Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/667

 MOUNTPORD

605

MOUNT

Katendarium Marianum (Douai, 1C30) ; Albers, Blulhenkranze, IV (Paderborn, 1894), 191 sqq.

Frederick G. Holwbck.

Mountford (Mdmford), Thomas. See Downes, Thomas. Mount of Olives. See Olivet, Mount.

Mount St. Mary's College, the second oldest among the CathoHc collegiate institutions in the United States, is located near Emmitsburg, Mary- land, within the limits of the Archdiocese of Balti- more. Its situation on high ground at the foot of the Maryland range of the Blue Ridge Mountains is re- markable for beauty and healthfulness while it affords ample opportunity for physical exercise. Mount St. Mary's Theological Seminary has been maintained in connexion with the college since the foundation of the latter. The institution is direi'ted by an association of secular clergymen who, with several lay professors, compose its faculty. Its material interests are con- trolled by a board of directors of which the Arch- bishop of Baltimore is, ex officio, the president. For the academic year 1909-10 the teaching corps in- cluded sixteen professors, besides assistant instructors in the various branches, with 298 students in the col- lege and 54 in the seminary. Instruction is given in four departments: collegiate, academic, commercial, and modern languages. The degrees conferred are those of bachelor of arts and master of arts.

Mount St. Mary's College was founded in 1808 when the preparatory seminary established by the Sulpicians at Pigeon Hill, Pa., was transferred to Em- mitsburg. Eight students formed the nucleus out of which the college developed. Its first president was Rev. John Dubois (q. v.) who had been labouring for some years in the neighbouring missions and had built a brick church on the slope above the present site of the college. He had been led to secure this site by Father (afterwards Bishop) Dubourg (q. v.), who directed Mother Seton also to Emmitsburg for the establishment of St. Joseph's Academy. Father Dubois had as his assistant Father Brute (q. v.) who was con- secrated first Bishop of Vincennes in 1834. Father Dubois himself became in 1826 Bishop of New York and was succeeded in the presidency by Rev. Michael de Burgo Egan (1826-28), Rev. J. F. McGerry (1828- 29), and Rev. John B. Purcell (1830-.3.3), later Arch- bishop of Cincinnati. In January, 1830, Father Purcell obtained from the General Assembly of Maryland a charter of incorporation for the college. This docu- ment prohibited the requiring of any religious test from students or professors, and limited the tenure of land to 1000 acres and the total value of the college property to .$25,000: all gifts or revenues in excess of this amount, after the payment of necessary debts, were to be held for the use of the State of Maryland. After the brief (five months) incumbency of Rev. F. Jamison during the latter half of 1833, Rev. Thomas R. Butler was chosen president (1834-38). During his administration, a new charter, still in force, was granted on 4 April, 1836, wherein the college authori- ties are empowered to confer all collegiate honours and degrees except that of doctor of medicine. Father Butler's successor was Rev. John J. McCaffrey, a man of great energy and zeal, whose long term as president (1838-1872) was marked on one hand by the growth and prosperity of the college, on the other by reverses that threatened its very existence. He was the builder of the new church at Emmitsburg which was dedicated in June, 1842. The corner-stone of Brut6 Hall, for which $12,000 had been appropriated, was laid on 2 .\Iav, 1843, and, in 18.52, the foundation of McCaffrey Hall. On 25 June, 1857, Archbishop Pur- cell laid the corner-stone of the church which was to replace the structure on the hill. In 1858 the college celebrated its semi-centennial with appropriate exer- cises in which many distinguished alumni took part.

The "Mountain" already counted among its gradu- ates such men as John Hughes, later Archbishop of New York; William Quarter, first Bishop of Chicago; John McCloskey, afterwards Archbishop of New York and Cardinal; Willaim Henry Elder, Archbishop of Cincinnati; William George McCloskey, president of the American College, Rome, and later Bishop of Louis- ville; Francis S. Chatard, president of the Ameri- can College, Rome, and later Bishop of Vincennes; Michael Augustine Corrigan, later Archbishop of New York; Richard N. Whelan. first Bishop of Wheeling; Francis X. Gartland, first Bishop of Savannah; Fran- cis P. McFarland, third Bishop of Hartford.

Within three years after the celebration of its golden jubilee, the college was confronted by difficul- ties due to the outbreak of the war between the States. Though both North and South had strong partisans in the faculty as well as in the student body, the college as a whole renuiinod neutral. But shortly after the beginning of hostilities, an exodus of students repre- senting each section took place in such numbers that only seven were left for the graduating class of 1863, and only two for that of 1864. Moreover as parents were unable to meet tuition fees and other expenses of the pupils whom the college maintained dur- ing the four years of war, the financial standing of the institution was seriously compromised, and as a result the college at the end of the conflict was overwhelmed with debt. In June, 1872, Dr. J. J. McCaffrey, in consequence of failing health, with- drew from the presidency after thirty-four years of arduous and devoted service. Father John Mc- Closkey was elected to the office with Rev. H. S. Mc- Murdie as vice-president. Under their administra- tion, the student body varied from 130 to 165. In 1877 Rev. John A. \\'atterson became president and retained the office until his promotion to the See of Columbus (1880). He introduced a thorough system of retrenchment in all departments; but the bulk of the debt remained. After his departure. Father John McCloskey once more took up the burden of the presidency, but only for a short time, as he died towards the close of 1880. In January, 1881, Rev. W^m. J. Hill, of Brooklyn, came to the college and peti- tioned to have a receiver appointed. The appointee was James McSherry, later Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of Maryland. He turned over the affairs of the institution, in June, 1881, to Very Rev. William M. Byrne, Vicar-General of Boston, whose firmness, pru- dence, and wise economy restored prosperity to the col- lege. His policy was continued by Rev. Edward P. Allen, who held office from 1884 until he became Bishop of Mobile in 1897. During his a<lministra- tion, McCaffrey Hall was completed (1.S94); and under his successor. Rev. Wm. L. O'llara ( 1897-1905), Dubois Hall was completed, improvements were con- tinued to accommodate the increasing number of students.

The presidency of his successor. Very Rev. Dennis J. Flynn (1905 — ), has been marked by the celebration, in October, 1908, of the centenary of the college. This occasion brought to the "Mountain" a large number of men prominent in ecclesiastical, professional, and public Ufe who claim the college as their Alma Mater (for full account see "The Mountaineer", Oct. and Nov., 1908). It may indeed be said that the highest tribute to the college and the best proof of its effi- ciency is found in the careers of those whom it educated. Its service to the Church is shown by the fact that among its officers and graduates at least twenty-five have been bishops, including one cardinal and five archbishops — hence its well deserved title, "Mother of Bishops". But it has also given to the State and to every department of useful citizenship a large num- ber of men distinguished by ability and integrity (see partial list in "The Mountaineer", Oct., 1908, 34-43). Among the causes which explain t-his success, the most