Born: 29 September 1825, Whitechurch, County Kilkenny
Entered: 13 April 1844, St Mary’s College SJ, St Mary’s, KS, USA - Franciae Province (FRA)
Ordained: 18 August 1859, Paderborn, Germany
Final Vows: 15 August 1865
Died: 06 September 1895, St Joseph’s Church, Third and Jackson Streets, Troy NY, USA - Marylandiae Neo-Eboracensis Province (MARNEB)
1844-1846: St Mary’s College SJ, St Mary’s, KS, USA (FRA), Novitiate at St Louis College, Grand Boulevard, St Louis, MO, USA
1846-1852: Xavier College SJ, West 15th Street, New York NY, USA, Regency
1852-1856: St John’s College, Fordham, Bronx, New York NY, USA, Regency and Theology
1856-1858: La Maison de Saint-Michel, Laval, Pays de Loire, France, Theology
1858-1860: Paderborn College, Westphalen-Hof, Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (GER), Theology
1860-1861: Novitiate, East 2nd Street, Frederick MD, USA, Tertianship
1861-1864: St Anne’s Church, Broadway and Emslie Street, Buffalo, NY, USA, Military Chaplain in American Civil War
1864-1865: Guelph Parish, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Minister, Curate (CAMP from 1864)
1865-1866: Curate
1866-1870: Collège Sainte-Marie, rue Bleury, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Assistant Prefect of Studies (NEBCAN from 1869)
1867-1871: Teaching, Confessor, Curate, Teaching
1871-1872: Xavier College SJ, West 15th Street, New York NY, USA, Missioner
1872-1873: St Anne’s Church, Broadway and Emslie Street, Buffalo, NY, USA, Curate on German Mission
1873-1874: Collége Sainte-Marie, rue Bleury, Montréal, Québec, Canada, Teaching
1874-1882: St Joseph’s Church, Third and Jackson Streets, Troy NY, USA, Curate, Teaching in Night School (MARNEB from 1879)
1877-1878: Prefect of Studies in school, Teaching, Assists in Church
1878-1882: Curate
1882-1883: Xavier College SJ, West 15th Street, New York NY, USA, Curate
1883-1888: St Joseph’s Church, Third and Jackson Streets, Troy NY, USA, Curate
1885-1888: Curate at St Michael’s Church, Williams Road, Troy
1888-1891: St Laurence O’Toole’s Church, Park Avenue, New York NY, USA, Curate
1891-1892: St Joseph’s Church, Third and Jackson Streets, Troy NY, USA, Spiritual Father, Curate
1892-1894: Holy Cross College, Worcester MA, USA, Spiritual Father
1894-1895: St Joseph’s Church, Third and Jackson Streets, Troy NY, USA, Minister, Curate, Teaching in parish school
◆ https://www.fordhamprep.org/alumni/hall-of-honor/inductees/single-post/~board/hall-of-honor/post/rev-michael-nash-sj
FORDHAM PREPARATORY SCHOOL
Hall of Honour Inductees
Rev. Michael Nash, SJ
Inducted in 2017
Prep Prefect/Dean of Students & Teacher (1846-1847; 1852-1856)
Chaplain, US Army
Educator, Administrator & Chaplain, Various Jesuit Institutions
The life and times of Fr. Michael Nash, SJ read like a 19th-century American epic. From the bustling Port of New York to the rolling hills of the Bluegrass State, and from the Native Americans he romanticized and admired to the wounded soldiers he served on Civil War battlefields, Michael Nash’s memoirs are the stuff of historical high adventure, beginning — as so many great American stories do — with a long, slow voyage from distant shores.
Michael Nash was born on September 24, 1824 in County Kilkenny, Ireland. His parents, James Nash and Catherine May Nash, were farmers, and in 1830, they began to receive notices from America that some land had been left to them outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Concluding that it would be best to see the land in person before deciding to move the entire family across the Atlantic, James arranged to make the journey with his son Michael, leaving his eldest son, Thomas, to help manage the family farm.
Upon arrival in Kentucky, James ultimately determined that the land was too far from a market or a railroad for a farm. Young Michael, however, fascinated by the American frontier, begged his father allow him to stay. James agreed and Michael would be placed in the care of Fr. James Quinn in Louisville, his education completed at St. Louis Church and St. Joseph’s College in Bardstown, Kentucky.
In the historic year of 1841, as Bishop Hughes was busy founding his school back in the Bronx, a teenaged Michael Nash was in Kentucky deciding on a course for his future — whether he should continue at St. Joseph’s towards an undergraduate degree, or if he should apprentice himself to a local coppersmith who was a longtime friend of the Nash family. He consulted with his guardian, Fr. Quinn, who had just recently had a providential meeting with a certain Fr. William Stack Murphy, SJ, from St. Mary’s College near Lebanon, Kentucky. Michael’s future, urged Fr. Quinn, was at St. Mary’s.
For the next three years, Nash would live and study with the Jesuits at St. Mary’s, in time deciding to enter the Society himself on April 13, 1844. A moody and often quick-tempered young man, Michael Nash faced doubts and misgivings during his time in the novitiate. With prayer, however, and Fr. Murphy’s encouragement, Nash persisted, and in September 1845, he found himself as a Jesuit novice on the faculty of the St. Ignatius Literary Institution, a newly opened Jesuit school in Louisville.
On August 9, 1846, a few months after professing his first Jesuit vows, a 21-year-old Nash arrived at Rose Hill with five of his brother Jesuits on the New York and Harlem Railroad. The stern-faced scholastic was immediately made prefect of the Second Division boarding students who were staying on campus for the summer. In other words, Mr. Nash was made the first Jesuit dean of Fordham Prep. “Young fellows from Mexico, Cuba, South America, West India Islands, and from the Southern States, with a few from Brooklyn and New York,” he would note of his first Prep students in his diary.
It would be the start of a year-long stint at Fordham, functioning as prefect of the Prep boys — both during the day as well as at night in the dorms — as well as the proctor for morning Mass and evening study hall, and moderator of all sports and activities. He also taught English and Latin. In a sentiment that would be echoed by generations of scholastics (and young lay teachers) after him, Mr. Nash would note of his first year at the Prep that “there was barely time to rest.”
After a year in the Bronx, Nash’s next historic undertaking would take him into Manhattan, where, under the direction of Fr. John Larkin, SJ, he was part of a group of Jesuits sent with a few coins in their pockets to found the Church and School of the Holy Name on Walker Street. When their church and school burned to the ground in January 1848, Fr. Larkin was able to obtain a parcel of land between 15th and 16th Street suitable to rebuild. Its doors would open for the first time on November 25, 1850. And so, Michael Nash would have a part in the founding of the school that would come to be known as Xavier High School.
Mr. Nash returned to Rose Hill in the Summer of 1852 for the philosophate and theologate portions of his formation. He remained at Fordham, resuming his former prefect duties as he made his studies. Students of the day would later recall Nash’s “iron-like stare” as he watched over them.
In August 1856, he found himself worn out from sickness and diagnosed with tuberculosis by the campus physician. He was sent overseas to consult a lung specialist, the private doctor of Emperor Louis Napoleon, who determined that Nash did not have consumption after all, but was severely overworked and physically exhausted. He was allowed to recover and complete his studies in France and Germany and to prepare for his ordination on the Feast of St. Ignatius, July 31, 1859 in Paderborn, Westphalia.
Fr. Nash, SJ returned to the states in September 1860, and was sent to Frederick, Maryland to continue his convalescence at the novitiate. Within a few months, however, he received word from his superiors that he would be embarking on his next great adventure: The Civil War. As chaplain to the Staten Island-based Sixth Infantry Regiment, “Wilson’s Zouaves,” Fr. Nash would be stationed near the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the Confederate enemy, he would face oppressive heat, tropical rains, snakes, alligators, disease, and anti-Catholic sentiment even from fellow Union troops. Nonetheless, his time at war was also marked by extraordinary moments of fortitude, grace and compassion as he brought consolation to the fearful, tended to sick the wounded on both sides, and comforted the dying of all denominations.
Bidding farewell to the “boys” of his regiment on June 25, 1863, Fr. Nash would spend a number of years working at various Society schools and missions in New York and Canada. After a brief time as vice president of Fordham Prep and University during the 1863-1864 school year, he headed north first to teach at a mission school among a congregation of German Jesuits at St. Stanislaus in Guelph, Ontario, and then to teach English and Latin at St. Mary’s College in Montreal. After a brief stint at St. Joseph’s Church in Troy, New York, he returned to Canada, splitting his time from 1866-1869 between St. Mary’s and ministering to lumberjack settlements and nearby Catholic Native American communities.
Fr. Nash was no stranger to the railroads throughout the early 1870s, serving as a retreat master back in Louisville, a military chaplain at Xavier and West Point, and an English teacher at the newly-opened Canisius College in Buffalo before heading north once again to live and work in and around Montreal. In 1874, he was sent back to St. Joseph’s in Troy. With the exception of a few semesters as spiritual director at Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and some time at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church in Manhattan (today, St. Ignatius on the Upper East Side), Nash would remain in Troy for the rest of his life, preaching and saying Mass, ministering to the sick through terrible winters and a deadly small-pox outbreak, and running a school for local boys considering the priesthood.
Fr. Michael Nash passed away on September 6, 1895, a few weeks before his seventy-first birthday. In his obituary, his brother Jesuits would describe Father as “brave man and naturally pugnacious; not afraid of danger and always ready for a daring expedition; and a capital storyteller who could amuse and interest his hearers for hours and hours.” In closing they would note, “Father Nash was exact in his religious duties. It is said that during the time he was with his Zouaves he never once missed saying his breviary. When not overcome by his fiery temper, he was amiable and made a number of warm friends. He was much loved by the poor wherever he went and he did not spare himself in laboring for them.”
◆ https://fordham.libguides.com/c.php?g=279634&p=2537066
Fordham Monthly v14 no 8 (May 1896) 117-118, 141.
Chaplains in the Civil War- articles from Fordham Monthly
Father Michael Nash, S.J.
Born: 1825, County Kilkenny, Ireland
Died: 1895, Troy, New York
Father Michael Nash’s connection to St. John College extends to even before its founding, for he was a student at St. John’s forerunner, St. Mary’s in Kentucky. At the outbreak of the Civil War his Jesuit superiors ordered him to serve in the Union Army as a chaplain; he was assigned to the 6th New York Volunteers. Luckily for Nash the regiment, including Colonel William Wilson, the leader of the regiment, was predominantly Catholic. His work with the men so inspired Wilson that he told Nash that would use his sword to spread the Catholicism as the only true religion.
Nash’s first battle was at Fort Pickens off the coast of Florida in the gulf coast. The Union controlled a fort off the coast near Pensacola, which was controlled by the Confederacy. Most of his men headed into battle with little respect for their religion; as soon as they entered the fray much of that changed. Nash was there to comfort, preach, hear confessions, lead mass and provide support for the men in the most harrowing of experiences: war.
After the war, worked at Holy Cross and in Troy, New York where he died in 1895.
◆ Woodstock Letters SJ : Vol 26, Number 2
“Reminiscences of Father Michael Nash SJ ” p257
The following reminiscences were prepared by Father Nash for the Woodstock Letters during t!te last year of his life. The part concerning Kentucky Has been carefully revised by Fathers Walter H Hill and Thomas H Miles, to whom we are greatly indebted for the care they had taken to verify and. correct the statements of the author. As it stands now it is believed to present a true picture of life in the old Kentucky Colleges of St Mary's and St Joseph's more than fifty years ago, and will senrve as a supplement to the histori9cal articles of Father W H Hill on the same subjext . (Editor W L)
Birth and Early Days
Michael Nash was born on the 29th of Sept., 1825, at Whitechurch, Parish of Ooning, County of Kilkenny, Ireland. When he was about five years of age his father, James Nash, was informed that a rich legacy had been left to him in the State of Kentucky, United States. The little knowledge then had of Kentucky, the difficulty of holding communication with so distant a State, and the scanty information received about the nature of the bequest, almost determined James Nash to take no notice of the legacy.
Repeatedly receiving news, however, of the inheritance, and urged by friends to take some means of securing it, he consulted with the family whether the old homestead should be disposed of, and the whole family emigrate to the distant State of Kentucky, and accept the property, with whatever encumbrance might be connected with it. After mature deliberation it was decided that the head of the house should go himself to America, examine on the spot what had been left the family, and then judge whether the location should be refused, or whether the whole household should leave home and country, and emigrate for the then far off and unknown West.
Preparations for the long and dangerous voyage were immediately begun. He was to take with him, as a companion, Thomas, the older of the two boys. Three days, however, before the sailing of the vessel, the mother strongly objected to the departure of Thomas. Nevertheless, as the passage had been paid, the younger brother, Michael was told to get ready and take Thomas’ place.
Voyage to America
On June 9, 1830, (1) we left the paternal home, put to sea the following day, and reached Liverpool on the 11th. Here we remained till July 1, on which day we set sail on board the “Star”, for the United States. After a tedious passage of 43 days we arrived in New York harbor August 12. We remained in New York till Sept 1, when we started for the West. Communication between the Empire City and Cincinnati, Louisville, Ky, St Louis and other cities of what was then called the far West, was difficult and therefore uncertain, and a trip from New York to any of those centres was a long and diversified voyage. The parties who had charge of my little self, having urgent business to transact in the heart of Kentucky, resolved to take the fast express line to the “Land of Blood”. After due inquiries we discovered that the “express” for Kentucky started every morning at 9 o'clock, from what at present is probably pier 1. The means of conveyance for this long trip were steam-boats, canal boats, stage coaches, and railroads or something resembling them. Accommodations were not then as they are to-day. The passenger canal boats were fitted up with benches, and were drawn by four and at times by six fairly good horses. At points, sometimes during daylight, at other times during night, we were transferred to rough mail “stages” seating inside and out sixteen passengers, and drawn according to the nature of the road by four or six horses. After a tiresome ride over a jolting road we were directed to resume our voyage on the canal. From Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, Pa, we had a trip on a railroad, or a mode of new to us all. Reaching the Alleghanies our train was halted at the base of the gigantic mountains, the locomotive of whatever kind it was, was detached from the passenger coaches, and we were informed that the cars were to run up the steep and rugged side of the towering mountain, without the locomotive. The two lines of rails laid up the steep grade differed in nothing from those over which we had been travelling; but between the two lines of rails ran a series of grooved wheels over which passed a monstrous cable or chain or perhaps both. After a brief delay, the long train of cars started up the threatening ascent, at first slowly, but soon with ever increasing speed. The situation appeared disquieting. The dense mountain forest came close up to the cars on either side. “Is there danger”, it was asked, “of anything giving way and allowing all to rush pell mell to the bottom?” The ascent is so steep that the front car seems about to make a back summersault, and crush into atoms all those closely following it. Late in the evening we arrived on the summit and discovered the mechanism and power that had taken us above the clouds. In an enclosure was a powerful engine, which, like a wild colt under training, galloped around, turning a windlass by means of which the train was brought to the top. The engine was aided in its prodigious efforts by the weight of a load descending the opposite side, and linked to the ascending train by a stupendous cable which saddled the mountain. Again we had recourse to stage coaches and canal boats by means of which we reached Pittsburg at the junction of the Alleghany and Monagahela Rivers after eight days and nights of continual travelling. Here we took passage on board of what is termed a “stern wheel” steamboat, ie, a steamboat whose stern is completed like the gable end of a house. Now to the height and width of this gable rises up a huge water-wheel worked by an engine in the hull of the boat. As these flat bottom boats can float in very shallow water, and as the Ohio, above Cincinnati, is usually shallow, stern wheel boats are the only kind used in navigating the upper Ohio. After having grounded many times, and after having lost several hours each time in extracting herself, our queer boat reached Cincinnati. Though we had paid our passage to Louisville, Ky, we were now informed that our boat would go no farther. Procuring new tickets we boarded a boat bearing a sign board, “direct for Louisville - starts immediately”. It remained at its dock, however, till evening. We reached Louisville, Ky, next day. The trip on the fast express from New York to Louisville lasted exactly eleven days and nights of uninterrupted travel.
We lost no time in hunting up the legacy which was found to be rich farm land but far from any city, and no facility for reaching the distant market. No apparent possibility of having the services of a priest, of going to Mass, etc, could be discovered. Consulting present advantages and the spiritual good of his family, James Nash resolved to decline accepting the property and to return to Ireland.
Remains at Louisville
April 1832, all was arranged for our return to Ireland. Through the influence of friends I obtained from my father permission to remain in America. What my motive was in making the request I do not know - as far as I can analyze my thoughts, it was the vague hope of being a scout amongst the Indians.
The day of my dear father's departure arrived, I accompanied him to the boat which was to take him up the Ohio to Pittsburg, and I begged to return home with him. After a steady and stern look at me he replied: “No. You must not change your mind so lightly. You have, more or less with my consent, taken the resolution to remain in America. You shall stay here now for at least two years. I have made arrangements with Rev Father Quinn,(2) who will be your guardian, about your schooling and your return home to Ireland. Go see him immediately, he will tell you what to do, and give you the advice which you have probably been expecting from me. Farewell-may God and His Mother protect you”.
I called upon Father Quinn and it was agreed that I should go to school. There was at this time in Louisville a good priest, Father Rogers, who owing to frost bitten limbs - a legacy of his severe mission - was unable to attend to the duties of an active ministry. Learned, pious and zealous, Father Rogers chafed under his enforced idleness. With the consent of ecclesiastical authorities this good priest, opened what he called an academy in the basement of the church (St Louis). To this institution I was sent. In the September of 1839, however, the academy, for one reason or another was closed and the boys were advised to go to St Joseph's College, Bardstown, about forty miles southeast of Louisville. Acting on the advice, I with several others started for Bardstown. Of course, in those days there were no railroads in Kentucky. Taking the stage at four am, we reached Bardstown early in the evening of the same day. The trip was magnificent. The road throughout was a good turnpike. The horses were changed every ten miles, and were always in prime condition. The college with its extensive grounds and tastily laid out campus presented an attractive appearance to us newcomers.
St Joseph’s College, Bardstown, Kentucky
Presenting ourselves before the authorities, we found that Dr M J Spalding was no longer President but that the Rev J M Lancaster now (1840) filled that office. The professors were all able men. Rev Robert A Abell was Vice-President and professor of rhetoric and had for associates such men as Rev Edward Clark, Rev H Deluynes, Rev Charles Cipell, and others. There was a strong corps of assistant lay-teachers among whom I remember John R McAtee and William Sims. The prefects of discipline were laymen. The servants of the house were negroes, but under the supervision of matronly ladies.
It was a strange thing to discover that the majority of students largely from the Southern States, were Protestants. Though hard to govern, these Southerners were much attached to the college. They defended the college by word of mouth as well as by pen against the slanderous attacks of the preachers of the town. Mr Foote of Mississipi, an old graduate, now become an able lawyer, came all the way to Bardstown from his Southern home to vindicate the honor of the college and of Nazareth Academy, a neighboring institution for girls. He boldly challenged the slanderers to a public discussion. All to no purpose. He then publicly denounced the minister in whose paper the calumny first appeared.
Though the course of studies at St Joseph's was fair enough, discipline was lax. The year (1840-41) passed away satisfactorily, and vacation was at hand. I returned to Louisville. It now became a question whether I should go back to St Joseph's or learn a trade and it was agreed that I should become a brass finisher. The principal member of a firm, who was a friend of the family, had expressed his readiness to take me as an apprentice. I accepted the arrangement; but on my way up town, whom should I meet but Rev Father Quinn. Having acquainted him with what had been settled upon, he very positively forbid me to undertake anything, or bind myself in any way, until he could have a talk with me. “Come to me this evening” he said. Accordingly I called upon him. “All is right now”, he exclaimed as soon as he saw me. “Providence has sent me to-day a person whose very sight suggested to me what I should do with you. Rev William S Murphy, President of St Mary's College, near Lebanon, paid me a visit to-day. The moment I laid eyes on him, the thought struck me, that you should go to St Mary's to finish your studies. The gentlemen managing St Mary's”, he continued, “are not secular priests; they are religious of the Society of Jesus”. It was the first time I had heard of Jesuits. The information that several other boys of the old academy were going, reconciled me to the father's decision.
◆ Woodstock Letters SJ : Vol 26, Number 2
“Reminiscences of Father Michael Nash SJ ” ...../continued p263
St Mary’s College, Louisville, Kentucky
September 1, 1841, was the day agreed upon for departure. Our route lead us through Bardstown. Early, therefore, on the appointed day, we took stage. To enjoy the trip, and banish the blues, we rode on the outside where there were seats for ten or twelve. As the Bardstown line did not go on to Lebanon, but to Nashville, we had to take another line which would take us by way of Springfield to Lebanon, Ky, only about five miles from the college. Springfield is an old town - the county seat of Washington Co, originally of both Washington and Marion, and of a somewhat aristocratic air. Arrived at Lebanon we found conveyance furnished by the college. Daily communication between the town and the college, on no other account than to dispatch and receive the mail, had to be kept open. We soon covered the five miles that separates the college from the town and brought up at the college gate - a rather pretentious one, flanked by two lodges. The gate opened upon what might be called a vacant park, beyond which stretched spacious play grounds. The college itself instead
of being one large and continuous building was composed of some five or six substantial brick structures. On arriving at the main entrance, we were informed by some boys that Rev Father Rector, Father Wm S Murphy, was not at home, but would return in the evening. “Indeed” they added, “there is none of the fathers home. Leander Cannon, one of us, has charge of the boys that remain during vacation”. Mr C soon made his appearance and kindly volunteered to show us around. He first took us out on a magnificent terrace about one hundred and seventy-five feet long by sixty feet wide. On the north side of this esplanade, and opening on to it, was the study hall, a neat one story building. On each end, east and west, rose a square building used for class rooms. The chapel, dormitories, infirmary, clothes room, and the fathers' residence were in separate buildings ranged around. The lavatory was in the open air, around a never failing spring.
In the meantime the Pres, Rev W S Murphy, had returned and hearing of our arrival, was desirous to meet us. He chatted with us pleasantly and tried to make us feel at home. After supper, followed by recreation and night prayers, we were conducted in silence the length of the terrace, to the dormitory building. The large room was lighted at one end by a floating taper in a tumbler of oil, at the other by a candle in a sconce attached to the wall. The bedsteads were long, and separated in the middle by a board to accommodate two occupants, sleeping feet to feet and furnished with another board at the side to prevent the accident of rolling out. There were no curtains. Our tin wash basins were placed near our beds. Rising in the morning, the boys, half dressed, hurried to the spring to make their ablutions and toilet. The Catholic boys of the sodality went to Mass every morning, although there was no rule that bound them. The others began their studies after morning prayers in common. Great freedom of “bounds” was allowed. On recreation days we might go where we liked, provided we were back for meals and evening studies. About this time (Sep 15, 1841) Father H C Deluynes arrived from Bardstown to enter the Society. Father Legouais, a veritable, but well proportioned dwarf, had charge of the Sodality of the BVM. He induced us to join his little family.
The year passed off pleasantly. Examinations were held and vacation was inaugurated with a grand exhibition. Not in a hall, if you please, but out in the neighboring “Grove”. Men and women - the fathers, mothers, and sisters of the boys - began to arrive early in the day. Whence did the throng come? They seemed to have come from every part of the State. Both men and women were splendid riders and they were mounted on magnificent horses. Some families had come from places as distant as Lexington.
The exhibition over, some of us boys made up a party to go across the country to Bardstown and there take stage for Louisville. After vacation 1842, spent very pleasantly, Joseph Kelly and myself returned. This scholastic year, ending July 1843, terminated with a grand exhibition, the chief feature of which was a dramatic performance. During this vacation, Bishop Chabrat, Coadjutor of Bishop Flaget, suggested to us that, instead of going back to St Mary's we should go to St Thomas' Seminary and there quietly finish our studies; but September (1843) found J Kelly and myself again on our road to the Jesuit College.
June 5, 1843, Rev Dr M J Spalding - an old student of St Mary's in the founder's time - was invited by Father Murphy to preach in the college chapel on the anniversary of Father Byrnes' death. On this occasion a monument was erected by our fathers over the remains of the venerable founder.
We from time to time received a visit from the venerable Father Badin. He was actually, the first priest ordained in the United States. This year passed away much as others. Hog killing time was a feature of every year. During this time our negro cooks gave us fine specimens of their culinary skill. They served us pork in every style, together with the inevitable, but always relished “Corn-dodger”; and we grew healthy and contented on the plain but abundant fare. This year we noticed that Mr Hennen, one of the scholastics, had for some reason unknown to us laid aside his cassock and joined the brothers. Very soon the good brother had an opportunity of proving his usefulness and skill. The father had just received a fine clock from France. On unpacking, it was found to have suffered some damage The brother soon set all to rights and put the eternally striking clock in place.
The brothers were remarkably well liked by the boys. Brother Sene seemed to possess authority over the others, Brother Corne was as much respeeted as if he had been a priest. He had charge of the wardrobe. Brother Constance had charge of the refectory of the boys. Brother Ladore superintended the farm. During the vacation of 1843 Joseph Kelly made known to me his decision to enter the Dominican Order at St Rose near Springfield, and the following September he actually entered the novitiate at St Rose, taking the name Brother Austin. Father Murphy now called me to his room and plainly asked me what I intended to do with myself. I answered that I was undecided and there the matter ended for the time. About the 1st of April, 1844, however, he again called me. He informed me that two of the students, Graves and Bartlett, were about to enter the Jesuit novitiate, that he thought I too was called there. He thought I should, at least, make the eight days retreat under Father Gilles. I consented. The retreat over, I put on the habit, and began my noviceship April 13, 1844. There were four scholastic novices, James Graves, Mr Marechal, Judge Bartlet, and myself. Brother Garvey was a postulant lay brother.
The Novitiate
The novitiate was situated in the centre of a magnificent plain about one half mile from the college. The building was erected by Father Chazelle on ground that had been purchased by Ours. On Sundays we novices were sent out in different directions to teach catechism to the neighboring children assembled at certain centres or stations. The fathers had two missions at some distance from the college; the one at St Charles' a brick church, was attended by Father Lebreton; the other, at St Francis Xavier another brick church, in a little village called Raywick, was in charge of Father Petit its builder. A few months after putting on the habit, Father Murphy inquired about the state of my mind. I told him candidly, I was in a state of doubt about my vocation. “Pray wait” he said, “till the two years are up”.
I humbly and fervently asked God not to listen to my natural desire to be free, but to keep me in the Order if it was His will. I opened my heart to Father Gilles. He assured me that I was called to the Society, and handing me a letter he said: “Here, this is for you”. It was a letter from Brother Corbett - a Christian Brother in Ireland and was just to the point. He seemed to have been inspired. Nobody could have suggested anything to him about my state. “Lay your hand on your breast”, he wrote, “and like a man say: ‘Lord, what wilt thou have me do?’ He Himself may tell you, or He may send you to some one else. Accept the answer as final - as from Himself”. Following this inspiration, I called on Father Murphy and made known my doubts and hesitancy. He simply pointed out the advantages I would have in religion to save my soul, and the dangers I would inevitably encounter in the world, and left the matter there. I went back to the novitiate to complete my two years.
Louisville College
In the month of September (1845), however, I found myself installed as a teacher in the “Collegium Inchoatum” which had been opened a few years before (in 1842) bv Father Evermond in Louisville. I had for fellow laborers Father De Merle, Mr Maréchal, Mr Ryan, Mr Gockeln, and Mr Graves. All improvements were stopped at the novitiate and it was closed for the time being. The new college, situated on Jefferson St, was a rented building, not very imposing, but offering many conveniences. Though we had but few students, Father Larkin, who had replaced Father Evermond, did not lose courage, but with the proper authorization set about having plans drawn for a church and college to be erected on a grand scale in what was known as Jacob's woods. The ground had been purchased in 1843 ; and it is now in the very heart of the city, as he foresaw it would be. The trees that were in the way were cut down, and ground was broken for the new structures, but they never went up!
Very Rev Clement Boulanger, sent out as Visitor, called on us at our humble residence, and informed us that he had made arrangements with Bishop Hughes of New York to transfer the Kentucky Mission to his diocese - to St John's College, Fordham, or to Rose Hill as it was then called. Our house in Louisville was to close on the 15th of February at the end of the first session, and the community would in the meantime return to St Mary's, till further orders.
The reason for this action was not given officially, but from what we know, we concluded that straightened relations between the Coadjutor Bishop Chabrat, and Ours was the principal reason. The saintly old Bishop Flaget was too old and feeble to attend to the affairs of the diocese, and his coadjutor, Bishop Chabrat, scarcely attempted to disguise his hostility to the Jesuits. There was in consequence no suitable field open to the zeal of the fathers, consequently they gladly accepted the invitation of Bishop Hughes to take charge of a college in the suburbs of the city of New York and later a church in the very centre of the great city. As the time of our departure drew near, by order of Rev Father Visitor, Father Larkin called on the Venerable Bishop Flaget to inform him of the decision come to of closing our houses and withdrawing from the diocese. The holy old man wept. Then Father Larkin made formal announcement to the students, that we were about to close.
They were affected even to tears, and wished to know what their parents could do for us; and some of the parents themselves, informed of our intention, came to inquire whether they could help us in any way, thinking that we were financially embarrassed.
Late in February 1846, the whole community, with the exception of Father Larkin and Brother Hennen, were one their way to St Mary's. We found Father Thehaud installed as Rector in place of Father Murphy.
But now the time for pronouncing my vows was at hand. It was at the beginning of March 1846, for I had entered April 13, I844. I had not yet made the long retreat. Rev Father Visitor called me to get ready to make the thirty days' retreat under the direction of Father Gilles master of novices. I made the retreat on the 13th of April, 1846. I pronounced my vows in the domestic chapel of St Mary's.
Migration to Fordham
Migration from St Mary's to New York began early in August 1846. Father Murphy had been sent on ahead some time previous to make arrangements for our reception. We were dispatched in bands. Our band of five, under the leadership of Father John Ryan, left St Mary's July 31, Feast of St Ignatius, going by way of Loretto to Bardstown and thence by stage to Louisville. On August the 2nd we boarded the mail boat plying between Louisville and Cincinnati. Arriving at Cincinnati we enjoyed for a day the hospitality of our Missouri fathers and brothers, and then took the steamer for Pittsburgh. There was a low stage of water at the time and we ran aground many times before we got to Wheeling. At this place we were informed, that the boat could go no farther; and we were obliged to take the stage.
The stage company, as a matter of prudence, usually started several coaches in company. Having secured seats we were soon off at a brisk pace on the road to the mountains. The gradual ascend was grand. Night, however, coming on, shut out the splendid views enjoyed by those who make the trip by day. A little before sunrise the drivers brought their stages to a halt on what they said, was the highest point. Late in the evening, without having met with the slightest accident or with a “knight of the road”" we reached Cumberland, whence we took train for New York, crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry.
On our arrival at New York we were directed to the City Hall, where we found the cars of the New York and Harlem Rail Road which were to bring us to Fordham. Our train was soon under headway. We passed the Yorkville tunnel reached Harlem and Mott Haven. Between Mott Haven and Fordham there was then only one house, a farm house called Governor Morris's house. Finally after a ride of two hours we arrived at Fordham, Sunday evening August 9. 1846.
St John’s College Fordham
The splendid appearance of the lawn and the sites of the scattered buildings comprising the college, the view of the railroad winding along the foot of the lawn, and the hills west of the road impressed us very favorably, as we ascended the avenue leading from what is called Fordham up to the old “Rose Hill” residence, now “St John's College” Fordham was then nothing; it lived on the college. Adjoining the college property was a farm of one hundred acres be- longing to the Rev Mr Powell, an Episcopalian minister. His extensive residence was used as a boarding school for young men. The entrances to both institutions were adjoining. On reaching the door of the college we were received by Father Thebaud, the new rector, and some seminarians still remaining. I was immediately appointed prefect of the boys who were spending their vacation in college - young fellows from Mexico, Cuba, South America, West India Islands, and from the Southern States, with a few from Brooklyn and New York. Without exception they were the worst boys I had ever met. Wild boys, and reckless boys I had met in St Joseph's and St Mary's Colleges, and in the schools of Louisville, but they were also gentlemen, sons of families of standing in society. Those of whom I had now charge, especially the N York and Brooklyn boys, did not possess the remotest instinct of gentlemen. Some of the seminarians residing in the just finished stately building fronting on the north side of the college lawn, kindly offered to give me some points about the manner of governing the indescribable set who had fallen into my hands. Mr Bernard McQuaid, at present Bishop of Rochester, and Mr Maguire were especial helps to me.
In September 1846, I was appointed prefect of all recreations, I also accompanied the boys to the refectory, was prefect in the dormitory, presided every morning in chapel, and in study hall, taught two hours, and was supposed to study rhetoric privately. With all this and other work on my hands, I am in the catalogue marked only as studying. Yet all who have had any experience in this kind of life know, that after I had performed all my duties as teacher and prefect my mind was not able to study. There was barely time for the body to take a little rest. When the mind was fit to begin studies, it was time to attend some duty with the boys.
At the termination of the scholastic year 1846-47, Father John Larkin was entrusted with the founding of a church and college of the Society in the city of New York. I was informed by Rev Father Boulanger, Visitor, that as soon as Father Larkin would open his school, I should be sent to him as one of his teachers, and in the meantime I was to prepare myself for this. In leaving Fordham College, Father Larkin received only fifty cents to begin his great undertaking. Twenty cents of this he paid for his fare to New York, Cor Broome and Bowery; twenty-five cents for the carriage of his trunk to a friend's house. There remained five cents with which to found his college and church, as he afterwards related in a sermon preached in St James' Church at the funeral of Father Smith, the pastor. Relying on Divine Providence he energetically applied himself to the work entrusted to him. Father Verheyden was given to him as a companion. With the untiring assistance of Mr John Mullen, Bishop McCloskey's brother-in-law, and Mrs Fagan, daughter of the famous “Iron sides”, first editor of “Epitome of Historiae Sacrae” in America, the fathers were enabled to purchase for $18,000, a Protestant Church in Elizabeth Street, about one hundred feet north of the northeast corner of Walker and Elizabeth. (3) A mortgage to the full amount with interest was given on the property. In expectation of more favorable circumstances, Father Larkin determined to open his school in the basement of the church. It was roomy, dry, and well lighted. It could be conveniently divided into six class rooms, and two private rooms. The contract for making some alterations in the church, and changing the basement into class rooms and private rooms for the two “operarii” was given to a Mr Bridges of Brooklyn.
School of the Holy Name NY
In obedience to directions, I left Fordham Sept 1, 1847, to join Father Larkin and Father Verheyden. I thus found myself face to face a third time with all the difficulties necessarily attending the foundation of a house without funds, - first Loyola School, Louisville, Ky, St John's College, Fordham, and now the School of the Holy Name, New York City. The most extreme poverty prevailed. A small house No 180 fronting on Walker Street was hired. The rear opened into an alley running along the south side of the church, and through which was the only access to the church entrance. The community, on my arrival was composed of Father Larkin, superior, Father Verheyden, minister and procurator, Brother Ledore, and Ulric Seidler, a postulant. The other fathers who had been named as members of this community were as yet, for lack of room in our house, the guests of some secular priests for the good of whose parishes they toiled late and early. Father Petit was at the French church Grand Street; Father De Luynes at St Peter's, Brooklyn; Father Soderini at Transfiguration church. Father Larkin and Father Verheyden had been occupying 180 Walker Street for two months, but as yet they had neither furniture nor cooking utensils. The postulant received daily a few cents to procure his meals in an eating house. The two fathers and the brother breakfasted, dined, and supped on bread and water, with meat when some charitable soul of the neighborhood would send it to them.
On the day of my arrival, beds were purchased and a kitchen was started. We then had for breakfast every morning coffee without milk and bread without butter - nothing else; for dinner one dish of meat and vegetables and bread. Two or three days after me, came Father Lebreton as minister and professor, and Mr Baxter, a scholastic, as teacher. The community thus numbered seven and the house contained but four rooms and a garret. The best of these was set apart as a parlor, the next for the procurator's office and recreation room; we had then left but two little rooms and the garret for the six remaining members. In the mean time carpenters, masons and painters were hard at work under the direction of Father Verheyden, in turning the Protestant meeting house into a Catholic Church, and fitting up the basement into study halls, class rooms, and private rooms. Mass was said every morning in the church before the workmen came. The schools were ready about the beginning of October. We opened with 120 students. Father De Luynes and Father Petit were lodged in the basement. Notwithstanding that the work about the classrooms was said to be finished, it was far from being the case; we had carpenters, masons, or painters every day till Christmas, no benches for some weeks, and no fire till December. The boys and professors bore everything most cheerfully, for there was an excellent spirit amongst the students who were, with one or two exceptions, of the first Catholic families of New York, Brooklyn and Jersey City. We had two and only two rude lads to deal with. These Father Larkin accepted out of deference for their fathers who were most worthy men.
In the month of November, Father Lebreton, who was far gone in consumption, was with our regime thrown hors de combat. Mr Bidwell, a novice at Fordham, was sent to replace him as professor; he continued his charge of minister and confessor of the house. A day or two after I fell sick and was eight days confined to bed, suffering most intensely from a continual fever. I spent eight days more in recruiting my health, in New York, in Astoria with Rev Felix Larkin, and at Fordham. On my return to my class I found my boys:had made wonderful progress under Rev Father Larkin wno had replaced me. About this time a certain lady, who between the ill treatment she received from her husband,and the perpetual sickness with which the Lord afflictd her, was a martyr of patience, sent every morning to Father Petit, who had the direaion of her soul, milk and butter for his breakfast. This of course he gave to the ailing. Mr Baxter was the only one of the professors who felt no fatigue, and who in consequence had to perform more than an ordinary share of labor. So great was his charity that he found a thousand excuses to have imposed upon himself what of right should have been assigned to others whom he considered too weak for the labor. The lay brother, who alone seems to have lost courage, finding it insupportable to have care of a kitchen where he had so little means of sustaining the many persons that appeared daily in his refectory, disappeared one cold December night and left us waiting for our bread and black coffee till 8 o'clock next morning. He had gone to Fordham. Another was sent to replace him, Br Chouvi, who in a few days was also obliged to give up. Br De Pooter was then sent and he held out manfully. In the meantime Father Verheyden was beautifying the church. He had two distinguished French painters with their apprentices and journeymen employed in representing on the ceiling various traits in our Lord's life and the history of the Society. All had some reference to the “Holy Name of Jesus” - the name of the church. At Christmas we received from the faithful abundant alms, which enabled the rector to give us substantial breakfasts; Father Verheyden about the same time borrowed $7000 wherewith he hoped to complete the decoration of the church for the festival of the Holy Name. After Christmas vacation, which we passed sociably in our own narrow house, we found things quite on another footing. The classrooms under the church were now finished, the hot air furnaces in the “sub-basement”, were in full operation, while the paintings on the ceilings and walls began to attract visitors who, if Catholics, often called for a confessor before departing. Father De Luynes or Father Petit had always to be in attendance. The latter, who was frequently absent from dinner, was asked on a certain occasion why he did not dine with the community, the good man replied that it was his moment for “fishing”. “I never”, said he, “go into the church about midday without finding some poor souls who have not had the courage to approach the confessional with the crowd. To-day I found a husband and wife, who had not approached the confessional for fifteen years,-they are now reconciled to God”.
The fathers found themselves insufficient for the work that was falling into their hands. They remained in their confessionals every morning till 8 o'clock, and every evening till 10 and 11. Fathers Verheyden, Soderini, and Lebreton broke down under the labor - their health permitted them to remain but two hours in the morning and two in the evening. All the work thus fell on Fathers De Luynes and Petit, who most cheerfully applied themselves to it with the greatest zeal.
The feast of the Holy Name arrived, but all was not finished and consequently the scaffolding had to remain. The preceding evening Rev Father Larkin in his domestic exhortation warned the community to prepare for crosses; we were prospering too rapidly not to expect at the hands of God the granting of St Ignatius' famous prayer - that the Society may be always in suffering. The day was celebrated in the most solemn style. Father Larkin preached one of his prepared sermons, “On the honor Christians should pay to the Name of Jesus”. Things went on in the usual way - joy in the community, and hard work for all.
Church and School Burned
On the Saturday following the festival of the Holy Name, January 22, 1848, the church was crowded with penitents - Fathers Rector, Petit, De Luynes, Lebreton, Verheyden, and Soderini had been occupied the whole day in the confessionals. At 7 o'clock when the fathers came to take their cup of tea, to return again to their work, they debated what should be done; for the number of penitents seemed no way to be diminishing. It was resolved unanimously that the whole night should be devoted to the good work. Accordingly the fathers resumed their labor, and the three scholastics and the lay brother passed their recreation together, performed their spiritual exercises, and at 9 o'clock retired to rest. At half past nine, the servant, Ulrick Seidler, ran to our little dormitory - which was under the roof and so low that only at one side could we stand erect - and informed us that the church was on fire! Of course we hurried down with all speed. We found Fathers Larkin and Verheyden in the school rooms under the church, where the fire was raging between the walls and lathing. The ceilings and walls of every class room were in flames! The alarm was given but before the engines arrived the flames had penetrated into the church, and were drawn by the current up the steeple - all hope was lost. Father Verheyden ran to the altar and took out the Blessed Sacrament with great risk to his life. The vestments, chalices, missals, censers, etc, were all in the sacristy, which it was now impossible to reach. All consequently became the prey of the flames which now began to communicate to the adjoining buildings and of course to our own poor house. The Catholics and Protestants of the neighborhood vied with each other in saving our little effects; but owing to the hurry and quantity of water many things were lost or injured especially our little library. Some 8000 people were in the streets - brought there either with the desire of aiding us, or of mere curiosity. Many Catholics came armed, as they supposed the church had been attacked and set on fire by the Protestants. At 12 o'clock the roof of the church fell in and the firemen were sure of being able to prevent the fire from spreading. Father Larkin then permitted the memhers of the community to divide themselves amongst some of the many families who were soliciting the favor of giving us hospitality. The greatest attention was paid to all. (4)
Next morning I arose at 5 o'clock, repaired to the scene of the disaster, found the walls still standing, also the steeple which was of brick, but the rest and two of the adjoining houses were a heap of ruins. I walked around the church towards our house, and found the door open. The floors and walls were streaming with water. I went down to the kitchen and there found Br de Pooter drying up the place and preparing to make a little coffee for the community he had hoped would assemble in the course of the morning. “O my sins are the cause of all”, said he as soon as the good brother saw me. The poor man had remained in the house all night. Being Sunday we were obliged to hear Mass. I went to the French church, and after the holy sacrifice I returned to keep house and let the brother go.
I now found all assembled taking their coffee! everyone had his adventures of the night to relate. Father Larkin had gone to the Bishop's, Father Verheyden to Father Smith's pastor of St James', Fathers Deluynes and Soderini to Father McClellan's pastor of Transfiguration, Father Petit to Mr Lafont pastor of St Vincent de Paul, Father Lebreton to Father Pise pastor of St Peter's, Mr Baxter and Mr Bidwell to Mr Bridges', a Catholic of the neighborhood. Rev Father Boulanger Superior General of the Mission, who dwelt at Fordham, having seen in the morning “Herald” an account of the accident, came in all haste down to the city. He entered the house about 10 o'clock, found us all at home and in good cheer. Our resignation soothed the grief the good man had experienced on receiving the melancholy tidings. On his announcement that we were all to go to Fordham with him, Father Larkin re- marked,-:-
“And what shall we do for professors and confessors if you take all away?” Rev Father Boulanger opened his eyes in astonishment and exclaimed, “You have neither church nor school, scarcely a house to spend the night in, what can you do with them?” Father Larkin, to every one's surprise, cooly remarked, “The professors shall teach their classes tomorrow and the fathers attend to their confessionals as usual!” A dead silence followed this announcement! “Had the loss he endured, the sufferings to which he saw his subjects reduced, deprived him of his reason?” was the thought that occurred to everyone's mind!
“Yes”, said he, breaking the silence, his preceding words had created, “I shall make arrangements with Father Smith, pastor of St James, to open without delay our classes in the basement of his church till we find better. And our parishoners we can attend to, in the French church”. He immediately called on Father Smith - it was to his church had been brought the Blessed Sacrament that had been saved from the conflagration - and proposed the affair to him. This zealous priest, who from the unhappy time of his departure from the Society had never been friendly towards its members, now proved to be the greatest friend we had in the whole city. The basement was instantly prepared at his own expense for our use, and on Tuesday morning we resumed our classes as though nothing had happened. Sunday and Monday our house had been all day crowded by the students who had come to condole with us. When they heard that class was to be resumed on the next day there was no limit to their joy.
The matter of the French church was not so easily settled. They required a large sum of money for the use of their church, and moreover the Masses for our parish would be at very inconvenient hours. Father Larkin found he had not the means. He accepted it, however, for one Sunday, and the people who frequented our church were informed of it. At those Masses which our fathers said, the church was crowded. According to the contract the sermon for the “Jesuit people” was at five in the evening. Father Larkin himself preached, announced the conditions on which he had rented the use of the church, adding as he had not money to pay for it himself, that the congregation would have to bear all the expenses. He concluded by requesting all who wished to contribute towards the defraying of the expenses, to remain in the church after the Benediaion. Not one left the church, and many who could find no room in the church came to the sacristy assuring Father Larkin, that not only they were ready to pay for the use of this church but also to rebuild the old one. Some of those who were in the street not having rightly understood the affair, thought the fathers were reduced to beggary. This produced a sensation, which in a few minutes turned into a great excitement - for the Catholics would not permit them under any account to beg for themselves - all must be brought to them. Father Larkin again ascended the pulpit, explained the matter and all became quiet.
The French priests - MM Lafont and Cauvin - showed themselves very obliging and willing to observe the contract, but the French congregation were most insolent. They would come to church at the time that Ours occupied it, claim the seats as theirs, and drive out those of our congregation who filled them. Our people complained of this to Father Larkin; he referred the case to Father Lafont, who feared to make the matter worse by speaking to the French about it. Father Larkin in his next sermon recommended patience, and though Father Verheyden and the musicians saw from the organ gallery that this petty persecution was continued, we heard no more formal complaints. Protestant churches were offered us for half what we paid the French, but the fathers would not accept them. Wishing, however, to spare their congregation as much pain as possible, they entered into negotiations to rent a Jewish, synagogue. The fathers were to enter into possession of it after Easter. Till then they resolved to keep the French church with all its annoyances.
Efforts to Build a New Church
In the meantime the sympathy of the Catholics for the fathers became universal. All urged Father Larkin to recommence the church and assured him that the money would not be wanting. The case was examined. $10,000 for which some articles in the church were insured were paid by the insurance company. This would help him to liquidate his debts. He hoped to get $20,000 more by subscriptions from the Catholics. It was announced, therefore, that the church was to be rebuilt. In a week's time $6000 were brought into the house. Father Larkin had many anecdotes respeaing those who offered him their mites. One day he gave “Deo gratias” at dinner, and drawing out of his pocket two fine apples, he said, “These apples deserve a ‘Deo gratias’, I was passing through the Bowery to-day when I was accosted by an apple woman who began her salutation by a, “Well Father Larkin, your church is burnt, the Lord be praised!” “The Lord be praised!” I repeated, “are you then glad of it?” “O God forbid!” she replied; “but then we must give God glory for everything”.
“I acknowledged in my heart”, continued Father Larkin, “the truth of her remark and resolved to profit by the lesson she gave me”. “Oh father”, said the good woman, “If I had some money to give you! but I am a poor widow with five children whom I must support by my apples. Something I can give and I hope it will have all the blessings of the widow's mite. You must take the two finest apples in my basket”. She then gave me these two apples which I could not refuse but she absolutely refused to give her name. Each member of the community received his portion of the fruit.
On another occasion, a poor woman called at the door and offered towards the erection of the church, $25. Father Larkin, judging from her appearance that she could not well afford to give that sum, asked her whether she was rich enough to give so much? “What I give you is all I have been able to save after many years of labor, I have not another cent”. “O then I cannot accept it”, said Father Larkin. “O father”, replied the good woman, “I do not offer my little mite to you, but to God - you cannot refuse it - God to whom I give it will not permit that I die of want”. She would not give her name.
In the course of a week $6000 were brought into the house. The good Catholics were so impatient to see the church rebuilt, that they said when giving their donations that their present offering was only a portion of what they intended - the rest was to be given when they should see the edifice commenced. The fathers thought, therefore, of beginning the work at once, when they were all thrown into consternation by the bishop's proclamation whereby he forbade any one to collect alms in New York except the Sisters of Mercy. The fathers feared this was directed against them, so Father De Luynes was sent to Bishop Hughes to enquire of him what his intention was by this proclamation. The result was that the fathers ceased to ask alms. The faithful complained that we did not begin to build, no explanation was given to them, and we fell ill in their estimation. We were accused of having no other motives than to gather money for secret purposes. Father Larkin then resolved to commence the church and trust to God for the means of completing it. He informed Bishop Hughes of his intention. The bishop positively refused to give his consent, unless the fathers accepted all the responsibilities of parish priests - marriages, baptisms, etc. This they refused, and consequently they remained without a church. The site of the late church was sufficiently extensive for the erection of a magnificent college, but the neighborhood was not suitable. It was therefore concluded to sell the property pay off all our debts, and buy ground for the erection of a college in some more respectable portion of the city. After some time the property was sold for over $9,000. Our debts now were $31,000. For the payment of this Father Larkin received between the months of September and January, $8000 in alms, $10,000 from the insurance company for certain objects destroyed in the fire and which had been insured in their office, $6000 alms after the destruction of the church, and over $9000 for the ground - in all $33,000. He thus had $2000 more than was required to pay his debts which were immediately liquidated.
We continued to teach under St James' Church amidst a thousand difficulties, although the pastor Father Smith did all in his power to remove them. The students suffered still more than ourselves, but we mutually consoled each other with the hope that we should soon have a college. We continued to reside in Walker St. W e took breakfast at 6.30 and then started with the first students who passed our house for St James' Church. Here we remained teaching till 3 pm, when we dismissed our boys for the day, and returned home for our dinner at 4. Only God and those who have experienced it, know how hard a life that was ! It was the great delight of the boys to accompany us home from the school through the streets. Often when going in the morning we were thoroughly drenched with rain and had to remain all day in our wet clothes; yet neither ourselves nor any of our students ever fell sick during the whole winter. In March or April Father Smith obtained from the bishop that there should be a collection in every church in the city for us. He himself was to preach on every occasion. His feelings were wrought to such a degree of excitement in the first of his sermons for this object, that his usual fluency of language forsook him. He made extraordinary efforts to praise the Society, and alluded to his own defection from the same - all to no use, he could not bring forth a phrase worthy of him. At length he left the pulpit all in perspiration, found himself quite unwell, sent for Father Larkin, and told him that he thought his end had come. Father Larkin tried to console him, but thought he too saw death in his eyes. He proposed to three secular priests present to examine the propriety of giving him extreme unction; they positively refused to allow it, saying they saw no danger. Father Larkin then returned home, promising Father Smith to call again in the evening. He did return but he found Father Smith speechless - next day he was dead without confession. Of course we and our students attended his burial and testified our gratitude towards the deceased every way in our power. Father Larkin on this occasion gave a conference to the community wherein he related the circumstances of Father Smith's leaving the Society, of his coldness towards it at first, but how his great charity towards us amply repaid for all, and how this last act which cost him his life, was for us. Although there was something melancholy attending his death, still he hoped St Ignatius had charge of his last moments. He concluded by saying that of all that ever left the Society, he did not know one whose death was not attended with some melancholy circumstances. He did not mean to say that they died unhappy deaths, but simply that they died in a way in which no Christian would select.
With Fath
