1796-1900
Originally printed in Le Soppressioni del Secolo XIX e L’Ordine Agostiniano, Congresso dell’Istituto Storico Agostiniano, Roma 19-23 ottobre 2009
The Order of St. Augustine began its permanent presence in the United States in 1796 when Matthew Carr arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April and received a document dated 27 August from the Augustinian Curia in Rome establishing a province under the patronage of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Good Counsel. Carr had been preceded by John Rosseter in 1794, but it was the foundational document that provided a secure juridical basis for the future success of their efforts. In this document, which was obtained through Philip Crane, OSA, prior of the Irish house of San Matteo in Merulana, both Carr and Rosseter are mentioned as the petitioners. These two friars had come to the new country with the permission of the Irish provincial in response to an appeal of Bishop John Carroll for priests to assist Catholics in the United States.[1]
To understand the situation of Catholics in the former thirteen English colonies, one needs to recall that in most colonies Catholics had been unwelcome and subject to penalties. Pennsylvania, established by the Quaker William Penn, was the only colony whose laws maintained the principle of religious liberty although even there Catholics were forbidden to hold public office. Many Americans in the former English colonies had been hostile to the Church and to Catholics. During the American Revolution, however, when the States received the aid of France, a Catholic country, and Catholics participated in the revolutionary movement, a change of attitude took place, and by 1783 five states had given full rights to Catholics. In the Constitution of the United States, ratified in 1788 and followed in 1791 by the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, the principle of religious liberty was adopted, but it took some time to revoke all of the restrictive laws in each state. With the change in law, many Catholics began to immigrate to the new country especially from Ireland.
Up to this point, Catholics, concentrated in large part in Maryland and Pennsylvania, had been cared for mostly by Jesuits, who continued their individual priestly ministry after the suppression of the Society by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. In 1784 the Holy See appointed John Carroll, a former Jesuit and native of Maryland, “head of the missions in the provinces of the United States.” In his report to Rome in 1785 Carroll estimated that there were about 25,000 Catholics with 15,800 in Maryland, 7,000 in Pennsylvania, 200 in Virginia, and supposedly 1,500 in New York. Catholics were also found in the former French settlements in the West. In 1789 Pius VI established the first American diocese in Baltimore and appointed Carroll as bishop. One of Carroll’s main concerns was to find more priests, hence the letter of appeal he sent to Ireland.[2]
Rosseter, who had been a diocesan priest before joining the Order in 1783, was the first Augustinian to volunteer to serve in the new country. When he arrived in 1794, Bishop Carroll assigned him to a mission near Wilmington, Delaware, from which he served other missions. When Carr arrived two years later, Bishop Carroll asked him to serve at St. Mary parish in Philadelphia and surrounding missions. The Irish Provincial had written the bishop to indicate that he could assign the friars as needed.[3] Carr obtained Carroll’s permission to establish a church and house of the Order in an area of the city a little removed from the other churches. A papal indult approving this development was granted by the Congregation Propaganda Fide in 1797. Thereby the Augustinians became the third Order to have a permanent foundation in the former English colonies.
In addition to his priestly work, Carr was also much occupied with soliciting contributions to purchase land and build the new church. He even received a donation from George Washington. With these funds and borrowed money, he purchased the site of St. Augustine church in Philadelphia and was able to finish enough of the building to open it to the public in June 1801. By 1806 he had also constructed a parish rectory next to the church, but was heavily in debt.
The burden of maintaining the new foundation and the Augustinian enterprise in the United States fell largely on the shoulders of Carr. Although Rosseter assisted him at various times, he was in charge of St. Mary’s and, as he grew older, he seems to have become much concerned about his retirement. Eventually he moved to a country assignment. Another Irish Augustinian George Staunton arrived in Philadelphia in 1799 or 1800 and served at St. Augustine’s and various missions in New Jersey until 1803 when he left the United States. At times various diocesan priests helped Carr and Rosseter, but conditions were very fluid.
Hope for more stability came in the person of Michael Hurley, the first American candidate for the Order. He was sent to Italy in 1797 to enter the novitiate and obtain his philosophical and theological training for the priesthood. With the Napoleonic invasion of Italy, Hurley had to move to different houses of the Order in his course of studies. After ordination in 1802, he returned to Philadelphia in September 1803.[4]
With the return of Hurley, there were now three permanent Augustinians in the American province. Carr decided to petition the State of Pennsylvania to grant a charter recognizing the province as a civil corporation. The document was issued on 4 November 1804 with Carr, Rosseter, and Hurley named as members of the governing board. This 1804 corporation still serves as the principal civil corporation of the Augustinians of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. Obtaining this incorporation proved to be a very wise move. In the early American Catholic Church one of the difficulties facing the bishops was the practice of having the title to the church property held by a board of lay trustees. This practice had developed during the colonial period after the model of the protestant churches. In itself such an arrrangement would not have been a problem except for the fact that some of the lay boards claimed the right to name their own pastor just as the protestants did. The Augustinians were able to avoid this problem.
After a short stay at St. Augustine’s, Hurley was sent by Bishop Carroll to work at St. Peter church in New York. It was during this time that he met Elizabeth Ann Seton, who would become the first native born American citizen to be canonized. A convert from the Anglican Church, she chose Hurley as her spiritual director. He appears to be the one to have introduced her to one of her favorite spiritual books, The Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Portuguese Augustinian Thomas of Jesus. The work was available in an English translation of 1794.
In 1807 Hurley returned to St. Augustine’s in Philadelphia as acting pastor, because Carr had to absent himself from the parish for a long rest. Hurley proved himself quite capable of finishing the church and establishing various Augustinian confraternities and societies in the parish. When Carr returned to St. Augustine’s in 1811, he and Hurley opened St. Augustine Academy, but the school had to close in 1815. Rosseter died in 1812, and when Carr died in 1820, Hurley was left as the only member of the American province and pastor of St. Augustine. The great influx of Irish into the United States resulted in a rapid expansion of the Church and the division of see of Baltimore into several dioceses in 1808. While a presence at St. Augustine’s was maintained, the friars were dispersed to meet the pastoral needs of the Church. Like Carroll the bishops of these times assigned the friars as it seemed best to them. For example, Philip Lariscy and Robert Browne were in the United States, but neither one took part in the work of the province until Lariscy served at St. Augustine’s from late 1822 until his death in April 1824.[5]
In 1828 two friars from Ireland William and Nicholas O’Donnell arrived at St. Augustine’s. William returned to Ireland in 1831 because of ill health, but another candidate James O’Donnell joined the province in 1832. He made his novitiate in the United States and studied theology in diocesan seminaries in Philadelphia and Emmetsburg, Maryland. He was ordained in January 1837, the same year that Hurley died. After working in New York State, he was put in charge at St. Augustine’s in Philadelphia in 1838. In 1839 James then joined Nicholas O’Donnell at St. Paul’s in Brooklyn, New York, which had been entrusted to the Augustinians by Bishop Dubois but was taken away in 1846 by Bishop Hughes.[6]
An important and somewhat controversial friar came on the scene in 1839, Patrick Eugene Moriarty. Since he had studied theology in Rome, he was known to the Roman authorities and the prior general Filippo Angelucci named him vicar for the American province as well as prior and pastor of St. Augustine in Philadelphia in 1839. The general also granted him a degree in theology so that he was known as Doctor Moriarty. He attracted much attention because of his outstanding preaching ability, but he identified himself too strongly with Irish nationalist causes.[7]
An event that was to shape the whole future of the province occurred on 13 October 1841 when Thomas Kyle, who had come from Ireland in 1838, and Moriarty arranged to purchase the Belle-Air estate of 197 acres outside of Philadelphia with the intention of opening a college. They were familiar with the site because they had offered Mass in the home of the former owner John Rudolf. When he died, his widow sold the property to the Augustinians. The title was transferred on 5 January 1842, but it was another year before the Augustinians, two lay brothers and a priest, John O’Dwyer, who had been sent to Philadelphia from Rome in 1840, occupied the house on 17 April 1843. The new community was placed under the patronage of St. Thomas of Villanova. O’Dwyer went back to Italy to find more recruits and returned with William Harnett and Francis Ashe. O’Dwyer was named president and prior when the college began class in 1843. Permission to open the novitiate at Villanova was obtained from the Roman Curia in December of that same year. Moriarty also drew up a set of rules to insure more regular religious observance.[8]
Just when it seemed that the Augustinians were finally arriving at a more stable situation, riots broke out in Philadelphia and other cities in 1844. The copious immigration of laborers from Ireland meant that native Americans had fewer opportunities for employment. Since the Irish were Catholic, the latent anti-Catholicism in American society surfaced again. The discontented Americans had formed a group in Philadelphia known as the Native American Party. On 8 May 1844 a mob aroused by them burnt down St. Michael’s and St. Augustine’s in Philadelphia. Fortunately, no friars were harmed, but the residence was destroyed with great loss to the fine library. The rioters also set fire to houses and buildings belonging to Irish families and a convent of sisters. Both Irish and native Americans were wounded and killed during this turmoil. During the outbreak of lawlessness, the friars at Villanova received warnings that the rioters intended to burn down the college, so as a precaution the young students were sent each evening to the home of Mrs. Rudolph, the widow of the former owner of the Belle-Air estate.
To compensate for the destruction of St. Augustine’s, the Augustinians soon began to seek donations to rebuild the church. In addition, they instituted a law suit against the city and county of Philadelphia for failing to protect the property. After a prolonged trial, on 27 November 1847 the court awarded them an indemnity of $47,000. The fact that the Augustinians had a civil corporation had proven to be an important element in this dispute. In the meantime, construction of the new church had begun in May 1847 and reached completion the next year with the solemn consecration on 5 November 1848.
Moriarty had left the country shortly after the riots of 1844, and O’Dwyer was appointed commissary in his place. In 1847 Moriarty was elected Assistant General for the English-speaking provinces and carried out a visitation of the Irish province during which he met much opposition. He also devised a plan for a parish in Bristol, England, under the American province, but the scheme came to nothing in the end. Moriarty wanted to return to Philadelphia at the end of 1848 but was opposed by O’Dwyer and Bishop Kenrick of Philadelphia probably because his addresses on Irish nationalism were viewed as contributing factors to the anti-Catholic unrest before the 1844 riots.
O’Dwyer, who had suffered from poor health, died in 1850, and the next year Moriarty was again appointed commissary of the American province by the prior general. His second term of office extending to 1858 was marked by growth in parish ministry. This trend continued during the term of the next commissary, Patrick Stanton, 1858-1866 and beyond.[9]
The Augustinians from Villanova had served in various missions, and some of these missions became parishes: St. Dennis in 1853 followed by Mother of Consolation in 1855, both located only a few miles from Villanova. In Atlantic City, New Jersey, a more distant mission became the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentine in 1855. In the diocese of Albany in New York five parishes were assigned to the Augustinians between 1858 and 1862. In 1874 another parish in the western part of the state was placed under the care of the province. Growth occurred also in the Lawrence, Massachusetts, area where the friars were given pastoral care of two parishes in 1861. In 1849 James O’Donnell had opened the mission of St. Mary in Lawrence. When he died in 1861, St. Mary’s was heavily indebted, a factor that appears to have influenced the bishop’s decision to assign the parish permanently to the Augustinians. Later in 1875 two more parishes in Lawrence were given to the Order. This growth was possible because of the increased membership of the province.
The important task of providing a stable philosophical and theological education for the students of the province fell to Patrick Stanton, who soon sent two professed clerics to Italy to pursue studies enabling them to teach the required seminary courses. One of these was Thomas Cook Middleton, who would serve as president of Villanova and as secretary of the province. Middleton also organized the archives of the province and preserved records that make it possible to write a history of the American Augustinians. During his stay in Italy he was influenced by the work of the Augustinian historian Joseph Lanteri.
In 1865 the two students Stanton had sent to Italy returned, and that same year at the General Chapter Stanton persuaded the prior general Giovanni Belluomini to send two Italians Filippo Izzo and Pacifico Neno.[10] With these friars on hand, it was now possible to reopen Villanova College, closed since 1857, as well as to provide for the education of the Augustinian seminarians.
Thomas Galberry was appointed commissary in November 1866. In September 1867 he broached the question of an independent American province. Because of delays in the mailing, the prior general did not respond until 31 December 1868. A province would need three “formal” religious houses with a prior and five other friars[11].
In 1872 in addition to his office as commissary, Galberry became prior of the monastery at Villanova and president of the college. On 19 January 1874, he wrote the prior general to inform him of the progress made in the American province, but at the same time asked to be relieved of his office as commissary. On 6 February, Belluomini answered the letter by congratulating Galberry on the progress made under his leadership and indicated that his request to resign was not acceptable to him[12].
Galberry wrote another letter to the prior general on 10 July 1874 on various topics. In the fourth item Galberry indicated that it was his wish and that of the fathers that the commissariat be elevated to the status of a province. In a response of 29 July Belluomini indicated that he agreed with the request and said that he would send the official document[13]. He issued a new decree of foundation placing the province under the patronage of St. Thomas of Villanova on 25 August 1874. Since there had been a province in legal existence since 1796, the reason for the prior general’s establishing a new province with a change of name is not entirely clear from the documentation. Perhaps because the American foundations had always been treated as a commissariat up to this point and was referred to as such in Galberry’s July letter, the 1796 decree may have been overlooked by Belluomini. There was much confusion in the Order in Rome at this time because of the fall of the papal states and the passage of laws suppressing the religious orders. In the decree Belluomini contrasted the decline of the Order in Italy with the growth of the American province, through which God had mercifully brought relief to the Order.[14]
The province now consisted of 56 members: 30 priests, 14 lay brothers, 11 clerics, and one novice. At the first provincial chapter, convened at Villanova on 15 December 1874 with fourteen capitulars, Thomas Galberry was elected provincial. Galberry’s term of office, however, was abbreviated because he was named bishop of Hartford, Connecticut in 1875. After some initial reluctance on his part, he was ordained bishop on 19 March 1876 in Hartford. His tenure of the see, however, was cut short by his death on 10 October 1878.[15]
After Galberry’s election to the episcopate, the general appointed Stanton rector provincial to fill out Galberry’s term. He had been president of the first chapter, as well as commissary for some years. For the 1878 chapter, the prior general apppointed Middleton as president. Pacifico Neno was elected as the second provincial. But his tenure was also rendered brief by Pope Leo XIII, who appointed him commissary general of the Order in December 1880. Patrick Stanton again filled out the term.
Four provincials then governed the province until the end of the century: Christopher McEvoy (1882-89), James Waldron (1890-94), Charles Mary Driscoll (1894-98)[16]. The fourth, John Fedigan, elected in 1898, was especially energetic.[17] At Villanova he began the construction of a new monastery in stone, which the friars occupied in 1901. Since Villanova College had only about 120 students, Fedigan aroused some controversy when he undertook the construction of a stone building for classrooms, offices, and dormitory rooms. The cornerstone of the college building was blessed in 1900 by Archbishop Thomas Martinelli, apostolic delegate to the United States (1896-1902) and former prior general.
In 1898 when Fedigan took office, the province consisted of a total membership of 102 members: 64 priests, 22 clerics, and 16 lay brothers with 17 houses.[18] Besides conducting a small college, the American Augustinians were in charge of 20 parishes in the United States. In 1899 Fedigan sent William Jones to obtain a parish in Havana, Cuba, an event that would lead to expansion of the province in Cuba and Jones’s elevation to the episcopacy in 1906.[19] The period of uncertainty and turmoil was long past as the province entered the twentieth century with good prospects for future growth.
Karl A. Gersbach, O.S.A.
[1] This paper has been compiled from the sources cited in the bibliography without specifically referencing each point. Some special studies and other sources not in the bibliography are referenced. A transcription of the rescript of 27 August 1796 is found in A. ENNIS, “The Founding,” Analecta Augustiniana 41 (1978), 305-07. Note that the document states: “in nomine Jesu Christi et Beatissimae Virginis Mariae de Bono Consilio sub cuius auspiciis novam provinciam consecramus.” The original document is housed in the Archives of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. My thanks are owed to John Sheridan, OSA, province archvist for his help. One should note also that Martin Smith, OSA, has established a museum in the Villanova Monastery that relates the history of the province with displays and video presentations.
[2] On the early history of the Church in America see J. T. ELLIS, “Catholics in Colonial America,” Reprint from The American Ecclesiastical Review 126 (1957), 1-78 and id., Catholics in Colonial America (Baltimore 1965), 315-459.
[3] A. J. ENNIS, “Matthew Carr, OSA, 1755-1820, Founder of the American Mission,” Men of Heart 1: 8-25; id., “John Rosseter, OSA, 1751-1812, A Man Tossed About by Life’s Uncertainties,” Men of Heart,” 2: 6-14.
[4] J. J. GAVIGAN, “Michael Hurley, OSA, 1780-1837,” Men of Heart 1: 26-44.
[5] J. E. ROTELLE, “Robert Browne, OSA, 1770-1839,” Men of Heart 2: 25-39.
[6] J. P. PEJZA, “Nicholas O’Donnell, OSA, 1802-1863,” Men of Heart 2:41-62; J. L. SHANNON, “James B. O’Donnell, OSA, 1806-1861,” Men of Heart 1:47-66.
[7] R. J. WELSH, “Patrick Eugene Moriarty, OSA, 1805-1875,” Men of Heart 1: 68-85.
[8] J. L. SHANNON, “Thomas Kyle, OSA, 1797-1869,” Men of Heart 2: 63-72. On Villanova College here and below see D. R. CONTOSTA, Villanova University 1841-1992 (University Park, PA, 1992). J. E. ROTELLE, “John Possidius O’Dwyer, OSA, 1816-1850,” Men of Heart, 1: 37-112; J. J. PEJZA, “William Harnett, OSA, 1820-1875,” ibid. 75-90.
[9] A. J. ENNIS, “Patrick A. Stanton, OSA, 1826-1891,” Men of Heart 2: 93-107.
[10] J. C. SCHNAUBELT, “Thomas Cook Middleton, OSA, 1842-1923,” Men of Heart 2: 164-204; R. J. DESIMONE, “Pacifico Neno, OSA, 1833-1889,” Men of Heart 1:155-167.
[11] Cf. Ennis, No Easy Road, 437 and the sources cited in his note 11.
[12] A modern copy of Galberry’s letter of January to Belluomini is preserved in AAVP. Unfortunately, no definite source for the copy is given. Note Galberry’s reference to the American mission as a province. “Probe scio meam Provinciae administrationem admodum imperfectum fuisse.” The original of Belluomini’s answer is also found in the province archives.
[13] A typed copy of Galberry’s letter of July is found in AAVP but without a reference to the original document. Galberry wrote: “Mihi et nostris Patribus placeret si hic Commissariatus in Provinciam erigeretur. De hac re iam tibi scripsi.” On the earlier letter see note 11 above. Belluomini’s response to Galberry’s letter is found in the prior general’s register AGA Dd 263, p. 79, in which he writes: “Quarto juxta Paternitatiss Tuae Patrumque vota istum Commissariatum ereximus in Provinciam, regendam juxta O.N. Constitutiones prout ex erectionis et instructionis litteras, quas mittemus, clarius patebit.”
[14] The decree is published in Analecta Aug. 3 (1910), 408. The Archives of the Villanova Province contain the original document.
[15] A. C. SHANNON, “Thomas Galberry OSA, 1833-1878,” Men of Heart 1: 129-139; D. LIPTAK, Hartford’s Catholic Legacy: Leadership (Hartford, 1999), 103-126.
[16] K.F. Dwyer, “Charles M. Driscoll, OSA, 1859-1934”: Men of Heart 2, 221-44.
[17] H. A. CASSEL, “John Joseph Fedigan, OSA, 1842-1908,” Men of Heart 2: 168-185.
[18] The statistics are taken from the Catalogus Fratrum Ordinis Eremitarum S. Augustini Provinciae S. Thomae a Villanova . . . Anno Domini 1926, 70-71.
[19] E. T. GRIMES, “William Ambrose Jones, OSA, 1865-1921,”Men of Heart 1:186-205.
