the training of young Englishmen who sought admittance into its ranks. But during this year, Father Philip Thomas Howard, a scion of one of Britain's noblest famihes and later a cardinal in the Roman Curia* founded the College and Convent of the Holy Cross, at Bornheim, Belgium, as a means of saving the British branch of the Order from extinction, and of better fos tering the cause of Catholicity in his native land. It was a fortunate undertaking; for although the institution was destined to experience many trials and vicissitudes, eventually it prospered and accomphshed the purposes for which it was established. But not merely was Holy Cross a source of much good for the Friars Preacher of England, and of many blessings for their country; it became, in the course of time, an instrument in the hands of God for furthering the advancement of rehgion ir the newly born American republic. It was a happy cir cumstance that a son of Lord Baltimore's former col ony, and a descendant of one of the noblest and most exemplary among its early settlers, was chosen by Provi dence to be the leader of so holy an enterprise, and was tered to the four winds. History tells us of their sufferings, and of how they sacrificed their lives at the call of duty. The English colleges, semi naries and religious novitiates established on the continent during the penal days saved the Church in England from total destruction — in the England that was only lately so truly and so beautifully Catholic. 32 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. prepared for his work in the institution established by Father Howard.2 Those of Maryland's wealthier Catholic young men who sought their education abroad, were long wont to be sent to the Jesuit college at Saint Omer, France. And from 1762 or 1763, when this college was transferred to Bruges, the quaint old town of Austrian Flanders be came the Parnassus to which such students directed their steps to worship at the shrines of Athena and Apollo. Nor were vocations wanting among these more fortu nate colonials. But in 1773, just when the Jesuit col lege at Bruges was being disbanded in obedience to the ill-advised brief Dominus ac Redemptor Noster of Clement XIV, suppressing the Society of Jesus, and perhaps as a consequence of this unfortunate event, John Fenwick, of whom mention has been made, entered the college of the English Dominicans at Bornheim.3 He was the son of Ignatius and Mary Cole Fenwick, and an uncle of little Edward who was then commenc ing his sixth year. John himself was but a child of four teen or fifteen. The call of God appears to have been in his heart even then. Four years later, on the comple tion of his humanities, he joined the Order of Saint Dominic, at the same place, and was the first English- speaking American, of whom there is any record, to become a Friar Preacher.4 At the time of which we 2 For the history of the Bornheim College and Convent, and the labors of Father Howard, see Palmer, Life of Philip Thomas Howard, O.P., Car dinal of Norfolk, London, 1867. 3 Three cousins of the subject of this biography, Benedict J., Enoch and George Fenwick, subsequently entered the restored Society of Jesus, becom ing noted priests. Benedict was the second bishop of Boston. * For the writer's sketch of Rev. John Fenwick see The Catholic His torical Review, I, 17 ff. But we have since discovered that the family tree used in this article on Father Fenwick is not accurate. Another discovery is that the date of his death is August 20, 1815. STUDENT ABROAD 33 speak, late in 1784, he was almost ready for ordination to the priesthood. But now Holy Cross College was to open its doors to another American student who was destined to become not only one of its most distinguished alumni, but one of the bright ornaments of the Church in his native land — Edward Dominic Fenwick. It is not known whether Edward Fenwick was in America at the time of his father's death, March, 1784, or whether he was prosecuting his studies in some Euro pean college. If he were at home, his desire for knowl edge must have been impelling. For his entrance into Holy Cross, late in the fall term of 1784,5 shows that he could not have tarried long in Maryland after the demise of his parent. A voyage across the Atlantic on the slow, clumsy sailing vessels of that remote period, unlike pleasure jaunts in the floating palaces to which our gen eration has grown accustomed, was often a matter of months, as well as full of trials, dangers and hardships. Be this as it may, providence was now soon to lay strong hold on the valiant student, and divine grace to begin directing him towards a work that was to make his name not merely conspicuous in the annals of American Catholicity, but sacred to its history. It was a propi tious time for such influences. In Catholic Belgium he saw his Church in all the splendor of her ceremonial and in all the glory of her history. Never before, perhaps, had the young American so realized her power for good. On all sides were to be seen priests and religious. Great was the harvest of their faithful labors. Along the by paths where he took his lonely strolls — in almost every solitary nook he chanced upon — were statues or little s Palmer, Anglia Domimicana (MSS.), p. 722, notes for the writer, and Obituary Notices, as above, p. 26. 4 34 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. shrines erected by the devotion of the people. Before these he not infrequently discovered peasants or even persons of noble birth on their knees and rapt in prayer. These things could not fail to touch a pure and tender soul. A favorite saying of the future priest was that God " ordereth all things mightily, but sweetly." Such we beheve to have been the case in the present instance. At Bornheim, Edward Fenwick learned the life-work of Father Howard, with traditions of whom Holy Cross was redolent. The candid young American could not but admire a man whose zeal had caused him to spend himself for the restoration of Catholicity and his Order in his native land. The college and convent which the cardinal had founded in the little Flemish town were at the height of their fame and prosperity, giving a hberal Christian education to the Catholic youth of England and sending home missionaries zealous to promote the cause of religion. Edward's piety and purity of heart made him all the more susceptible to impressions that filled him with pious designs. Thus it was that the Maryland scion of the Fenwick house conceived the idea that, as Howard had done so much for the Church of Great ^Britain, so might he accomplish something for that of his cherished America. As Howard had used the Order of Saint Dominic as an instrument for the good he had effected, so would he enter the institute he had learned to love and admire, and strive to establish it in his beloved Maryland, whence it would send forth missionaries for the dissemination of Catholic truth throughout the land of his birth. God, spiritual writers assure us, tries those whom He especially loves. So it was with our American aspirant to the habit of Saint Dominic. His health was delicate, BECOMES A DOMINICAN 35 possibly in part as a result of the strain and terrors in cident to the Revolutionary War. At home he had been accustomed to the open air and outdoor life. Thus, for he was ever industrious, the confinement of a student's life bore hard upon his fragile frame. More than once it seemed as though he could not persevere, even if he did not succumb to some attack of illness. It was heaven's way of further purifying the ardent youth's affections, and of preparing him for the higher and holier things in store for him. In spite of all handicaps, however, an indomitable will enabled Edward to com plete his humanities by the close of the school term of 1787-1788. Then, tradition tells us, his superiors sent him to spend some time travelling on the continent for the betterment of his health and further to test his voca tion. But if the latter motive instigated this vacation, it was because even wise and prudent men often are not able to read the signs of the Master. Edward Fenwick was just completing his twentieth year when he matriculated at Bornheim. Because of his talents and education, energy and industry, wealth and magnetic personality, together with the prominence and influence of his family in the state of Maryland, a not unbrilliant future lay before him in the world. He might have looked forward to any position in the gift of his fellow-citizens. A less spiritual-minded young man would have succumbed to the temptation. But not so with the son of Colonel Ignatius Fenwick. He had not spent his time in the study hall with dreams of and aspirations for earthly greatness, professional success, affluence or social triumph. The thoughts and affec tions of his angelic heart went out, first and last, to God, to the sanctification of his own soul, to the estab- 36 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. lishment of the Order of Saint Dominic in his native land as a means of gathering his fellow-countrymen to Christ and His Church. Accordingly, when the young student's vacation came to an end, he returned to his alma mater to begin his religious novitiate. After the retreat of ten days which all must make before entering the Order, Holy Cross Convent, Born heim, September 4, 1788, was again the scene of one of those solemn and edifying spectacles for which it had become noted, the investiture with the white robe and black mantel of the Dominican.6 It was the second time that an American had figured there in such a cere mony. We may imagine, but can not portray, the im pression it must have made upon one of the youthful novice's deep piety. To his baptismal name of Edward he now added that of Dominic in honor of the blessed founder of the institute he had joined. The purpose of the Church in bestowing the name of a saint upon her children at their baptism is to give them an exemplar after which to pattern their Christian lives, and to place them under a special patron who will intercede for them in heaven. In the same spirit, most religious organiza tions, at the reception of the habit, confer upon their members a name different from that which they bore in the world. This second saint is to be their protector in their new life, and the model whose example they are to emulate in their efforts to attain perfection. Keenly realizing this idea of the Order, of which he hoped soon to become a full-fledged member, our ardent neophyte set himself to copy the life of Saint Dominic in his own. The result was that, with advancement in holiness, he grew in favor before God and man. But 6 See note 4. HOLY CROSS CONVENT AND COLLEGE, BORNHEIM, BELGIUM BECOMES A DOMINICAN 37 the virtues in which he seems to have striven principally to emulate the holy patriarch Dominic, were kindliness, humility, contempt of earthly possessions, purity of heart, and zeal for souls. These admirable qualities, indeed, shone conspicuously through all his career as a missionary and as a bishop, making him ever and always a true gentleman, an ideal priest 'and man of God, a model harvester of souls and ambassador of Christ. They won hearts when all things else must have failed. The young American's master of novices was Father Dominic Verschaffelt, a Belgian. That he formed so deeply spiritual a man speaks well for his own religious character. Of Brother Dominic's simple novitiate, or the twelve month that intervened between the reception of the habit and the taking of the rehgious vows, little is known be yond what we have related. Even this has come down to us rather through tradition than through records. The same tradition tells us that the year passed quickly and happily. Yet, because of the tyrannical edict of Joseph II, Emperor of Austria, forbidding religious professions before the age of five and twenty years, not until nearly seven months after the term of his proba tion had expired, could the future bishop be permitted to bind Tiimself to God by this solemn act. On March 26, 1790, however, now that the emperor was no more, Brother Dominic was the central figure in another inter esting ceremony at Bornheim. Kneeling before his superior, Rev. Charles Bullock, in the presence of his sacramental God and the community, Brother Dominic read aloud the words that made him a Friar Preacher, prefacing them with the declaration that he took the step of his own free will and choice. The document, as it still stands in his own handwriting, reads : 38 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Jesus, Mary and Dominic: — I, Brother Edward Dominic Fen wick, an American, born in lawful wedlock, and twenty-one years of age, declare that I entered the Order of Friars Preacher through no force, fear or compulsion ; but, as I confidently trust, through the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. I also declare that I wish to remain in the same Order and to make my profession. In testimony whereof I sign this with my own hand. Edward Dominic Fenwick. Done in the Convent of the Holy Cross, belonging to the Eng lish Dominican Fathers, Bornheim, this 26th day of March, 1790. Then follows the formula of profession: I, Brother Edward Dominic Fenwick, make my religious pro fession and promise obedience to God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our Holy Father Saint Dominic, and to you, Very Rev. Father Charles Bullock, prior of this Convent of Bornheim and holding the place of the Most Rev. Balthassar de Quinones, Master Gen eral of the Friars Preacher, and his successors, according to the Rule of Saint Augustine and the Constitutions of the Order of Preachers. To you and to your successors I promise obedience until death. Brother Dominic Fenwick. March 26, [1790]. 7 It were hard to conceive a ceremony more simple or more sublime than that of the profession of a Friar Preacher. Its beauty, significance and heroism are ac centuated by its very simplicity. A man gives himself wholly and unreservedly to God until death. And he does so in a few brief words, shorn of all pomp and rhet oric. In the present instance, the formula was typical of the life of the one who thus consecrated himself to the praise and the service of his Creator. Thoroughly did Brother Dominic understand the import of what he was 'Translated into Enghsh from the book of professions of Holy Cross Convent, Bornheim (Archives of the English Dominicans, Haverstock Hill, London, England). BECOMES A DOMINICAN 39 doing; firmly had he resolved to be true to his new life; faithfully was he to fulfill its obligations. First, as he knew, came the sacrifice of obedience by which he volun tarily renounced his own will and made it subject in all things lawful to that of his superiors. He was to labor, not merely for his own personal sanstification, but for the salvation of souls. This latter he was to do by preaching and teaching the word of God, for such is the vocation of every Dominican — the distinctive purpose for which Saint Dominic established his Order, and which all things else must subserve. It was an object of which the American friar never lost sight. But bad? of all this was not only the ardent desire, but the deter mination — God willing and the authorities permitting — to raise the standard of the apostolic Guzman in Maryland, and to make his native colony a center whence his brethren might carry the message of divine truth into every corner of the growing republic. But, to give the reader a more thorough appreciation of the life and character of the apostolic friar, a further word on the meaning of the religious profession in the Order of Saint Dominic is necessary. In this connec tion, however, we cannot do better than to qtiote from a previous work. The new member promises obedience, first of all, to God, to show that he obeys Him rather than man. He promises obedience to the Blessed Virgin, whereby he is reminded that the Queen of Heaven is the patroness and protectrix of the Order, to whom all its members owe a special filial devotion. While the name of the visible head of the Church is not mentioned, every one knows that the Order and its brethren are subject to the Sovereign Pontiff in all things. The name of Saint Dominic is included that each newly professed member may the more readily realize that the 40 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. founder of the Order, next to the Divine Master, is the ideal after which he should strive to model his life as a religious. And, finally, the reason for making the profession to the local superior, not in his own name, but as acting in the place of the Master General, is to signify where the supreme authority and the prin ciple of unity in the Order lie. But, as is shown by the last sen tence in the form of profession, this by no means frees the subject from the strictest obligation of full and complete obedience to every superior under whom he may be placed. Obedience, indeed, is regarded as the very essence of the Order's life. It is, in fact, expressly to emphasize this important truth that it is the only one of the three religious vows mentioned in the formula of profes sion — those of poverty and chastity being contained in obedience, as beauty and sweetness in the rose, or as purity and sanctity in the soul. At his profession the Friar Preacher takes upon himself the obligation of making the rule of Saint Augustine and the consti tutions of the Order of Saint Dominic, in addition to canon law and the Catholic code of morality, the guide of his life. He binds himself to strive after perfection ; and for this reason, he may no longer rest content with the observance of things of precept merely, but also must strive to follow the evangelical counsels.8 These things, we may rest assured, had been the sub ject of much reflection on the part of Edward Fenwick. As with a brave heart the young friar took these obliga tions upon himself, so with trusting confidence in the help of God he founded his hopes of realizing his pious designs for his native America on the very words of the formula of profession and the spirit of the Order he had joined. Both the guidance and the support he thence derived will, we trust, be revealed in the course of these pages. s O'DAwnn, Very Rev. Charles Hyacinth McKenna, pp. 48-49. CHAPTER III ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD A Friar Preacher's course of higher studies, unless made, at least in part, before entering the Order, begins with his profession, and covers a period of from seven to nine years. But in those days of stress, when priests were few and the labors of the missions and the college great, the English Fathers seem to have been obliged at times to obtain a dispensation from this rigid law of their institute. For this reason, Brother Dominic hkely began his philosophical studies while yet a simple novice. Indeed, from the time his term of probation expired, owing to the fact of which we have spoken, he was em ployed in the college whilst pursuing his own studies. This was too much for one of his frail constitution, and his strength was so undermined that he did not recover it until after he had returned to America. In this way his course of philosophy and theology was often inter rupted. Yet his retentive memory and good natural parts enabled the future missionary to acquire a good liberal education, and to obtain more than an ordinary knowledge of the divine sciences. So, too, did he, by his habit of reading, amass a fund of useful information. That he was well prepared for the work that was so near to his heart, is shown by his after life. The advancement of the young American to holy orders was rapid. He received subdeaconship March 24, 1792, and was made deacon on the second day of the following June. Both orders were conferred at 41 42 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Ghent by the Right Rev. Ferdinand M. Lobkowitz. Brother Dominic was raised to the priesthood, it would seem, on the Lenten Ember Saturday, February 23, 1793 — no doubt by the same prelate, and in the same city.1 In this case, his first holy sacrifice of the mass was likely offered up in the conventual church of Holy Cross, Bornheim, on Sunday, February 24, 1793. Doubtless his ordination was hastened partly by rea sons of health, and partly by the disturbed condition of Continental Europe's political horizon. But it made no change in the young Dominican's life, other than it gave him the privilege of saying mass day by day. So ran his course along, with occasional disturbances by the French soldiers and periods of alarm caused by the success of the revolution, until the late spring of 1794, when the onward rush of the red revolutionists towards the north made it imperative for the Bornheim community to seek refuge in England. Their flight was made none too soon, for it was with great difficulty that they escaped with their lives. To save Holy Cross Col lege and Convent from the ruthless hands of a soldiery maddened by success and opposition, Father Edward D. Fenwick, whose American citizenship, it was thought, owing to the friendly relations between France and the United States, would cause him to be respected, was appointed procurator of the institution and left in i Records of the Cathedral of Saint-Bavon, Ghent. The exact dates of Father Fenwick's ordination as subdeacon and deacon are given. But the only record regarding his ordination to the priesthood is: "Die IS Februarii, 1798, praevio examine concessae sunt dimissoriales litterae ad Sacrum Presbyteratus Ordimsm Fr. Dominico Fenwick, Ordinis FF. Praed., con- ventus Bornhemiensis religioso diacono." Ghent, however, is generally given as the place of his ordination. The date of his examination and the fact that orders were usually conferred on the Ember Days make it more than likely that he was ordained priest on Saturday, February 23, 1793. ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 43 charge of the property. It was a perilous position, but he accepted it bravely.2 About the time the fugitives landed safely in Lon don, the victorious French troops entered Bornheim, pillaged the little town, and set fire to the college. The flames, however, were soon extinguished, and the build ings saved. But Father Fenwick was treated with scant courtesy. Led away a prisoner, it was not with out difficulty that he secured his liberty. Nor was it until he had undergone many hardships and imminent dangers to his life, that he finally made his way to Eng land.3 Until his death, thirty-eight years later, it is saict, the holy man, convinced that his preservation was mir aculous, ever acknowledged in pious gratitude that he had been saved only through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. Thus, hke his prototype and first American fore father, Cuthbert Fenwick, Father Edward could claim that he had suffered imprisonment for the sake of his rehgion. Or as another writer has cleverly expressed it : " Thus may the Catholics of Ohio bless God that they have had for their first bishop an heroic confessor of the faith — the only one of our hierarchy who could glory, like St. Paul, in having borne the chain for Jesus Christ, or place on his escutcheon the apostolic emblem of a love for his divine Master that was stronger than death."4 2 Palmer, Philip Thomas Howard, O.P., Cardinal of Norfolk, pp. 225 if. This author gives a rather detailed account of the trials of the Bornheim community at this time, and of their flight to England. And it is interest ing to note (page 227) that the Church of East Flanders was spared many indignities from the red-handed revolutionists by General Eustace, an American officer who had been placed in charge of that part of the country. a Palmer, Anglia Dominicana, notes and Obituary Notices, ut supra, and Life of Cardinal Howard, pp. 229 and 233-34; The Catholic Almanac 1848, p. 58. *The Catholic Almanac, 1848, p. 58. 44 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. In the meantime, the Enghsh fathers had secured an old mansion at Carshalton, in the county of Surrey, some ten or twelve miles from London, as a home for the community that had fled from Bornheim. Here the subject of our sketch, on gaining England, joined his brethren. A college was now started at Carshalton to take the place of that which had been suppressed on the continent. Accordingly, we soon find Edward again filling the post of professor at this new institution, and doing what he could to make up for the loss he had suf fered in his own classes through ill health, professorial labors and misfortune. But in the fall of 1800 he was sent to Woburn Lodge, one of the missions attended by the English Dominicans, to round out his studies under the noted theologian, Father James V. Bowyer. From Woburn Lodge he returned, in 1802, to his former duties at Carshalton. Now, however, he was given the additional charge of procurator or syndic for the con vent.5 Through all these vicissitudes and troublous times, which no doubt served as a further preparation for the work before him, the young American priest kept up permost in mind the purpose he had in view when enter ing the Order of Saint Dominic. For more than ten years he had served the English province with fidelity and profit. He had filled positions of trust, stood high in his community, and was loved and admired by his brethren. The temper of the public mind in England was still so adverse to religious orders that the college at Carshalton, it was now seen, could not hope to pros per. That at Bornheim, it is true, had been reopened. But the seething spirit of the French Revolution, the « Palmer, Anglia Dominicana, notes and Obituary Notices, ut supra. ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 45 turmoil and the devastation that prevailed everywhere, together with the scarcity of priests, conspired to thwart the success of this institution also, although it had for merly enjoyed great repute and had been a favorite re sort, not only of British, but of Belgian youths in search of a liberal education.6 Thus the prospects of the English province of Friars Preacher were again gloomy indeed. Fenwick himself was nearing middle age. Accordingly, he felt that the time was come, when he could and should take steps towards putting his pious project into execution. In fact, although we have found no express assertion of Ms to that effect, the good priest seems to have regarded such a thing as so sacred a duty, that one is inclined to believe that he had taken a vow, if the permission were granted him, to establish his Order in the United States. Quite likely his zest in the matter had been whetted by letters he had received from home, representing the need of missionaries in the country and begging him to re turn to Maryland. The prospects of success for the undertaking were the more propitious because the property left the humble friar by his father was still in Maryland, and he had been able to obtain but little proceeds from it during his residence abroad. This could now be used in aid of the establishment Father Fenwick had so much at heart. Another circumstance in the good priest's favor was the presence in Rome of a learned Irish Dominican, who had long taken a keen interest in the missions of the United States, Father Richard L. Concanen, then as sistant to the Superior General of the Order, and later ¦ 6 Palmer, Philip Thomas Howard, O.P., Cardinal of Norfolk, pp. 234 ff. ; Anglia Dominicana, notes and Obituary Notices, ut supra. 46 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. the first bishop of New York. Father Concanen's kindly spirit and zeal for the promotion of religion were known through all Europe. But with Fenwick, for he was first and last a dutiful, obedient rehgious, every thing had to be done through the ordinary channels. Ac cordingly, his first step was to obtain the permission of his provincial, Rev. Thomas A. Plunkett, and the ap proval of Archbishop Carroll. Succeeding in this, he broached the subject to Concanen, in the humble, unpre tentious way characteristic of his life, using Father Gerard Albert Plunkett, a brother of the provincial, as an intermediary.7 The two earliest documents bearing on this interest ing business cannot now be found. But a number of Fenwick's later letters, together with one of Concanen's, are still extant. If we may judge from these, the Amer ican priest's first proposition was to found simply a con vent in America subject to the authority of the English provincial. The Irish Friar's broader experience, how ever, convinced him that it was better to begin with a dis tinct house or congregation under the immediate juris diction of the Order's Master General. Thus the corre spondence, almost from the beginning, turns on what Father Fenwick doubtless hoped would be the out growth of what he was to commence, an American branch of his Order in the land of his birth. Because they throw much light on the affair, and serve to reveal the characters of those who participated in it, we cannot do better than give even lengthy extracts from some of these letters. Thus, for instance, the American friar writes to his new-found friend at Rome: ' For a sketch of Bishop Concanen see the writer's articles on him in The Catholic Historical Review, I, 400-421, and II, 19-46. ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 47 Rev. Dear Sir: I am gratefully sensible of your kind remembrance of me in your last letter to our worthy friend, Rev. Mr. Plunkett, and equally so of your zealous attention to my vague proposal of an establishment of our Order in my native country, where the cries of religion and repeated solicitations of my friends pressingly call for me and all who feel for their spiritual wants. Your known zeal, Rev. Sir, for the honor of God and of our holy Order, your tendered benevolence in my regard, not only embolden me to write candidly to you on the subject, but encourage me to place entire confidence in your frendship and charitable advice on the subject. God knows, I am very unequal to the task, desti tute of all spiritual talents, void of all acquired knowledge, and unprovided with any Brother Laborers to carry on the work I wish to begin. But, as with the grace of God all things are pos sible, as I know that He " qui omnia fortiter gubernat et omnia suaviter disponit" [who governeth all things mightily and or- dereth them sweetly] , has often made use of the weakest and most illiterate beings to produce the greatest works, I found my hope in that divine Providence of succeeding in an affair, which ac cording to all human probability would, I know, be rash and madness otherwise to attempt. Our Provincial, Rev. Mr. Underhill, has given his opinion on the subject which I have begged of him to communicate to you, [and] which you will be pleased to submit to our Vicar General.8 And I confidently trust our worthy General will decide and dis pose of me according to the decrees of Heaven. To him, there fore, I look up as to the representative of our Heavenly Father in my regard, whose will I wish to know and whose orders and in structions I will cheerfully comply with as soon as intimated to me; but beg leave again to observe to your Reverence, that I have nothing in my favor but a good will, as I presume, and the s The real family name of the English provincial was Plunkett. During the dark penal days in England priests, to conceal their identity, often went under an alias. The custom still existed in the days of Fenwick. There were two Fathers Plunkett at the time, and both were more com monly known by the alias Underhill than by their proper names. They were brothers, and Underhill was the maiden name of their mother. Both names, however, are found in the letters. 48 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. temporal means Almighty God has blessed me with. My pater nal estate in America consists of ten or twelve hundred acres of land, some small houses, a proportionable share of negroes* live stock and a certain capital in American funds. Continuing his letter, Father Fenwick tells the Gen eral's assistant of the carelessness of his brother, under whose administration the paternal estate is placed, and of how little he himself has received from it. From this he concludes the necessity of going to America, if only to ascertain the value of the estate, and to secure his part. His age and delicate health are also given as rea sons for beginning the project as soon as possible. In the latter connection, after unduly belittling his mental attainments in a way so characteristic of truly humble men, he remarks : As to my physical condition, it is precarious. I am not very healthy. Should Almighty God call me out of the world before my desired plan is executed, my relations would of course come for ward for my property. They would, by law, inherit it and all hopes of any intended establishment would disappear with the means thereof. These considerations I wish to submit to our General's paternal care and to your friendly opinion.10 Returning to the subject of co-laborers, the humble religious singles out his life-long friend, Rev. Samuel T. Wilson, the noted theologian who was then superior » The reader will remember that in the days of slavery nearly every white family in the south had its negroes. Clergymen also possessed them. Those belonging to priests, however, because of the universal good treat ment they received, were considered exceptionally fortunate. 10 Father Fenwick, in this letter, says that he is thirty-seven years of age. But his own statement, given in a formal document at the time of his profession, and other reasons show that he was then only five and thirty. Several of his letters prove him to have been somewhat careless in regard to dates. Similarly, through all his life, his humility led him so to belittle his attainments as to almost impugn the known truth — a failing, however, not uncommon to men of his genuine humility and holiness. ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 49 at Bornheim, as one whom he is particularly anxious to have j oin in the enterprise. Of Father Wilson's willing ness to co-operate with him he feels certain, if only the General's wish were intimated to him. Hinting that he will have more to say in the future in regard to this dis tinguished scholar, the good priest thus closes his letter, beautiful in its humility and simplicity : This and other reflections I shall reserve and make free to pro pose to your Reverence as soon as I know the General's orders concerning the point in question, whether I am to go over to America and when. Meanwhile I beg a share of your friendship, good advice and pious prayers, that I may always act conform ably to the will of God, and remain, Rev. Dear Sir, respectfully your grateful and obedient humble servant, Brothee Dominic Fenwick. Carshalton Academy, Surrey, March 15, 1803.11 As the reader will doubtless notice, this letter, like its predecessor, was entrusted to Father Gerard Plunkett to be forwarded to its destination. The frank, open- hearted American priest, even when dealing with the highest authorities in the Order, would do nothing un known to his immediate superiors. Nor did his candor and docile humility fail to attract the attention of Con canen, or to win his good-will and confidence. Perhaps, indeed, this trait of Fenwick went far towards gaining an early decision in favor of the proposed new province across the Atlantic. But, now that the project was under way, the General's assistant, owing likely to Father Plunkett's dilatoriness, preferred to deal di rectly with the future apostle himself. For this reason, he writes in reply: 11 Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731. 5 50 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Minerva, Rome, the 19th November, 1803. Dear and Rev. Sir. I received very late your much esteemed favor of the 15th March enclosed in a letter from Rev. Mr. Plunkett, dated 8th September. As our correspondence may become frequent and interesting, you will be pleased in future to write to me directly, with the address : Rev. Doctor Luke Concanen, Minerva, Rome. — The modest, ingenuous and religious manner, in which you expose your wish and attempt of establishing a Convent of our Holy Order in your native country, induces me to look upon the conceived plan and undertaking as an inspiration from Heaven ; and I feel a strong internal impulse to second your pious and magnanimous efforts as much as [is] in my power. I have in effect, on receipt of your kind letter, communicated the business to our Most Rev. Father the Vicar General, and found him disposed and propitious towards our project. We con ferred together on the means and preparatory steps to be taken in such an important affair. One of the most necessary condi tions, after securing some little funds for supporting the new Church, and your co-operators, seems to be the consent and en couragement of the Right Rev. Bishop. But Father Plunkett tells me that the most worthy Doctor CarrolHs already well af fected, and encourages the scheme. Our good Vicar General asked me what companions could you take with you for the new foundation? And, considering the scarcity of subjects in the Province of England, he suggested that you could make a choice of a few zealous and exemplary Friars, either Flemish or French. This, in my opinion, is one of the most delicate points to be looked after, the choice of persons of disinterested zeal and experienced probity. I am confident that His Most Rev. Paternity would permit you to take along with you any one qualified Religious even of that Province. Should you have the fortune to succeed in your meritorious attempt, I agreed with the Vicar General that the new Convent should be under his own immediate jurisdiction and patronage, until hereafter, [when], with the blessing of Heaven, you could form a little American Province after the ex ample of the Irish Augustinians, who have lately instituted one at Philadelphia. This seems expedient, considering the aversion ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 51 your countrymen have to English influence of any kind in their country. As soon as the sacred work shall take footing, you will have the Apostolical permission to admit and profess Novices in your new Convent. The Superior General's assistant now tells how glad he is that the English provincial agrees with Father Fenwick's views, and consents to his plan. Then he pro ceeds to say: Rest assured that no encouragement will be wanting from this quarter. Great and illustrious Provinces have had their origin and commencement, in former ages, in as weak and humble ap pearance as has the present. But nothing is impossible to God, and I firmly hold that this is His holy will. It now remains that you resolve and determine what you are to do. You want no other pefmission for repairing to America. When matters will be dis posed and concerted by you and your friends, you shall have the General's Letters Patent, pro facultate fundandi novum Con- ventum [for founding a new Convent], and other necessary papers. I'll expect the pleasure of your answer with the due information of what you have done, and are to do. And beg ging a share in your good prayers, I am, with sincere and fra ternal regard and affection, My Dear and Rev. Father Fenwick, your faithful and humble servant, Brother Luke Concanen. P.S. . . . May the Almighty God prosper your devout en terprise.12 Father Concanen's reply, with its assurance of the sympathy and the support of the highest authority in the Order, not merely imparted added courage to the American priest, and strengthened his determination. It gave an impetus to the enterprise that promised speedy results. Letters now passed from England to 12 Archives of the Dominican Fathers, Haverstock Hill, London, England. 52 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Rome, and from Rome to England in rapid succession. The greater number of these documents, unfortunately, are no longer extant. But those from the pen of Fen wick that have survived the ravages of time, by showing the purport of the others, afford a fairly complete ac count of the successive steps in the enterprise that even tually brought the American friar back to the land of his birth. We shall not, in a work of this character, tire the reader with further lengthy quotations from these let ters. The next in order, however, demands a substantial resume. They are all written in a simple, natural and unstudied style which both charms and shows that they came from the heart. Like the one we have largely given, they all reveal a pure, generous soul, incapable of pride or guile, of wrath, envy or malice, of knowingly doing injury to any man. The only defects that the American friar seems to observe are those which he fancies in himself. Yet it were an error to suppose him a weak and indecisive man. He was strong in his con victions. And when convinced that he was in the right, his stand was firm and unyielding; but he maintained his position in the way one gentleman should withstand another. In reply to the letter from Rome in the preceding No vember, Father Fenwick writes, January 3, 1804: " With heartfelt sentiments do I accept your kind invi tation to correspond directly with your Reverence on the subject in question. And with veneration I embrace the paternal decision of our Vicar General." This decision he regards as an order from heaven; and, owing to his own fancied insufficiency, places his entire trust in God, who often " uses the weak things of this world to con found the strong." ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 53 Yet he still craves the advice and the direction of the Superior General and Father Concanen in the difficult undertaking, "the first preparatory steps" towards which he believes " as well as assured " ; for he has a small house, lands, servants and some funds in the Bank of the United States, belonging to him from his father's estate. But he does not know the value of these. Bishop Car roll of Baltimore wrote him two years ago, not only warmly approving, but urging the plan he now proposes. The provincial has now written him in opposition to his going to America, because of the few subjects in the province; but he has said positively that he would nof oppose the project, since it has been referred to the Gen eral. Both these letters Fenwick thought had been sent to Rome, as they had been given to Father Plunkett for that purpose. The next subject that claims attention is the choice of proper co-laborers, a point that is both important and difficult. In this matter, the humble friar has reasons for believing that the General and his assistant will have to use their influence, if not their authority, to obtain permission for the enlistment of such as would be suit able for the American missions, and willing to give their services. He will have no others. Father Charles B. Caestryct, who formerly belonged to the French prov ince, but is now in England, would be a good man for the purpose. So would two Flemish Dominicans whom he knows, Fathers Stordeur and Meerts, both of whom are held in great esteem for their piety, virtues and preaching. "But, dear Sir, [declares the earnest friar], the most necessary man would be Father Wilson, of our Prov ince, now Regent at Bornhem College. His talents and 54 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. zeal, I think, would ensure me success, and a word di rectly from the General or you would be cheerfully obeyed by him now." His place at Bornheim can be filled by any one of six or seven other fathers. The holy priest then proceeds further to unfold his plans in this wise: With him [that is, with Father Wilson] I could begin the ex ecution of my plan as soon as I arrive, as I shall write to Bishop Carroll and my brothers to say that I am about coming over, and desire them to have a house, which I have in view, ready to receive me, and to provide me a few scholars. For my design is to begin with a little school by way of a nursery to raise young plants in for the vineyard of the Lord. This has always been my design — to begin with a school, or to execute Bornhem College and Convent in miniature. And I know no Religious more proper for that purpose than the persons I have mentioned, particularly Fathers Wilson and Caestryct. I hope then, dear Sir, you will exert your zeal and influence in procuring me them. An order or a word directly to them would suffice. I know their good-will and readiness. To raise the money for the transportation of himself and companions across the Atlantic will present a serious difficulty. The voyage will cost some sixty pounds each. Fenwick can "answer for" a hundred pounds, and hopes to be able to get enough on credit to pay the way for himself and one or two others.13 But, as the un dertaking is of a public character and will redound to the honor of the Order, would it be proper to expect the General and the English province to contribute some help? is A letter of Joseph Fenwick, an uncle of the friar and United States consul at Bordeau, directed to Father Fenwick, London, and dated Paris, July 8, 1804, indicates the source from which the hundred pounds were expected (Archives of Saint Joseph's Province). ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 55 The man of God hopes, if he can have any of the fathers mentioned join him in time, to leave England in May at the latest — to sail for Philadelphia, whence he will journey on to Baltimore to present himself to Bishop Carroll. Ever zealous and devoted to the Mother of Christ, he closes his letter with the following request: " I must beg the faculty of his holy Paternity to institute the Society of the Rosary wherever I go, in order to ob tain the blessing of Heaven and the assistance of our Holy Mother, the Virgin Mary. Be pleased to obtain this power for me."14 The names of Fathers Caestryct, Stordeur an^l Meerts do not appear again in the existing documents — probably because the reluctance of their superiors to lose such men was so strong that the Superior General did not wish to use his supreme authority in the matter, and the docile Fenwick no longer suggested them. That they did not enlist in the undertaking is the more to be regretted, because, in addition to the good they could have accomplished for the American Church, their Bel gian origin might have secured the little band of Friars Preacher a more cordial and charitable reception than was accorded them on their arrival in Kentucky, and thus made their way smoother. However, the Most Rev. Joseph Gaddi, Superior General of the Order at the time, through his assistant, authorized Father Wilson to join in the over-seas enter prise. But by this time, as other members of his prov ince had begun to show a disposition to offer their serv ices for the same cause, the Enghsh provincial, quite naturally, became alarmed at the prospect of losing so 14 Fenwick Carshalton, England, to Concanen, Rome, January 3, 1804 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731). 56 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. many valuable men. What in more prosperous days would have been welcomed as an honor and as a means of spreading the Gospel of Christ, was then a peril to the existence of the Order in Britain. Accordingly, Father Underhill set himself strongly against the en rollment of any of his subjects in the American project, declining to permit even Fenwick to depart without a formal order directly from the General. Here we find a strength of character that surprises us in so humble a man, and a charity that edifies. In none of Fenwick's letters is there to be found an unkind or criticizing word. But now that he felt that he was in the right, and had the word of the General that nulli fied the authority of his provincial, he wrote : I am therefore still in suspense, and wait such an order. But rely on it, my dear Sir, I shall not desist from the enterprise. "Dixi: Nunc coepi" [I have said: Now have I begun]. I ex pect to meet with great difficulties and trials, but trust that He who gives the will, also supplies the means. I know that " qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hie salvus erit " [he that shall per severe unto the end, he shall be saved]. It is in vain to expect Mr. Underhill will allow Father Wilson to accompany me, unless the General speaks [directly]. No wonder! since he makes so much difficulty about me, a young, illiterate and inexperienced person, whereas Father Wilson is a man of great merit, expe rience and universal esteem, though young also. I sincerely thank you, dear Sir, for the zealous interest you take in this important and meritorious affair. I trust your zealous and generous senti ments and efforts will be crowned with success and consolation. To balance the holy man's disappointment there came other offers of enlistment in the new work. One was from Father Robert A. Angier of Bornheim, of whom Fenwick says that he is "a worthy Religious, a good ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 57 scholar, [and] a young man, i. e., a little older than my self," and expresses "an ardent desire of sharing the labor and merit with me." The other was Father Tosi, a master of novices at the Minerva, Rome, who made his proffer through Doctor Concanen. In the course of the same document (letter of April 14, 1804), we find one of the leading reasons back of the English fathers' de sire to enlist in the American cause. The successive steps in the re-organization of the Church in the coun tries then under the sway of Napoleon Bonaparte had gradually led to the absolution of religious from all obe dience to the superiors of their respective orders, and, placed them under the jurisdiction of the ordinaries. Thus Father Wilson, who was vicar provincial in Bel gium and rector at Bornheim, was no longer subject to his English provincial; nor had he any authority over the members of his community. The fathers there were neither fish nor flesh. This position, so anomalous as to be almost intolerable, turned the minds of more than one of them towards Fenwick's new field of labor.15 is Fenwick to Concanen, April 14, 1804 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, ut supra) ; Rev. S. T. Wilson to same, Georgetown, D. C, October 14, 1805 (ibid.). — Cardinal Caprara's famous decree of seculariza tion, De Expresso Mandato et Auctoritate Sanctissimi, may be seen in VERMEERSCH (A.), De Religiosis Institutis et Personis (Bruges, 1904), II, 466. In the letter referred to above, Father Wilson tells Father Concanen: " Ever since the notice I received from our Archbishop, Monsr. Roquelaure, that all religious in France, being now secularized by His Holiness, were entirely under his jurisdiction, I have turned my thoughts to America, where a new prospect opens of labouring with success." How different this reason for the noted friar's coming to America from that given by Maes in his life' of Father Charles Nerinckx, pp. 171-73! Having spoken of the trials undergone by the English Dominicans that author proceeds to say: "Not knowing what to do, Father Wilson, then Pres.dent of the College, cultivated the friendship of some of the Republican officials, and even consented to take their sons as students of the institut .on, "" *e hoPe of saving it. By dint of concessions, he held out against the tide of °VV*f- stT until 1805, when his conscience told him that he could stretch conde scension no further; and he had to wander again, untih under the leader ship of Father Fenwick, he and his brethren emigrated to America 58 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. For the reasons given, Father Fenwick's departure for his future field of action had been retarded. To pre vent possible delays in putting his plan into execution, once he was in America, he devoted the remainder of his time in England largely to preparing ways and means for the proposed institution. In this connection, he sug gests in the letter of which we have been speaking, that the Italian recruit borrow means and begin his long voy age at once. The money obtained for the purpose, he says, will be refunded as soon as he himself reaches his destination. In Maryland, Father Tosi could "go to Bishop Carroll; he will be received with open arms and provided for till we meet. When there, he will soon find out my Uncle John Fenwick, a worthy confrere of the Order and missioner, likewise my brothers, who are all settled in life, and will make their homes his." What letters passed between Rome and England in the meantime cannot now be known. But the next docu ment, dated August 29, 1804, shows that the Superior General decided in Father Fenwick's favor. For he writes : " I have at length the satisfaction to inform his holy Paternity and yourself that all measures are con certed and decided upon for my departure to America, fixed for the tenth of next month. Rev. Father Provin cial Underhill has at last consented, tho' reluctantly, I fear, -and allows me a few vestments and two chalices from the Province." But the good priest could obtain no money, for the reason that the losses sustained through the French Revolution and the defalcation of its funds in the Bank of Vienna had brought the British province to straits. He has engaged, at a cost of fifty guineas each, passage for himself and Father Angier on a ship bound for Nor- ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 59 folk, Virginia.16 Father Wilson, owing to financial dif ficulties at Bornheim, cannot go for the present. " Good Father Tuite " of Bornheim now offers his serv ices and is anxious for the General to send him permis sion at the earliest convenience, that he may accompany Father Wilson. In this connection, the leader of the little band of misionaries takes occasion to disclose his wishes in regard to his last named confrere. My intention [he writes] was, and which I still persevere in, to request our holy Vicar General to nominate Father Wilson the Prior or head of our Colony or Community from the moment of his arrival with us, as he is [in] every way adequate to the ta^k and the only one of us three [that is, of those who had already received permission to go to the United States] capable of direct ing or governing either in or out of a community. With him alone I should not despair of success; without him I know not what I shall do — nay, am inclined to despond, and have all reason to think I shall fail in my undertaking. He is not old, is hearty, zealous, charitable and indefatigable ; which, added to his knowl edge and experience, render him indispensably necessary to me. Therefore, my dear Father Master, you will, I trust, use all your zeal and influence to hasten his departure. He wants not zeal and charity for the undertaking, but advice and encouragement. He has pledged his word to me : I can rely upon it. That they might have a guide and director to follow, the little band of four priests chose Father Fenwick for their superior, until, as he expresses it, " we can choose, or have nominated by the General a more proper one. This [he declares] I consented to merely to obviate dif ficulties and hasten the execution of our plan." Con tinuing, he says : " I beg then you will submit what I say of Father Wilson to the Vicar General and for- i« The value of the English pound at that date seems ta have been about three dollars and eighty-five cents. Yet even this shows how expensive was a voyage" across the Atlantic in the distant past. 60 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. ward to me to the care of Doctor Carroll his instructions and orders, with every necessary paper for the establish ment of a Convent and College for the education of youth." But now we see the zealous servant of Christ extend ing still further his efforts for the good of the American Church. Like the fathers, the English Dominican Sis ters, long established in Brussels, had been compelled to flee before the mad onrush of the French revolutionary armies. Owing to the anti-Catholic prejudices then prevailing in England, they had not prospered in the mother-country. The gloomy aspect of things caused them to approach Father Fenwick on the subject of following him to the United States. The holy man began to take up their cause also with Doctor Con canen. But as he was now on the eve of his departure, and had not time to prosecute the case, the project did not crystallize.17 In the meantime, on the advice of the Right Rev. John Douglass, titular bishop of Centuria and vicar apostolic of the London District, and other friends, Father Fenwick appealed to the charity of the Catholics of England for aid in his pious undertaking. In the photographic copy of his circular letter before us, he tells how he had entered the Order of Saint Dominic with the express design of establishing it and a religious seminary in his native land, that his brethren might carry the blessings of religion throughout the vast ex tent of the country; how the troubles incident to the French Revolution had long delayed his plans; how his superiors both at Rome and at home now give him their i' Fenwick, Carshalton, England, to Concanen, Rome, August 29, 1804 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731). ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 61 heartiest encouragement; how some of his brethren — among them Fathers Wilson, Angier and Tosi — have engaged their services for the enterprise; and how Bishop Douglass not merely endorses the project, but presses its execution and urges his people to contribute towards its realization, because it is only from such foundations that the Church of the day can hope for an adequate supply of laborers in the Lord's vineyard. Nor did that good ordinary stop at this. To insure the success of his friend, he gave him the following note of formal approval to be annexed to his circular letter. We John Douglass, Bishop of Centuria, and Vicar Apostolic of the London District, knowing well the merits of Father Domi- nick Fenwick, and approving highly of the said Father's zeal in devoting his paternal estate, and using personal exertion to bless his native land with the learning, piety and virtues for which the holy Order of Saint Dominic has been, through every age from its foundation, most eminently distinguished, beg leave to recommend the above Address to the attention of the Nobility, Gentry, and other members of the Catholic Church, and to solicit their charitable contributions in aid of a work, that has for its object the propagation of the Catholic Faith and the salvation of souls in that extensive country. John Centuriensis.18 The response to Father Fenwick's appeal was quick and generous, for through it he soon realized a hundred pounds. And this sum, together with another of equal amount which he had already secured, nearly sufficed for the transportation of himself and colleagues to their future field of labor. It is not surprising, therefore, to see the rejoiced priest, September 1, 1804, writing in a is An original copy of Father Fenwick's letter of appeal to the English Catholics is in the Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731. 62 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. tone of spiritual glee and gratitude what we may term his note of farewell to Doctor Concanen from England. One can almost feel the joy with which he penned the words: "Father Antoninus Angier goes with me, and Father Wilson will follow as soon as he is disengaged from Bornhem." With no less confidence does he count on the hearty co-operation of his uncle, Rev. John Fen wick, who is already a missionary in Maryland.19 For many reasons have we given these transactions in some minuteness of detail. They throw much light on the subject of these pages; they cannot fail to be of in terest to those desirous of knowing more of the saintly bishop, and of the history of the Dominicans in the United States, whose father he is; they form a not un important link in the chain of the annals of the Amer ican Church — especially of that part comprised in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee ; they mark the beginning of fruitful and zealous labors of which all too little is known by our reading public; they will also edify the spiritual-minded among Catholics. Indeed, it is rare to find, even among men of eminent holiness and sanctity, a difference of opinion with so much at stake as was the case in that between Fathers Underhill, the English provincial, and Fenwick, where all edifies, and nothing comes from the pen or escapes the lips to mortify or to shock us. The two friars must live in history as models of religious zeal, charity and obedience. The one strove to preserve his Order in his native Britain for the benefit of the Church there. The other sought to plant his institute in the land of his birth, that religion might profit by its labors in the new republic. The case was laid before the Superior Gen- « Fenwick, London, to Concanen, Rome, September 1, 1805 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731). ORDINATION AND EARLY PRIESTHOOD 63 eral, who, in view of what he believed to be the greater good of a larger part of the world, decided in favor of the American priest. While the matter was under dis cussion, in all things and without a murmur or a com plaint, did Father Fenwick submit to the will of his immediate superior, using only his right of recourse to Rome. In a no less edifying spirit of obedience did Father Underhill bow to the voice of a higher authority, when it had spoken. CHAPTER IV FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR The story of Kentucky, with the fascinating legends of its battlefields and hunting-grounds of the aboriginal American, and the traditions of its daring explorer, Daniel Boone, its bold, hardy pioneer hunters, and its brave, picturesque backwoodsmen, never lacks interest. Indeed, the early annals of few of our states so abound in dim luster, or are so rich in a charm that is ever old, still always new. Yet, as the history of the state has not only been often told, in book and sketch, but narrated in a style and manner most pleasing, it has been judged better not to attempt, in a work of this character, the repetition of a tale with which every American reader is familiar. Suffice it, then, to give here merely an out line of the state's Catholic history up to the time when it falls into the life of the subject of this narrative. Probably the first white men to set foot on Ken tucky's soil were the French in Louis Johet's voyage of exploration down the Mississippi River in 1673. With them was the celebrated Jesuit missionary, Father James Marquette. By some they are said to have landed at the juncture of the Ohio and the Mississippi, where they visited the Shawnee Indians, who had been driven from their more northern and eastern haunts by the warlike Iroquois. It is hkely, too, that this mild tribe of aborigines was visited by Father James Gravier 64 FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 65 on a similar voyage in 1700.1 But from that time until more than fifty years later rarely, if ever, was the solemn silence of Kentucky's unbroken forest disturbed by the tread of human feet other than those of the red man. The second half of the eighteenth century, however, was not far spent, when adventurous hunters, fur trad ers and surveyors occasionally made their way over the blue Alleghanies, and descended the streams along their westward course. Gradually they penetrated into what is now central Kentucky. Such names as Mooney and Fitzpatrick show the presence of the ubiquitous Irish* man among these early adventurers, who were nearly all from Virginia and the Carolinas. Following these, and perhaps attracted by the tales they brought home of the beauty, fertility and climate of the country, pio neer settlers from the same states and from Maryland soon began to set up their tents in the home of the blue- grass. Never, perhaps, was there a people of a more ' daring and fearless spirit than the first white inhabi tants of Kentucky. They had need of all their courage. Regarded as enemies and intruders by the roving bands of Indians that traversed the country in every direction, they lived from day to day with their lives in their hands. These dangers were abated in 1782, when General George R. Clark finally succeeded in wresting the northwest from the English and their Indian allies. But not until General Anthony Wayne's historic vic tory over the Miamis, in August, 1794, and the treaty of Greenville in the following year, could the backwoods- iWebb, The Centenary of Catholicity in Kentucky, pp. 13-14. But Shea (History of the Catholic Church in Colonial Days, p. 314) does not think that Marquette landed at the mouth of the Ohio. Collins (A History of Kentucky, p. 510) thinks it probable that Robert de la Salle touched the western part of Kentucky in 1680. 6 66 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. man of Kentucky feel that he was free from all peril at the hands of roving bands of savages lurking in the forests. Emigration to Kentucky, properly speaking, began in 1774. Among the earliest emigrants there were ad herents of the faith professed by Lord Baltimore's orig inal colony. But the first Catholics of whom we have any definite record, as such, were Doctor George Hart, William Coomes and family and, perhaps, Abraham and Isaac Hite. They moved westward at the date just mentioned, or the year following. Coomes was born in Maryland, but emigrated from Virginia. Hart was born in Ireland, and emigrated from Maryland. He was possibly Kentucky's first physician, as Mrs. Coomes was hkely the state's first school-teacher. But while, as the Honorable Ben. Webb suggests, there were doubt less members of the same religion in the steady stream of home-seekers to Kentucky during the ten years that succeeded the above date, the real Catholic emigration began in 1785.2 In the beginning, nearly all of these were from Maryland, and principally from Saint Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties. Yet, other parts of the former Baltimore Colony contributed not inconsiderably towards Kentucky's early Catholic population. We learn, for instance, that Saint Mary's congregation, Hagerstown, which had been a central point from which other stations in northwestern Mary land and southern Pennsylvania were attended, became so depleted of its wealthier members, through emigra tion to the west, that it was recommended, in 1796, to make it a mission of Emmitsburg. In fact, few of the 2 Webb, op. cit., p. 24. FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 67 faith, other than those who were unable to move to Ken tucky, remained in the parish.3 That so many were induced to leave a soil so produc tive as that round about Hagerstown, shows how exag gerated must have been the reports of the wealth that awaited all who should go to Kentucky. Rumor, in fact, represented the new country as a veritable agri cultural El Dorado. As Bishop Spalding prettily ex presses it: The reports carried back to Virginia and Maryland by the first adventurers who had visited Kentucky, were of so glowing a character as to stimulate many others to emigrate thither. The new country was represented as a sort of promised land, with ex uberant and fertile soil ; and if not flowing with milk and honey, at least teaming with all kinds of game. This rich country now lay open to the enterprising activity of the white man ; its fertile lands could be obtained by occupation, or purchased for a mere trifle ; and the emigrants might subsist, like the Indians, by hunt ing, until the soil could be prepared for cultivation.4 It was but natural, therefore, that many of the people in the neighboring eastern states should look with wist ful eyes towards the wonderful country newly discov ered in the west. So it was with the Catholics in Saint Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties, Mary land, where much of the land, through long unscientific cultivation, had become impoverished. Accordingly, in 1785, the heads of sixty Catholic families in these three counties, but mostly residents of Saint Mary's, formed a league, and pledged themselves to move to Kentucky as circumstances permitted. They were aware of the dangers they would have to encounter from the Indians, s Rev. Francis Bodkin, Hagerstown, Maryland, to Bishop Carroll, Balti more, July 5, 1796 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, T 5). * Spalding, Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, p. 22. 68 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. not on the way to this El Dorado only, but even after they had settled in their new homes. With the tales of the beauty and productiveness of Kentucky were inter spersed those of the horrors committed by the red men. But that was America's age of chivalry. Such stories could not chill the growing spirit of adventure in the brave hearts that had just thrown off the yoke of the mother country. Yet, on the one hand, Maryland's past history had taught her sturdy Catholic pioneers that prudence is the better part of valor. On the other hand, like their fore fathers who had sacrificed so much for conscience' sake, they treasured their faith above every earthly possession. Thus the league of which we have spoken, had a twofold purpose. Settling in the same locality, in addition to serving as a protection against Indian marauders, would secure to them the consolations of their religion. Nor can there be any doubt that Father John Carroll en couraged such a scheme of colonization, and promised the league to send a priest along with them, or to pro cure a pastor for their souls with the least possible delay. This zealous man was then vicar apostolic of the entire United States, and was naturally anxious to build up the Church throughout the extensive country under his spiritual jurisdiction. In the association were not only many of his friends, but some of his near relations. Twenty-five of the sixty families mentioned above left Maryland and reached their destination during the same year in which the league was formed. The re mainder followed in 1786, 1787 and 1788. In the mean time, other homeseekers joined in with these, swelling the procession to enormous proportions. As Spalding expresses it again: "Men and women, young and old, FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 63 caught up this spirit; and soon nearly half of Virginia and Maryland was in motion for the west,"5 This was particularly the case after the cessation of danger that came with the Indian treaty of 1795. Prior to that date, as the banks of the Ohio nearer the present Louisville were infested by hostile tribes, the more ordinary route to "the land of promise" was overland to Pittsburgh, and thence down the Ohio in flatboats to Maysville. From Maysville the pilgrims made their way through the forests to the lands they had secured. So travelled the first five and twenty of the sixty fam ihes of which we have spoken. They must have been keenly disappointed on reaching their future homes on Pottinger's Creek, for they were not slow to discover that the land they had purchased was perhaps the poor est in central Kentucky. They had been deceived, tra dition tells us, by land speculators who had obtained large areas in the present state, and sold this part of them to the unsuspecting colonists by misrepresenta tion. Be this as it may, it was now too late to remedy the error. A part of the purchase money had been paid, and bonds given for the rest.6 Nor had many of the un fortunate victims, thus deprived of their means, any option but to settle where they had bought. And in this connection, we have an example of the secrifices on the part of Catholics for the sake of their souls, which have often edified historians. Though the soil in this locality was the poorest, and the situation most uninviting, many Catholic adventurers continued to take up homes in the same neighborhood. The foundations of a large colony composed of those of the faith had been laid, and thither they went, in spite of all temporal disadvantages, to 5 Spammng, op. cit., p. 23. « Webb, op. cit., p. 32. 70 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK,, O.P. secure for themselves and their children the consolations of their religion.7 Most of the subsequent Catholic colonists, however, more wise in worldly prudence, chose other sections of the state for their future abodes. But, with few excep tions, wherever they settled, they purchased neighbor ing tracts of land, with the same view in mind that had inspired the league in Maryland and brought so many together on Pottinger's Creek. This proto-Catholic settlement in Kentucky was followed in quick succession by others. The colony of Hardin's Creek, for example, and probably that on Elkhorn Creek (in what is now Scott County) began in the following year, 1786. The settlement on Cartwright's Creek and that near Bards- town had begun before the close of 1787. Then came that on the Rolling Fork in 1788. The colony near Hardinsburg, the present Breckinridge County, dates from 1790. Both 1792 and 1795 are given as the date of the birth of the Cox's Creek or Fairfield Settlement.8 For some years, these eight localities comprised nearly the entire Catholic population of Kentucky, which Father Badin estimated at some three hundred families as early as 1793. As -immigration into the new country ceased not, they all continued to grow; but the settle ment known as that of Cartwright's Creek, in which the subject of this narrative was to make his future home, soon surpassed the others both in numbers and in collective wealth. Besides these colonies, smaller settle ments of Catholics and individual famihes of the faith were scattered here and there in widely separated places. Many of these latter or their descendants, unfortu nately, owing to their isolated situations, their environ- t Spalding, op. cit., pp. 25-26. s Spalding and Webb, passim. FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 71 ments, un-Catholic influences, and the impossibility of receiving proper religious instruction from the few mis sionaries then in the state, fell away from the Church. By the date of Father Edward Dominic Fenwick's ar rival in that part of the Lord's vineyard, the Catholic population ran into the thousands. But it is now time to turn our attention to Kentucky's early missionaries. As has been seen, one of the prime purposes that inspired the league of sixty Maryland families was to secure the services of a pastor for their souls, and to make his ministry both easier and more effectual after his arrival in the west. But the scarcity of priests and the multiplicity of pastoral labors in the east made it impossible for the zealous vicar apostolic to send a missionary to that remote part of his vicariate. In this way, two years lapsed before the Catholics who went to Kentucky first, had the happiness of welcoming an ambassador of Christ to their midst. This was Father Charles Whelan, a zealous and humble Fran ciscan friar, who had formerly labored in New York, and began the first Catholic church erected in that metropolis. Father Whelan arrived in Kentucky dur ing the year 1787. The day of his coming must have been the occasion of keen joy for the colonists, whose situation was the more desolate because so long deprived of the succor of their religion. We have no satisfactory record of this missionary's work in the west. But one can imagine that his labors were heavy, and his ministry beset with many hardships and inconveniences. The people had become unaccus tomed to frequent the sacraments. The young were probably not well instructed in their duties. Many, through living in the forest wilds and being long de- 72 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. prived of a pastor's guidance, had grown headstrong and fallen into habits incompatible with Christian piety. Difficulties soon crossed the good missionary's path. He had no priestly companion with whom to consult, or to administer the waters of grace to his own soul all the while he was overburdened with ministering to those of the multitudes. He knew no rest. His incessant travels did not permit him to erect even a rude house of prayer. Having no home of his own, he was obliged to lodge with the families of the faithful in their humble log cabins. His life was lonely, and age had begun to tell on his frame. All these things bore heavily upon God's minister, and unfortunately caused him to leave the mis sion early in the spring of 1790, after a residence of httle more than two years.9 In the summer of the same year (1790), the Rev. William de Rohan, whom Doctor John G. Shea, in his life of Archbishop Carroll, more than once erroneously calls a Dominican, arrived in Kentucky with immigrants from east Tennessee and North Carolina. Like his predecessor, Father de Rohan was of Irish parentage; but he had been educated, if not born, in France. Be fore the close of the year, he built the first Cathohc church in the state. It was erected in the Pottinger's Creek Settlement, was a small structure of logs covered with clapboards, and was later dedicated to divine serv ice under the title of Holy Cross. But Father de Rohan did not long continue his active ministry among the people after the erection of the little church.10 The Cathohc settlements of Kentucky were then left to suffer from spiritual hunger and thirst for more than three years. The appeals of the people for a priest » Spalding, op. cit., pp. 41-46 ; Webb, op. cit., pp. 156-57. 10 Spalding, op. cit., p. 49 ; Webb, op. cit., pp. 26, 70, 158-59. FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 73 must have torn the heart of the newly consecrated Bishop Carroll. But, owing to the cause of which we have spoken, he was unable to grant their petitions. On May 25, 1793, however, he ordained Rev. Stephen Theo dore Badin, the first man raised to the priesthood in the United States, and destined to become the apostle of Catholicity in Kentucky. The clergymen had now in creased in numbers. Accordingly, on the sixth day of the following September, we see the young priest, though the oils of consecration were hardly dry on his hands, starting on his journey for the distant and hard missions of the west, under the leadership of Rev. Petet Barriere as vicar general. Following the route of least danger, the two travellers took the boat at Pittsburgh. On the way down the Ohio, they halted a few days at Gallipolis to visit the remnants of the former French colony at that place. At Maysville, they left their boat and trudged overland to Lexington, where they arrived just in time for Father Badin to say mass on the first Sunday of Advent, which fell that year on the first day of December.11 With Father Badin this mass, which was his first in the state, marked the beginning of an apostolate in Ken tucky that was to extend over a period of more than a quarter of a century. But Father Barriere, soon tiring of the hardships and the loneliness of the backwoods, left the missions for New Orleans in the April of the ensuing year (1794). Thus did the young priest, not yet a year ordained, have the burden of all the settle ments thrown upon his shoulders. Perhaps not in the history of the Church has so youthful a clergyman (he ii Badin, Origine et Progres de la Mission du Kentucky, pp. 2 ff.j Spalding and Webb, passim. — The reader is also referred to the same authors for the other facts given in this chapter regarding Father Badin. 74 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. was but five and twenty years 'of age) ever been en trusted with a charge more responsible and more trying, or placed in a situation more solitary and forlorn. To attempt anything like a detailed account of the zealous young Frenchman's tremendous labors would carry this chapter to an unwarrantable length. Suffice it to say that the places he was obliged to attend ex tended, from east to west, over a distance of some one hundred and thirty miles and, from north to south, per haps seventy miles. The reader may imagine what ex ertions so extensive a pastoral charge exacted that the various stations might be regularly visited, confessions heard, instructions given, and the faith kept alive in the hearts of the people. With all this and the frequent sick calls, near and far, Father Badin may be said to have practically lived on horseback. Fortunately, na ture had given him that national characteristic, so often remarked even in those who at home were accustomed to the luxuries of life, which enables the French missionary to be cheerful and content alike in desert solitude, gloomy forest or the hut of the savage. So also was he blessed with an iron constitution that nothing could break, and a nervous energy that never tired. The won der is, not that he did not accomplish more, but that he accomplished so much.12 February 26, 1797, the lonely pastor and his scat tered flocks were gladdened by the arrival of Rev. Michael J. Fournier, an affable and zealous French missionary. Two years later, January 31, 1799, their joy was increased by the coming of Father Anthony Salmon. He was followed, a few days later, by Father 12 Father Badin's many letters in the Baltimore diocesan archives bear testimony that he did not spare himself. FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 75 John Thayer.13 Salmon and Fournier had been fellow- students and brother priests in the diocese of Blois, France, before the days of the French Revolution. Thayer had been a non-Catholic minister in Massachu setts, but had been converted and ordained abroad. Kentucky was now blessed with more ambassadors of Christ than had ever been, at one time, within the bor ders of the state. All promised well for the missions. And one may well believe that the joy of the patriarch of the American Church, Bishop Carroll, at the bright prospects of this distant part of his diocese was not less keen than that of the people and the missionaries; fot the good prelate ever showed a special affection for Kentucky. After a twelvemonth's sojourn with Father Badin at Saint Stephen's, the pastoral residence that the veteran missionary had built for himself near where stands the present Loretto Academy, Father Fournier took up his abode on the Rolling Fork. Father Salmon succeeded him at Saint Stephen's, and Father Thayer was placed in Scott County. All had several charges under their care. But death came all too soon to thin the clerical ranks in the promising Church of the west. November 9, 1799, Father Salmon was thrown from his horse, re ceiving an injury from which he died the next day. He had not labored on the. missions quite ten months. Four years later, February 12, 1803, Father Fournier also passed to his eternal reward; and his death, although it was occasioned by an accident in a sawmill, Father is Father Fournier, Kentucky, to Bishop Carroll, March 2, 1797 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, M 1); Father Salmon to same, Kentucky, May 27, 1799 (ibid., Case 8 B, G 5) ; Father Badin to same, February 20, 1799 (ibid., Case 1, E 12). 76 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Badin says, " was chiefly caused by his excessive labours and long rides."14 Prior to this, Father Thayer had re tired from his ministrations, later returning to the east, and thence went to Ireland. The deaths of Fathers Sal mon and Fournier were extremely unfortunate. Not only did their zeal bring souls to Christ; their affable manners and gentle dispositions, in addition to winning the hearts and the confidence of the people, tended to soften the harsh ways, the caustic language, and the ex treme severity of Father Badin that caused him rather to be disliked than loved, and often prevented the ac complishment of the good which he sought to do. His ways often laid open gaping wounds for which theirs served as healing balm. Thus was Father Badin again left alone for more than two years on the missions of Kentucky. Again was he obliged not merely to repeat the extraordinary labors of which we have spoken, but to redouble his en ergies and his exertions. The missions had both grown and multiplied; the distances he had to travel were lengthened; the sick calls were increased; the scattered Catholics had become more numerous. The good priest's cares were without end. Perhaps few of the missionaries in the country at that time could have faced so much in so solitary a situation. The appeals of both the lonely missionary and the suffering people, found in the letters sent from Ken tucky to Baltimore during this time, and the money for warded to Bishop Carroll to pay the travelling expenses for a priest, or priests, from the east to the west, show that no efforts were spared to secure aid for that deso late Church. Often rumors or promises of assistance "Father Badin to Bishop Carroll, April 11, 1803 (Baltimore Archives, Case A Special, L 12). FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 77 raised hopes that were destined to be disappointed. At one time interest was centered in a plan to form an es tablishment of Franciscan Fathers in Scott County under the leadership of Father Michael Egan, later the first bishop of Philadelphia.16 And in the late summer of 1804, Father Badin was cheered by a visit from Rev. Urban Guillet, the head of a band of Trappists exiled from France by the revolution, but then located at Pigeon Hills, Adams County, Pennsylvania. The pur pose of Father Urban's visit was to make preparations to remove his community to Kentucky. Although the veteran missionary was much pleased with this plan, he felt that, as the Trappist life was wholly contemplative, the presence of such a community would rather offer him a place of retreat than lighten his toils or aid in dis tributing the bread of hfe to the Church of the west.16 Perhaps the following list of churches and stations (with prospects of having chapels in the near future) represents the principal places that claimed Father Badin's attention at the close of the period of which this chapter treats. Their names, locations and respective distances from Saint Stephen's, the missionary's resi dence, will not be out of place. Apart from the interest that attaches to them as early centers of Catholic activity west of the Alleghanies, they show the immense labors which Father Badin was obliged to undergo, give a fair idea of the growth of the Church in Kentucky, and com plete the historical setting for its entrance into the life of Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, whose labors there prepared him to become the apostle of Ohio : is American Catholic Historical Researches, IX, 75-76; Father Badin to Bishop Carroll, December 6, 1804 (Baltimore Archives, Case A Special, L 11). 16 Badin to Carroll, as in preceding note; and September 7, 1804 (ibid., Case A Special, L 10). 78 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. 1. Saint Stephen's, then in Washington, but now in Marion County. Although this was Father Badin's home, mass was also celebrated there for the faithful. 2. Holy Cross, in the Pottinger's Creek Settlement, then also in Washington, but now in Marion County. This church was built in 1790, and was about four miles west of Saint Stephen's. 3. Saint Francis', Scott County, built in 1796 or 1797, and seventy- two miles northeast. 4. Saint Ann's, in the Cartwright's Creek Settle ment, Washington County, built in 1797 or 1798 — about seven miles east. 5. Saint Joseph's, Bardstown, Nelson County, built in 1798 — thirteen miles north. 6. Holy Mary's in the Rolhng Fork Settlement, Marion County (but then in Washington) — thirteen miles southeast. The church there was under way. 7. Saint Thomas', " in Poplar Neck," Nelson County, eleven miles north. 8. Saint Charles', Washington County (now in Marion County), eight miles southeast. 9. Saint Michael's, in the Cox's Creek Settlement (now Fairfield), Nelson County, twenty-four miles to the north. Preparations for a church there seem to have been under way. 10. Saint Clare's (near the present Colesburg), Har din County, twenty-four miles to the northwest. 11. Saint Benedict's, Shelby County, thirty-five or forty miles north.17 " The location of Saint Benedict's has been in doubt. But Badin's list and a letter from him to Bishop Carroll, dated: "St. Benedict's, Shelby County, May 12, 1808" (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, I 7), settle the point. The distance of the place from Saint Stephen's, as given in the life of Father Nerinckx by Maes (page 126), was thirty-three miles. But Father Badin, in a letter to Bishop Carroll, October 5, 1805 (Baltimore Archives, FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 79 12. Saint Anthony's, "near the Forks of Rough Creek," Breckinridge County, eighty miles to the west. It is now the parish of Axtel. 13. Saint Christopher's, " near the Kentucky River," Madison County, eighty miles east by north. 14. Saint Louis', in the present city of Louisville, which was more than fifty miles to the north. 15. Saint Peter's, in Lexington, seventy miles to the northeast. 16. Saint Bernard's, Adair County, thirty-four miles to the southeast. The church for this congregation was^ subsequently built in Casey County, where now stands the village of Clementsville. 17. Saint Patrick's, Danville, Mercer County (now in Boyle County) — thirty miles to the east. 18. Saint John's, Bullitt County. This church was a building, and was twenty-five or thirty miles northwest of Saint Stephen's. It was likely located in the neigh borhood of the present Chapeze.18 19. Springfield, Washington County, nine or ten miles to the east.19 But to this list of places might have been added — evi dently it was forgotten by the busy missionary — a little colony of Cathohcs in and around Harrodsburg, Mer cer County. These people were thirty-five or forty miles northeast of Father Badin's home. Case 1, G 10), says that it was about forty miles from his home. A com munication to the United States Catholic Miscellany of December 16, 1826, shows that this Catholic settlement was in that part of Shelby County which was taken (1824) to aid in forming the present county of Spencer. is Maes (op. cit., p. 127) makes Father Nerinckx say that this proposed church was only fifteen miles from Saint Stephen's. But this is evidently a typographical or other error. 19 The above list is taken from one sent to Bishop Carroll by Father Badin, March 14, 1807 (Baltimore Archives, Case C Special, L). — Maes' life of Nerinckx, pp. 126-27, was used for the distances of the various missions from Saint Stephen's. 80 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Writing to Bishop Carroll, August 81, 1803, Father Badin tells his ordinary that: " Having made a new cen sus of the different parishes, I find the number of Cath olics amounts to upwards of seven hundred famihes."20 Nearly four years later, March 14, 1807, (in the hst of missions we have just given) , he says that he has counted nine hundred and seventy-two Catholic families in the state. But owing to the wide territory over which the faithful were scattered, the busy lives of the priests, and the difficulty of making a correct census at that period, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Catholic house holds were much in excess of these two estimates. In cluding slaves and unmarried whites of the laboring class, there must have been in Kentucky at least seven or eight thousand persons belonging to the fold at the time Father Fenwick founded there the first house of Friars Preacher in the United States. Fabulous rumors of the new state's wealth were still afloat. For this reason, although the great tide of immi gration was soon to be turned to the north and the north west, many Catholics continued to flock to Kentucky, not only from Maryland, but from other parts of the country, and even from Ireland. The future of the Church there must have appeared gloomy to its solitary apostle. More than once, in his letters, does he tell his ordinary of his trials in attending his widely scattered flocks, of how rarely he can visit some of the more dis tant missions, of how often the people thus die without the sacraments. These touching letters, and the ap peals of the people for spiritual guides, there can be no doubt, determined Bishop Carroll to pursuade Father Fenwick, now that it was known he would soon return 20 Baltimore Archives, Case A Special, L 1. FUTURE FIELD OF LABOR 81 to America, to establish his Order in the land of his birth, to make Kentucky the field of action for himself and his confreres. Doubtless also, the complaints that had gone to Baltimore against Father Badin's undue severity and brusque treatment of the faithful, together with the difficulty of finding clergymen willing to go to that remote portion of his charge, had a part in bringing the anxious prelate to such a conclusion. He felt that the American friar and his English associates would un derstand the people better, and be better understood by them than those with a foreign mother-tongue. Ac cordingly, the bishop communicated his intention 4o Father Badin. And the missionary, referring to the proposal in his next letter, writes : I am very anxious of seeing the venerable Trappists estab lished in this country ; and if they will in some measure (not of fensive to their institution) modify their plan of educating youth, which partakes less of the monkish tincture and more of the literary taste, they shall certainly be viewed in this country with admiration, will promote much the general interests of Re ligion, and more efficaciously the particular success of their order. I am happy to hear of the Dominicans' coming shortly to this State, whose exterior ministry will be felt more sensibly to be beneficial.21 Writing again, two months later, Father Badin tells his bishop that the people of Madison County have sub scribed a nice sum for a chapel. Besides, he says : " they wish to erect or encourage an Academy there. The place would probably suit the Rev. Mr. Fenwick and his brethren; unless they prefer Bardstown, which is the most central town of the Catholic settlements."22 21 Badin to Carroll, as in note 15. 22 Same to same, February 26, 1805 (Baltimore Archives, Case A Special, L 9). 7 82 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. With these quotations showing the hearty welcome which the lonely missionary of Kentucky intended giv ing the American friar on his arrival in the west, we can close this chapter. Although somewhat lengthy, it is necessary in order to give the reader a proper conspec tus of one of the most important periods in Father Fen wick's life. CHAPTER V RETURNS TO AMERICA Father Edward D. Fenwick's humility, profound though it was, did not dull his spirit of initiative or lessen his activity. As soon, therefore, as he received from Rome assurances of the Father General's sympathy and support of the over-seas enterprise, he wrote to the patriarch of the American hierarchy to inform him of the promising outlook. The long conceived project [he says] of endeavouring to found an establishment, under your Lordship's patronage, for the edu cation of youth, etc., I now regard as the will of heaven, since it is approved and much recommended to me by our General at Rome. I have the honor, therefore, to inform your Lordship that agreeably to my Superior's will and order, I shall embark as soon as I have made the necessary arrangements ; which [I] sup pose will be in May or June. When arrived, my first duty, after God, will be to present myself to your Lordship, to submit to your consideration and disposal both myself and the plan I have in contemplation. Among the preparatory steps to be taken my first concern is to merit your Lordship's approbation and benevo lence, which I flatter myself is already ensured, tho' too unde servedly.1 The holy man then proceeds to speak of the necessity, and the possible difficulty, of procuring a few suitable confreres to unite heart and soul with him in the project. He has in view some men of whose talents, zeal, virtues and willingness he is well aware. These he has men- i Fenwick, Carshalton, England, to Bishop Carroll, Baltimore, January 12, 1804 (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 1). 83 84 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. tioned to the Father General; but he does not yet know how many, if any, of them he may be able to obtain. With such assistants, the guidance of heaven, and the bishop's "benevolent influence," he can reasonably promise himself that his efforts will be crowned with success; and that he will be able to reproduce, on a smaller scale, the plan of Bornheim which had been the source of so much good in England. His purpose in such an institution is the education of youth and the es tablishment of his Order in his native land — designing the work of education, apart from the good that will re sult to the American Church from such a labor in itself, to be an aid in building up his institute, that its mission aries may help to carry the message of saving truth through all the new republic. Such, he says, " is the ob ject of my ardent wishes and ambition and feeble prayers." Although no formal document to that effect can now be found, it is evident from the tone of the whole letter that Bishop Carroll was not only conversant with these aims, but had given them his encouragement. So the humble friar continues : " In realizing these sentiments, I am well assured of your Lordship's cordial approba tion and support." In that spirit of candor, trust and obedience which characterized his entire life, the future apostle enclosed in the letter to Bishop Carroll another to his uncle, Father John Fenwick, to inform him and his own brothers of his approaching return to America. That all unnecessary delay may be avoided, he urges them to consult with the ordinary of Baltimore, and with his ap probation and counsel to select a locahty in which to set RETURNS TO AMERICA 85 the plan on foot ; to devise measures for its success ; and to make arrangements for the beginning of the work on the arrival of himself and companions. As there are little hopes of obtaining the necessary means in Eng land, they should send him from eighty to one hundred pounds for the purchase of books and to aid in defray ing the expenses of the voyage.2 The bishop is requested kindly to use his influence in urging this duty upon the friar's brothers. His services in this matter will be an other title to gratitude. Meanwhile, as the reader will doubtless remember^ obstacles arose and temporarily delayed the execution of Father Fenwick's designs. Not to leave his friend, Bishop Carroll, in suspense, he wrote to inform that pre late of the new difficulty. But in this letter, as in all documents from the kindly friar's hands, one fails to find a word of wrath, criticism or complaint. Like those we have given on previous pages, it everywhere breaths a spirit of humility, gentleness and obedience worthy of a Francis of Assisi. Withal, it shows the strength of character possessed by the man of God, as well as his de termination to persevere in his holy purpose, now that it had received the sanction of the Order's Superior General. Our Vicar General at Rome [he says] has sanctioned my plan and granted me leave to quit this Province in order to establish a new one in my native country ; but, as his communication has not been official, nor formally made to [Rev.] Mr. Underhill or my self, he, as Provincial, insists upon his right of jurisdiction over me till the formality is fulfilled. Therefore, in dubiis tutior pars [in doubt the safer part] is for me to defer my departure, to sus pend my design till tlie will of heaven is further demonstrated by 2 Unfortunately, this document cannot now be discovered; but its con tents are revealed in the letter to Bishop Carroll, as related in the text 86 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. an obedience or formal order from the General's own hand, which / now. daily expect, having given notice of the Provincial's ob jections. I have already a recruit of three confreres who zeal ously offer me their service and wish to join me in the arduous and, I trust, meritorious enterprise. [These are] Fathers Wilson and Angier at Bornhem College, and an Italian Father at tlhe Convent of the Minerva. The two former are well known to Father John Fenwick ; the latter is particularly known to and recommended by Father Concanen. He is actually Novice Mas ter, distinguished for his piety, experience and knowledge, even in the English language. I flatter myself with being joined by these later in America, if Almighty God blesses my design and feeble efforts; and if your Lordship will honor me with your benevolent protection and good counsel, which I confidently rely upon.3 The holy religious then proceeds to tell Doctor Car roll that he has written Father John Fenwick again on the matter of the proposed foundation. So he says : It now remains for me to beg of your Lordship to promote the projected plan: first, by engaging my brothers and relations to enter into my views in this affair, as I expect to meet with some opposition and difficulty from that quarter ; secondly, by point ing out and determining them to prepare the house, etc., and necessary funds for the purpose. All this expense, of course, was to be defrayed out of Father Edward's part of the paternal estate. He has written to Doctor Concanen to have Father Tosi, the Roman recruit, to start for Baltimore as soon as he can, and feels that the bishop will receive him as he would receive Fenwick himself. The other two confreres will follow as soon as permitted. But, he continues: I must beg a great share in your Lordship's prayers, that Al mighty God may bless my weak endeavours and good will, [and] 3 Fenwick, Carshalton, England, to Bishop Carroll, Baltimore, May 5, 1804 (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 2). RETURNS TO AMERICA 8/ that He may perfect the work which, I hope, He has begun. I have no dependence whatever but on Him alone, to whom nothing is impossible. Of myself, my Lord, I am incapable of any service whatever to the mission, unless in devoting my little patrimony and bodily strength to the object I have in view. Owing to a break in the correspondence — due of course to time, accident or carelessness, agencies that have caused the loss of many valuable documents — we can now know the purport of Bishop Carroll's response to the humble friar's letters only through others on the same topic, and the reception accorded him on his return to America. Sailing from London, in the early days of September, 1804, Fathers Fenwick and Angier landed at Norfolk, Virginia, towards the end of November, after a long and tedious voyage of more than two months and a half. From Norfolk they hastened on to Captain James Fenwick's, an uncle of Father Edward, who lived on the Saint George's River, in southern Maryland. Here the future apostle wrote, November 29, 1804, to Bishop Carroll to acquaint him of the ar rival of himself and companion. The lowly friar had not set foot on his native soil, or seen any of his relations for more than twenty years. It would perhaps require the pen of a De Quincy to pic ture the feelings of his pure soul, when he found himself again amidst the familiar scenes of his youth, and sur rounded by those to whom he was bound by the strong est bonds of affection. For, thoroughly a man of God though Father Fenwick was, nor piety, nor absence, nor time had chilled his love either for his country or for his kindred. Accordingly, whilst he was anxious to pay his homage in person to the head of the American Church, to consult him on the proposed province of 88 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Dominicans, and to set about the work that had brought him home, he tells the prelate that he wishes first to see his people living along the way to the cities of Washing ton and Baltimore. He expects the arrival of two other brethren in the near future, has some letters for the bishop, and would be happy to be honored with a few lines directed to his brother James' home, near Pisca- taway, about fourteen miles south of Washington.4 The good man was saddened at the thought that his brothers had taken no steps towards forwarding the plans, of which he had written to them. I " am sorry indeed [he says] to learn here that nothing is prepared for me, no place fixed upon, as I had flattered myself and others there would be." But the reason of their course was perhaps due in part to Bishop Carroll's de sign of sending the new recruits to Kentucky, of which we have spoken, and which he had likely made known to the friar's relations. It would seem, too, that the bishop, in the rush of business, must have misunder stood the good priest's desires; for immediately on ar riving at his brother-in-law's, Nicholas Young's, in Washington City, he writes: I was honoured with your esteemed favour of the 5th inst., on my arrival at Mr. Nicholas Young's, and am gratefully obliged to your Lordship for the cordial reception and good advice you offer. I conceive it to be prudent and necessary not to be pre cipitate in my undertaking, but to consult deliberately and wait experience and favourable circumstances. However, [I] must observe for the present that it is totally owing to my inaccuracy and inattention, which I am sorry for, if your Lordship did not clearly understand from my letters the chief and primary object of my coming over to be that of establishing the Order of St. Dominic by any possible means, which might hereafter afford * Fenwick, Saint-George's, Maryland, to Bishop Carroll, Baltimore, No vember 29, 1804 (Baltimore Archives, Case S, R 3). RETURNS TO AMERICA 89 assistance to the missions in my native country at large, and that I conceived the only way of establishing it would be in a College or Convent. For this purpose alone, my Lord, I applied and with great difficulty obtained permission of my superiors, as also the engagement of three of my confreres, one of whom is Mr. Angier, nephew, as you observe, of your respectable friend, Mr. Thomas Angier. This subject, therefore, we will resume when I can have the honor and consolation of seeing your Lordship, which I hope will be soon after the Epiphany.5 Finally, he assures the bishop that any orders or in structions that he may see fit to send, will be gladly re ceived and faithfully executed by himself and brethren. Father Fenwick's design had always been to found his Order in his native Maryland, which he loved with an affection akin to that of a son for a mother. Keen, therefore, was his disappointment on learning that Bishop Carroll desired that Kentucky should be the first sphere of apostolic labor for the Friars Preacher. But he was too zealous a priest to hesitate to go wher ever his services were most needed, as well as a religious too thoroughly trained in obedience not to submit read ily to the voice of authority. The bishop, no doubt, con vinced him that the college of Georgetown and that of Saint Mary's in the episcopal city were quite sufficient for the Cathohcs in the former colony of Lord Balti more, while the west was sadly in want of just such an institution as that which he proposed to establish. Accordingly, it was agreed between the two friends that the new arrival should visit Kentucky, view the prospects offered his purpose there, and, if at all feas ible, elect to make that part of the Lord's vineyard the field of his toil. But, as during the winter season which s Fenwick, Washington City, to Bishop Carroll, December 15, 1804 (Balti more Archives, Case 3, R 4). 90 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. was set in, travel over the primitive roads was almost impossible, the long journey was not to be taken until the spring. Meanwhile, at the request of the ordinary, Fenwick took charge of the Piscataway and adjoining missions in Prince George's County. Angier was placed in care of Upper and Lower Zacchia, now re spectively the parishes of Waldorf and Bryantown, Charles County, and Mattawoman, Prince George's County, Maryland. On the return of good weather, the zealous priest, ac companied by Nicholas Young, his brother-in-law, a man of experience and good judgment, as well as an ex emplary Catholic, set out on his long tour to Kentucky. At Saint Francis', Scott County, possibly by prear- rangement, he met Father Badin, by whom his coming was warmly welcomed. Thence the future bishop con tinued his way to the other principal Catholic colonies. Everywhere was he received by the people with open arms. But the settlement on Cartwright's Creek, Washington County, where he tarried nearly a week, waiting the return of the state's lone missionary from a distant pastoral visit, appealed to him as the best suited for his purpose. Satisfied, as we shall see, with the prospects held out to him in Kentucky, and con vinced that Bishop Carroll had acted in the interest of both the Church and the proposed institute, he hurried back to the east to report to his ordinary and Rome, to await Fathers Wilson and Tuite, whose arrival was ex pected at any time, and to make preparations for settling his little bands of priests in the west. Still another cause of his haste were the official documents which he hoped soon to receive from Father Concanen, and which were necessary that he might begin his work. While he was RETURNS TO AMERICA 91 pleased with the outlook, one cannot help thinking that, quite naturally, the good friar's extraordinary love for the state of his birth caused him to regret that the first foundation of his Order in the United States was not to be in Maryland. We cannot do better than let Father Badin himself tell the impression made upon him by the Domini can's goodness, candor and simplicity. In spite of its length, the document merits to be given in its entirety. Although, five months later, and because of an un friendly influence, he spoke rather differently, the letter which we here reproduce, leaves no doubt as to the vet eran missionary's first impressions, and shows the ad miration which the friar's zeal, humility and gentle dis position enkindled in nearly all with whom he came into contact. Writing to Bishop Carroll, May 15, 1805, Father Badin tells his ordinary: I have the happiness this day of enjoying the company of the Rev. Mr. Fenwick which you had announced in former letters, intimating as soon as he arrived in America that, as Kentucky was likely to be a center from which true Religion would be dis seminated in the western countries, you would engage him to turn his views towards our desolate congregations so needful and cap able of cultivation. I never doubted of your sincere wish to pro cure for us any spiritual assistance, which indeed was not to be obtained in your Diocese without your direction or occurrence. Many are the tokens of your goodness towards me and my numer ous congregations, and I have now to return my heartfelt thanks for making Kentucky so effectually the first object of your pas toral solicitude upon the arrival of St. Dominic's family. Flat tering myself that I seconded your views, knowing the scarcity of Priests in your immense Diocese, fully sensible of the difficulty and almost impossibility to replace clergymen as they depart from life or from duty, impressed also with the idea confirmed by former experience that much less good is done by individual 02 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. clergymen, isolated as they are or unconnected with a regular body acting uniformly by the same principles of obedience, dis interestedness and zeal, seeing how the missionaries along the Mississippi have already abandoned their numerous flocks to follow the Spanish government, apprehensive also that the service of Almighty God and the Salvation of Souls cannot be perma nently secured to this and the neighboring countries but by the exertions of a regular body of pious and enlightened men, who shall not fail of success when established under the blessing of heaven in a country where there are no prejudices of the civil constitution to oppose their humane and religious views; evi dencing every day the alarming progress of infidelity and vice which threatens us with an almost universal deluge, unless our youth be regenerated and properly educated; actuated by these and other congenial motives, I have made a proposal to Mr. Fen wick which is submitted to your Reverence, and which I earnestly request you to sanction. I have begged this gentleman to ex onerate me of the trouble of holding so much ecclesiastical prop erty, which in my opinion will do much more good to my fellow- creatures when vested in the Order of St. Dominic, under your episcopal jurisdiction. Wherefore, I hope you will grant me the favour or leave of transferring to that religious order the ecclesiastical property now in my hands, to which I have added two hundred and twenty acres of my own land, the whole containing upwards of one hun dred acres of cleared ground, with improvements. By these means may be immediately started the intended plan of an Acad emy with a moderate assistance from the Catholics of this State who will undoubtedly join their cordial endeavours to procure their own happiness, that of their children and their children's posterity. I had conceived for these ten years past the desire of seeing in Kentucky such an establishment arise, the which ap peared to me almost a chimera, since I saw then neither temporal means for a foundation nor any probable hope of having the co operation of such men as would be calculated to answer so useful things. But how limited are the views of men and how evident that the Divine providence over the Church is attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter disponens omnia suaviter! RETURNS TO AMERICA 93 As Mr. Fenwick and his brethren will assume the obligation of fulfilling the duties of the mission as well as myself, and it is important that the missionaries of the country should as much as possible be directed by the same spirit, I do humbly request and confidently hope that you will give me leave to be associated to St. Dominic's family. I conceived this wish as well as the other resolution within two days after Mr. Fenwick's arrival, and have never varied. Should I have been unwilling to apply to its intended use the property trusted by Providence as a depositum in my hands, I would esteem myself accountable for the good not done, which will be otherwise done to my Parishioners and other denominations, and for the evil which might have been prevented and I hope shall be prevented by Mr. Fenwick and his brethren. Craving your Episcopal Benediction, I have the honour to be very respectfully, Most Reverend Sir, Your obedient Son in Christ, Stephen Theodore Badin.6 The candor and sincerity of this letter are too patent to be questioned. Its importance in the life of Cincin nati's first bishop is too great for its sentiments to be expressed in words other than those of the missionary himself. The sudden and complete change of sentiment which Father Badin underwent after the friar had re turned to Maryland, is so clearly traceable to the influ ence of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, that no subterfuge on the part of the French missionary can conceal the fact. Nor do the later unfavorable letters from the same pen, all written under the impulse of a strong bias derived in no small measure from the same source, affect in the least these first impressions. Likely, indeed, it was due in part to the recollection of this early cordial meeting that the Dominicans, in spite of misunderstandings, «Rev. S. T. Badin, Kentucky, to Bishop Carroll, Baltimore, May 15, 1805 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, G 9). 94 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. ever cherished a feeling of affection for Kentucky's apostle, and in the end proved to be his best friends.7 On his return from Kentucky, Father Fenwick again took charge of the mission of Piscataway, pending the time when all should be in readiness to move the little band of priests to the west. But fearing, as he supposed three out of every five letters were lost in their trans mission to so great a distance, that his last two or three had not been received at Rome, he wrote again to Father Concanen : I have already, [at] different times, written to your Reverence to inform you of my arrival, with Father Antoninus Angier, in Maryland ; that I have met with the most cordial reception from my friends and [Right] Rev. Doctor Carroll, with every encour agement to persevere in my undertaking. Nothing is wanting to ensure success but the grace of God, with able and zealous co- operators.8 In all these letters the good priest says he has re peated his solicitation " for every necessary instruction," and authority to open a novitiate and found a college. Without these and the " aid of zealous and enlightened men," he can hardly hope to succeed. With them suc cess seems assured. Continuing, he writes: I have mentioned twice to you the advice and encouragement Bishop Carroll gives me to fix our establishment in the Province of Kentucky, where every generous offer and solicitation is made to me by the Catholics of that extensive country, which I have accepted of conditionally : i. e., if our General approves of it, and 7 This misunderstanding will be treated more fully in a subsequent chap- ter. But it should be noted here that, as will be seen, Father Badin's change of mind took place rather suddenly after the arrival of Rev. Charles Nerinckx in Kentucky (July 18, 1805), and without his having seen, mean while, either Fenwick or any other Dominican. s Fenwick, Piscataway, Maryland, to Rev. R. L. Concanen, Rome, August 1, 1805 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731). RETURNS TO AMERICA 95 my confreres arrive and unite with me in opinion, etc. But those good people are yet in suspense on my account, as Rev. Father Wilson is not yet arrived, without whom I can do nothing to the purpose. He promised to join me in June last, but no news of him yet. Meanwhile, agreeably to Bishop Carroll's request and advice, I am labouring on the mission, raw and inexperienced as I am, charged with a numerous congregation, who had been fif teen months without a pastor, till I came among them. Here I hope to acquire more experience and virtue, whilst my plan may ripen for execution. The graces and blessings with which God has favoured me in my feeble ministry are inexpressible ; the ef fects thereof in the congregation are no less wonderful : Ipsi soli honor et gloria [to Him alone be the honor and the glory] . The distress of the Catholics in this country, particularly in Ken tucky, is beyond description. The scarcity of Priests, the numer ous and dispersed congregations, their desolation and pressing solicitations for spiritual succour, should suffice to move stones, if possible, to compassion. In Maryland, he says, there is scarcely a priest who has not charge of from two to four missions, ten or fif teen miles apart. Many have to ride forty or fifty miles, and some as far as a hundred, to visit their flocks. His own congregation, which he describes as " tolerably com pact," and " a well-regulated, pious set of people," obliges him to go on horseback from forty to fifty miles. Taking up the subject of Kentucky again, the man of God tells his friend : In compliance with Bishop Carroll's advice, I visited Kentucky to inform myself of its climate, situation and resources, as like wise to know the real distress and dispositions of the Catholics there. My curiosity is perfectly satisfied, and [I am] much pleased with the country and inhabitants, particularly with fervor, zeal and liberality of the Catholics, who made me every generous offer and even importunity to fix among them. They propose building me a college for the education of their youth, etc. They have opened a subscription for the purpose and have 96 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. raised a considerable sum for it, tho' not yet sufficient, and only wait my answer and approbation, which I dare not give till my confreres all unite with me. I hope, Rev. dear Sir, you will exert your usual zeal for the cause, and accelerate the affair [as much] as depends on you. Ever anxious to gather efficient workers around him, the good priest urges the departure of Father Tosi. He regrets that he cannot remit the money necessary for the travelling expenses of that worthy gentleman just now. But if he will come, he will soon be able to refund the sum borrowed for that purpose ; for he expects soon to sell the eight hundred acres of land coming to him from his father's estate. Of Father Badin he writes : In Kentucky there is but one priest, Rev. Mr. Badin, and about ten thousand Catholics.9 That good and zealous man has been there near twelve years, the two or three last of which he has been the only Pastor for those numerous congregations. He received me, when I went there, with open arms and inexpressible joy, [and] made me the generous offer of his place and property (a house and land and negroes, etc.), with all the church prop erty, consisting of several presbyteries [and] seven or eight hun dred acres of land, made over to him by the several congregations for the mission. This proposal, however, he submits to Bishop Carroll's approbation, who applauds and consents to it.10 This good and zealous Priest, moreover, petitions to be admitted into the Order to become a Dominican. I am pursuaded he will be a good and essentially useful member. Pray what is your opinion and that of his holy Paternity? Can I not admit him without re- s This seems to have been an overestimate of the number of Catholics in the state at that time. i" Some have maintained that a letter of Father Badin to Bishop Carroll, dated October 5-12, 1805 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, G 10 and 11), shows that the bishop demurred to the proposals of that missionary to join the Order of Saint Dominic, and to bestow the church lands in Kentucky upon the friars. But the above explicit declaration by Fenwick, together with a careful examination of Badin's letter (October 5-12, 1805) and Doctor Carroll's ingenuous character, proves the contrary. For this letter see The Catholic Historical Review, VI, 68-73. RETURNS TO AMERICA 97 quiring a usual regular noviceship, as he is an experienced mis- sioner, a truly pious, worthy and enlightened Priest, ordained by Bishop Carroll, esteemed and beloved by his Lordship and by all who' know him? He has written to Cardinal Onesti Braschi, giv ing a full description of Kentucky and his mission there, to which I refer you.11 The presbyteries, of which the future bishop speaks in his letter, were Father Badin's home, known as Saint Stephen's, a residence built by Rev. Michael J. Four nier on the Rolling Fork, and a house in the Catholic settlement of Scott County. All three were small, primitive log cabins covered with clapboards. The va rious church lands were small tracts, mostly still covered with their primeval forests. The presbyteries, in the mind of Father Fenwick, would serve as homes or lodg ing places for his priests attending the places where they were located, or perhaps even become in time centers of missionary activity. And although the farms were then of little value, he hoped no doubt that, when cleared and brought under cultivation, they could be utilized as a means of support for the ministers of the Church, in the same way that he had seen similar possessions used to good purpose in his native Maryland. These plans, however, were not to be realized. Yet events of which we shall speak in the following chapter, soon occurred to hasten the realization of the project that had brought the zealous friar back from Europe to labor for his own American Church. But it is worthy of note, in this connection, that the gracious spirit with which Father Fenwick, as will be revealed in the course of our volume, took the failure of his plans in regard to these lands, and his example of detachment from the " We could not find this document at Rome. 8 98 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. things of earth, became an inheritance of the province of Friars Preacher he established. His spirit became so ingrained in its members that they sought to live too literally the Scriptural counsels: "It is a more blessed thing to give, rather than to receive;" and: "Having food, and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content." They labored and stinted themselves, giving their small earnings towards the erection of churches for the people to such an extent that they were often in the sorest need — always in great straits to support cler ical students and novices for the Order.12 Perhaps few saints have been more detached from the things of earth than was the subject of this narrative. Perhaps few have been more zealous in the cause of Christ or for the salvation of souls. He was not content with his own personal sanctification, or simply to spend and be spent for his God and his fellow-man. His broad, enlightened zeal led him to seek, as he himself often expressed it, " to plant a little nursery " wherein could be brought up missionaries who would carry the light of truth and spread the kingdom of God through out his native land. When he sought wordly means, as he had to do at times, it was ever and always for this noble purpose. 12 Indeed, this worldly indifference was carried so far through all the after-years that, at the province's centenary, it would not have had the wherewith to purchase the ground on which stands its present House of Studies at the Catholic University of Washington, had not two friends lately left it legacies. One of these amounted to $5,000; the other to $10,- 000. Confronted with what appeared to them almost an impossibility, the erection of a convent worthy of the great university group of buildings, the fathers appealed to the congregations which the Order had served so long in a spirit of disinterestedness. The result was the magnificent Col lege of the Immaculate Conception. CHAPTER VI A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS The pious priest's heart rejoiced at the arrival, Sep tember 10, 1805, of Fathers Wilson and Tuite.1 They also readily concurred in the wish of Bishop Carroll that the Dominicans should make Kentucky their future home. But nothing could be done in the matter unjil further authorization came from Rome. For this rea son, the newcomers, like their confreres, while awaiting word from the Order's General and considering ways and means to ensure the success of the mission that had brought them from the Old World, gave their services to the Church of Maryland, and won the confidence of the venerable prelate of Baltimore. In the meantime, however, assured of the approba tion of Bishop Carroll, Father Concanen had shown a commendable activity in the holy cause at the Eternal City. Doubtless because of the threatening political horizon of Europe, he feared delay might be disastrous to Fenwick's project. The same disturbed state of the politics of the Old Woiffd convinced the Order's Father General that it were better to establish a new province from the outset, rather than merely an American con vent, as he first intended, directly under his own juris diction. But as the institute's constitutions require at least three formal convents before a province can be i Rev. S. T. Wilson, Georgetown, D. C, to Rev. R. L. Concanen, Rome, October 14, 1805 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731). 99 100 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. erected, the authority of the Holy See was necessary for such an extraordinary procedure. Accordingly, on the receipt of the letter of the Amer ican priest announcing his departure from England, Doctor Concanen laid the matter before Pius VII through the Congregation of the Propaganda. On March 11, 1805, that august body drew up a decree which not only gave the papal beneplacit to the plan, subject to the will and consent of Bishop Carroll, but appointed that distinguished prelate delegate apostolic to establish, if he saw fit, a province of Dominicans any where in his immense diocese. This was an honor con ferred upon the father of our American hierarchy that has few, if any, parallels in the history of the Order of Saint Dominic. But as Pius VII had not returned from Paris, where he crowned Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France in the preceding December, it was not until the 19th of May that the decree received the approbation of His Holiness, and not until the first day of June that it was signed by Cardinal di Pietro and Archbishop Coppola, respectively the prefect and the secretary of the Propaganda.2 June 22, 1805, the Most Rev. Pius J. Gaddi, the Diminican Superior General, issued letters patent ap pointing Father Fenwick head of the new province, when it should be founded.3 On the same day, Father Concanen sent both documents, together with a letter of his own, to America. They arrived at Baltimore in the 2 The pro-prefect of the Propaganda, Cardinal Dugnani addressed a let ter to Bishop Carroll on the subject as early as December 22, 1S04. But the unsettled state of things in Rome caused the Sacred Congregation to proceed as narrated in the text, without waiting for a reply from Balti more. All the documents in the matter are to be found in the Archives of the Dominican Master General (Codex XIII, 731). They are in the hand writing of Father Concanen. » Archives of Saint Joseph's Province. A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS 101 early days of the next October, and Bishop Carroll for warded them to the humble friar at his mission of Pisca taway. The reply was a letter expressive of profound gratitude and affection. I have the honor [he writes] of receiving, through your Lord ship's hands, a letter from Father Concanen, dated June 22, 1805, transmitting to me our Vicar General's Patent, with every faculty and instruction from him, and the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, for establishing our Community, opening a Novitiate, and founding a new Province of Dominicans inde pendent of any other — with due deference to your Lordship's opinion and approbation. I enclose a copy of Father Concanen's letter and the decree of the Sacred Congregation de Propaganda ; and would send also our General's Patent, but suppose it unneces sary. And I judge it too long to copy; though [I] cannot fail to transcribe the sentiments of respect and gratitude he expresses in your Lordship's regard for the kind protection and encourage ment you have granted to me and mine, as a pledge of which his holy Paternity admits your Lordship to all the suffrages of our Order* Here follows a copy of that part of Father Gaddi's Latin letter which declares the bishop a noteworthy benefactor (praeclarum benefactorem) of the Order of Saint Dominic, and makes him a participant in the prayers and other suffrages of its members the world over. Fenwick then adds : " Should your Lordship wish to see the originals, I will convey them by any safe hand. I judged it unnecessary to send them by post, for fear of miscarriage and future nonplus." All necessary documents being now received from abroad, Fathers Wilson and Tuite will start at once for Kentucky. He himself and Father Angier must go also in the spring. For this reason, as they have much business to attend * Fenwick, Zacchia, to Bishop Carroll, October 10, 1805 (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 5). 102 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. to, and many things are to be prepared, they will be obliged to relinquish their spiritual charges by the first of March, that they may be able to depart early in April. Then the man of God proceeds to say : I earnestly recommend these good people to your Lordship's assistance. I know their desolation will be great, when we leave them, unless consoled by the arrival of a Pastor. We also beg your Lordship's blessing and good prayers. With respectful compliments also to Rev. Mr. Beeston and all the gentlemen of the Seminary, we request a remembrance in their prayers and Holy Sacrifices. Your Lordship will be kind enough to receive and have secured whatever goods, etc., may arrive from Antwerp to your care for Mr. Wilson. Mr. Nicholas Young, as my agent, will answer for expenses and direct what is to be done with it. ... I shall be glad to know if you have any late news from Rev. Mr. Badin. I am rather surprised at receiving no answer from him to my last scrowl. Pray, Sir, has he power to consecrate Altar Stones and Chalices? I beg to know if you consecrated a Chalice a little before you left Baltimore last. Mr. David had one made for him at my request and brought down to me, but I totally forgot to ask if it was consecrated. Father Concanen's letter on the same topic must have been the source of much consolation not only to Fen wick and his associates but to Bishop Carroll. Writing to his American brother, the distinguished Irish Do minican says: I never cease to remember you and your holy enterprise, par ticularly ad Sanctam Aram [at the holy altar] . I have done here all that could be expected towards the great plan in view, as 3'ou may perceive by the very interesting papers I here inclose. You cannot imagine how much your pious undertaking is admired and applauded by the Most Eminent Cardinals of the Sacred Congregation, and indeed by everybody that knows of it.5 But Father Fenwick must not expect any financial e Concanen, Rome, to Fenwick, care of Carroll, June 22, 1805 (ibid.). A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS 103 assistance from Rome or the Italian peninsula, however greatly he is in need of resources. In consequence of the robberies and the plunderings of the French armies, and the ruin and devastation that have everywhere followed in the wake of the revolution, all have as much as they can do to re-establish their own churches and religious houses. For the same reason, good Father Tosi is un able to leave Europe, and awaits the means necessary for his journey to America. These may be sent him through Messrs. Wright and Company, bankers of Lon don. In this connection the General's assistant writes: • I forward by this channel the present packet. ... I fancy you will convey your letters to me by means of the said Messrs. Wright and Co. ; and it would be doing a favour to the most worthy Doctor Carroll to propose to his Lordship this medium of communication with Rome. Be so good as to acquaint this ex cellent Prelate that I wrote to him at the beginning of this year, but have not since received any accounts from him. Duplicates and triplicates of his faculties have been dispatched from Propa ganda, and we have no idea if he has ever received any copies of them. If you find that this packet goes speedily by means of Mr. Wright, his Lordship might open a correspondence with him, and in his first letter to Propaganda request the secretary to consign in future all papers destined for himself to me, as his agent in curia. I apprehend there must have been some negligence on the part of Mr. Filicchi of Leghorn and other mediators. . . . No further information can be expected via Leghorn, as I imagine the new King of Italy, Bonaparte, will soon take possession of that port. Be pleased to present my humble respects to his Lordship, Doctor Carroll, and my best wishes and compliments to all your coadjutors in vinea Domini [in the Lord's vineyard]. Let me have the consolation of hearing from you soon, if possible. In a postscript the learned Irish priest refers to a question which was of the keenest interest to the fathers, the establishment of the English Dominican Sisters in 104 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. the United States. When he hears that the new prov ince is well settled, he will see what can be done in this latter affair. If the project crystallizes, he would hke to see the sisters devote themselves to the Christian in struction of poor girls and women, along the lines of the new institute which he has lately had confirmed for Bishop Moylan of Cork. " Such an undertaking [he believes] would be of infinite use to Doctor Carroll arid to Religion, as it proves to be in Ireland." A letter of Father Wilson to Rome, dated, " George town, October 14, 1805," and written, as he tells us, en route to Kentucky, shows that he and father Tuite started for their future home in the west, immediately on the acceptance by Bishop Carroll of his appointment as delegate apostolic to found the new province.6 While descending the Alleghany Mountains, their horses be came unmanageable and upset their wagon. In the ac cident Father Wilson had an arm broken. His com panion received an ugly gash on the forehead, marks of which he carried to his grave. This accident not only made the rest of the journey painful for the travellers, but so retarded its progress that they did not reach their destination until the last days of 1805. Both priests were still suffering from their wounds and bruises, when they arrived at Father Badin's home ; nor were they able, for some weeks, to give a helping hand on the missions.7 But as soon as the two zealous friars had sufficiently recovered from the effects of the painful accident, they entered upon the arduous labors which were to win o Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731. " Rev. Charles Nerinckx, Kentucky, to Joseph Peemans, Louvain, January 6, 1806 — quoted by Peemans in an account of the missions of Kentucky to the Propaganda (Propaganda Archives, America Centrale, Vol. Ill, ff: 235-260; a rough sketch, in manuscript, of Saint Joseph's Province of Dominicans by Rev. Stephen Byrne, O.P. A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS 105 them honored names and to effect much good for the Catholic rehgion in Kentucky. Father Tuite went to reside at the house of Thomas Gwynn, a Catholic gentleman who lived near where stands the present Nazareth Academy, Nelson County, which he made a center whence to attend the missions of Bardstown, Poplar Neck and Cox's Creek, until his superior should arrive and open a college. Father Wilson was sent to take charge of the mission of Saint Ann's, on Cart wright's Creek, the largest in the state. He made his home with Henry Boone, a pious man living in the vicin ity of the church. Along with his apostolic work,* he busied himself with the education of Robert and Nich olas Young, two nephews of Father Fenwick who had accompanied or soon followed him to Kentucky with the intention of entering the proposed college, and perhaps later the novitiate. Other boys and young men of the neighborhood, similarly inclined, it would seem, also came to receive lessons from the learned divine.8 Thus was laid the foundation of the well-known edu cational institution which was soon to be dedicated to its wholesome work under the patronage of St. Thomas of Aquin. The arrival of the fathers who were still in Maryland, was anxiously awaited by those in Kentucky. All were eager to begin an establishment which they hoped to see become a center of intellectual and apostolic activity, contributing its quota towards the furtherance of the Church in the new west, and diffusing its good in fluence over the country. But, at the earnest request of Bishop Carroll, it was agreed that Father Angier should remain in Maryland until his presence at the proposed college became indispensable. The solicitations of the s Rev. Stephen Byrne, as in the preceding note. 106 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. same prelate also caused Father John Fenwick, of whom mention has been made, to be left indefinitely in the east, where he was beloved alike by priest and peo ple. Indeed, the sacrifice of the services of this learned and zealous friar was a distinct loss not only to the fathers, but to the infant Church of Kentucky. The superior was not able to join his brethren as soon as he had hoped. His relations, it would appear, were not willing that he should receive all that had been left to him by his father's will; and it was adjudged wise to make concessions in behalf of family affections. Nor was this all. It was no easy matter, at that day, to find in Charles County, Maryland, a purchaser for so much real estate who could soon pay the money, as was neces sary if the commencement of the good priest's work in Kentucky were not to be delayed again. This entailed a further sacrifice, for he felt that he could defer his de parture no longer; he, therefore, sold his land for con siderably less than its value.9 Because of these annoyances, it was not until July, 1806, that the superior of the little band of Dominicans reached Kentucky. Here he found that the former gen erous dispositions of Father Badin had been supplanted by an attitude void of all sympathy, if not positively un friendly. The plan of conveying the various parcels of church land to the friars had been cancelled, and some of the wealthier Catholics, anxious to promote their cause, had offered different tracts to Fathers Wilson and Tuite. But in this also the hardy missionary showed so officious a spirit that such proffers not only proved abortive, but threatened to become an occasion of trouble » Two deeds by Fenwick to Joseph Gardiner are in the Recorder's Office, La Plata, Charles County, Maryland, and bear date of June 5, 1806. A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS 107 and misunderstanding among the people.10 It was for tunate, therefore, that Bishop Carroll had given Father Fenwick, before he quitted Maryland, the option of lo cating his convent and college in whatever part of Ken tucky he should judge best suited to his purpose. For these reasons, the superior of the Dominicans, al most immediately after arriving at his destination, pur chased the home plantation of one John Waller, which is now known as " Saint Rose's Farm." The plantation contained some five hundred acres, was situated a little more than two miles from the town of Springfield, Washington County, and was in the heart of the prfti- cipal Catholic settlement in the state, which was strung along the watershed of Cartwright's Creek. It was, furthermore, in the congregation assigned to Father Wilson, and centrally located in regard to the other Catholic colonies. In times past farms were far more important factors in the equipment of educational and religious institutions than they are today. They were, in fact, an almost indispensable adjunct. The land pur chased by Father Fenwick, while in great part rolling, was good — some of it of inexhaustible fertility. The climate was healthy and vigorous, and the country re markable for its beauty. As far as could then be seen, perhaps no more promising site could have been selected by the friar for the purposes he had in mind. On the Waller plantation there stood a brick house, one of the earliest built in that part of Kentucky. It was two stories high, in a fair state of preservation, and ample enough to make a temporary home for the little community and a few boys until a larger structure could be erected. The outbuildings and improvements io More than one of Father Badin's own letters show how he interfered in these transactions. 108 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. were good. A grist and a saw mill located near the creek, which furnished sufficient water to run them the greater part of the twelvemonth, stood the future insti tution in good stead for many years.11 Getting possession of his purchase, early in Decem ber, 1806, the superior called Father Tuite from Bards- town, and Father Wilson from Saint Ann's which was only two miles distant, and could easily be attended from their new home. Before the close of the month, the Waller house was blessed and opened as an abode for the little community. The modest sanctuary of retreat was consecrated to God under the patronage of Rose of Lima, America's flower of purity and holiness, a Do minican tertiary, and the first native of the new world to be placed in the calendar of saint's. But the new-born institute was more than a religious community; it was a province of Friars Preacher— the first in English- speaking America. So keen was the Father General's interest in the enterprise, that he gave the new branch of his Order the name of his own patron, Saint Joseph. Such was the birth of the first house of Dominican Fathers in our great American republic, the mother, so to say, of Kentucky's many Catholic institutions, and the oldest convent built on the original soil of the United States west of the Alleghany Mountains. As the late Rev. Louis G. Deppen says in The Record of Louis ville, Kentucky, February 1, 1917: "Among the most sacred and venerable places in the Diocese of Louisville is the Priory of St. Rose, the original mother-convent of the Dominicans in the United States." Some years previous to that date, the same editor, not less distin guished for scholarship than for piety, had written in the columns of his journal: n Waller's deed bears the date of December 1, 1806. A NEW PROVINCE OF DOMINICANS 109 There are three institutions in our ancient Diocese that are very near and dear to us all, and that grow nearer and dearer as the days lapse into years, and the years into God's Eternal Year. To us and to Catholic Kentucky, they are a sacred Trinity, hal lowed and mellowed by a century of unbroken life and endeavour. One is already crowned with a hundred years ; the other two are in the ending twilight of a century ; all three are rich, inexplicably rich, in terrestrial and celestial fruitage: — St. Rose, Loretto, Nazareth. In any one of them, our weary bones, whether in the flesh or out of the flesh, would gladly and peacefully rest, — rest as does the little one on the bosom of its mother.12 In the same spirit, the writer of an article on the Cath ohc institutions of Kentucky that appeared in The Cath olic Advocate, April 3, 1847, tells us: "St. Rose, a Dominican convent, situated in the middle of a most romantic landscape, and founded for a Novitiate to a Religious life, has from its origin been the retreat of men whose learning and virtues are equalled only by their modesty and humility." These holy memories and sacred traditions, there can be no doubt, are due in large measure to the spirit implanted in this proto-convent of the west by its founder, Father Fenwick. 12 The Record, Louisville, Kentucky, September 10, 1908. CHAPTER VII EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS While many letters pertaining to our history can no longer be found, those that have happily survived the ravages of time, suffice to show that Father Fenwick was careful to keep both Bishop Carroll and Rome ac quainted with his efforts and progress. But what with the purchase of the Waller plantation, the losses of which we have spoken, and other incidental expenses, the lowly friar was hard pressed for resources, even before the three priests could settle in their modest home. For this reason, although the people of Kentucky, alike Catholic and non-Catholic, had engaged, mostly by promises of labor, to erect the proposed college, it was necessary to have recourse to the charitably dis posed for means to carry the work to completion, and to make the preparations requisite for the acceptance and maintenance of candidates for the priesthood, until the institution should be placed on a secure basis. It was fortunate, then, that Father Fenwick, before leaving Maryland, had obtained from Bishop Carroll the fol lowing lines, in which that friendly prelate not only gave the project his hearty approval, but urged the faithful to contribute towards its realization: The Rev. Mr. Edward D. Fenwick [he says], and other Rev. Clergymen connected with him, having proposed for themselves the establishment of a College or Academy in Kentucky, for the education of youth, I not only approve of, but greatly rejoice at their having formed such a resolution, which, if carried into effect, cannot fail of producing the most beneficial effects for 110 EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 111 improving the minds and morals of the rising generation, and fortifying their religious principles. Believing that God in his beneficence inspired this design into their minds, I take the lib erty of recommending to, and exhorting all my dear brethren and children in Christ to grant to it every encouragement they are able, and thus co-operate to the success of a work undertaken for the glory of God and their own advantage. John, Bishop of Baltimore. Baltimore, April 25, 1806. With due permission, the letter of episcopal approval was now printed. But Fenwick added to it some re marks of his own, to explain how he had entered the Order of Saint Dominic abroad with the express view of establishing it and a Dominican college in his native country for the education of youth and the preparation of young men for the priesthood. These latter, when ordained, are to labor on the American missions. He has secured the services of some learned and zealous members of his institute ; but stress of means obliges him to have recourse to the aid of the well-disposed, that the plan may be brought to success.1 Copies of this letter of appeal were sent to Bishop Carroll who forwarded them to the different congre gations in Maryland and eastern Pennsylvania. Armed with other copies, Fathers Fenwick and Wilson made a tour through Kentucky the better to acquaint the peo ple with their presence and purpose, and the opportuni ties offered by the proposed establishment for the intel lectual and religious improvement of the state. Nor did the friars, while on their journey through the Catholic settlements, forget the souls of the faithful. The docu ments show that they did yeoman's service by way of in- i Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 6. 112 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. structing the people and admitting them to the sacra ments. This excursion was made during the months of September, October and November, 1806. While on the tour Father Fenwick wrote to his bishop : I have troubled you with so many of my scrowls of late that I am almost ashamed to attempt it again. But so favorable an opportunity as this by Mr. Worland, trustee of St. Francis* Chapel, in Scott County, will, I trust, be a sufficient apology. Mr. Wilson and myself are on a tour through the different coun ties to visit and assist the respective congregations. We have spent a week in this place, and shall travel as far as Limestone [the present Maysville], and return to our own by Lexington and Danville. I judged this expedition necessary to make our selves and our undertaking known to the people, many of whom would not otherwise know nor value it. I find it everywhere affords great satisfaction and joy. And the people's zeal and liberality in general are equal to their circumstances.2 One can imagine the delight with which the holy man, in the same letter, tells his protector that he expects " to begin preparing materials for building a college, etc., next Spring." With no less joy he announces that, in the near future, he will receive a few candidates for the Order who have put in their petitions, and can be ac commodated in the house bought of Mr. Waller. Prior to this, Father Fenwick had written to Doctor Concanen, repeating his hopes and his prospects. As the purchase of the large farm in Washington County, travel, etc., have exhausted his patrimony, the only sup port now left him are divine providence and the good- will of the people. The Catholics of the state, though poor and lately settled, " are zealous and hberal, as far 2 Fenwick, Scott County, Kentucky, to Carroll, Baltimore (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 11). Although this letter is not dated, other documents show that it was written in early October, 1806. EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 113 as their circumstances allow. They have engaged to build for us a College and Church by subscription. When this is done, we shall be comfortably and well fixed to promote the glory of God and [the] good of our neighbor," He expects soon to admit a few novices, for some young men have already made application for that purpose.3 Humble almost to a fault, and zealous to labor for the salvation of souls, the man of God now takes up anew the subject of having Father Wilson appointed superior, that he himself may be relieved of the burden of author ity, and free to devote his time to the more active min istry of the missions. In this connection, he says : " I also request of you to obtain the nomination of Father Thomas Wilson to the office of Prior and Provincial to our new Province, as I am totally incapable of the duty." Again he urges that all faculties and privileges be sent for the Third Order of Saint Dominic and the Rosary. It is to be hoped that worthy Father Tosi will be able. to obtain the means necessary to bring him to Kentucky, where his presence will be the source of great pleasure and happiness to his brethren, as well as of much good to the Church. If he can only come, the fathers will leave nothing undone to refund the money which he will have to borrow. Letters should be addressed to the care of Bishop Carroll, for the trustful friar will have every thing known to his beloved ordinary.4 Indeed, the surviving letters that passed between Fenwick and Concanen are as a dictograph of time, re vealing their innermost thoughts in regard to Balti- 8 Yet, as has been stated, it seems that Fenwick's nephews and a few other boys had already begun their studies at the house of Henry Boone. * Fenwick, Springfield, Kentucky, to Concanen, Rome, September 25, 1806 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731). 9 114 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. more's first ordinary. They show not only the imphcit confidence which they placed in that prelate, but the love, friendship and admiration which they entertained for him. This they also manifested, but without ful some adulation, in their correspondence with Doctor Carroll himself. Thus, for instance, the Irish Domini can, writing to the bishop on other business, January 30, 1806, takes occasion to say: I can never sufficiently thank you for the kind reception and encouragement and protection you have been pleased to show my confreres, Fenwick and companions, in their laudable undertak ing. May it turn out ad majorem Dei Gloriam [to the greater glory of God] . You have the humble thanks of my Father Gen eral, and of all those of my Order here. At Father Fenwick's request, I take the liberty of addressing to your care the enclosed letters for him and Father Wilson. I send them open that you may read them and then be pleased to seal and forward them to their place of abode. There are and never shall be any secrets between our correspondence. All must pass through your Lord ship ; all that is to be done, must be first sanctioned by you, as you are the Father and Protector of this infant colony.5 That these feelings were reciprocated by the ven erable bishop of Baltimore, and that he held in the high est esteem the Friars Preacher who labored in Kentucky in the early missionary days, there can be no doubt. The best of priests could hardly desire a more excellent encomium from their ordinary than that which we here quote from the pen of the same prelate. Writing to Concanen, November 21, 1806, Carroll takes occasion to tell his friend : In this is enclosed a letter from your worthy brother in re ligion, Father Edward Dominic Fenwick, who with three others '•Concanen, Rome, to Carroll. Baltimore, January 30, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, Case 2, W 3). EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 115 of his Order have begun their establishment in Kentucky. I had long encouraged their emigration from England, which offered no flattering prospect for the extension of their Order;— and so long ago as the year 1802, I had urged Mr. Short, then the Pro vincial of it in England, to embrace a fine opportunity which offered of obtaining a most advantageous settlement in the United States. But it seems that Mr. Short was too infirm and advanced in years to engage in new undertakings.6 You will perceive, therefore, that I had every previous disposition to give the best reception in my power to Mr. Fenwick and his companions, whom I view as choice auxiliaries, conveyed hither by the special ap pointment of Providence to instruct and edify the young and the old, to extend our holy religion and preserve by their lessons the integrity of Catholic faith * The Rev. Mr. Angier has not yet joined his brethren in Ken tucky. They were so indulgent as to leave him in this State, at my earnest request, to attend the congregation given in charge to him on his arrival here, till his presence in Kentucky became indispensable. He is exceedingly and deservedly beloved by his flock, and it will be gratifying to you to be informed that the rest of your brethren give equal satisfaction. At his first com ing, Mr. Fenwick naturally wished to form his settlement in Maryland, where his property and family connections chiefly are situated. But after conferring together, and considering that the college at Georgetown, and the still more numerous one of St. Mary, erected in this city by the Society of Sulpician Priests, were amply sufficient for all the Catholic youths, who, in this and the neighbouring States, could afford to pay for a college edu cation, Mr. Fenwick went to visit the State of Kentucky, and re turned with the resolution of fixing himself there. Mr. Wilson will be of infinite advantage in promoting their joint views, and as long as my jurisdiction over that part of the Diocese of Balti more lasts, nothing shall be wanting on my side to favour their object.7 The fact that this document was written when the mis- e Father Short was dead at this time, and Father Thomas Plunkett, or Underhill, was provincial. ¦< Archives of the Dominican Master General, Rome, Codex XIII, 731. 116 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. understanding of which we shall speak in the following chapter, was at its height, emphasizes Bishop Carroll's esteem for those early fathers and the value he placed upon their labors. It could hardly have been otherwise, for the letters of Fenwick and Concanen reveal men of exceptional characters and extraordinary zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Scarcely less striking is the spirit of charity and love for others that stands out so clearly in all their correspondence. In deed, a careful study of Cincinnati's first bishop shows a man of God almost like the vesture of Christ, without rent or seam. Doubtless it is for this reason that one looks in vain for a sign that the father of our American hierarchy ever changed his view of the founders of Saint Joseph's Province of Dominicans. In those days there was little money in Kentucky. Practically all debts were paid in barter. Business and trade were carried on through the same medium. Nor could the holy man obtain assistance from abroad. Father Concanen had told him that he could expect nothing from Italy, where the people were overtaxed to repair the devastations left by the French revolutionists. In France and the countries subject to her sway all re ligious had been secularized. Neither England nor Ire land could afford help. Except in England, Father Fenwick had few, if any, friends or acquaintances. Thus, as the buildings he hoped to erect were costly (that is, for the time), he was often hard put to it in their construction and in meeting his obligations. Ac cordingly, March 1, 1807, he writes Bishop Carroll: We are in possession of our house since December last, and are preparing materials for a Church and College, but can advance very slowly. Much time, patience and expense must be employed. EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 117 I find but little assistance from the Kentuckians more than good wishes ; and I have no encouragement at all from any other state. I hope, my Lord, you will recommend our undertaking wherever you can with propriety. If I had an acquaintance or corre spondence in New Orleans, I should not hesitate to recommend it there, or even in the West Indies. I must request the favour of your Lordship to forward the enclosed letter by the first oppor tunity. Your good advice will be always gratefully received and punctually attended to by me and confreres. Please to remem ber us in your good prayers.8 The same causes that made foreign temporal aid im possible, also stood in the way of obtaining even a more essential succor. Likely, indeed, the improbability of being able to procure brethren of his Order from the older provinces abroad was one of the reasons that caused Father Fenwick to turn his thoughts,1 from the start, to a college and novitiate. But his keen practical mind told him that priests to the manner born are more acceptable to the people; that the main hope of any Church is a native clergy ; and that, therefore, his under taking would meet with a fuller measure of success, if he established, from the outset, what he loved to designate as "a nursery to raise young plants in" for the Amer ican portion of the Lord's vineyard. During all the trials — and they were many — that crossed his path in Kentucky, Father Fenwick's faith in the eventual success of his efforts, as it had been when obstacles beset him in England, was steadfast and un faltering. Next to the grace of God, this was his chief asset. It must have been also an inspiration to those affiliated with him. Perhaps that he did succeed was in no small measure a reward from heaven for his faith and s Fenwick, Springfield, Kentucky, to Carroll, Baltimore, March 1, 1807 (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 8). 118 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. patience. But the friar's humility was such that he seems at times not to have realized the progress he made. Writing to Father Concanen, he tells his friend again of the purchase of " a valuable plantation, two miles from Springfield, Washington County, Kentucky. It [has] five hundred acres of land, a tolerable good brick house, other convenient buildings, a good grist-mill, and a saw mill, which are my main support." We are actually united together [he continues], excepting Father Angier, whom I [left in] Maryland, at Bishop Carroll's request, to serve his congregation [until we] should want him here. He is to join us in two or three months. We shall then endeavour to lead a conventual life and conform to the spirit of the Order as far as possible. As yet we have not been able to do it properly, being much distracted with temporals, as well as with spirituals. We have much repairing and building to do, work men constantly about us, and a numerous and extensive congre gation to serve also, containing at least 2,300 souls. Our Church is about one and one-half miles from our house. One attends there every Sunday. The others go out, too, by turns to other distant parts of the congregation. We intend to commence teaching a few boys after Easter — about ten or twelve, or as many as we have room for in the house. I have two nephews with me and another young man, well disposed and destined for the Church. I expect two or three more such after Easter. ... I see we may have subjects enough soon to fill a large noviceship, if we have but means to maintain them, and books to teach them by. Very few are able to pay anything. The Catholics in this State are pious, fervent and fond of in struction, but very poor in money. There are many good, pious girls and women well disposed to become nuns, if I had but the means to provide for them, and one or two to' form them. How ever, I have a plan in contemplation for them, and hope Almighty God will enable me to execute it. I have established the devotion of the Rosary, [and] have it said three times every Sunday in public at the chapel — before Mass, when I give Catechism and EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 119 instructions, and after I preach a sermon, which generally keeps us at Church till two, three, and sometimes four o'clock. I must beg of your Reverence to give me some instructions on the Rosary and on our Tierce or Third Order, for I really am ignorant, and know not how to instruct well those who wish to be admitted. I wish to know the particular privileges and indulgences, also the obligations and conditions requisite in the members of it. I think the Third Order, if I understand it well, might be established with benefit to the pious people, and much to the honour of Our Lord. We want very much books of the Order and classics. Father Touron's Histoire des Hommes Illustres would be highly useful to us. . . . P.S. Paintings for Church and Convent, missals and brev iaries and diurnals we want and shall want still more, also rejjcs and pictures. As to money, you see, I need not mention [it]. Thus, dear and Rev. Sir, you see I am not backward in letting you know our wants, and trust wou will relieve them as far as [is] in your power. You are no doubt well aware of the diffi culties and expense that have already, and must further attend our undertaking. I hope you will at least pray hard for us, that He who inspired the plan and resolution, will enable us to carry it into execution. I moreover earnestly solicit the donations of all liberal and zealous souls, which will be received by Messrs. Wright and Company, London, Bishop Carroll, Baltimore, and the Cashier of the Bank of Columbia, Georgetown, Maryland.9 Under the impulse which Father Fenwick, humble though he was and possessed of but little means, knew so well how to communicate to the laborers whom his simple candor and magnetic personality had gathered around him, work on the convent and college went apace. Indeed, as may be seen from his letters, the building was completed, no doubt to his joy, much sooner than was expected. Of all this the grateful friar sought to keep his friend, Father Concanen, informed; but his letters » Fenwick, Springfield, Kentucky, to Concanen, Rome, March 3, 1807 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731). 120 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. either miscarried, or have since been lost. Fortunately, one bearing the date of July 10, 1808, has been pre served, and contains important dates and data of which we should otherwise have been deprived.10 From this source we learn that the new convent rose with extraordinary rapidity, for those days, and that it was occupied, though perhaps not yet completed, by the three fathers on the feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, 1807. The rite of dedication was performed according to the form prescribed by the constitutions of their Order, and, as far as the number of brethren permitted, with all the pomp and ceremonial special to such occa sions. The people who gathered from all directions to witness the blessing, were both impressed and edified. As to the original Waller home, so to the new building was given the name of Saint Rose. But it was not merely a convent that had been erected. It was also a college, primarily intended for the preparation of boys and young men desirous of entering the ecclesiastical state. An institution for the education of youth gener ally was to follow as soon as circumstancess permitted. So, also, that portion of the structure set aside for as pirants to the Order was soon made ready for its apos tolic work. Of this Father Fenwick writes : In May, 1807, we opened a small nursery for our future Con vent, and received twelve boys of my own choice (two of my nephews), at the rate of one hundred dollars per annum, and ten poor boys gratis (of Kentucky), who had a tolerable country education. They have made much progress in Latin, as we ap plied chiefly to that for the first year, are well grounded in [the] rudiments and syntax, can read and explain tolerably well, are now all postulants. Six of them are verbally received, and will to Fenwick, Lexington, Kentucky, to Concanen, Rome, July 10, 1808 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731). EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 121 be solemnly admitted to the habit and novitiate on St. Rose's day, in August next. Those six postulants are from fifteen to nine teen years of age, and will be capable, [after] twelve months more, of teaching in our new College, which we hope to open about that time. The six others are younger and less advanced, though will, I trust, turn out as well. We count 2,300 souls in our Congregation. The Chapel of the Congregation is under the patronage of St. Ann, about two miles from us, where one of us serves every Sunday and holy-day. The rest of the Congregation is divided in three parts, where one always serves. When our new Church is finished, we shall divide the Congregation between St. Ann and St. Rose. I hope later to have another Chapel under the protection of St. Joseph. Thus you see, Rev. and dear Father, we have a fair prospect before us. We only want money and numbers to make us more respect able in the country, and to ensure the predominance of our holy Religion, and even of our holy Order.11 The old log chapel of Saint Ann had served its pur pose well, but it had now become too small for the grow ing congregation. Thus, now that the school was in operation, and the home for the fathers and the boys completed, the superior directed his energies towards the erection of a house of prayer, not only more com modious and suitable to divine service, but less incon venient for the people, because situated nearer the cen ter of the settlement. Accordingly, preparations were begun at once for a brick structure one hundred feet in length by forty in width. It was to be the " first in the State." The fathers hoped to make it the " equal to any in America, except the Cathedral of Baltimore," then in course of construction. Although work on the building went apace, Father Fenwick had ceased to be superior before its completion. However, it was he who planned and began it. It was « See note 10. 122 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. only proper, therefore, that he should be given the honor and the happiness of laying the corner-stone. In this connection he writes: With the co-operation of the people in our Congregation, both Catholics and Protestants, we made and burnt, last year, 360,000 bricks for the purpose of building a Church to the honor of St. Rose, as our desire is to have the Church under her patronage, and the College [that is, the purely secular college] , when built, under the patronage of St. Thomas Aquinas. On 24 May last, the translation of St. Dominic, I laid the foundation stone of said Church, with great solemnity and a concourse of people, surprised and edified : which work is now going prosperously on, and will be covered in and complete, as to the outside, by Novem ber next.12 Although the holy priest's humility prevented him from realizing the wisdom with which nature had en dowed him, the plans of the fathers had prospered under his guidance beyond expectation. But in October, 1807, to his no little gratification, Fenwick was at last per mitted to surrender the reins of authority into the hands of another. And in this connection, a well defined tradition in the province of Dominicans that he estab lished, deserves mention as indicative of the friar's ex alted virtue and of the esteem in which he was held at Rome. It tells us that the Superior General's letters patent appointing Father Wilson provincial were ac companied by others permitting Fenwick to annul them and nominating him to that honorable position, in case he chose to accept such a dignity. But he did not hesi tate to divest himself of all honor in order to be more like to the meek and humble Saviour.13 12 See note 10. 13 This fact elicited one of the highest tributes paid the holy bishop by the writer of his obituary in the Catholic Telegraph, II, 85-86. EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 123 Prior to this, he had given proof of a special talent for the missionary field, in which he was not merely to ac quire an enviable name, but to accomplish untold good for the glory of God and for the salvation of souls. This, indeed, was a sphere of labor for which he longed, both because it was congenial to his zeal, and because one of the prime objects which Saint Dominic had in mind in the establishment of his Order was that its mem bers might carry the grace of eternal life to sinners, and bring unbelievers into the fold of Christ. Thus far we have quoted documents with a view to show the characters of Fenwick and his companions, and to lay before the reader their efforts to establish a prov ince of their Order in the United States, rather than to give an idea of their apostolic ministry. The period we have covered, was one of preparation. Naturally, there fore, their correspondence, both with Baltimore and with Rome, dealt somewhat exclusively with their building up and their hopes. They left it to Father Badin, then vicar general, to write of the missions. Yet these same documents, we feel, cannot have failed to give the reader glimpses into the active life of these early friars sufficient to show their zeal for souls. No doubt it was to afford the Superior General and his Irish assistant some notion of the missionary field open to the new province, that Father Fenwick, in his letter of March 3, 1807, gives a lengthy description of Ken tucky, together with its lack of religion, the vagaries of its many sects, and its tolerant attitude towards Cath olicity. From such a description, he says, his friend " may form an idea of the great want of zealous mission aries and the great good that may be done in this widely extended continent."14 i* See note 9. 124 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Perhaps nothing in a priest's hfe demands so delicate a poise of judgment as the direction of the faithful in the sacred tribunal. Here he has to act the part at once of judge, to examine and pass juridical sentence; of father, to protect and save; of teacher, to instruct and guide ; and of physician, to heal wounds festering in the soul. To combine these various offices so that they will act harmoniously for the spiritual advantage of the pen itent; deftly to lead the good to a higher degree of per fection, without engendering scrupulosity; to enkindle fervor in the hearts of the tepid ; to arouse in the hard ened sinner, not despair, but fear and hatred of evil and love of God: all this demands extraordinary tact and consummate skill — the more so, when, as often happens, the number of confessions makes it impossible to give more than a few minutes to each individual. Gentle ness and sympathetic kindness, rather than severity, must be the confessor's guiding rule. Harshness, never. He must take people, not as he would have them to be, but as he finds them, sweetly striving to make them better. Nor must he forget that all are not called to the same degree of goodness. For some he may advise obedience to the counsels. With others he must rest content if they follow the precepts. There can be no doubt that the paternal spirit shown by the early Dominicans of Kentucky in the administra tion of the sacraments, and their kindly, genteel man ner, had much to do with the reception accorded them by the people. Indeed, from the time the fathers first ar rived there, the faithful, hungering for spiritual food, and anxious to make their peace with God, flocked to them from far and wide, as to ambassadors of Christ whom they understood, and who understood them. This EARLY BUILDINGS AND MISSIONARY LABORS 125 may be gathered even from the letters of Fathers Badin and Nerinckx to Bishop Carroll. To the same prelate Father Fenwick says : " We are everywhere followed and pestered for confession. Many have not been [to confession] for three, four, eight and twelve years." In the same letter he tells his bishop: " We are all three of. us here, zealously and actively em ployed in missionary duties, wherever called for, though there is constant occupation for us in our own Congre gation of St. Ann." In another he says: "We are at present busily employed in missionary duties, constantly travelling about from one settlement or Congregation to another, or else confined by the multitude of poor, distracted people that surround us for confession, etc. Many, many have not received any sacrament since they left the old State."15 4 But from the time the college was opened, the apos tolic labors of Fathers Wilson and Tuite were confined practically to the parish of Saint Rose. Their duties and obligations, as teachers, did not permit them to go out to the other missions. Their flock, however, com prised perhaps nearly a third of the Catholics in the state. Besides, people belonging to the charges of the other priests came in numbers, even from great dis tances, for the spiritual ministrations of the friars. Father Fenwick, because it was his duty, and expected by Bishop Carroll, still gave his thoughts and toils, for a time, principally to his convent and the congregation attached to it. Withal he frequently visited other parts of the state. He had already begun the life of an itin erant missionary and those apostolic labors than which is Fenwick, Scott County, Kentucky, to Carroll, Baltimore (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, R 11). See note 2. 126 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. the Church of the mid- West has seen none more faithful, more self-sacrificing, more zealous, more unremitting, or richer in fruit. To those acquainted with the history of Kentucky the marvel is that these early friars accomplished so much, rather than that they did not do more. But of this we shall speak later. CHAPTER VIII AN UNPLEASANTNESS j We must now, much to our regret, discuss at some length the unpleasantness between these early Domini cans and Fathers Badin and Nerinckx, to which refer ence has been made in previous chapters. Of itself, the misunderstanding deserves iTo" more than a casual refer ence in the life of the first bishop of Cincinnati. But unfortunately the author of the first biography of Rev. Charles Nerinckx has made a mountain out of the affair. Nor is this all. Following the one-sided presentation of the case found in the letters of Fathers Badin and Nerinckx, that biographer not only gives his readers to understand that the blame for the troubles which those two zealous priests experienced in Kentucky, is largely to be laid at the door of Bishop Fenwick and his com panions in religion, but also insinuates that the charges of officiousness, of want of zeal and of laxity, both relig ious and ministerial, may justly be imputed to them.1 For forty years, this unfair and injurious representa- i Maes, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, pp. 160-184. — Father Maes, when writing of this unpleasantness, is singularly unfair to those early Domini cans. Parts of Father Nerinckx's letters that are essential to show their extravagance and inner spirit, are left out of the translations. In some places, words and even phrases are omitted or added (still they are in quo tation marks), without any indication of such tampering; or are so changed as materially to affect the sense of the originals, to make them the more plausible, and to render them the more telling against the missionary's imaginary enemies. Designedly do we call them imaginary, for a careful perusal of the documents in the case seems to show them to have been largely such. In some instances Father Maes makes the documents prac tically his own. For Father Nerinckx's original letters see The Catholic Historical Review, VI, 74 ff. 127 J 28 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. tion of the unpleasantness has gone its rounds, receiv ing all too wide a credence and tarnishing the fair names. of men who have deserved well of the American Church. Under these circumstances, we feel constrained, much as we dislike to do so, to devote an entire chapter to an incident in the bishop's life which, otherwise, we should have honored merely with a passing notice. The reader has seen how Bishop Carroll sent the friars to Kentucky in response to the appeals of the people for spiritual succor; how they religiously bowed to the wishes of their ordinary; how Father Badin not only re ceived their superior, Father Fenwick, with open arms on his visit to the state in the spring of 1805, but wrote to Bishop Carroll (May 15, 1805), begging for permis sion to join the Dominicans and to turn over the church lands to their Order; and how Father Fenwick, on his return to Maryland, sent Fathers Samuel T. Wilson and William R. Tuite to the mission ahead of himself and Rev. Robert A. Angier. The two friars started for the west about the middle of October. In the meantime, July 18, 1805, Father Nerinckx arrived in Kentucky. That indefatigable missionary, as a later page will show, brought from his native Belgium a strong prejudice against the English Dominicans of Bornheim which he had imbibed on mere hearsay. He knew none of them. In Kentucky, an intimate friendship soon arose between him and Father Badin. Nor was the new missioner slow to instill his bias into the mind of his friend. It was clearly under this influence that the French missioner, October 5-12, 1805, just a few days before Fathers Wilson and Tuite started on their journey to Kentucky, wrote to Bishop Carroll a letter which is a complete travesty of what he had written to the same AN UNPLEASANTNESS 129 prelate in the previous May. Meanwhile he had seen no Dominican. Yet all is now changed. The mission ary has turned a complete somersault of both mind and heart. It would now be not only unwise, but dangerous and uncanonical, to confer upon the friars the woodlands belonging to the Church in Kentucky. The reasoning and canon law which he adduces for the change must have provoked the venerable prelate to a smile. Five months before, a religious order was Kentucky's great need. Now an order would be no little danger to its Church.2 Bishop Carroll, it seems quite certain, was not at all pleased with Father Badin's curious and uncharitable letter announcing his change of mind. At least, another letter from the same missionary, written more than six months afterwards, is proof positive that the venerable prelate never answered it, or even acknowledged its re ceipt.3 Indeed, Father Badin goes so far in this docu ment (October 5-12, 1805) as to tell his ordinary that Father Nerinckx "does strongly suspect the purity of their [the Dominicans'] faith." This was in conse quence of the preconceived prejudices of which we have spoken. Then we read : " He is so much disheartened at the thought of becoming partaker with them in the sacred ministry, that he spoke with resolution of his leaving the State, if the Dominicans trouble themselves otherwise than with a college." But it should be noted 2 This document has two parts. One is dated October 5, the other Octo ber 12, 1805. By an oversight, it has been indexed as two letters, and placed under G 10 and G 11, Case 1 of the Baltimore Archives. It is printed, again as two documents, but with a notable omission, in the Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, XXIII, 166-74. It is given in full in The Catholic Historical Review, VI, 68-73. s Badin to Bishop Carroll, May 28, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, Case A Special, L 14). 10 130 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. in this connection that, although Bishop Carroll did not even acknowledge the receipt of this letter, he took occa sion of a later one from the same source to justify the fathers, and to assure the other missionaries of their un tainted faith and righteousness.4 Such was the bias which the Dominicans encountered in Kentucky. In view of it, one might expect almost any action or statement on the part of the two clergy men who had preceded them. Father Wilson tells us that, on his and Father Tuite's arrival, the people were publicly warned against them. Although Father Ner inckx had signified his intention of leaving the missions, should these friars undertake any ministerial labors, hardly have Wilson and Tuite set foot in the state when he begins to belittle their zeal and to accuse them of re fusing to bear the heat and the burden of the day, of seeking an easy life, and of caring little for the salvation of souls. , He declares that, according to their own words, none of them intend to toil on the missions, that their only object seems to be to extend their own Order, and that, therefore, their presence in Kentucky will be of scant benefit to its Church.5 But in view of the fact that it was Father Fenwick's positive intention that some of his confreres should labor on the missions, and that, as has been seen from his own words, one of his prime objects in the establishment of the new province of Dominicans was to raise up mission aries for the country, it seems most improbable that any of the friars ever gave the Flemish clergyman the in- * Badin to Carroll as in the preceding note. s Father Wilson to Bishop Carroll, August 25, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 B, L 6) ; Nerinckx to same, February 6, 1806 (ibid., Case 8 A, U 2) ; \ Nerinckx to Joseph Peemans, Louvain (?), as quoted by Peemans in an account of the missions of Kentucky for the Propaganda (Propaganda Archives, America Centrale, Vol. Ill, ff. 235-260; Maes, op. cit., pp. 168-69. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 131 formation he claims to have received from them. Fathers Wilson and Tuite, the first to arrive in Ken tucky, were specially designed to teach in the college and novitiate which they proposed founding. This, if anything, must have been what they told Father Ner inckx, and their words were doubtless magnified into the sweeping assertions found in his letters. Nor must we forget that, even after the arrival of Bishop Flaget and the days of a more plentiful supply of priests, the Friars Preacher continued to devote themselves to apostolic labors to such an extent as greatly to interfere with the welfare of their college and convent. All this, together with their well-known fruitful zeal, their spirit of self- sacrifice, their privations for Christ's sake, and the docu ments already laid before the reader, proves beyond question how groundless and gratuitous are Father Nerinckx's declarations. Not in a single line of his early letters — and they are many — does the zealous Belgian missionary (for truly zealous he was) speak a kind word of the friars. It is, therefore, passing strange to see the author of Father Nerinckx's first life, with the documents before him — he cites none to prove the statement — write: "Fathers Badin and Nerinckx had hailed their advent with gen uine dehght, and gave unsparing and oft-repeated praise to these new co-laborers."6 Withal, it is worthy of note that, if Fenwick's apostolic labors were placed on one scale-pan of a balance, and those of Nerinckx on the other, great and fruitful as these latter surely were, those versed in the ecclesiastical history of Ken tucky and Ohio cannot doubt but that the beam would tip in the friar's favor. « Maes, op. cit., p. 169. 132 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Many things conspired with Father Nerinckx's pre conceived prejudices to intensify his dislike for the fathers after their arrival in Kentucky. The Rev. Walter H. Hill, S.J., in a letter to the Hon. Ben. J. Webb, observes : " Some one writes to me, speaking of Father Nerinckx and the Dominicans: 'Father Ner inckx, with all his humihty, was too sensitive.' "7 So he was. No sooner had the fathers arrived in Kentucky than the people, because of the undue rigor to which they were subjected by the other missionaries, flocked to them from far and wide for the reception of the sac raments. This, as may be seen from his own letters, Father Nerinckx, pious as he was, could not bear with equanimity; nor can there be any doubt but that his pique added poignancy to his pen.8 So, too, as Father Hill further remarks, the good priest's notorious letter of June 30, 1808, shows that he was deeply offended by the loss of Saint Ann's Parish, the largest in the state, to the Dominicans. But this was through no fault of theirs. Although he had been in charge of Saint Ann's hardly a year when it was placed under the care of Father Wilson by the vicar general, Father Badin, possibly by Bishop Carroll himself, it 7 Rev. Walter H. Hill, S.J., Saint Louis, to Hon. Ben. Webb, July 9, 1880 (Archives of Saint Joseph's Province). « The way in which Maes (op. cit., p. 172) attempts to explain the popu larity of the Dominicans in Kentucky, reminds one strikingly of Prescott's elucidations of the Church's influflence on the faithful. " Drawn [he says] by the novel ceremonial of the Dominican Order, and its picturesque dress, which, as experience teaches, are powerful attractions in the eyes of people unused to such interesting displays, the Catholics nocked to them from far and wide." Maes' un-Catholic bit of philosophy, however, falls quite flat, when it is recalled that the people began to "flock" to the fathers when there were only two of them (Wilson and Tuite) in the state, and while these lived miles apart. Surely there was then little chance for " display " of " novel ceremonial," etc. The true explanation of the friars' popularity is the more orthodox and kindlier ministrations which the people received at their hands. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 133 was Father Nerinckx's favorite of all the missions. His chagrin, it may have been, was all the greater because he was thus thwarted in the plan which he had conceived of erecting a brick church in this settlement.9 Father Badin was a Frenchman; Father Nerinckx a Belgian. Three of the Dominicans were British. The other was an American; but he was of Enghsh origin, and had spent the greater part of his hfe abroad with Englishmen. Nearly all the people in Kentucky were Americans, but of Enghsh descent. Now experience and history both teach us that different nationalities are often as so many misfitting cogs that prevent even flie mill of Christ from running smoothly. This is why we have had friction in church circles through all the coun try, where foreigners have gathered in sufficient num bers to give play to national prejudices. Documents leave no room for doubt that such an influence had its part in the disagreement of which we speak. Father Nerinckx's letters show that with his love of God he joined an intense attachment to his countrymen. This led to the desire of surrounding himself with clergymen from his native land, and caused him to con ceive the plan of making at least a part of Kentucky a mission principally, if not entirely, in charge of Belgian priests.10 One cannot in reason blame him for so laud able an aim. But when he suffered himself, as he cer tainly did, to be so incensed at the Dominicans whose presence was an obstacle to his purpose, as to decry them in all manner of ways, he cannot be freed from censure. » Father Nerinckx to Bishop Carroll, June 30, 1808 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, U 5). — Though Saint Ann's was still under Father Nerinckx's jurisdiction, it was attended by Father Wilson from early in 1806. It was permanently assigned to the Dominicans in the summer of that year. io This is evident from many of Nerinckx's letters, from Peemans' account to the Propaganda, and from Maes' life. 134 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. This is all the more true because these friars had gone to Kentucky at the earnest solicitation of Bishop Car roll, who had promised them to that desolate part of his diocese before Father Nerinckx arrived in America. It was for this reason that we said on a previous page, when speaking of Fathers Caestryck, Stordeur and Meerts : " That they did not enlist in the undertaking is the more to be regretted, because, in addition to the good they could have accomplished for the American Church, their Belgian origin might have secured the little band of Friars Preacher a more cordial and char itable reception than was accorded them on their arrival in Kentucky, and made their way smoother." Cer tainly these Flemish fathers would have found there a field of labor worthy of their zeal. Possibly the most insidious, crafty and disloyal heresy the Church has had to combat was that of Jansenism, so named from Cornelius Jansen, bishop of Ypres. It taught that Christ died for only the elect, whose salva tion alone He willed ; and that nothing good done by the reprobate — it held positive reprobation — can avail them aught in the way of eternal life. One can readily see to what excesses these teachings opened the door. In a word, Jansenism was Puritanic in spirit, and savored much of the arid and levelling doctrines of Calvinism. Like Gallicanism, it sought to restrain the Pope's au thority over the Church in favor of the bishops and tem poral rulers. The adherents of this sect looked to the accidentals of religion rather than to the essentials. In practice, they placed discipline — fasting, for instance, penance and mortification — before the life-giving sac raments of Christ. Thus, again, Jansenism was a species of Christian Pharisaism. Jansenists overlooked AN UNPLEASANTNESS 135 the proper part of the heart and the feelings in worship, preached a discouraging rigorism which they adorned with the names of virtue and austerity, and denounced as laxists all who did not subscribe to their gloomy and austere views. Their principles, quite naturally, led to extreme severity in their moral doctrine and in the ad ministration of the sacraments. Although the doctrines of Jansenism were condemned time and again, its followers long held their ground, without renouncing their errors. This they did through chicane and by pretence of following the practices of primitive Christianity, of remaining Catholics and o£ belonging to the Church, in spite of the Church. Their support of the absolutist theories of the times won them the favor of statesmen, while the cloak of austerity with which they covered their teachings, as is ever the case, appealed to many of the faithful with ascetic tempera ments. In this way, even the leaven of true Catholic doctrine eventually became tainted with the poison. Confession and communion, the great channels of grace instituted by Christ for salvation, were administered with such severity' as to cause them to be woefully ne glected. There were, it is true, many holy persons who were imbued with the spirit of Jansenism. But their errors were through no fault of their own, for they im bibed them in spite of themselves. They were in good faith. Withal had not the Church been divine, Jansen ism would have dealt her a death-blow. As Father Maes correctly states, it cannot be denied that the French and Belgian clergy of the eighteenth century "were considerably tainted by the Jansenistic, teaching; " and that the " bitter fruits " of this may still be seen in the neglect of the sacraments by the people 136 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. and the severity of the priests in the sacred tribunal. Through no fault of theirs, Fathers Badin and Nerinckx had heard this doctrine preached from the pulpit, had found it in their books, had been taught it in the semi nary. The Belgian clergyman had practiced it in his ministerial duties at home for twenty years before com ing to the New World.11 These Puritanic principles and exaggerated notions of severe morality they brought to America. In Ken tucky their zeal led them to practice the same severity of discipline, and the same rigorism both in preaching and in the administration of the sacraments to which they had been accustomed abroad, but which were totally un- suited to the greater portion of the Anglo-Saxon New World. The older Catholics of Kentucky had not been used to such extremes in Maryland; and the younger did not always take kindly to them. For this reason, even before the arrival of Father Nerinckx, the French missioner was rather disliked than liked. As may be seen, not only from the letters of the Dominicans to Bishop Carroll, but also from those of the other two priests, many persons seldom approached the sacra ments ; some never. When Father Nerinckx, stern and unbending by nature, came to the state, his influence seems to have induced his companion to become more rigorous and severe than ever. Father Nerinckx possessed a calm demeanor, had a quiet, even way, and was of serious bearing. This, to gether with his zeal, piety and personal austerity, made his ministrations more acceptable to the faithful than were those of Father Badin. By many, especially those of an ascetic temperament, the former was loved and 11 Maes, op. cit., pp. 169-170. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 137 admired as a spiritual guide. The latter, as is admitted, was vivacious and changeable, and given to harsh, cut ting language. He had not a judicial temperament. Often he was imprudent. Withal, he was not less zeal ous than his friend. It would seem that his desire to emulate the Belgian missionary increased his stringent measures, and brought about that discontent which, when it was rumored that he would hkely be chosen for the proposed diocese of Kentucky, led to many com plaints against him to Bishop Carroll. But before this, Father Nerinckx had begun to write bitter things against the Dominicans to the same prelate. Fathjer Badin soon followed suit. However, as the documents in the archives of Baltimore are both numerous and long, we can do no more here than select four, two from each missioner, which suffice to give a fair idea of their correspondence in this matter.12 Indeed, Father Nerinckx's letters of June 2, 1806, and June 30, 1808, are so harsh, so reproachful alike of the Dominicans and the people, and so full of invective that, unless we knew otherwise from his contemporaries, they would convict him of no little conceit, and shatter one's belief in his humility, piety, charity and spirit of mortification. As it is, they prove that his judgment was often at fault, that he was sensitive in the extreme, and that he gave too ready an ear to idle gossip. His determination to gain his point led him to employ lan guage that was not only harsh and extravagant, but even violent. If the missionary's letters are any index to his dealings with the faithful, his ministrations could not have been otherwise than very distasteful to the 12 The letters of Fathers Badin and Nerinckx to Bishop Carroll that touch on this topic, would make a portly volume. They run from 1805 to 1810, and are found in various cases of the diocesan archives of Baltimore. 138 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. greater number. In short, an ultra rigorist spirit shines out on every page. To those who have seen the original documents and are acquainted with traditions still hv ing in Kentucky, there can be no doubt as to the correct ness of the statements which Father Wilson, writing on a pastoral matter, makes to Bishop Carroll. No place in the world, dear Sir [he says], is more in want of a prudent Bishop than Kentucky, where thousands are living in constant neglect of the Sacraments, through the too great zeal, I fear, of the former missioners. Young people are not admitted to them without a solemn promise of not dancing on any occasion whatever, which few will promise, and fewer still can keep. All priests that allow of dancing are publicly condemned to hell. . . . People taught that every kiss lip to lip between married persons is a mortal sin. . . . Women refused absolution for their hus bands permitting a decent dance in their house — not to mention a thousand things far more ridiculously severe.13 Owing to their length, we can only touch on the more salient points of the two letters of Father Nerinckx selected for discussion. In that of June 2, 1808, he says that Father Badin must now admit that he has seen the realization of his (Nerinckx's) prophecy in regard to the Dominicans. They differ much from Badin in spec ulative theology, and wholly in some points of prac tice. Father Nerinckx knows not how much it is ex pedient to say ; yet he can positively assert that : " Per haps they will multiply the nation; but they will neither increase the joy nor renew the face of the earth." The wanton grow more insolent. Those who had been held in check by fear, if not by love, now that the lines are loosened, rush forth with stiffened necks, boasting that they have discovered the city of refuge. The other is The date of this letter is August 25, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, as in note .5). AN UNPLEASANTNESS 139 friars (Fenwick and Angier) "are expected to bring plenary indulgences that will not only remit penalties due to sin already forgiven, but prevent the incurring of guilt at all."14 Father Tuite, he says, though less learned than his colleague, appears to be more given to discipline. The other (Father Wilson) appears to be a man of great learning; but his learning "has led him, not to mad ness, but to a laxity which, for want of the flavor of salt, may perhaps be called infatuation." " Father Badin terms him a laxist ; the people call him easy. Whether he should be placed among the extreme laxists I do not wish to be the judge. I am considered a rigorist; Father Badin both more rigorous and harsher." Father Nerinckx, however, seemed quite unable to realize that his practice was at all harsh or stinging. Before his arrival in Kentucky, the missionary pro ceeds to say, Father Badin's discipline in regard to matrimony had been the occasion of much complaint and murmuring. But since Father Wilson's coming, he declares, everything in this matter is decided as if it concerned mere brutes, and without any regard what ever to the sacramental character and sanctity of the married state.15 Father Nerinckx does not believe that the Domini cans will succeed in founding a convent in Kentucky, as they are not willing to commence in an humble way; and he foresees that they will obtain but little financial 14 Nerinckx to Carroll, June 2, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, U 1). is Here Father Nerinckx writes at considerable length, and in a manner that must be pronounced shocking. One of his expressions is: " Ab illius Rfeverendi] P[atris] adventu res matrimonialis . . . omnino pro votis equorum ac mulorum in parte carnali decisa est." Maes (op. cit., p. 175) is guilty of considerable juggling in his rendition of this part of the mis- sioner's letter. 140 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. aid from the people. Besides, he adds, " they are lovers of themselves, and are unduly terrified at the burden of the day and the heats." Should they, however, succeed in making a foundation, it is his earnest wish that some man imbued with the spirit of rehgious observance, and quickened with a zeal for souls, should be sent from an other house of the Order, and placed in charge. For what real good, he continues, or what glory to religion, can be expected, if such men, far removed from a supe rior who can act as censor to their lives and as guardian of religious discipline, are placed over the people to form them to their own rule of hfe? " Be it far from me [he adds, however,] to say that they are bad; but I do think that they are animated with too little zeal for religious observance." This is certainly a severe arraignment. Its only pal liation is that Father Nerinckx had been made purblind by the influences of which we have spoken. Apart from every other reason, the very lives of these early Domini cans prove these extravagant statements and veiled ac cusations too absurd to be believed by even the most credulous. These early fathers had as many, if not more, hardships and privations to bear than the Flem ish missionary; they bore them with greater humility and patience. Father Nerinckx asserts more than once that he writes as he does out of his love of God and zeal for souls. One almost wonders if this can be true; if his bitter words were not largely inspired by umbrage and disappointment at the loss of his favorite parish and at seeing the prospects of his proposed Belgian mission dwindle. Be that as it may, history, we think, must pro nounce the fathers' zeal and love of God equal to his. Certainly the historian knows that Dominican theology AN UNPLEASANTNESS 141 is rather severe than lax. It was for this reason that Father Concanen, when he heard of this accusation, took occasion to observe in writing to Archbishop Carroll: I wish to be remembered to Father Fenwick and his companions at Kentucky. I am surprised at the controversy arisen between them and Rev. Mr. Badin. It is the first time I ever heard of the Dominicans being accused of lax doctrine. It must be that that worthy and zealous man, Mr. Badin, has poisoned his mind by reading Jansenistical authors; for surely the sweet and lenient spirit of the Church abhors equally the extremes of laxity and rigour.16 # Under the circumstances, it was fortunate for the early Church of Kentucky that those friars had much of the tenderness of heart and kindly disposition character istic of Saint Thomas of Aquin and Francis de Sales. Of Father Wilson, against whom these complaints were principally made, and whom Bishop Flaget called the shining light of his dioceses Bishop M. J. Spalding writes : Of refined and highly polished manners, as well as amiable, modest and learned, he was universally admired and beloved. He was of retiring habits, and much devoted to prayer and study. He was one of the most learned divines who ever emigrated to America. . . . He died, in the same odour of sanctity in which he had lived, in the summer of 1824. Long and reverently will the Catholics of Kentucky remember his virtues, which are freshly embalmed in the recollection of his brethren. He was a bright ornament of an illustrious Order, and its early history in the United States is identified with his biography.17 18 This letter is dated Rome, August 9, 1809, and is in Baltimore Archives, Case 2, W 7. it Spalding, Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, pp. 154-155. 142 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Indeed, that distinguished theologian and scholar might have felt complimented at being considered in the same light that Saint Paul was considered by the pagan Festus, mad because of his learning. " Paul [said Fes tus], thou art beside thyself: much learning doth make thee mad. And Paul said: I am not mad, most excel lent Festus, but I speak words of truth and soberness " (Acts, XXVI, 24-25). The letters of all these early friars show them to have been gentlemen, as well as pos sessed of truly priestly characters and scholarly attain ments. In regard to their spirit of religious discipline and observance, of which the Belgian clergyman could have known nothing — for he refused to associate with them — no more need be said than that one marvels why he was so critical, when it is remembered that only two of them were then in Kentucky, and that they lived some twenty miles apart. Wilson was at Saint Ann's ; Tuite near Bardstown. It is still more strange to find Father Nerinckx's biographer claiming that he had " formed a correct idea of the state of affairs at St. Rose's," when St. Rose's did not exist; and proving his contention by Bishop Spalding who states precisely the reverse of what Maes cites him to establish.18 18 Maes, op. cit., pp. 175-76 (note). — This author here declares that Father Nerinckx gives " a correct idea of the state of affairs at St. Rose's." But, mark! This letter was written, June 2, 1806. Fenwick was still in Mary land. He purchased the farm on which Saint Rose's Convent stands, in July 1806, and got possession of it the following December. To prove his contention Nerinckx's biographer quotes a passage from Spalding's life of Bishop Flaget, page 288. Spalding, however, says that Father Munos was sent to Saint Rose's by the Order's General, in 1828, to " re-establish " a discipline that had existed there, but " had suffered some relaxation " through the " distracting cares of the missionary life." This is a far cry from what Maes would have the learned author say: that is, no discipline had ever existed at the place. Spalding was led into an error by some notes of Bishop Flaget. Munos was sent to Saint Rose's by Bishop Fen wick, not by the Father General. Neither was his mission, as will be seen, to re-establish discipline, but for reasons of which we shall speak in a future chapter. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 143 A hving, nay, an inspiriting tradition in the province of Dominicans which they established tells us that those early fathers were scrupulously exact in the duties of their state of life ; and that they sought, even under the most adverse circumstances, to carry out the rules and constitutions of their Order. Owing to the fact that they wrote but seldom, and to the destructive agencies of time, we have few documents bearing directly on this subject. Fortunately, however, we have enough dis tinctly to establish the truth of this tradition. In 1816, for instance, the Master General writes to congratulate the httle band of religious on their spirit of observance. Then, an extract, in Italian, from a letter of the pro vincial to Rev. John A. Hill gives us a very pretty and illumining account of their life, their studies and their labors on the missions. It informs us that their religious discipline and observance were all that could be desired. Community life, after the convent of Saint Rose had been estabhshed, was rigidly kept up in accordance with the rule. The divine office and the devotions of the in stitute were observed most religiously. The community frequently rose at midnight — never later than four in the morning. Common life was perfect. The beds were of hard straw. Even the canonical tonsure was worn by those not out on the missions; although, for prudence' sake, this practice was afterwards discon tinued. Considering the trying labors and the circum stances of time and place, the Order's regulations for abstinence were perhaps followed too rigidly for the health of the community. The country was new and unsettled ; eggs and butter, even vegetables, were scarce ; fish almost an unknown luxury; cheese entirely so. Corn bread was the fathers' chief mainstay of life. 144 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Their beverage for breakfast and supper was warm milk fresh from the cow; for dinner it was usually water.19 From the same document we leam that, owing to pov erty, the students, and even the priests, had occasionally to do manual labor. Nevertheless, through economy in time, they managed to carry on classes regularly and to give the young men a good education. Most of them, in addition to the courses ordinarily given in seminaries, knew French and Italian. The fathers (that is, those not engaged in the college) did much missionary work. But the missions were a source of expense rather than of income to the institution. Indeed, they would have been happy had the missions brought in enough to supply the fathers engaged on them with the horses and secular clothing required for that purpose. The greatest draw back to the young province was its extreme indigence, which often made the life of its members quite trying. Yet this did not prevent them from performing all spir itual functions gratis. These things, however, observes the provincial, should not deter the new recruits from ac companying Father Hill to America; for they will still find food and clothing, and with these one should be con tent. Their labors will bear rich fruit. Father Wilson's statement is confirmed by a letter of Father John A. Hill, O.P., who had just arrived from Rome itself. This document is dated, November 21, 1821, and is given in the London Catholic Miscellany, I, 327-328. He assures us that the diet of the little community was indeed " very plain," and their life " suf ficiently austere." That they enjoyed good health, he i» Father Pius J. Gaddi, to Father Wilson, Rome, March 16, 1816 (Archives of Saint Joseph's Priory); Wilson, Kentucky, to Hill, Rome, July 23, 1820 (Propaganda Archives, America Centrale, Vol. Ill, No. 138). AN UNPLEASANTNESS 145 seems to insinuate, was a blessing from God who " tem pers the wind to the shorn lamb." Having delivered the tirade which has been laid before the reader, Father Nerinckx proceeds to tell how he had formed an unfavorable opinion of the English Do minicans at Bornheim before he left for America, al though he hardly knew them even by name. This im pression he received from friends. And to give it the greater weight he assures Bishop Carroll that his in formants were among the very best Catholics of Bel gium— -nay, precisely the men who have been so gen erous to the American missions. One of them went so far as to request him not to associate with the fathers going to America, should they be on the same boat as he. His friends had told him that, in the very midst of the persecution of all the clergymen who remained loyal to the Church, the fathers of Bornheim were able, God only knows how, to stalk abroad as freely as the unfaith ful priests who had subscribed to the iniquitous civil con stitution of the clergy. Furthermore, these Dominicans managed to buy back their confiscated property, using bonds of the revolutionary republic for that purpose. Father Wilson, he continues, was even elected to public office, was held in high esteem by the prefect of that department, and received the sons of the Church's perse^ cutors into Holy Cross College of which he was presi dent. These things, Father Nerinckx says he was in formed, aroused a strong suspicion in the minds of all good Catholics that those friars were in at least tacit agreement with the tyrannical government. In Ken tucky, he declares, Father Wilson had spoken in defense of the present deplorable state of the Church in France. For these reasons, the missioner cannot doubt but that 11 146 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. men of their stamp (talis farinae) should be handled with the greatest precaution. If they -have not asso ciated themselves with iniquity, they have at least be come scandalously lax. Father Nerinckx now comes to what is evidently the impelling motive behind his furious assault. It is to pre vent the fathers from becoming the directors of Ken tucky's future seminary, should they succeed in estab lishing themselves in the state. But if we may judge from their letters, his worry was without cause ; for noth ing seems to have been further from their minds. Per haps he wished to see his fellow-countrymen, or those imbued with Jansenistic principles, in charge of this in stitution.20 We shall let Father Raymond Palmer tell of the con duct of the English friars in Belgium after the revolu tion. His sober words, besides offering an agreeable contrast to Father Nerinckx's violent declamation, bear the impress of truth and bring conviction. After the French had established their government and peace was outwardly restored, some of the fathers in 1795 returned to Bornhem, but durst not openly settle themselves again in the convent. In 1796 the possessions of all religious bodies were declared national property and the sale of them was decreed. A commissaire sent to Bornhem valued the property at 24,806 livres : it so happened that five pieces of the best land escaped the man's notice and were not sequestrated. As a compensation the directoire executif offered the fathers [because they were Eng lishmen] the amount in bons [that is, bonds], and although those notes were available only for government purposes and their 20 Although the missioner expressly states in this document that he writes unasked ("non rogatus quidem"), Maes, at the end of his rendition of it, puts in the words (and in quotation marks, as if they were a transla tion) : " I feel all the more free, my Lord, in writing to you as I have done, . . . since you expect me to look after the interests of Religion in this region" (Maes, op. cit., p. 176). These last words are not in the letter. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 147 value very precarious, the fathers took them as they were better than nothing. The property was brought to auction in April and August, 1797, and the whole was sold to a perfumer of Antwerp for 13,894 livres more than the government valuation. This per fumer was the agent of the English fathers, and so the convent of Bornhem returned to the rightful owners. The government was paid with its bons with an additional sum of about £700. As soon as the fathers had the house back, they formed a small com munity there and opened the college again. The constitutional oath was tendered to them which they refused ; but a trifling bribe offered in the most barefaced manner got over the difficulty. The meanest scoundrels stood at the head of affairs ; some whom the fathers had known in the lowest circumstances had thrust them selves by unscrupulous conduct into public notice and held great preferments. . . .21 The convent, as Father Palmer informs us, could not again be opened as such. The people, unable to enter the church, gathered in the church-yard for their prayers. Doubtless the fathers, naturally less molested because they were Englishmen, cautiously administered to the sorrowing faithful. Thus they were a blessing rather than the scandal that Father Nerinckx would have us beheve. When Father Wilson, more than a year afterwards, heard of the accusations that had been made against him personally, he wrote to Bishop Carroll explaining his conduct in Belgium and his remarks in Kentucky, and offered to produce proof of his assertions. His ex planation must have given the venerable prelate such satisfaction that he could now hardly have desired the proof, even had he wished it before. From the Domini can's letter we learn that his argument in Kentucky was 21 Palmer, Life and Times of Philip Thomas Howard, O.P., Cardinal of Norfolk, pp. 234-35. 148 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. to call Father Badin's attention to the difference be tween the accidentals of religion, or discipline, and the essentials or doctrine. This he did only to defend Pius VII, then so sorely tried by Napoleon Bonaparte, from accusations which the French missionary seemed dis posed to lay at the door of the aged and distressed Pon tiff. Of his relations with the French government at Bornheim the learned friar says simply that, at the re quest of the bishop, the parish priest of the town and several other clergymen, he accepted, about a year before his departure for America, the position of coun sellor to the mayor of Bornheim, a young, scrupulous and inexperienced man. In this capacity he assisted at three meetings of the council, in which were discussed the question of the salaries "for the midwife of our parish " and " for the person who wound up the clock of the parish church, and such like trifles."22 He did not mention the fact that the fathers could not wear their habits, and for a time were obliged to live in hiding; that they could not reopen their house as a convent ; and that they were able to reopen their college was because re ligious institutes devoted to teaching had not been sup pressed by the revolution. All this the bishop knew. Father Wilson tells Bishop Carroll that he is so con scious of his innocence of the charges made against him, that he would not have written this letter, had he not been urged to do so by his brethren. But it should be noted in this connection, that Father Nerinckx's sources of information about the Dominicans at Bornheim, in his letter of June 30, 1808, seem to dwindle down to one man ; and he is not sure whether it was the dead Mr. De Wolf of Antwerp, or the living Mr. Peemans of 22 October 14, 1807 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 B, L 7). AN UNPLEASANTNESS 149 Louvain, who had told him the ugly things narrated in the document just discussed. Shortly after writing this letter, Father Nerinckx re fused longer to attend the mission of Holy Mary on the Rolhng Fork, where he was not remunerated for his services.23 Prior to this, he had thought of joining the Trappists who were then in Kentucky. But now his troubles seem to have turned his thoughts in this direc tion more seriously than ever. The following year, Bishop Carroll, writing at the request of Father Badin to dissuade him from such a purpose, took occasion to say: • Perhaps it [the inclination to join the Trappists] proceeds from the difference of opinion, and consequently of practice, be twixt you and some of your brother clergymen on certain points of morality. If such be the case, you have certainly recollected, that this happens everywhere, in all the countries, which I have been in. Often, the rectors of adjoining parishes have imbibed different principles. Each follows those which he approves the best, and as long as they are tolerated by the Church, he suffers his neighbour to pursue them, tho' he himself pursues a different In the meantime, it having been rumored that Father Badin would likely be appointed the first ordinary of Kentucky, complaints of the most emphatic character against that missionary's extreme harshness and severity began to arrive at Baltimore.25 So matters wore along until June 30, 1808, when Father Nerinckx wrote to Bishop Carroll the letter of which we now speak. It is 23 Father Wilson to Bishop Carroll, August 25, 1806, as in note 5; Father Badin to same, November 20, 1806 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, H 6). 2* Bishop Carroll to Father Nerinckx, April 12, 1807 (Baltimbre Archives, Case 10, D 2) ; Father Badin to Bishop Carroll, February 17 and March 14, 1807 (ibid.. Case 1, I 1 and 3). 25 These charges commenced to arrive in Baltimore late in 1807, and con tinued through a great part of 1808. 150 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. another outpouring of bitter invective against the friars and the people. In his opinion, things are going from bad to worse ; and still more serious consequences are to be feared. He thus sums up his charges under four headings. 1°. The dissensions, arrogance and tumultuous im pudence of the people of Kentucky began with the com ing of the Dominicans. Why these fathers did not in quire on their arrival, as he had done, what virtues were to be implanted, and what vices eradicated, he cannot understand, unless their aim was either to please the people, or to' advance their own interests. He doubts whether they have gained the first purpose ; but in tem poral matters they have met with fair success. They have done nothing for the common good of religion. Whatever they get, they apply to their house. The church of Saint Ann is in the same state in which he left it. Perhaps they intend to transfer it to Saint Rose's. He fears the same fate for the church which he had in tended to erect in Springfield. Saint Ann's Congrega tion, when he had charge of it, was given to the cultiva tion of every virtue, and was the most exemplary in the state. But now, he hears, all this has passed like a shadow. Marriages with Protestants are contracted with the utmost facihty. Dances are permitted in the day time, and are no sin. In Saint Ann's Parish, in Scott County, and on Simpson's Creek, where " the cat gut " electrifies the feet at that more comical than evan gelical practice, dances and marriages always end in tumult. At times these fathers do some missionary work, but only when there is hope of gain. When there is nothing but labor in view, they claim to be religious only. Again, he would emphatically call them to a AN UNPLEASANTNESS 151 stricter religious discipline, and have the General of the Dominicans send to Kentucky some men of his Order imbued with its spirit. Of course he means men imbued with Jansenistic views. But now Father Nerinckx is not sure whether it was from Mr. Peemans of Louvain, or Mr. De Wolfe ("of happy memory") of Antwerp, that he received the evil reports about the fathers at Bornheim, of which he had spoken in a previous letter. In reply to the charges under this heading let it be said, first, that Father Nerinckx's own letters show that there had been troubles and loud complaints in Ken tucky before the coming of the Dominicans. Of th§ fathers' zeal and self-sacrifice enough has been said to clear them from these renewed accusations of laxity, of selfishness, of want of religious observance. Of this latter the missionary could have known nothing, for the reason that he kept away from Saint Rose's. Nor is it anywhere stated that the friars made the same exactions on the purses of the people as the other two missionaries. Had they been grasping, it is hardly probable that they would have always been in such dire poverty. Maes' assertion (op. cit., p. 173) that : " Many negligent Chris tians took a malign pleasure in going to the Dominicans and contributing more for their buildings than even the richest were asked to do for the support of their parish priests,"" is fiction pure and simple. Secondly: it was quite natural that, in those days of few priests and much to do, Saint Ann's and Spring field, as neither place was more than two miles from Saint Rose's, should be merged into the latter parish. This was a matter of economy for the greater good. Father Nerinckx should have told the bishop this cir cumstance. So also should he have told him that Simp- 152 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. son's Creek was under Father Badin's care, not that of the Dominicans. And he should' have added that, al though the superior of the friars had sought to place Father Angier at Saint Francis', Scott County, in com pliance with the bishop's request, Father Badin had so far thwarted this arrangement and attended the parish himself.26 Thirdly; real history tells us that, in spite of Father Nerinckx's statement, the Cartwright's Creek Settle ment, for which Saint Ann's was built, was never more faithful to its religious duties, or in a better spiritual condition, than after it was placed under the adminis tration of the Dominicans. To this day it remains one of the most exemplary parishes in the state. To this day a mixed marriage is almost unheard of in the con gregation. As to the lawfulness of decent dances the Church, through her theologians, speaks for herself. 2°. Under this heading the good man turns his atten tion to Basil Elder of Baltimore. There lives in your town, he says, a crafty, contemptible fellow. His name is Basil Elder, but it should be Basilisk; that is, a fabled serpent whose very breath was fatal. (Est apud vos versepellis quidam de grege homuncio, Basilius, melius Basiliscus, Elder.) He has emitted his poison even unto these parts. Through his letters, which are handed about to be publicly read (but Father Nerinckx has not seen any of them) , he has, though " unprovoked by me, heaped insult and injury upon me," until he is held in contempt by all good people and even by the more honest Protestants. " I forgive him from my heart [he continues], for I admit in him the crassest and most 28 Badin's interference with the bishop's arrangements for Saint Francis's Parish may be seen in several letters of the day, including some of his own. His officiousness in the matter eventually aroused the venerable pre late's wrath. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 153 stupid ignorance. . . . He who wrote that list of accu sations is a brute rather than a man. ... I most sin cerely believe (sincerissime judico) such a man utterly unworthy of any sacrament, until it is established be yond all doubt that he has repaired the scandal given. That sneak (ille tenebrio) boasts that he has the appro bation and endorsement of your Lordship for all, or nearly all, that he says." Father Nerinckx doubts not that this assertion is gratuitous and mendacious. Should it be true, however, and should Elder's letters contain what they are said to contain, the missioner does not see how the affair can be remedied, unless the last chapter of the Book of Esther suggest a way.27 Doubtless the reader has noticed the extravagance and the lack of charity in this language. They become the more patent, when it is remembered that Basil Elder was an exemplary Catholic and the father of the late saintly Archbishop Elder of Cincinnati. Webb informs us that he was trusted, admired and beloved as a friend by the first seven archbishops of Baltimore.28 27 In his rendition of this part of Father Nerinckx's letter Maes (op. cit., p. 178) substitutes "B E " for Basil Elder. "B E " is also made the instigator of the complaints, for which there is no evidence. The most opprobrious epithets applied to Elder by Father Nerinckx are suppressed, and the bitterness of the attack further toned down by divid ing the paragraph, and putting a part of it on page 181: "Tali dedicatore," etc. Basil Elder's identity is still further .disguised by a footnote (op. cit., p. 181), which represents him as a Kentuckian who "was in Baltimore at the time, and had had an interview with the Bishop." But Father Badin's letters, as well as the present document, with its " apud vos," leave no doubt as to who " B E " was, or as to where he lived. The name Basil Elder, although given in full by Father Nerinckx, is again rendered " B E— — • " by the same author, op. cit., p. 180, No. 10 of the accusa tions against the missionary. Still again (op. cit., p. 186), we find Father Anthony Sedilla given as " Anthony ." One wonders why all this sup pression of the identity of others, whilst the Dominicans are brought out so prominently. The answer to this question we leave to the reader. 28 Webb, op. cit., p. 123. See also the New York Freeman's Journal, October 23, 1869, and Character Glimpses of the Most Rev. William Henry Elder, pp. 11 ff. 154 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Basil Elder's relations lived in the Cox's Creek Set tlement, now Fairfield, Nelson County. And it was from this section that the greater number, as well as the most damaging, of the complaints were sent to Balti more against Father Badin who was in charge of this mission. From this it will be seen how unfair and groundless is the following imputation by Father Maes (op. cit., pp. 176-77) : " It was especially in these places [that is, in Springfield and Saint Ann's Parish], where his [Father Nerinckx's] influence was no longer felt, that his enemies exerted themselves in the most shame less manner to destroy whatever good he had effected; the Dominicans holding themselves aloof, or being per haps unable to counteract the evil influences of these rebels."29 3°. Under the third heading of his letter Father Ner inckx gives us a list of the accusations against him. As far as he can find out from what has been said or written, and from an examination of his own conscience, these are, he says : 1. I insist on the people rising at four A.M. Rev. Father Fenwick is my accuser on this head, and that is the hour which he himself should keep. But he is deceived when he says that 'I deny absolution to those who sleep longer. If he knew what the Jesuit Fathers introduced in Paraguay, and the devotions prac ticed in Belgium, he would say mass at four A.M. for the negro slaves. 2. I promiscuously forbid dances as bad. 3. I prohibit promiscuous visiting between persons of different sexes. 4. I forbid and am opposed to marriages with heretics, etc. 5. Before 29 We have found only one person in Saint Rose's Congregation writing against Father Badin. This was in 1808, and the complaint was about that priest's actions in regard to land attached to Saint Ann's. All the other complaints were from places attended by Badin. Some of the " rebels," as Father Maes calls them, afterwards retracted what they had said; but unfortunately, there are not wanting signs that the retractions were made under some duress. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 155 marriage, I require preparation for the banns and frequentation of the sacraments. 6. I prescribe rules to be followed in the mar ried state. 7. On Sundays and holy days, I order public prayers to be kept up all the morning, but with intervals of rest. 8. I make continual exactions for the building of churches: fortu nately, they do not say that I make them for myself. 9. 1 forbid excess in clothing and unseemly ornamentation. I will add that I even have women censors of mature age to see that this rule is observed in church. 10. I am too bitter and harsh in giving cor rections, etc. Basil Elder calls me a tyrant. 11. Finally, with me is too much confinement [sic, in his own English ; that is, he imposes too much constraint].30 As Father Nerinckx then proceeds to glory in flhe fact that this list represents his ministerial practices, no more need be said here than that they show an excessive severity and Jansenistic rigorism which should have been held in check. It may be remarked, however, that Father Fenwick's character obliges us to believe that he troubled himself about the first complaint no further than to smile and to tell the people that they did not i have to obey. 4°. In this paragraph the missioner says that many are greatly afflicted by these accusations and offer to sign a protest against his calumniators. But this he will not allow, as he has wronged no man. He leaves every thing to God. He rejoices that no earthly hope brought him to Kentucky, that he has received no temporal re ward, and that whatever providence has bestowed upon him he has used for the greater glory of God. The af fair grieves him principally because the knowledge of it so Maes (op, cit., p. 180), in his rendition of No. I in this list, says: "And that is the hour that he himself as a religious should keep." The words which we have italicized are not in the original. But he omits, in the same number, the part about Paraguay and the devotional practices in Belgium, which shows Father Nerinckx's real mind. In No. 10 Basil Elder is again rendered " B E ." 156 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. may make his fellow-countrymen less disposed to come to the mission. Still he will not cease to invite them. Then he asks for an exeat.31 We do not wish to say that Father Nerinckx did not write this letter with a good intention. Yet we venture to believe that the reader can hardly have failed to de tect running through all the document a strain of too much sensitiveness; of too pronounced a combative spirit; of too httle consideration for others; and of too strong a conviction of being always in the right, as well as a marked indisposition to allow either honesty, good will, or the possibility of correct views ih those who ven tured to think or to act differently from the Belgian missionary. A previous letter shows that he had been greatly irritated by Father Wilson's unfavorable opin ion of the famous Rev. Cornelius Stevens, whom Father Nerinckx considered a second Saint Athanasius.32 Im partial history, however, by' no means places Stevens on so high a pedestal as Father Nerinckx would have him occupy. Father Badin's letters are at once more numerous and, as a rule, of greater length than those of his friend. One of the two to which we wish particularly to call at tention was commenced, November 20, 1806, and fin ished, February 9, 1807. The other was begun, March 10, and completed, May 6, 1808.33 But as to give even a resume of them were not only to extend this chapter si This violent letter is in the Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, U 5. 32 Nerinckx to Carroll, January 1, 1807 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, U 3). — This document is only the postscript of a letter that cannot now be found in the archives. Together with a letter of March 21, 1807 (ibid., Case 8 A, U 4), it shows that Father Nerinckx made another onslaught on the Dominicans at that time, sending a list (elenchus) of charges against them, and that his whole object in doing so was to prevent them from getting charge of the future seminary. as Respectively in the Baltimore Archives, Case 1, H 6 and I 6. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 157 to undue length, but to repeat much of what has already been said, suffice it to state that they are of the same per sonal nature, and characterized by the same extravagant language and accusations, and the same lack of proof and charity as the documents which we have reviewed from the pen of Father Nerinckx. Both these zealous missioners were merciless towards those who did not accord with their views. Although himself only an ordinary theologian, Father Badin affects to belittle the theological attainments of the early friars, and says they are afraid of the learning of Father Nerinckx. But to us the evidence seems to point the other way. More than once the fathers re quested Bishop Carroll to use his good offices in order to estabhsh a system of conferences for the clergy in Ken tucky, and to suggest some common ground on which they could agree. He did so in letters to Father Badin; but the letters were never shown to the friars, nor their contents made known to them. The conferences were never held.34 The only author whom Father Badin seemed willing to follow for such a purpose, was An- toine, a theologian of a pronouncedly rigorous type whose views pleased those imbued with Jansenistic principles. Like his friend, Father Badin accuses the early friars of all manner of intrigues, as well as of a covetous, worldly and grasping spirit, lack of zeal and seeking an easy life. They tell the people, he asserts, of the want of harmony among the clergy; let it be understood that the Dominicans, because religious, are not subject to the bishop; declare that the other missioners are too severe ; and otherwise sow the seeds of trouble and dis- s* This is shown by several of Fenwick's letters to Carroll. 158 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. cord. But again the evidence seems to point in the op posite direction. In one place, the French missionary, evidently to make his charge the more personal and ef fective, goes so far as to send Bishop Carroll what he calls a quotation from a letter of Fenwick casting a slur upon the Jesuits. On the margin of the document at the side of this assertion, the prelate has written: "Is not this a breach of private correspondence? Is it re vealed to me for any beneficial purpose?"35 But, we think, the bishop had no cause for apprehension. Fen wick's letters and character, no less than his dealings with the Society of Jesus, offer the strongest rebuttal to Father Badin's charge. Indeed, that nothing really injurious to the reputation of these early friars occurs in the manuscript literature of the time, is certainly proof positive that they were men of edifying life and truly priestly character. And in this connection, it should be further noted that the Frenchman's letters reveal not only great love and admiration for his Bel gian friend, but implicit confidence in his judgment. They show clearly enough how well founded were the often expressed fears of the Dominicans, that the Flem ish clergyman's influence served to bring into fuller play the ultra-severe and Jansenistic principles of Father Badin, which lay at the root of the discontent among the people, the complaints they sent to the bishop against him, and his charges against the friars. Of Father Wilson's learning sufficient has been said. Sq also, though not so profound or so widely read as he, were his colleagues all college-bred men, and possessed of considerable erudition. Like Wilson, Tuite and Angier had won academic honors. Both were lectors »5 Letter of March 10-May 6, 1808. See note 33. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 159 in sacred theology. Again, apart from what has al ready been said, and the hallowed memories in which they have ever been held by their later brethren, let it be noted, in opposition to Father Badin's gratuitous as sertions, that it would be difficult today to find four priests more disinterested than were those four early friars in Kentucky. Certainly they did not deserve all this vituperation. This is the more evident from the fact that the gentle and humble and holy and unselfish Fenwick is singled out as the principal offender — doubt less because the French missionary imagines the future bishop to be still the superior, although he had volun tarily laid down the reins of authority months before. In some of the French missioner's correspondence An gier and Tuite are acknowledged to be gentlemen of pleasing ways and polished manners. A later document shows that Bishop Carroll was much displeased with many of Badin's actions, and with his letter of March 10-May 6, 1808. The missionary was evidently taken severely to task. In spite of this, however, he sought to justify himself in his character istic way. The result was a letter begun, August 29, and finished, October 7, 1808. It is from this that we learn of the bishop's displeasure. It is a document of more than thirty-nine closely written pages, in which its writer endeavors to defend himself by minute ex planations, a renewal of his former charges, and the assistance of select friends.36 Through all the unpleasantness the friars wrote but seldom — only when obliged to do so through duty, charity or self-defense. Their letters, calm, temperate and judicial, even under the trying circumstances, su Baltimore Archives, Case 1, I 10. 160 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. show not only a broad and kindly spirit, but much self- possession. More than once, as has been stated, they requested the bishop to designate some middle course in which all could concur. On the other hand, Fathers Badin and Nerinckx, stern, inflexible and unable to see any views except their own, wanted no compromise. Neither of them, as far as we have been able to find, ever sought the advice of the bishop in the matters under dispute. Nor did they follow his suggestions. They left nothing untried to have him condemn the Do minicans. That Bishop Carroll held all these priests of Ken tucky in high esteem is certain. It is also certain that he sought "to bridge over their differences. His mar ginal notes and underlining on the letters from Fathers Badin and Nerinckx show that he was often perplexed, if not vexed, at their charges. Precisely what he said in his letter to the French missionary that brought forth Badin's long reply of August 29-October 7, 1808, cannot now be known. But the fact that the unpleas antness, although the two clergymen continued to hold their rigid principles, begins to wane from this time, would indicate that the good prelate must have insisted on more charity and more moderation. Perhaps, too, the part the Dominicans took, in 1809, in helping Father Nerinckx to escape the administratorship of Louisiana, to which he had been appointed, had its share in the establishment of a better understanding. By the time of Bishop Flaget's arrival in Kentucky, Father Nerinckx, it would seem, had learned to esteem the friars. And during his last years in Kentucky Father Badin appears to have regarded them as his best friends. Indeed, while abroad, the French mis- AN UNPLEASANTNESS 161 sionary made two unsuccessful attempts to join the Order of Saint Dominic for the American province. Failing to become a member of the First Order, he made his profession as a Dominican tertiary, and re turned to the United States to labor under Fenwick who was then the bishop of Cincinnati. The following words of Father Wilson, written to Bishop Carroll some seven months after the friar reached the missions, we think, present a fair idea of the state of affairs in Kentucky at the time of the ar rival of the Dominicans in the state. The men [he says] , both young and old, of this poor country are very shy of Priests. A little good nature will, I hope, in time bring many to their duty. Some already drop in by degrees. Not one in twenty frequent the Sacraments — few since they left Maryland. They will not be driven, they say. And indeed, with good words, they will do almost anything for you. Con sidering their poverty, they are beyond expectation generous in our regard. I hope Almighty God will bless their good-will and desire of seeing Priests, as they call them, of their own. I hope we shall agree with Mr. Badin, whose principles, with those of Mr. Nerinckx, are somewhat rigid in many points. But this will be an affair of some prudence and forbearance.37 The characteristic of the people of Kentucky noted by the learned divine, more than a century ago, remains a characteristic of them to this day. No more stub born people can be found anywhere if one attempts to coerce them. One would look in vain for a more docile people if those who should guide them are but kind and lead the way. Father Nerinckx also remarked this trait of the Catholics in Kentucky. Had he and Father Badin adapted themselves to the spirit of their flocks, doubtless not only would their ministrations have been 87 July 25, 1806 (Baltimore Archives Case 8 B, L 5). 12 162 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. more acceptable, but the fruits of the labors at once more abundant and more lasting. In his famous letter of June 2, 1808, the Flemish missionary says to Bishop Carroll : Nevertheless, I will add this in favor of these people : however refractory very many of them are, they offer, in my opinion, much hope for good ; if the directors of their souls, be they ever so exacting (or, if you will, even strict), are only kind and gentle, and show sympathy for their weakness. Harshness terrifies and repels them ; but paternal piety wins even the unwilling.38 Father Nerinckx seldom mentions the names of those with whom he had had trouble; but Father Badin was less cautious. In this way, we learn that their differ ences were with some of the best and most influential Catholics in the state. Such, for instance, were the Spaldings, the Hamiltons, the Lancasters, the Elders and the Simpsons. In speaking of these famihes, Father Badin even surpasses the acerbity of Father Nerinckx. A fair appreciation of the French mission ary's character and practices may be found in the fol lowing words from his own pen. " Mr. Nerinckx says that I mean well, but that, in his opinion, I take the wrong means to gain the confidence of the people. My success in that difficult [affair] and many other affairs for fifteen years undoes his opinion."39 Attention has been called to the kindly attitude and spirit of the Dominicans, and to their views of the unpleasantness. Let us now give two concrete ex amples of this as exemplified in Fenwick. Writing to Rev. Robert A. Angier, who was still in Maryland, he tells his friend that he may have Father Badin as a companion on his way to Kentucky. Then he writes: 38 See note 14. 39 See note 36. AN UNPLEASANTNESS 3 63 He [Badin] has not yet offered me any of the church lands he once talked so much of. He even objects to giving us the little tract belonging to the chapel which we serve, and which was bought for the Priest who should serve it. . . . For the peace of the Church here, and for the sake of harmony among us, I wish you would request of Bishop Carroll to examine into his and Mr. Nerinckx's whole practice, and to require a clear and minute statement of the whole — and of ours — , and to pronounce whether they or we are singular in our practice, and which of us must reform.40 The other example is contained in the closing words of a letter of Fenwick to Father Concanen. The docu ment was written more than two months after the s£ lection of a bishop for Kentucky, and is the only one in which the friar so much as refers to the affair in all his correspondence with Rome. Here he writes: I have never mentioned to Rev. Mr. Badin that I had leave to admit him in our Order, as I found, on my [second] arrival in the country, his attachment and zeal for us were no longer the same as at our first meeting. His mind, we believe, was changed by associating with a new missioner from Flanders, Rev. Mr. Nerinx, who seems to have imbibed prejudices against us, and to have instilled them into the mind of Mr. Badin. Mr. Badin is a zeal ous and active man on the mission, and will likely do better under his own control and the Bishop's than in our Order. He is gen erally more zealous than prudent — in fine, much of a Frenchman. Consequently I think he is an unfit man to be Bishop of Kentucky. I wish him not to be, for our sakes, and for religion in general. Bishop Carroll, in a letter to me, says he fears his nomination will be unpopular, though he was, in the first place, recommended among others, in consequence of his zeal and long service in Ken tucky, having been [for] some time the only Priest there. I do not mean or wish, dear Sir, to hurt the good man in your opinion, but to say, though he is a man of real merit, yet [he] is unfit to 40 Fenwick, Kentucky, to Rev. R. A. Angier, Maryland, [1807] (Archives of Saint Joseph's Province). 164 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. fill a Bishop's place, on account of his overbearing, hasty temper, and his harsh, strict and rigid practice in Sacro Tribunali. This, I know, is Bishop Carroll's opinion. If you have any influence in the Pope's Council, you will serve us and the Church in Ken tucky by preventing his nomination. The good Doctor Carroll is our real friend.41 With this quotation from a document which is a fair exemplar of all the friars' letters on the question, we may close an episode which, even if it is somewhat sad, need offer no cause for shock or scandal. As long as men, even clergymen (be they ever so good), remain in this land of trial and probation, such things will oc casionally happen. Saints Augustine and Jerome are an example in point. Fathers Badin and Nerinckx were ever the attacking parties; the others necessarily on the defensive. We have dwelt on the unpleasant ness at some length, much against our liking, only be cause misrepresentation, the interest of true history and a just defense obliged us to such a course. Though the affair can hardly fail to throw something of a shadow on the names of two ambassadors of Christ which we should like to see glow with all possible luster, it casts no serious reflection on their character. Neither does it detract from their reputation for piety and apos tolic zeal. Few priests, we venture to believe, can examine the documents in the case, and fail to pronounce the teach ings and practice of the Dominicans not only kindlier, but saner, more Cathohc and better calculated to bear good fruit. Unlike Father Howlett, who deftly insin uates that it is a question whether these friars were a real benefit to the missions, those in possession of first- 41 Lexington, Kentucky, July 10, 1808 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731). AN UNPLEASANTNESS 165 hand evidence will be constrained to declare the pres ence of the Dominicans in Kentucky at that time an undisguised blessing to both the Church and the people of the state.42 That they were regarded as such a bless ing by the Catholics at large, no bad judges, we think undeniable history. As tells us a traveller, writing from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, January 14, 1825, Fen wick and Wilson the two fathers specially censured by the Belgian and French missionaries, were idols in the state. They won the hearts of all — the former by his zeal and "engaging and unaffected manners," the# latter by his "moderation and extensive ecclesiastical learning."43 It is with a feeling of no little relief that we now close this ungrateful chapter, to take up topics more useful and edifying. It has been written, we repeat, solely in vindication of good men who have been unjustly maligned. *2 Howlett, Life of Rev. Charles Nerinckx, pp. 163-164. — Although this biographer is not so unfair as Father Maes, one must needs be blind not to read his thoughts between the lines. It is indeed strange that neither of these authors could find time to say a. single good word of the future bishop of Cincinnati and his companions in religion. The early letters of Fathers Badin and Nerinckx, there can be no doubt, where responsible for the unfavorable opinion of the friars expressed by Rev. John Dilhet in his Etat de l'liglise ou du Diocese des Etats Unis. 43 United States Catholic Miscellany, July 20, 1825. CHAPTER IX " AN ITINERANT PREACHER " Father Fenwick's humility, as has been seen, caused him to request, in letter after letter to Doctor Concanen, Father Wilson's appointment as superior of his little band of Friars Preacher. Accordingly, Feb ruary 27, 1807, the Most Rev. Pius J. Gaddi, in re sponse, as the letters patent expressly declare, to this earnest solicitation, issued the document making the learned Englishman provincial of the new American branch of the Order. On the same day, Father Con canen forwarded the appointment, together with a let ter of his own, to Father Fenwick. But it was not until October that the important paper reached its des tination.1 The joy and relief that it gave the humble friar to step down into the ranks, may be best judged from his own words. "Your esteemed letter [he writes to Father Concanen] was accompanied with a copy of new offices and the patent of Prior Pronvincial for Father Wilson, which was read the next day to the community, and delivered to him, easing me of an immense load of concern and anguish of mind."2 Another cause for his happiness, we may be assured, was the prospect now opened to him of a greater liberty to engage in the apos- tolate of gathering souls to Christ. But a further brief i Wilson's letters of appointment (Archives of Saint Joseph's Province) ; Fenwick, Lexington, Kentucky, to Concanen, Rome, July 10, 1808 (Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731). 2 Fenwick's letter to Concanen as in preceding note. 166 "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 167 word on the incipient province, the church and convent of Saint Rose, and the College of Saint Thomas of Aquin is required, before taking up the subject of our friar's last apostolic years in Kentucky. Yet this course will necessitate some repetition. Father Fenwick had held the reins of authority long enough to give proof of possessing no mean administra tive ability. He had conceived and successfully launched the pious enterprise ; had gathered the nucleus of a new province of his Order, and had led his little community, first, to America, and then to Kentucky where he secured a foundation. Under him the first house of Dominicans in the United States and a pre paratory college had been built, and work begun on the church of Saint Rose. He had moulded the life of the infant institution, mapped out its course, and impressed his character upon it. So, too, had he collected the first recruits to the Order, and prepared the way for the erection of a purely secular college. It is rare, indeed, that two men are found so of one mind and one heart as were Wilson and Fenwick. Often had they discussed the policy and the outlines of the work which would best insure the success of the Order in the great American republic — the ways and means it were wisest to adopt. The two friends seemed ever to be in accord. All this assured harmony of ac tion and unchanged views. It was but natural, there fore, that Father Fenwick should rejoice in the thought that not only would what he had wrought and planned with so much painstaking care, be brought to comple tion under the management of the new superior, his friend and the man of his choice, but that the same ideas would continue to inspire his brethren and to direct the 168 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. course of the province which he had brought into exist ence. He could have made no better selection for his successor than Father Wilson. As Webb tells us: Father Thomas Wilson was fitted by nature and grace, as well as by culture, for the position to which he had been appointed. He commanded both admiration and respect, the first on account of his great learning and acknowledged talents, and the last be cause of his adherence to the right on all occasions, and the vir tues he practiced in the sight of men. It were impossible that between such a preceptor and his pupils [that is, the young can didates to the Order] there should not have grown up affection on the one hand and reverence on the other. That he loved them was shown by his solicitude in everything that concerned them, and most especially in their advancement in the knowledge of divine things ; and that he was held by them in the most profound reverence is evidenced by the fact that in their after-lives they never appeared weary of rehearsing his praises.3 Under Father Wilson's wise guidance the novitiate, than which nothing was nearer to the heart of Father Fenwick, though growth was slow, prospered fairly well, considering the great disadvantages of location, times and other circumstances. But what meant more to the future bishop than mere numbers, was the spirit of self-sacrifice, zeal, humility and religious discipline with which the young candidates were imbued. This, indeed, promised good fruit for the tree which he had planted with so much care and watched with such cease less anxiety. It told him that he had seen rightly, when he felt that the great need of the western Church was " a nursery," as he was wont to call it, wherein a prop erly trained and educated native clergy could be pre pared for the sacred ministry. Himself a man of God, Father Fenwick would have those who serve at the altar, practice the highest virtues. 3 Webb, op. cit., p. 206. terrfm Jin? :,5 6^ I •at SAINT ROSE'S CHURCH AND PRIORY AND SAINT THOMAS OF AQUIN COLLEGE, THE MOTHER INSTITUTION OF THE OLD WEST "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 169 Saint Rose's Church, in spite of earher promises, was not completed until the winter of 1809, though it was doubtless in use before that date. It was dedi cated and solemnly opened for divine service on Christ mas Day, that year.4 In the meantime, a portion of the College of Saint Thomas of Aquin — this was per haps, in part, the cause of the slow progress made on the church — had been erected and opened for the edu cation of the .youth of Kentucky. But, owing to stress of poverty, it was not until about 1812 that all the buildings, thanks to a legacy pf some two thousand dol lars from Bishop Concanen, were finally finished. The dimensions of the church, long considered among the most beautiful in the west, were one hundred and ten feet by forty. To the northern end of this was joined the main structure of the college and convent, one hun dred and five feet long and three stories high. From this again there extended to the east a wing of the same height and about eighty feet in length. Above the clus ter of buildings, all of brick and truly imposing for the times, rose a tower five and ninety feet high. This was crowned with a splendid cross.5 Although Father Fenwick, because of his active duties, did little teaching in the college, it was his con ception. So, too, for he was appointed to the office of procurator on ceasing to be superior, did the drudgery work of its construction fall largely on his willing * Father Badin to Bishop Carroll, February 5, 1810 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, J 7).— In this letter Father Badin writes; "The church of St. Rose was opened on Christmas day; that of St. Patrick [Danville] will be opened probably on the 17th or 18th of March." This document, therefore, proves Saint Rose's to have been the first brick church completed in Ken tucky. Tradition tells us that it was in use before its dedication. 5 Fenwick, Springfield, Kentucky, to Jacob Dittoe, Lancaster, Ohio, May 12, 1812 (Archives of Saint Joseph's Priory, Somerset, Ohio) ; The Catholic Advocate, March 10, 1839. 170 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. shoulders. It was the first establishment of its kind under Catholic auspices west of the Alleghany Moun tains, and one of the largest and most commodious edu cational institutions in the western or southern country. The number of youths who flocked to it from all parts was a source of no little joy, if not of some honest pride, to Father Fenwick's candid soul. In this also he saw the realization of his long-cherished dream, his Order established and laboring for the welfare of the Church in his native land. All this, however, was not accomplished without ex ertions, sacrifices and privations. The buildings, ex pensive for the day, had occasioned a heavy debt; the people were poor, the times trying, money scarce and almost impossible to obtain. Few of the pupils in the college were able to pay in full for their board and tui tion. Many, as was the custom in all pioneer educa tional institutions situated in the country, paid their way partly in kind or by manual labor. Not a few were educated out of pure charity. The most rigid economy was demanded along every line. The more advanced students, according to the wont of bygone days, helped to teach the lower grades. Not only were the priests and novices professors; their seared, brown hands told clearly that they did not, in their moments of leisure, hesitate to engage in the commonest toil. For the nov ices, who had their own studies to make, such occupa tions filled in their hours of recreation. Often were the brethren sorely put for the necessaries of life. The best they had always went to the boys, the community largely subsisting on what was left, which was not only scanty, but poor in quality. Their raiment was in keep ing with their food, meager and of coarse homespun- "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 171 Withal, the college flourished, having at one time an enrollment of more than two hundred, a large number for that period. Within its walls men of note were pre pared for their careers. Its impress upon Kentucky and the south was immensely beneficial. From its hal lowed precincts came forth scholarly priests to labor in the cause of Christ and to grace our American hier archy.6 These hardships retarded the growth of the province. For although the young men of Kentucky entered the preparatory school, or even the novitiate, in goodly numbers, few could content themselves, used as they were to a rugged life, with that on which the friars were obhged to live. It speaks volumes in praise of those early religious that no murmur was ever heard because of their poverty and privations; no word of complaint or criticism against the people for lack of generosity. But none bore these hardships more bravely or more patiently than Father Edward Dominic Fenwick. In spite of great difficulties, everyone multiplied himself, doing the work of several men. In this, again, the future apostle of Ohio was an example to the others. The good they accomplished will not be known until the day of recompense. In the boyhood days of the writer, it was a source of edification to observe the reverence with which the old people spoke of them. Their names, although but little has been written of them, are still household words through all the old parish of Saint Rose, which they served so faithfully. In October, 1807, Father Robert A. Angier arrived from Maryland, and likely brought from Bishop Car roll the letters patent of provincial for Father Wilson. « This secular college was closed, in 1828, by Father Raphael Mufios. 172 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Before this, as has been seen, Father Fenwick had shown a commendable ardor as a missionary. From this time, notwithstanding many other duties, he managed to sow the seeds of his zeal broadcast. In this he was imitated by Father Angier, a faithful co-laborer, whose pastoral efforts in the former colony of Lord Baltimore had won the highest praise from the father of our American hierarchy. At the request of the same pre late, Father Angier took up his residence in Scott County, whence he attended the widely scattered Cath olics through the northern and eastern portions of Ken tucky. Father Fenwick's letter, written from Lexing ton, July 10, 1808, to his friend, Doctor Concanen, who had then become bishop of New York, gives us a good idea of their apostolic labors: We have now [he says] acquired some knowledge of this coun try, climate, manners and customs of the poeple — so much so, I may say, as to be entirely satisfied and pleased as to the whole. The Catholics, to the number of 15,000 or 20,000 are dispersed all over the state by their poor and lowly situation, not being able to purchase lands in the richest parts.7 [This] affords us occa sions of travelling a deal, and of seeing all parts, having to ride from fifty to two hundred and near three hundred miles, to visit the sick, console the afflicted, etc. The climate is mild and healthy, the people hospitable, sincere, docile and anxious for instruction. There is no predominant religion, but a great variety of sectaries, much ignorance, and little virtue, excepting among the Cath olics, whose morals in general are good, and every way open for improvement. They seem to want nothing but mild, patient and compassionate Pastors to lead them to contentment and happi ness. They are zealous and fervent for instruction, and liberal to assist their Pastors according to their abilities, which are small.8 i This seems to be a very much exaggerated estimate of the number of Catholics in Kentucky at the time. s Archives of the Dominican Master General, Codex XIII, 731. "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 173 But the friar's zeal was not to be confined to the limits of Kentucky. In this same year (1808), he passed over the Ohio River into the state of the same name, to use a phrase that was dear to him, " in search of stray sheep," thus opening a field of fruitful toil that was to crown his name with an additional halo of glory. Of this, however, we shall speak in the following chapter. It must have been an occasion of keen joy for our subject's affectionate heart, when informed, late in 1808, by Archbishop Carroll of Doctor Concanen's ap pointment to the new bishopric of New York.8 But this happiness was abated by the knowledge that the prelate was held in Europe by the intrigues of Napo leon Bonaparte. In the early half of 1810, however, word was received that the bishop might soon be ex pected in his diocese. Accordingly, Father Fenwick was instructed by his superior to proceed to New York that he might welcome to America, in the name of the community, the friend and patron of the little province. The long journey was made in the summer of 1810. While awaiting the arrival of Doctor Concanen, and doubtless at the request of his cousin, the Rev. B. J. Fenwick, S.J., (later the second bishop of Boston), the zealous Dominican went on to Albany to administer to the spiritual needs of the Catholics in those parts. At Albany, he fell sick and was brought to death's door.10 On his return to the metropolitan city, Father Fen wick must have been shocked by the news that Bishop Concanen, a man whom he so loved and admired, and 9 On Concanen see The Catholic Historical Review, January and April, 1916. io Rev. Anthony Kohlman, New York, to Archbishop Carroll, October 12, 1810 (Baltimore Archives, Case 4, M 5). 174 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. from whose advice he expected much, had passed away suddenly at Naples, where he had gone in the hope of finding a vessel that would bring him to America. From the fact that the good friar records a baptism in the register of old Saint Peter's, on Barclay Street, No vember 16, 1810, it would seem that the loss of strength caused by his recent illness induced him to tarry in the east longer than he expected. But we soon find him back at his post of duty, and busy at his harvest for heaven. He never took any rest or recreation. Nor did he ever appear more happy than when most dili gently engaged in God's work. Again, in the next year, he journeyed back to Mary land, doubtless using the National Highway, which was then the great thoroughfare between the east and the middle west, and visiting his flock in Ohio as he passed along the way. On his return, he joined Bishop Flaget and his retinue at Pittsburgh and accompanied them to the episcopal see of Bardstown. Because of his ex perience in travelling and his knowledge of the country, the Dominican was appointed by the bishop to act " as purveyor and general superintendent" for the little ecclesiastical body as they descended the Ohio.11 The arrival of their bishop was an occasion of undis guised joy to all Kentucky, but to none more than to Father Fenwick and his brethren. It was perhaps on the occasion of the voyage down the Ohio, of which we have just spoken, that was commenced a lasting friend ship with the Rev. Guy Ignatius Chabrat, then in sub- deacon's orders, but later auxiliary to Bishop Flaget. And in this connection, it may be noticed that our mis sionary and his confreres had the happiness, Saturday, n Spalding, Life of Bishop Flaget, p. 69. "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 175 December 21, 1811, of seeing their young friend made an ambassador of Christ in their church of Saint Rose.12 It was the first ordination to the priesthood in Ken tucky, and an occasion of much pious curiosity for the people. By this time, Father Fenwick's travels in the fulfill ment of his apostolate had caused him to be known as " an itinerant preacher." It was a sobriquet that not only amused him, but afforded him a little honest pride, possibly because it likened him to the historic "Friars Pilgrim for Christ" (Fratres Itiner antes) who were organized, in the early days of the Order, to labor for the conversion of pagans in eastern Europe and west ern Asia.13 His life, while not so beset with perils, was perhaps no less strenuous, and not much less lonely than was that of the " Friars Pilgrim," his confreres of old. Nor were his early labors free from dangers. His travels exposed him to all extremes of weather. Often he had to swim his horse across swollen streams to reach a mission he was to attend, or to administer the sacraments to some one in the agony of death. Not in frequently, when overtaken by darkness in the wilder ness, and he did not know his way, he was obliged to alight from his horse and to spend the night in the back woods of Kentucky, still infested with wolves and other beasts of prey. Grace, nature and his early training in Maryland combined to fit our missioner for such a ministerial life. 12 Bishop Flaget, Kentucky, to Archbishop Carroll, Baltimore, January 1, 1812 (Baltimore Archives, Case 8 A, K 3).— This letter refutes the statement which one often reads, that Father Chabrat was ordained on Christmas Day. The bishop says positively: " On the 21st December, I had the happiness of ordaining Mr. Chabrat. The ceremony was performed in St. Rose's Church." is For the Friars Pilgrim for Christ see O'Daxiel, The Friars Preacher, A Seventh Century Sketch, pp. 57 ff. 176 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. He was one of God's chosen servants. He hved only for Christ and his neighbor. He thirsted for labor as for his daily bread. To an unquenchable thirst for souls he joined an unflagging perseverance, which caused him to keep ceaselessly active, and carried him in every direction. His horse's back was said to be his home; the saddle his house of prayer, for he read his breviary while riding from one place to another. No matter what his fatigue or indisposition, he always said his daily mass whenever it was possible to do so. Often would he travel many miles fasting that he might have the happiness of offering up the holy sacrifice. Fortunately, the outdoor life which he now led, while it did not add to his strength, steeled Father Fen wick's nerves, and gave him an energy that seemed never to tire. To great patience he added mild, affable manners, and a kindly disposition that made his ways captivating. His honest face was an index to the honest soul within. With a marvellous facility of adapting himself to every emergency and every character he com bined a wonderful talent for winning men to God. An American himself, frank, open and sincere, he possessed to an extraordinary degree the gift of dealing with his non-Catholic fellow-countrymen, and of bringing them into the Church. Few, if any, of the early missionaries of Kentucky made more converts than he during the time he labored in the state. It is said that, so thorough were his instructions, those whom he brought into the fold were sure to remain. Having paid the beautiful tribute to Father Wilson which we have seen, Bishop Spalding proceeds to be stow a no less edifying and deserved encomium upon Father Fenwick. "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 177 Another ornament of the Order in North America [he writes], less brilliant, but, perhaps, more useful still, was the illustrious Father Edward Fenwick. After he had resigned the office of superior, he became a general missionary. He was seldom at home, and lived almost constantly on horseback. His zeal for the salvation of souls was as boundless as it was untiring and per severing. He traversed Kentucky in every direction, in quest of scattered Catholic families, whom he was wont to designate as " stray sheep." Often was he known to ride thirty or forty miles out of his way, to visit a lonely Catholic family, of whose ex istence he had been informed. Though not gifted with great natural talents, he possessed a peculiar tact for winning souls to Christ.14 His manners were of the most familiar, affable, and winning kind. He could adapt himself to every emergency, anfl to every description of character and temperament. Frank, open and sincere by nature, and an American himself, he possessed an instinctive talent for dealing with Americans, whether Catholics or Protestants. Multitudes of the latter were converted to Cath olicity through his agency. Often, after a long and painful ride, he reached, at night-fall, the house of a distant Catholic family, which he had determined to visit. Before dismounting from his horse, he frequently, on these occasions, entered into familiar conversation with his new acquaintances, by telling them, " that he had travelled out of his way in quest of ' stray sheep ' ; and asking them whether they had heard of any such in that vicinity? " Having thus established a sort of intimacy, he explained to them, in the course of the even ing, the symbolical meaning of " stray sheep," and seldom failed of his object.15 Father Fenwick's affable temperament and kindly disposition were so well known, that they are spoken of to this day by the people of Saint Rose's congregation. An amusing incident of an inconvenience which his i* We must demur to this statement of Doctor Spalding. Father Fen wick possessed splendid natural gifts. is Spaijhng, Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky, pp. 155-156. 13 178 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. good name caused him, through his nephew, Father Nicholas D. Young, has come down to us by tradition, and has been recorded in the work from which we have just quoted. It deserves a place in this biography; and we cannot do better than give it as narrated by the same charming writer. He was sent for by an old lady, not a Catholic, who lived at a distance of four miles. Having no horse at the time, he was com pelled to perform the journey on foot, in a dark night, and over bad roads. On reaching the house, he found the old lady sitting by the fire, surrounded by her friends. She stated to him very gravely, that knowing him to be a very kind-hearted man, she had sent for him in order to procure twenty-five cents' worth of tobacco, of which she then stood greatly in need! Father Fen wick, though excessively wearied, could not suppress a laugh at the old lady's vexatious conceit. He handed her the money, stat ing that he was not in the habit of carrying tobacco in his pockets ; and on leaving the house, simply requested her, with a smile, to send to him for the money the next time she needed tobacco, and not to put him to the trouble of travelling four miles on foot.16 Other incidents not dissimilar in character have been told of the kind-hearted friar. But we may feel that he did not suffer them to ruffle a temper over which he had perfect control. One such episode that has been asso ciated with his name, is found in an interesting little volume written by Father John Grassi, S.J., in 1818. It tells us, in substance, that a Dominican father was summoned on a distant sick-call. When he reached the house, after a ride of thirty miles through the forest, he was surprised to find the lady who had sent for him al most as well as himself. Nor was this all. As he had had trouble in finding his way through the woods, she islbid., p. 156. "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 179 mounted her horse and acted as his guide for some dis tance on the return journey.17 We have recorded these incidents, because they are not merely side-lights on the frontier-life of bygone days, and the hardships of our pioneer missionaries: they bring into clearer rehef the beautiful, Christ-like character of Cincinnati's first Catholic bishop. They show how his courage shrank before no trial, and was appalled by no difficulty. They are incentives for later generations to imitate those that have gone before. They edify, and cause honor to be given to those to whom honor is due. • Of our friar the Hon. Ben. J. Webb, the leading his torian of the Church in Kentucky, says : Fathers Fenwick and Angier found ample employment in traversing the State after what the former was in the habit of denominating " stray sheep." In addition to the older Catholic settlements in Nelson and Washington counties, there were minor settlements in Scott, Madison, Fayette, Jefferson, Bullitt and Breckinridge counties, and isolated Catholic families living in almost all the other organized counties of the State. Many of these settlements and families had rarely or never been visited by a priest. Father Fenwick saw and appreciated the danger to which these hapless persons were exposed, and he sought to lessen or avert it. With the approbation of his superior, he became an itinerant, and from that time to the date of his installation as first bishop of the See of Cincinnati, he may be said to have liter ally lived in the saddle. His zeal was as restless as it was earnest. It was a common thing with him to ride a distance of fifty miles, sustained by the mere hope that he might be of spiritual service 17 Grassi, Notizie Varie sullo Stato Presente delta Republica degli Stati Uniti dell' America Settentrionale Scritto al Principio del 1818 (2nd ed.), pp. 132-33. — The late Rev. E. I. Devitt, S.J., translated parts of this little book for the Woodstock Letters, XI, 234 ff., giving it the title: " The Catholic Religion in the United States in 1818." Father Grassi does not mention the name of the Dominican who made the useless journey; but tradition tells us that it was one of Father Fenwick's experiences. 180 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. to some out-dweller in the wilderness, whose name, casually heard, was associated in his mind with that of some Catholic family he had known in Maryland. He traversed and retraversed Ken tucky, in all directions, everywhere accomplishing his purpose, which was but to give opportunity to isolated Catholic families of reconciling themselves with God through the worthy reception of the sacraments. He had a wonderful gift of persuasion, and being able to adapt himself and his discourse to the individual peculiarities of his hearers, he was rarely known to fail in his en deavors to infuse into them something of his own spirit.18 In his humility and desire to hide from his left hand the good deeds of his right, Father Fenwick rather pre ferred to leave the more populous Catholic colonies to the care of the other missionaries. Although his minis trations to the widely scattered small settlements, iso lated families, or even individual Catholics, entailed more riding, hardships and privations, in addition to being a source of expense to his already poverty- stricken community, he realized that in this he was surely doing the work of the Saviour. He seemed to feel that he was acting the part of the good shepherd of Scripture, who left the nine and ninety sheep to search for the one that was lost. Doubtless it was his zeal to aid such neglected members of the faith that fathered his well-known expression, that he was "in search of stray sheep." But the man of God did not hmit his search to those of the household. He had ever before his mind the words of Christ, who said: "And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold: them also I must. bring; and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd" (John X, 16). Nothing was nearer to our Dominican's heart than to make these words of the is Webd, op. cit., pp. 204-205. "AN ITINERANT PREACHER" 181 divine Master a realization. As the same historian remarks : In his many journeys in Kentucky, Father Fenwick was nec essarily thrown much into the company of Protestants ; and he learned by degrees to appreciate the principal obstacles to their conversion. To remove these obstacles, without incurring the suspicion of intrusiveness, was always one of the most pains taking of his employments. In countries denominated Christians, there have been few missionary priests who were more successful than Father Fenwick in inducing returns to Catholic unity.19 We have now arrived at a place in our narrative* where we must speak of the widening of the field of its subject's apostolic activity. But the transfer of his labors from Kentucky to Ohio brought no change in the tenor of his life, except the added care and responsi bility consequent on the burden of honor and enlarged zeal. ib Ibid., p. 205. CHAPTER X EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO: CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL The romantic glamour with which the discoveries and explorations of the Spaniards in the New World are invested, is known to every American reader. Their brave, but long futile, attempts to colonize Flor ida are full of pathetic interest. Beginning with the successful efforts of Pedro Menendez de Aviles, in 1565, however, the proud conquistadors gradually gained possession of that peninsula, together with the territory adjacent to the northern borders of the Gulf of Mexico. From the time of successfully founding the James town Settlement, Virginia, in 1607, the English grad ually established colonies along the eastern coast as far north as Maine and as far south as Georgia. But it was in the present Dominion of Canada that the French obtained their first firm footing in the Western Hemi sphere. There, in 1608, they founded the picturesque city of Quebec on the banks of the beautiful Saint Law rence. Nor were they slow to raise the standard of their native land in other localities of the northern country. The Spaniard remained at the south, where he made our earliest history, whether civic or ecclesiastical. The Briton long clung to the Atlantic seaboard, contenting himself with wresting the settlement of New York from the Dutch, with encroachments upon his southern neigh bor, and with efforts to prevent the progress of the Gal- lican colonies at the north. But the bold, restless, dar- 182 EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 183 ing Gaul soon struck inland. The hardy French trapper and fur trader, in plying their business, pene trated the forests and threaded their way along the water courses ever farther and farther towards the west. In the wake of these followed pioneer settlers of the same race, full of adventure and alert for gain. They happily fraternized with the red man and won his friendship. In this way, by the opening of the eight eenth century, a chain of colonies and forts or posts, over which floated the flag of France, stretched from Quebec to the Great Lakes, and thence on to the Mis sissippi. Down the Father of Waters these venturesome spirits had made their way to its debouchment into the Gulf of Mexico, where they were soon to lay the foundation of New Orleans. Along the borders of this majestic stream there arose another cordon of French forts and colonies. Similar stockade settlements were planted here and there in the present states of Illinois and In diana. Although the Ohio River had been discovered and explored by the chevalier,. Robert de la Salle, in 1669 or 1670, and a fort had been erected on the Mau- mee or Miami, in 1680, the territory embraced in our modern commonwealth of Ohio seems for a long time not to have offered any special attraction for the French. But in 1749, Celoron de Bienville traversed this por tion of the New World, took possession of it in the name of the king of France, and deposited leaden seals in attestation of his official act. No doubt this step was taken not less to protect France's more westerly do mains against the encroachments of the English from the east, than to secure the great wealth which, it could 184 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. now be seen, would some day accrue to the masters of so beautiful and so favored a country. About the same time forts were erected at Erie, Pennsylvania, on San dusky Bay, and on the Cuyahoga and the Great Miami rivers. Later still, Fort Duquesne was built at the forks of the Alleghany and Monongahela, where now stands Pittsburgh, as a defense against an approaching enemy. At this period, France possessed in North America an area perhaps twenty times larger than that held by England. Yet these colonies were neglected by the mother country, and the British in the New World out numbered the French by twenty or more to one. Not only did the diocese of Quebec include all the present Dominion of Canada : it embraced the Ohio Valley, ran down the Mississippi to New Orleans, and extended indefinitely towards the west. All priests in this limit less expanse of territory were subject to the jurisdic tion of the bishop of Quebec, and owed him obedience. Thus the French, as far as history can tell us, were the first of the white race to set foot on the soil of Ohio, of which Father Fenwick was destined to become the apostle. Like the Spaniards, they were Catholics. Like the Spaniards again, they regarded explorations perhaps almost as much as a means of carrying the word of God, the knowledge of Christ, and salvation to the aborigines, as of enlarging the dominions of their king abroad. Whatever may be said of the Spanish conquerors on other grounds, it must be admitted that the early settlers of that race sought to implant Chris tianity and Catholicity in the New World. The Eng lish colonies, with the exception of Maryland, were founded under not merely non-Cathohc, but in general EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 185 hostilely anti-Catholic auspices. The purposes of their settlers were neither so noble, nor so pure, nor so disin terested as were the aims of the French and Spanish colonists. In spite of what one reads at times, the fate of the red man, wherever the Anglo-Saxon gained a footing, proves only too conclusively the treatment he received from the British pioneer. As with the Span iards, so with the French, missionary priests were ever found in the vanguard of exploration. Not infre quently, indeed, the zeal of these ecclesiastics to win the Indian to God and to save his soul, though theij^ efforts were not always successful, led them to outstrip the discoverers, and to prepare the way for their on ward march. With the French at the north were Franciscan Re collects, secular priests, Jesuits and Sulpicians. The labors of these faithful ambassadors of Christ in the northwest constitute some of our most edifying and in teresting history, whether civil or ecclesiastical. But the Fathers of the Society of Jesus were both the earliest and the more numerous of the missionaries who accom panied the French explorers and settlers into the parts of the present United States of which we have spoken. They were the first to sow the seed of the Gospel in what is now, in point of population, the fourth state of the Union, Ohio.1 It were thus a small stretch of fancy to believe that the Rev. Edward D. Fenwick must have felt honored in being chosen to succeed these mission aries in their apostolic labors in Ohio; for it was from members of this order, which we know he loved and ad- i Shea, History of the Catholic Church in the United States, III, 330; Hot/ck, The Church in Northern Ohio, and the Diocese of Cleveland (edition of 1903), I, 2-6. See also Vol. I of Shea's history and his life of Archbishop Carroll, passim. 186 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. mired, that he had received his earliest lessons in holi ness in his native Maryland. While, as the uppermost parts of Ohio lay along the path of the missioners, fur traders and explorers, it is likely that these priests entered the state at an earlier date, no document has been discovered to show their presence there before 1749. During that year, says Doctor Shea, Father Joseph de Bonnecamp accom panied de Bienville in his expedition to lay claim to the territory for France. But there is no record of the mis sionary performing ministerial functions for the abo riginal inhabitants on that occasion. About 1751, continues the same author, was erected " the first shrine of Catholicity within the limits of the present state of Ohio." Its builder was Father Armand de la Richardie, S.J.; its site that whereon stands our modern Sandusky. Father de la Richardie appears to have come down from near Detroit with a part of the Huron tribe, who became known in their new abode as the Wyandots. Fathers Potier and de Bonnecamp, of the same order, are also said to have labored among the Indians along the southern shores of Lake Erie.2 But the vicissitudes of war were soon to force these zealous priests from their latest field of toil in what is now the near-west. The historic impossibility of the French and English to harmonize had combined with thirst for earthly glory and possessions, and with the Briton's strong anti-Catholic animosity, to bring the colonies of the two nations into irreconcilable an tagonism. Learning of the endless resources of the western country under the sway of the French, the English now 2 See note 1. EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 187 began to look with wistful eyes towards that portion of the New World, and to plan wresting it from the hands of the enemy, that its vast wealth might be turned into their own coffers. The French claimed the territory because they had discovered and occupied it. The British based their claims to it on the less tangible grounds of John Cabot's discovery of the northern At lantic shores in 1497, the vague charters of some of their colonies, various purchases from the Six Nations, or the Iroquois, and the Treaty of Utrecht, by which these Indians were acknowledged to be Enghsh subjects. In virtue of this treaty, says Parkman, the Briton "laid claim to every mountain, forest and prairie where the Iroquois had taken a scalp."3 Nor can it be denied, we think, that the English colonists could not brook the idea of having Catholics on every side of them. This was as fuel added to the fire. Eventually these rival contentions broke out into the open hostilities known as the French and Indian War. This was in 1754. At first, it was a conflict between the French and English colonies. But in 1756 the quarrel was taken up by France and England, these two nations having declared war against each other during that year. At the outset, in spite of their smaller num bers, success was on the side of the French; but in the end the tide turned in favor of the Briton. The sur render of Quebec, September 18, 1759, decided the fate of the Gallican possessions in North America. By the Treaty of Paris, signed February 10, 1763, France not only ceded to England her claims to the Ohio Val ley, but surrendered the whole of Canada.4 3 Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, I, 125. 4 The facts given so far in this chapter, without reference, may be found in any good history. 188 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. The Treaty of Paris guaranteed to the inhabitants, both red and white, of Canada and the Ohio Valley pro tection and freedom in the exercise of their religion. Later, Great Britain proceeded to annex to the Prov ince of Canada the vast expanse of country stretching from the Alleghany Mountains westward to the Mis sissippi, and from the Ohio northward to the Great Lakes. This was in 1774. The measure, which is known in history as the Quebec Act, was likely taken, in large part, the better to carry out the agreement of the treaty regarding Catholic worship in the newly ac quired territories. The original Anglo-American set tlements along the Atlantic seaboard were intensely angered at this enactment of the Enghsh Parliament. Yet the imprecations which these colonists heaped upon the Quebec Act, show that men of their temperament could not wisely have been entrusted with so sacred and so delicate a duty. Their mental constitution made it impossible for them to look with equanimity upon favors shown Roman Catholics. Indeed, there can be no doubt but that this act had not a little to do with the declaration of the war for independence.5 Through the French and Indian War the mother country unwittingly prepared the way for the loss of both her own original American colonies and all the western country which she had so lately annexed to Canada. Not merely had the conflict given the colo nists a knowledge of their strength, and taught them the science of warfare ; it had imbued them with a spirit of independence and a love of liberty, which, when their g One can hardly read the anti-Catholic literature that appeared in the English-speaking colonies at this period without coming to such a con clusion. EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 189 own day of oppression came, united them in their suc cessful effort to throw off the yoke of bondage. But in a work like the present it is not necessary to say more of the revolution that made us a free and independent nation, than that the necessity of unity which it imposed upon the colonists, did much towards dissipating the spirit of religious intolerance which mars the pages of our early history. To no other religious body was this so advantageous as to Catholics. It opened the way for a growth of Catholicity in the new American re public such as no other country of modern times has ever seen. # As has been stated in a preceding chapter, this was a subject on which Father Fenwick loved to dwell. He watched the progress of the Church in the land of his birth with a keen delight. Indeed, though he did not live to see its fullest development, no heart could have rejoiced more than that of Cincinnati's first ordinary at the growth of Catholicity on all sides. There can be no doubt that the desire to contribute his mite to so holy a cause had a strong influence on our friar's life, and acted as a spur to his zeal, both as a missionary and as a bishop, in his labors in Kentucky and Ohio. But it is now time to return to the history of Ohio, which was soon to become the field of the apostolate of the subject of our narrative. The earliest successes of the English in the French and Indian War were in the west. These obliged the Jesuit Fathers, after a few years of labor, to withdraw from their missions on the southern shores of Lake Erie and to retire into Canada. Thence until more than thirty years later, there is no trace of a priest or of Catholic activity within the present limits of the state. But in 1790, Father Peter Joseph 190 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. Didier, the pioneer Benedictine in the United States, appeared at Gallipolis, in southern Ohio. He came to take spiritual charge of the ill-planned and ill-fated Scioto Colony that had just arrived from France. Al though Father Didier was a zealous and pious priest, his labors there were of short duration. He built no. church. Finding many of the colonists discontented, unruly and deeply imbued with the spirit and principles of the French Revolution, and despairing of accom plishing any permanent good, he continued his way to Saint Louis, where he toiled on in the cause of Christ until his death.6 Again, late in 1793, Gallipolis was visited by two other missionaries. They were Fathers Peter Barriere and Stephen T. Badin, who stopped at the little French colony on their way down the Ohio. They were joy fully received by the backwoodsmen. But their stay lasted only three days, during which they baptized forty children. Then they journeyed on to Kentucky, to whose missions they had been sent by Bishop Carroll.7 It would seem that Great Britain, at the time of the treaty of 1763, promised that the Anglo- Americans along the Atlantic seaboard would not be permitted to molest the Indians north of the Ohio River. Certainly the king of England later gave instructions that these colonists should not take up homes or make settlements in the territory incorporated in the Province of Can ada.8 Possibly, the purpose of this ordinance was also, at least in part, to keep faith with the promise to His e Shea, Life and Times of the Most Rev. John Carroll, pp. 481-82; The Catholic Historical Review, IV, 415 ff. (The Gallipolis Colony, by Rev. L. J. Kenney, S.J.) ¦? Badhj (Un Temoin Oculaire) Origine et Progres de la Mission du Kentucky, p. 16. 8 Graham, History of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio, Part I, p. 45. EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 191 Christian Majesty of France to safeguard the religion of his former subjects. Be this as it may, although there was some emigration to this region, the great march westward, at first, took a more southerly course into Kentucky and Tennessee. After the concession of independence to the confed erated colonies, the mother country gave an example of that disingenuousness which has often characterized her actions. Although in the Treaty of Paris, Septem ber 3, 1783, Britain ceded all the western country south of the Great Lakes to the United States, under futile pretenses she continued to hold the forts in the nor^h of this territory. Nor was this all. Hoping to regain the lost provinces, she not only encouraged the Indians in their warfare against the Americans, but furnished them ammunition and arms. For this reason, one must concur with the following assertion of Howe : " All the lives lost, the forts built, and the expeditions made in the northwest, from 1785 to 1794, are a continuation of the war of the Revolution against England."9 All this tended to retard the colonization of Ohio. In fact, not until the crushing defeat of the Indians by General Anthony Wayne in the western part of the state, August, 1794, was the white man there free from the danger of the scalping knife. Even after the treaty of peace with the Indians which followed in the next year, the British built Fort Miami on the Maumee, near the present Perrysburg, Wood County. The presence of the English soldiers in this locality was the occasion of the temporary exercise of minis terial functions in northern Ohio by a priest of note. a Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio, I, 123. — Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, V, 226-227) characterizes the conduct of the British in the northwest at this period as black in the extreme. 192 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. In 1794, Rev. Edmund Burke, a native of Ireland, was sent to the northwest by the bishop of Quebec as admin istrator of Upper Canada. Before the close of the year he was on the Raisin River, Michigan, where he dedi cated the church of Saint Anthony of Padua. But he soon took up his residence on the southern shores of Lake Erie, near Fort Miami. Here he attended the Pottawatomies and Chippewas. Father Burke's min istrations, however, were brief, ceasing with the with drawal of the British soldiers whom he accompanied back to Canada. This was early in 1796. Thus the youthful United States were finally freed from foreign occupation. Burke subsequently became titular bishop of Sion and vicar apostolic of Nova Scotia.10 Great Britain's reprehensible course was, further more, a source of confusion in the ecclesiastical affairs of Quebec and Baltimore, of which Father Burke's mis sion is an instance. Prior to the Revolution, as has been stated, all the territory ceded to the United States west of the Alleghany Mountains and north of the Ohio River was subject to the see of Quebec. The thirteen original colonies were under the authority of the vicar apostolic of London. But in 1785 Father John Car roll was appointed prefect apostolic of the new re public; and on August 15, 1790, he was consecrated bishop of Baltimore. His jurisdiction was coterminous with the new-born country. Yet the occupation of American soil by British troops led the ordinary of Quebec to believe that the northwest was still a part of his diocese, and caused him to seek to supply it with missionaries. Nor was all doubt in the matter removed until the last English soldier was withdrawn. i" Shea, Life and Times of the Most Rev. John Carroll, pp. 474-480; Hotjck, op. cit., pp. 6-7. EARLY HISTORY OF OHIO 193 Such, in briefest outline, is the early history of the field of Father Edward Fenwick's future labors, to gether with the events that led to its discovery, and to its finally becoming a part of the great American re public. Of the white race Ohio had few at the close of the American Revolution. Among these there were perhaps no Cathohcs, with the exception of an odd Frenchman or Canadian, upon whose shoulders the cloak of rehgion sat loosely, and upon whose life it ex ercised but httle beneficial influence. As yet the state had httle history that is worth recording. Still we felt it incumbent upon us to give this chapter as a setting for the tireless Dominican's apostolate in the north. Certainly it will throw light upon the faithful toils of Ohio's apostle and first bishop, whose life and labors in the state are the corner-stone upon which its Catholic history is built. From the time of the withdrawal of the British troops from its boundaries, Ohio rapidly increased in impor tance. Its population grew in leaps and bounds. Among the earliest settlers there appears to have been few, if any, Catholics. In time, however, appeals for spiritual guides from the scattered faithful who had taken up homesteads within its boundaries, attracted the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities, causing them to take steps for the succor of religion in the new state of the west. But to tell of this and of laying the foundations of the Church in that fair part of the Union will be the burden of the following chapter. 14 CHAPTER XI MISSIONARY IN THE NORTH For some years after Rev. Edmund Burke's return to Canada, no further effort, so far as is now known, was made to send Cathohc missionaries into Ohio. Rev. Stephen T. Badin, however, returning to Kentucky from Maryland, stopped at Gallipolis late in 1807. Of his second visit there he writes Bishop Carroll: "On Christmas day I officiated at Gallipolis, where I found still a spark of faith. That settlement has much de clined since I visited it first; but they assure me that there are many Irish Catholic families in the vicinity."1 In the meantime, November 29, 1802, the territory of Ohio had been admitted to the rights of statehood, and the population of the new commonwealth was grow ing with marvellous rapidity. The situation of the few Catholics who found their way into its limits, deprived as they were of all spiritual succor, must have been dis tressing indeed. How keenly this bereavement was felt by Jacob Dittoe, one of the noblest early Catholic set tlers in the state, may be seen from the following letter to Bishop Carroll. Lancaster [Ohio], January 5th, 1805. Rev. Sir: Since my arrival in this country, I wrote you, satisfied that every exertion would be made to establish a church in this part of the country, as it had been and is my greatest expectation in com ing here. I must still press this subject upon you, not doubting i Rev. S. T. Badin, Bardstown, Kentucky, to Bishop Carroll, January 7, 1808 (Baltimore Archives, Case 1, I 5). 194 MISSIONARY IN THE NORTH 195 but every means in your power will be used to that end. Every day's acquaintance in this country brings to my knowledge some of that profession tossed about through this country by the vicissitudes of fortune, deprived of the advantages of church communion; and [they are] extremely anxious for an establish ment of that kind, and [to] contribute, as far as [lies] in their power to support it. As you know that an appropriation of a piece of land would go to make an establishment of that kind more permanent than any other possession, I still hope that the contemplated applica tion to Congress to that effect has been made with success ; if not, a pre-emption (or the exclusive right of purchasing at two dol lars per acre) might be granted. In either case, the object would be secured. I before sent you the number of [the] Section of Lot to be applied for, which is Section 21, in Township 17, and Range 17 ; if not the whole, the south half of which would answer a good purpose. There are of our profession in this place that I am acquainted with, about thirty souls. Two families of my ac quaintance that will be here this ensuing spring, adding the prob able migration from the neighborhood of Conawago under sim ilar circumstances with me, (when I saw them), leave but little doubt with me but [that] a considerable congregation may be made here in a little time. I have [no] information whether the authority may be de pended upon as correct, that [says] an ordination of both Bishops and Priests will take place this spring, some of which, or of both, you design for Kentucky. If so, this place will be on their way to that country ; and [I] write you directions [to give] to any that you would send to give us a call. I live near Lancaster, State of Ohio. Any person coming under such direc tions from you, will not only be directed where to find me, but gladly received by a Mr. Boyle of the said town, who with his family are of the same Church. I hope to hear from you soon, and . . . remain, with much respect, yours sincerely, Jacob Dittoe.2 z Baltimore Archives, Case 3, D 7. In the reproduction of this and two other letters of Dittoe, given in this chapter, we have taken the liberty of correcting a few errors of the simple German farmer in spelling, punctua tion and the misuse of three or four words. Other than this the docu ments are given as in the originals— in all their simple, quaint style. 196 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. The venerable prelate of Baltimore has noted on the back of this document the probability of being able to establish a church " north of the Ohio." In consequence of this correspondence, it would seem, a tract of land was secured from the United States Government for that purpose, but was suffered, through want of means, to lapse back into the public domain. The few Cath olics of Ohio still remained without a pastor. Some of them, doubtless despairing of saving their souls in such a state of spiritual bereavement, appear either to have returned to the east, or to have moved to different parts of the west. Others probably gave up their religion. Brave Jacob Dittoe, however, lost neither his faith nor the hope of finally seeing a priest in the vicinity of his pioneer home. In the meantime he moved to near where now stands the town of Somerset, whence he wrote three years later: Dear Fattier and Vicar of Jesus Christ: I solicit your assistance the second time to make up the money to pay for the Church land. There are $480.00 to be paid on or before the fourth day of June next, with $58.00 interest; and in one year's time the land will be forfeited to the United [States], or paid [for] with $160.00 interest. John Shorb and Henry Fink were with us one year ago. Mr. Shorb did say he believed there might some money be collected at Conawago, if any man would undertake it. Therefore I sent four subscrip tion papers, of which you received one, John Mathias one, Henry Fink one, and Joseph Sneering one. Therefore please to let your word go unto them to exert themselves in gathering this sum of money, and not to suffer this noble tract of land to be lost, with the money paid thereon — or [to] any other that would ad vance a little money.8 8 Jacob Dittoe, New Lancaster [Lancaster], Ohio, to Bishop Carroll, February 1, 1808 (Baltimore Archives, Case 3, D. 8). MISSIONARY IN THE NORTH 197 He then proceeds to describe the land, which appears to have been a half section or tract of three hundred and twenty acres, as " the best of limestone land," and cov ered with " oak, hickory and walnut." Doubtless it was to make this plea the stronger that the staunch pioneer tells the bishop: "We will exert ourselves in making improvements on the said land. If you have any pros pect of sending a priest, we will have a good house for him to go in, with a tenant," etc. The place will not be lonesome for a pastor, as it is only two miles from the National Highway, along which clergymen must fre quently pass, in travelling between the east and the west. He himself now lives on the National Road, fourteen miles east of Lancaster. The bishop will kindly give this information to any priest he may in struct to pay a visit to that part of Ohio. The reports, continues the loyal Teuton, that are said to be circulated in the east in regard to the unhealthy climate of Ohio, are untrue. Statistics prove it to have been more wholesome for the last three years than that of Maryland. Dittoe's own family has enjoyed splen did health ; and the place where he now lives, and where the church land lies, is particularly salubrious. On the reverse of this letter, Doctor Carroll has marked the communication as " Important," which in clines us to beheve that, because of Dittoe's appeal, the bishop now wrote to his friend, Father Fenwick, re questing him to visit this desolate Catholic family, and to ascertain the feasibility of estabhshing a mission in the north. Be this as it may, before the close of 1808, the zealous friar had left his conventual home in Ken tucky, and penetrated into the forests of Ohio. The years 1808, 1810 and 1814 have all been assigned 198 RIGHT REV. E. D. FENWICK, O.P. as the date of Father Fenwick's earliest entrance into his northern mission. But the missionary himself, in a circular letter, dated December 13, 1823, and addressed to the people of Italy to obtain aid for the poor diocese over which he had lately been appointed bishop, gives a brief outline of his life and labors, and states expressly that he went into Ohio, for the first time, in 1808. The same statement is made no less positively in two other similar appeals, both of which belong to about the same time, and evidently emanated from the bishop himself. One is directed to the people of Spain, the other to the Catholics of England.4 An accurate article on the mis sions of Ohio published in the United States Catholic Miscellany, February 24, 1827, gives us a similar story. The contributor to the Miscellany does not sign his name ; but the style reveals Rev. N. D. Young, O.P., a nephew of the bishop, who was wont to write to its editor on the Church of that state. Father Young was one of the first novices at Saint Rose's, and none knew better than he the labors of his uncle in the north. In fact, 1808 is the date assigned to this event in more than one published account going back to the holy man's life time, or shortly after his death. We learn the same from an unbroken tradition in the Dominican Order * We have before us a photostat copy of the appeal to the people of Italy. A rough draft of the one in Spanish is in the archives of the Dominican Master General (XIII, 731); while that to the Catholics of England is given in the Catholic Miscellany, London, IV, 428-432. The same date (1808) is found in a Flemish pamphlet which was printed at Antwerp, August, 1824, and contains an appeal in behalf of the new bishop. So again Spalding (Life of Bishop Flaget, page 202) tells us that a French account of the early missions in Ohio, published at Paris in 1824, gives 1808 as the year of Father Fenwick's first visit to that state. We are aware that several other accounts place that event in 1810; but their asser tions seem to have come from one original error. MISSIONARY IN THE NORTH 199 and among the Catholics of Perry County, the sphere of the friar's earliest ministrations in Ohio.5 From Father Badin's letters Bishop Carroll knew that the Dominican missionary intended going to Mary land during 1808.6 Doubtless, therefore, he requested the friar to pass through Ohio on his way, to seek out the home of Jacob Dittoe, to administer to the Catholics he should find along the route, and to learn the pros pects for the Church in that part of the west, that he might make a report on his arrival at Baltimore. The time of the journey can only be approximated. Fen wick's letter to Concanen from Lexington, July 10*, 1808, proves that he was still in Kentucky. But a letter of Father Badin from the same state to Archbishop 5 In the Dominican Year Book, 1913, pp. 89-90, we maintained that Fen wick's first visit to Ohio was most likely in 1810. Later researches, how ever, show that we were in error. Those who have given 1814 as the date of this event, have based their claims on a letter of the bishop to Father Badin in the London Catholic Spectator, I, 350-353. The Spectator (p. 351) makes the bishop say: "When I first came to the State of Ohio, 9 years ago, I discovered only three Catholic families from Limestone [the modern Maysville] to Wheeling." This document bears the date of 1823, and some have accordingly concluded that 1814 is the date of the Domini can's earliest visit to the northern missions. But in the face of the testi mony given in the text it seems certain that the words " 9 years ago " are an oversight, or a mechanical error. Certainly there was a good chance for such an error to occur. As the Spectator's heading shows, Badin made one document out of three of Fenwick's letters, dated respectively, Cincinnati, May 20, and Bordeaux, August 8, and II, 1823. The English of the docu ment leaves no doubt but that Fenwick wrote the letters in French, and that Badin translated them. We have before us photographs of a partial and a complete manuscript copy of Father Badin's translation. Both are in his own handwriting, bear the three dates given above, and show innu merable erasures and changes. Both differ quite noticeably, not only from one another, but from the Spectator. This shows that still a third transla tion was made and sent to England for publication. The translations which