NEW YORK
21
NEW YORK
minister, Don Diego de Gardoqui, on Broadway,
near the Bowling Green, in the Vauxhall Gardens,
which was a hall on the river fi-ont near Warren
Street, and in a carpenter's shop in Barclay Street.
Finally, an Irish Capuchin, Father Charles Whelan,
who had served as a chaplain in De Grasse's
fleet, and was acting as private chaplain to the Portu-
was named: a letter sent on 8 Nov., 1808, by Father
Kohlmann, who was then acting as the administrator
of the diocese, to his friend Father Strickland, S. J., of
liOndon, England, says, "Your favour of the 6th Sept.
was delivered to me at the beginning of October in the
City of New York, where our Right Rev. Bishop Car-
roll has thought proper to send me in the capacity
guese consul-general, Don Jos6 RoizSilva, took up also of rector of this immense congregation and Vicar
the care of this scattered flock, which numbered less Generalof this diocese till the arrival of the Right Rev.
than two hundred, and only about forty of them Richard Luke Concanen, Bishop of New York. The
practical in the observances of their faith. congregation chiefly consists of Irish, some hundreds
Through efforts led by the French consul. Hector St. of French, and as many Germans, in all, according to John de Crevecoeur (q. v.\ an act of incorporation the common estimation, of 14,000 souls. Rev. Mr. was secured, on 10 June, 178.5, for the "Trustees of Fenwick, a young Father of our society, distinguished the Roman CatholicChuroh of the Cily (if.Xi'w York." I'or his l<'arning and piety, has been sent along with
in which Josi5 Roiz Silva, me. I was no sooner arrived
James Stewart, and Henry , in the city and, behold, the
Duffin were associated with \ trustees, though before our
him as the first board. An | arrival they had not spent a
unexpired lease of lots at ? cent for the reparation and
Barclay and Church streets ^m. furniture of their clergy-
was bought from the trustees ^Wk man's house, laid out for the
of Trinity church, Thomas KMe ^^'"^ purpose above $800. All
Stoughton, the Spanish Con- V'*l^»i "^^'^ seem to revive at the
sul-general, and his partner ^ /^ I { mI '^fty name of the Society of
Dominick Lynch, advancing j I ffl Jesus though yet little known
the purchase money, one 1 j^ I 18B m this part of the country."
thousand pounds, and there I I ^^B ^^ h it rapid progress was
on 5 Oct., 1785, the corner- f S-^^fvBU. made he indicates, two years
stone of St. Peter's, the first --<i^'^ HBh liter when, again writing to
permanent structure for a jjWj HSI .rJfiSI Sx ^ thf rStrickland,on 14Sept.,
Catholic church erected in ^ IT ■^aii^ ^ S afe 1^10 he tells him: "Indeed
the State of New York, was ^&^ L . ^WHBi|HBfe|^^i|,. it is but two years that we ar-
laid by the Spanish minister, |H^ ^^--^-^^^SM^^SHSBH ^^'^ "^ ^'^'^ ^'^^ without hav-
Gardoqui. The church was ^^S^^S^^^. H^^^^SB^S^^ '"^ ^ "^'^^ '" ^'"^ pocket, not opened 4 Nov., 1780. The M^K^^ S] lHWiM Wiiffhir>^ '^'^" °^'^ passage money,
first resident pastor was Fa- lim^si^ ^^,- HJPfflfflnllitfflfc ^* " '^"^'^ ^^'^ trustees paid for ther Whelan, who, however, WBMSg^^^& " ^SB^StmmM ^I^^I^^ 1 at her Fenwick and me . . . was forced to retire owing to ilP^^STin HBraHWIMMl la^SSI md to see things so far ad- the hostility of the trustees »|i&||a||^ J I ^Jjiff XTk^IT^W '^ ^"^'^ ^^ *° ^®® °°* ""'-^ *® andof another Capuchin, the tj ' i3^ Mil ^jMiillllliilll7 i WjtTF*~ Cathohc religion highly re- Rev. Andrew Nugent, lipfore Mfc^T3^ "*«;. '1 C3^ J» f 1 T ^P^*^' ed by the first characters the Church was opened. The liOTiMteeB ^^SSr^^S^ ^ 'I "^'M "' th<? tyi but even a Cath- prefect Apostolic, the vener- l^r'^^^~M^S^B^W?^r^--"'Vi|y , ■^ olic college estabUshed, the able John Carroll, then ^^^gSKHn^E^jJlt^ {!fff^B**ilf i '^'^"'"'^ ^" furnished both in visited New York to admin- ?M Wpf BS i^^^^^^SfciP^!ti44 ^fc^i^ '""" "^nd in the college im- ister confirmation for the laaMft^Siia |Ma|a^^^^i,,^.- IH 1 1 ta BE^^ p ovements made in the col- first time, and placed the gBHHBMH^^^^^F^^^^^^ 1 U ge [sic] for four or five hun- church in charge of a Domin- ^■■^^^BIHHB^^BHV'**^ '""^ dollars ... is a thing
ican. Father William O'Brien, " — ^ — T TT. ^ 3 ^v- " w hich I am at a loss to con-
who may be regarded as the ^ld St. Peter b CHtmcH, Barclay br. u,>>o) ^^^^^ and ^hj^h J cannot
organizer of the parish. He had as his assistants ascribe but to the infinite liberality of the Lord, to Fathers John Connell and Nicholas Burke, and, in his whom alone, therefore, be all glory and honour. The efforts to aid the establishment of the church, went as college is in the centre not of Long Island but of far as the City of Mexico to collect funds there under the Island of New York, the most delightful and most the auspices of his old schoolfellow, the archbishop of healthy spot of the whole island, at a distance of four that see. He brought back S.5920 and a number of small miles from the city, and of half a mile from the paintings, vestments, etc. Father O'Brien and his East and North rivers, both of which are seen from the assistants did heroic work during the yellow fever house; situated between two roads which are very epidemics of 1795, 1799, 1801, and 1805. In 1801 he much frequented, opposite to the botanic gardens established the parish school, which has since been which belong to the State. It has adjacent to it a carried on without interruption. The church debt at beautiful lawn, garden, orchard,^ etc."— This_ spot is
now the site of St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth ave-
nue.
We can judge from the family names on the register of St. Peter's church that the early Catholics of New York were largely Irish; next in number come the French, then the Germans, followed by those of Ital- ian, Spanish and English origin. There were enough Germans in 1808 to think themselves entitled to a Kohlmann (q. v.), was sent to take charge. It was church and pastor of their own nationality, for on 2 at this time that the Holy See determined to erect March of that year Christopher Briehill, John Kner- Baltimore into an archbishopric and to establish the inger, George Jacob, Martin Nieder, and I'rancis new Dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Werneken signed a petition which they sent to Bishop Bardstown, Ky. Carroll praying him "to send us a pastor who is capa-
II Creation of the Diocese.— We have a picture ble of undertaking the spiritual Care of our Souls i n the of the situation in New York when the first bishop German Language, whiciris our Mother Tongue.
this time was .$6,500; the income from pew rents
.11120, and from collections, .S360, a year. The Rev.
Dr. Matthew O'Brien, another Dominican, the Rev.
John Byrne, and the Rev. Michael Hurley, an Au-
gustinian, were, during this period, assistants at St.
Peter's. In July, 1807, the Rev. Louis Sibourd, a
French priest, was made pastor, but he left in the fol-
lowing year, and then the famous Jesuit, Anthony
