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For the Honor and Glory of God: The Philadelphia Bible Riots of 1840

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2017

Vincent P. Lannie  and
Bernard C. Diethorn
Vincent P. Lannie
Affiliation:
New York University
Bernard C. Diethorn
Affiliation:
Dayton University
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Extract

No mistake about it. Francis Kenrick had his work cut out for him. It was 1830 and he had just been appointed as Coadjutor Bishop to Henry Conwell of Philadelphia. Conwell was in an enfeebled state of old age, truculent in spirit, and suspicious of his colleague's authority. The diocese of Philadelphia was badly disorganized because episcopal government was in a state of near collapse. There was no seminary or college, a single orphanage, few schools, and “a disheartened people.” In particular, the problem of “trusteeism” had created religious havoc in the diocese during the 1820's. A reserved, scholarly, and cautious person, Kenrick could not have found a less propitious vineyard in which to begin his episcopal career.

Type
Church, State, and Education
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , Spring 1968 , pp. 44 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © 1968 by New York University 

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References

Notes

1 A coadjutor is usually an assistant bishop with the right of succession to the bishopric. (Conwell died in 1842.) Frequently, as with Kenrick, a coadjutor bishop has all the power of administration of the diocese. For a description of the chaotic condition of the diocese of Philadelphia, see Shea, John Gilmary, History of the Catholic Church in The United States (New York: John G. Shea, 1892), III. A difficult question at best, trusteeism was a contest between the clergy and the laity concerning control of the temporalities of Parishes as well as the right to appoint pastors to these parishes. Although this problem plagued many Catholic dioceses in the United States, it was especially severe in Philadelphia and hotly contested tor over a decade. A large number of pamphlets on the Philadelphia trustee problem may be found at the Catholic Historical Society in Philadelphia. Cf. Tourscher, Francis E., The Hogan Schism and Trustee Troubles in St. Mary's Church (Philadelphia, 1930); Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, April 11, 1844, in Tourscher, Francis E., The Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence (Lancaster, Pa.: Wickersham Printing Co., 1920), p. 187.Google Scholar

2 For a more complete study of Kenrick's early years and his stay in Philadelphia, see Nolan, Hugh J., The Most Reverend Francis Patrick Kenrick, Third Bishop of Philadelphia (1830–1851) (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1948).Google Scholar

3 Ibid., pp. 147–48, 153, 242–44, 247, 257, 277.Google Scholar

4 Hassard, John R. G., Life of the Most Reverend John Hughes, D. D. First Archbishop of New York (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1866), p. 519.Google Scholar

5 Constitutiones Diocesanae in Synodis Philadelphiensibus, Annis 1832, 1842, 1847, 1853, et 1857, Latae el promulgatae (Philadelphiae: Ex Typis Fratrum McLaughlin, 1873), p. 8: “Ne temere incepta haud feliciter succedant, nullum Orphanotrophium, vel Scholam sub cura Sororum Charitatis, vel virginum Deo dicatarum in Dioecesi institutendam in posterum volumus, nisi praevia nostra licentia in scriptis ….”Google Scholar

6 Francis Kenrick to Paul Cullen, Philadelphia, March 28, 1843, Irish College Correspondence (in the American Catholic Historical Society St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pa.). This collection includes the correspondence of various clergymen, mostly bishops, with individuals at the Irish College in Rome. Although the originals are at the Irish College, handwritten copies were made by F. Kittle and later printed in the American Catholic Historical Society Records (1896–1898). Practically all the correspondence was with the Reverend Paul Cullen. He served as President of the Irish College, Archbishop of Armagh and of Dublin, and became a Cardinal of the Irish Church in 1866.Google Scholar

7 Edward Barron to Paul Cullen, Philadelphia, October 7, 1838, ibid. Google Scholar

8 Poore, Ben. Pearley, The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1877), II, 1547, 1553; Wickersham, James Pyle, A History of Education in Pennsylvania (Lancaster, Pa.: Inquirer Publishing Co., 1886); Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania, 1817–1818, p. 124, in A Digest of the Acts of Assembly Relative to the First School District (Philadelphia, n.d.), pp. 11–20; “Governor's Annual Message,” in Hazard's Register, XVI (December 12, 1835), 372; The Famous Speech of Hon. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania in Opposition to the Repeal of the Common School Law of 1834, in the House of Representatives, April 11, 1835 (Philadelphia: T. Stevens Memorial Association of Philadelphia, 1904); H. E. Scudder, Recollections of Samuel Breck with Passages from His Notebooks (1778–1862) (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1877), pp. 17, 64–65, 77–78; Pamphlet Laws of Pennsylvania, 1833–1834, p. 170, in A Digest of the Acts of Assembly Relative to the First School District (Philadelphia, n.d.), pp. 30–33; Thomas H. Burrowes, Annual Report of the Common Schools, Academies and Colleges of Pennsylvania (Harrisburg: Samuel D. Patterson, 1837); Robert Landis Mohr, Thomas Henry Burrowes, 1805–1871 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1946).Google Scholar

9 Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Controllers of the Public Schools (Philadelphia: J. Crissy, 1844), pp. 5–6. Philadelphia City and County was School District No. One and under a Board of Controllers. The district was divided into eleven sections, and each section was under a separate Board of Directors. The number of directors in each section was set by the School Law of 1818. Directors were appointed by the city councils or commissioners in incorporated areas but elected by the people in the townships. The Board of Controllers, twenty-one in number, was chosen by and from the directors. Each sectional Board of Directors could choose one sixth of its membership to serve on the Board of Controllers. The Board of Controllers determined the amount of tax money needed each year, bought property, erected schools, furnished schools, determined the number of teachers to be employed in each school, set the salaries of teachers, and prescribed and furnished all textbooks. Cf. Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Controllers of Public Schools (Philadelphia: J. Crissy, 1842), pp. 4–5.Google Scholar

10 Catholic Herald, January 30, 1834. Perhaps a reason for this confidence in the schools may be found in the active promotion of Catholics in the founding of the state system of public schools. These Catholics included Matthew Carey, Robert Walsh, John Keating, Judge Archibald Randall, Lewis Ryan, and the Reverend Patrick Hurley. These men at one time or another served as controllers or directors of public schools in Philadelphia.Google Scholar

11 Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Controllers of Public Schools (Philadelphia: J. Crissy, 1842), p. 5. It should be noted, however, that as the dispute over public school Bible reading deepened, Kenrick paid relatively little attention to this distinction.Google Scholar

12 Catholic Herald, April 5, 12, 1838.Google Scholar

13 Catholic Herald, April 5, 1838.Google Scholar

14 Catholic Herald, March 21, 1839. In addition, “Sentinel” also urged the Legislature to investigate “the books used in the public schools, and the exercises by which religious feelings are fostered in the Pupils. To the report might be added a list of the teachers and their respective religious professions, and also the number of pupils in each school, and the religious profession of their parents. The reading of the Bible according to the version published by order of His Majesty King James I, and singing of hymns, an occasional explanation of Scripture by a zealous teacher, male or female, will be found to be among the daily exercises, which, with a sacred caution not to let a Catholic into the chair of instruction, wherever it can be avoided, afford no doubtful evidences of the genius of sectarianism which presides over our public education….”Google Scholar

15 Public Ledger, April 18, 1839; Banner of the Cross, November 30, 1839. Cf. Catholic Herald, May 2, October 24, 31, November 14, 1839.Google Scholar

16 For a detailed investigation of the school dispute in New York City, see Lannie, Vincent P., Public Money and Parochial Education: Bishop Hughes, Governor Seward, and the New York School Controversy (Cleveland: The Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1968). As expected, most of the Protestant press in Philadelphia denounced Hughes's efforts in New York. Cf. Protestant Banner, April 22, 1842; Christian Observer (Philadelphia), November 3, December 1, 1843; Presbyterian, February 27, 1841, January 14, 21, 1843, March 23, 1844. Cf. Pennsylvania, April 18, 1842; Philadelphia Ledger, June 10, 1844; North American, January 14, 1843, March 14,' May 18, 1844. For a defense of Hughes' position, see the Catholic Herald, March 4, 1841.Google Scholar

17 Catholic Herald, June 24, November 25, 1841.Google Scholar

18 North American, December 11, 1841.Google Scholar

19 Presbyterian, January 1, 1842. Cf. Lutheran Observer (Baltimore), November 26, 1841.Google Scholar

20 Catholic Herald, December 16, 1841.Google Scholar

21 Catholic Herald, January 6, 1842. “Liber” had offered this proposal even before January. Cf. Catholic Herald, December 16, 1841.Google Scholar

22 Catholic Herald, December 30, 1841.Google Scholar

23 New York Observer, October 30, November 6, 1841. Cf. Christian Advocate and Journal (New York), November 10, 1841; New York Evangelist, November 6, 1841; The Churchman (New York), November 12, 1841; New York Commercial Advertiser, October 30, November 1, 1841; New York Tribune, October 30, November 2, 1841; New York Sun, November 1, 2, 1841; New York Herald, November 1, 2, 3, 1841.Google Scholar

24 Catholic Herald, January 6, 1842.Google Scholar

25 Ibid. Google Scholar

26 Banner of the Cross, quoted in the Catholic Herald, January 20, 1842.Google Scholar

27 Catholic Herald, January 20, 1842.Google Scholar

28 Catholic Herald, December 16, 1841, April 14, 28, May 12, 1842.Google Scholar

29 Catholic Herald, May 5, 19, July 7, 1842.Google Scholar

30 Kenrick, Francis, Letter Ledger, pp. 202–4, Philadelphia Archdiocesan Archives. This Ledger is a kind of diary of 267 pages and embraces the entire period of Kenrick's episcopacy in Philadelphia. It was written in four languages—though principally Latin—and contains a record of letters written and received as well as copies of the more important correspondence. Copies of this letter appeared in the following papers: Protestant Banner, January 19, 1843; Christian Observer (Philadelphia), January 27, 1843; North American, January 14, 1843; United States Gazette, January 14, 1843; New York Freeman's Journal, January 21, 1843.Google Scholar

31 United States Gazette, January 14, 1843.Google Scholar

32 Catholic Herald, January 19, 1843. In early 1843, Kenrick assumed the editorial duties of the newspaper because “the printer burdened with debt, could no longer pay the editor.” Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, February 6, 1843, in Tourscher, The Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence, pp. 160–63. In March 1845, the Reverend D. Forrestal became the new editor. It is interesting to note that while Kenrick served as editor, “Sentinel” wrote no letters to the Herald.Google Scholar

33 North American, January 14, 1843.Google Scholar

34 Presbyterian, January 21, 1843.Google Scholar

35 Ibid. Google Scholar

36 Christian Observer (Philadelphia), January 27, 1843.Google Scholar

37 Baptist Record, March 1, 8, 1843.Google Scholar

38 Episcopal Recorder, April 8, 1843. “If our common schools and other educational interests be penetrated with the influence of the Gospel,” declared Cheever, “we are saved.”Google Scholar

39 Catholic Herald, January 19, 1843.Google Scholar

40 Literary Age, quoted in Catholic Herald, February 16, 1843.Google Scholar

41 Address of the Board of Managers of the American Protestant Association; with the Constitution and Organization of the Association (Philadelphia: James C. Haswell, 1843), pp. 5, 7–9, 18–19, 42. This Was printed in many newspapers. Eventually, a hundred thousand copies of the address were printed and circulated throughout the country. Cf. An American Citizen, The Pope and the Presbyterians. A Review of the Warning of Jefferson (Philadelphia: James M. Campbell, 1845), p. 46.Google Scholar

42 Banner of the Cross, January 21, 1843; Catholic Herald, February 23, 1843. Cf. Presbyterian, January 14, 1843; The Churchman (New York), quoted in the Catholic Herald, January 26, 1843; New York Freeman's Journal, January 28, 1843; Lutheran Observer (Baltimore), January 27, July 7, 1843.Google Scholar

43 Lee, John Hancock, The Origin and Progress of the American Party in Politics: Embracing a Complete History of the Philadelphia Riots in May and July, 1844, etc. (Philadelphia: Elliott & Cihon, 1855), pp. 15–18, 22, 40; John Bach McMaster, A History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1910), VII, pp. 374–75. One of the posters that was circulated in the city may be examined at the Library Company of Philadelphia, UY6-50431, O. 18.Google Scholar

44 Colton's sixteen-page pamphlet was reprinted in The Quarterly Review of the American Protestant Association, I (January 1844), 10–22. Cf. Philadelphia Gazette, December 23, 1843, January 5, 1844; O'Shea, John J., The Two Kenricks (Philadelphia: John J. McVey, 1904), p. 124; Walter Colton, The Sea and the Sailor (With a Memoir by Rev. Henry C. Cheever) (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1851), pp. 380–84.Google Scholar

45 Catholic Herald, February 15, 1844.Google Scholar

46 Catholic Herald, March 7, 1844. Cf. Pennsylvanian, February 29, 1844.Google Scholar

47 Public Ledger, February 28, 29, March 1, 1844; Christian Observer (Philadelphia), March 15, 1844; New York Freeman's Journal, March 23, 1844; Protestant Banner, March 7, 1844; Pennsylvanian, April 16, 1842; Episcopal Recorder, March 9, 1844.Google Scholar

48 A Protestant and Native Philadelphian, The Truth Unveiled: or A Calm and Impartial Exposition of the Origin and Immediate Cause of the Terrible Riots and Rebellion in Philadelphia, in May and July, A.D. 1844 (Baltimore: Metropolitan Tract Society, 1844), pp. 30–31.Google Scholar

49 Presbyterian, March 16, 1844.Google Scholar

50 Presbyterian, March 9, 16, 1844.Google Scholar

51 Episcopal Recorder, March 9, 1844.Google Scholar

52 Catholic Herald, March 14, 21, 1844. Cf. Public Ledger, March 12, 13, 1844; Philadelphia Gazette, March 9, 11, 12, 1844; North American, March 12, 1844.Google Scholar

53 Philadelphia Gazette, March 12, 1844.Google Scholar

54 Catholic Herald, March 14, 1844.Google Scholar

55 Catholic Herald, March 21, 1844.Google Scholar

56 Ibid. Cf. Tourscher, , The Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence, pp. 94, 139, 150, 224, 297, 361.Google Scholar

57 North American, March 14, 15, 1844; Philadelphia Gazette, March 14, 15, 1844. The mass gathering was preceded the evening before by a meeting of “native Americans.” This meeting passed several resolutions and organized the turnout for the following day.Google Scholar

58 Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Board of Controllers of the Public Schools (Philadelphia: J. Crissy, 1844), p. 7.Google Scholar

59 Presbyterian, March 23, 1844.Google Scholar

60 Presbyterian, March 9, 16, 1844.Google Scholar

61 Philadelphia Gazette, March 12, 1844.Google Scholar

62 Native American, April 26, May 2, 3, 4, 6, June 3, 1844; Lee, op. cit., pp. 54–61; Francis X. McGowan, Historical Sketch of St. Augustine's Church (Philadelphia: D. F. Gallagher & Co., 1896), p. 73. Whether a nativist or an Irish Catholic fired the first shot has never been settled definitely. Newspaper and pamphlet reports of trial jury witnesses indicate conflicting testimony. All that remains are the official notebook listing of the May Sessions of the Grand Jury indictments of 1844 at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the official listing of cases and trial jury verdicts at the City Archives of Philadelphia. In all probability, the culprit will never be identified nor is it of importance in the unfolding of the subsequent riots. The point is that a shot was fired. Cf. Protestant Banner, June 20, 1844; Spirit of the Times, May 7, September 18, 1844; Public Ledger, May 9, June 6, 1844; Catholic Herald, September 19, 26, 1844.Google Scholar

63 Philadelphia Gazette, May 8, 1844; Native American, May 7, June 6, 1844; Catholic Herald, May 9, September 26, 1844; Sister Mary St. Henry, Nativism in Pennsylvania with Particular Regard to Its Effect on Politics and Education, 1840–1860 (Philadelphia: Dolphin Press, 1936), p. 19.Google Scholar

64 Native American, May 7, 1844.Google Scholar

65 North American, May 7, 1844.Google Scholar

66 According to court testimony, this call for arms was added to the announcement of the meeting by the Reverend John Gihon. Cf. Catholic Herald, September 26, 1844.Google Scholar

67 Philadelphia Gazette, May 8, 1844; Native American, June 7, 1844.Google Scholar

68 Pennsylvanian, May 8, 1844; Native American, May 8, 1844; Catholic Herald, September 19, 26, 1844; J. P. Thompson, “The Philadelphia Riots,” New Englander, II (July 1844), 478; Daily Sun, May 8, 1844.Google Scholar

69 Native American, May 9, 1844.Google Scholar

70 Middleton, Thomas C., “The Reverend T. J. Donaghue,” American Catholic Historical Society Records, XXIII (June 1912), 76–77; McGowan, op. cit., pp. 76, 78; Catholic Eyewitness, “The Anti-Catholic Riots of 1844 in Philadelphia,” American Catholic Historical Researches, XIII (April 1896), p. 53; History of the First City Troop, 1774–1874 (Philadelphia: Hollowell & Co., 1875), p. 55; “The Philadelphia Anti-Catholic Riots,” United States Catholic Magazine, VIII (June 1844), 382–84; Catholic Herald, May 16, 23, 1844; Saturday Courier, May 10, 1844; Germantown Telegraph, May 15, 1844.Google Scholar

71 New York Freeman's Journal, May 11, 1844; Spirit of the Times, May 13, 1844; Native American, June 26, 1844; Tourscher, Francis E., Diary and Visitation Record of the Rt. Rev. Francis Kenrick, 1830–1851 (Lancaster, Pa.: Wickersham Printing Co., 1916), p. 223; Charles Rockland Tyng, The Record and Work of the Rev. Stephen Higginson Tyng, D.D., and History of St. George Church, New York to the Close of His Rectorship (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1890), p. 144; Catholic Standard, September 19, 1885.Google Scholar

72 Hassard, , op. cit., pp. 276–78; New York Freeman's Journal, May 11, 18, 1844. Cf. Daily Sun, May 11, 1844.Google Scholar

73 Letter of William Keating, quoted in the Catholic Standard, September 21, 1885; Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, June 17, 1844, in Tourscher, Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence, pp. 193–94.Google Scholar

74 Native American, May 9, 1844; North American, May 9, 1844; Inquirer, May 10, 1844. Cf. Diaries of Sidney George Fisher (in the Sidney George Fisher Collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia), VIII, May 1844.Google Scholar

75 Catholic Herald, May 16, 1844; United States Gazette, May 10, 11, 13, 1844; Pennsylvanian, May 10, 1844; Philadelphia Gazette, May 11, 1844; Public Ledger, May 13, 1844; Michael O'Connor, Archbishop Kenrick and His Work (Philadelphia, 1868), p. 24; Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, May 27, 1844, in Tourscher, Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence, pp. 188–93. Despite Kenrick's prohibition, several masses were said on Sunday. Cf. Tourscher, Visitation Diary, pp. 223–24, n. 464; Pennsylvanian, May 13, 1844.Google Scholar

76 Native American, June 8, 1844; Daily Sun, May 13, 1844.Google Scholar

77 Pennsylvanian, May 13, 1844.Google Scholar

78 Public Ledger, May 10, 13, 1844; Pennsylvanian, May 10, 1844; Spirit of the Times, May 9, 16, 1844; Pennsylvania Freeman, May 9, 1844; Christian Observer, May 10, 17, 1844; Christian Repository, quoted in Catholic Herald, May 23, 1844; Baptist Record, quoted in Catholic Herald, June 6, 1844; Baptist Advocate, quoted in Catholic Herald, May 23, 1844; Daily Sun, May 11, 14, 16, 1844.Google Scholar

79 Daily Sun, May 11, 14, 16, 1844; North American, May 21, 1844.Google Scholar

80 Native American, May 28, July 3, 6, August 8, 1844; Philadelphia Gazette, May 9, 1844; Saturday Courier, June 1, 1844; Lee, op. cit., p. 132; A Full and Complete Account of the Late Awful Riots in Philadelphia (Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1844), p. 37; Joseph L. Kirlin, Catholicity in Philadelphia (Philadelphia: John J. McVey, 1909), p. 331.Google Scholar

81 Catholic Herald, May 23, 30, June 6, 13, 1844; United States Gazette, May 16, 1844; Philadelphia Gazette, May 16, 1844.Google Scholar

82 Catholic Herald, June 20, 1844; United States Gazette, June 17, 1844; Native American, June 17, 1844.Google Scholar

83 Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, June 17, 1844, in Tourscher, The Kenrick-Frenaye Correspondence, pp. 193–94.Google Scholar

84 Address of the Catholic Laity of Philadelphia to Their Fellow Citizens (Philadephia: M. Fithian, 1844). This lengthy address was printed in full in the Catholic Herald, June 27, 1844.Google Scholar

85 Christian Observer (Philadelphia), June 24, 28, 1844; Presbyterian, June 22, 1844; North American, June 17, 1844; Public Ledger, June 26, 1844; Native American, July 2, 3, 1844.Google Scholar

86 North American, June 17, 1844; Native American, June 26, July 3, 1844.Google Scholar

87 Catholic Herald, May 16, 1844.Google Scholar

88 North American, May 13, 1844.Google Scholar

89 Francis Kenrick to Peter Kenrick, Philadelphia, June 11, 1844, Kenrick Papers (in the Archdiocesan Archives of Baltimore), 30 C 37; Joseph R. Ingersoll to George Cadwalader, Washington, May 20, 1844, George Cadwalader to Joseph R. Ingersoll, Philadelphia, May 24, 1844, Robert Patterson to George Cadwalader, July 3, 1844, Cadwalader Papers (in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia); Circular letter from the Sheriff's Office, June 28, 1844, Morton McMichael Papers (in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.).Google Scholar

90 Philadelphia Gazette, July 6, 1844; Pennsylvanian, July 6, 1844; North American, July 6, 1844; Public Ledger, July 6, 1844; United States Gazette, July 6, 1844; Native American, July 24, 1844; Catholic Herald, July 11, 1844.Google Scholar

91 Thomas, J. Scharf and Thompson Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1609–1884, (Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1884), I, 669, n. 1; Lee, op. cit., p. 161; Pennsylvanian, July 6, 1844; Tremendous Riots in Southwark (Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1844), p. 2; New York Freeman's Journal, July 27, 1844.Google Scholar

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95 Catholic Herald, July 18, 1844. Cf. Spirit of the Times, quoted in the Catholic Herald, August 29, 1844.Google Scholar

96 Philadelphia Gazette, July 8, 9, 1844; Native American, July 10, 1844; Daily Sun, July 11, 1844; Pennsylvanian, July 9, 11, 1844; New York Freeman's Journal, July 13, 1844; Public Ledger, July 11, 1844; United States Gazette, July 15, 1844; Germantown Telegraph, July 10, 1844.Google Scholar

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99 Daily Sun, July 17, 1844; North American, July 24, 1844; Christian Advocate and Journal, August 21, 1844; Peck, George, “The Literary Policy of the Romish Church,” The Methodist Quarterly Review, XXVI (July 1844), 360; Minutes of the 137th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, 1844 (Philadelphia: King and Baird, 1844), pp. 3–4; Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (1838–1858) (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1894), p. 173.Google Scholar

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104 Kenrick, Francis, “Girard College,” Brownson's Quarterly Review, III (April 1849), 174. Cf. Francis Kenrick to Orestes Brownson, Philadelphia, January 25, 1849, Kenrick Collection (in the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Archives, photostat from University of Notre Dame Archives). This letter includes Kenrick's revisions for his article on Girard College. Cf. Catholic Herald, February 15, 1844.Google Scholar

105 Catholic Herald, quoted by the Banner of the Cross, July 27, 1844. Cf. Catholic Herald, January 19, February 16, 1843; Richard Whelan to Francis Kenrick, Richmond, March 29, 1843, Kenrick Papers (in the Archdiocesan Archives of Baltimore), 32 J 2; Samuel Eccleston to Francis Kenrick, Baltimore, March 31, 1843, ibid., 27 A M 7. Both these letters concern a Catholic army lieutenant up for court martial for refusing to lead his men to Protestant church services. In 1845, Kenrick wrote a letter of thanks to Commodore J. D. Elliott for allowing Catholic naval personnel to be excused from Protestant services at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Cf. Francis Kenrick to J. D. Elliott, Philadelphia, February 7, 1845, Letter Ledger, p. 224. In this letter, there is reference to previous correspondence on the subject.Google Scholar

106 Burns, James A., The Principles, Origin and Establishment of the Catholic School System in the United States (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1912), p. 261.Google Scholar

107 Catholic Herald, March 4, 9, 1843. Kenrick made it clear that his suggestion for a nonreligious public education arose from “despair” of receiving public funds for religious schools.Google Scholar

108 A Plenary Council represents “‘several ecclesiastical provinces—ordinarily under one civil Government, and therefore sometimes called National.’ A National Council is assembled by the express direction of the Sovereign Pontiff, who appoints an Apostolic Delegate to preside over the assembly in his name. Three National or Plenary Councils of the American Church were held in Baltimore, in 1852, 1866, and 1884.” Peter K. Guilday (ed.), The National Pastorals of the American Hierarchy (1792–1919) (Washington, D.C.: National Catholic Welfare Council, 1923), p. xi. Kenrick viewed the purpose of the Council as follows: “The object for which this Council is summoned, is by wise enactments and measures to promote discipline, and enforce the sacred Canons, or to submit such modifications of them as local circumstances may require, to the mature and enlightened judgment of the chief bishop, who is divinely charged with the solicitude of all the churches. We come together, brethren, not for idle display of ceremonial pomp, but to take mutual counsel after imploring divine guidance, for we watch, ‘as being to render an account of your souls.’ The power committed to us by our Lord is to be exercised for edification, for the building up of the body of Christ, whose members should be closely joined together in religious communion.” Ibid., p. 180. In a letter to Bishop John Purcell of Cincinnati, Kenrick discussed the questions to be dealt with at the Council. Francis Kenrick to John Purcell, Baltimore, December 21, 1851, Kenrick Collection (in the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Archives, photostat from University of Notre Dame Archives).Google Scholar

109 The manuscript of this essay is in the Kenrick Papers (in the Archdiocesan Archives of Baltimore). The paper is not dated, though on one page is a notation by Bishop Martin Spalding of Louisville that the paper was presented for printing. A perfectionist, Kenrick made a great many revisions to the initial draft.Google Scholar

110 Concilium Plenarium Totius Americae Septentrionalis Foederatae, Baltimori Habitum anno 1852 (Baltimore: John Murphy & Co., 1853), p. 87; Guilday, op. cit., pp. 190–91. “In urging on you the discharge of this duty,” declared the pastoral in further justification, “we are acting on the suggestion of the Sovereign Pontiff, who in an encyclical letter, dated 21 November, 1851, called on all the Bishops of the Catholic world, to provide for the Christian education of youth. We are following the example of the Irish Hierarchy, who are courageously opposing the introduction of a system based on the principle which we condemn….”Google Scholar

111 For a detailed discussion of these efforts, see Flynn, Austin, “The School Controversy in New York, 1840–1842, and Its Effect on the Formulation of Catholic Elementary Policy” (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 1962), pp. 193–226. As archbishop of Baltimore, Kenrick sought public funds for his Catholic schools. Cf. Sister Mary St. Patrick McConville, Political Nativism in the State of Maryland, 1830–1860 (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1928).Google Scholar