Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 10.djvu/864

 NEW JERSEY

792

NEW JERSEY

town aro a part of national history. Lying botwoon New York and Philadelphia, its soil was a thoatre where the drama of war was always presented. At no time was the Tory element suppressed, finding its ex- pression in open hostility, or in the barharie cruelties of the "Pine Robbers" of Monmouth, liurlington, Gloucester, and Salem counties. Though under sus- picion, the Society of Friends was neutral, for con- science' sake, remaining faithful to the teachings of its creed. The close of the struggle found the people of New Jersey jubilant and not disposed to relinquish their sovereignty. The Articles of Confederation were weak and had become a byword and a jest. There wjis much state pride and much aristocratic feeling among the old families who continued to domi- nate state polities.

Ecclesiastical History — Early Missionary Ef- forts. — The compMrative liberality of the pnjprietury rule of Herkeic y and Carteret, especially in religious matters, attracted some Catholic settlers to Xew .Jer- sey. As early as 11)72 we find Fathers Harvey and Gage visiting both Woodbridge and Klizabetlitown (then the capital of New Jersey) for the purpo.se of ministering to the Catholics in those places. Robert Vanquellen, a native of Caen, France, and a Catholic, lived at Woodbridge, and was surveyor general of that section of Xew Jer.sey in 1669 and 1670. Catholics were, howe%'er, regarded with some suspicion and con- siderable bigotry at times manifested itself. A Cath- olic by the name of William Douglass, when elected a representative from Bergen County, was excluded, be- cause of his religious convictions, from the General Assembly of 166S. In 1691 the New York Assembly pas.sed the first anti-Catholic enactment, which was followed by laws strongly opposed to Catholics and their beliefs both in Xew York and Xew Jersey. Lord Cornbury, when appointed governor in 1701, was instructed by Queen Anne to permit liberty of con- science to all persons except "papists".

The first Catholics in New Jersey were probably those who availed themselves of the grant made by Charles I in 1632 to Sir Edmund Plowden, and of Plowden's conveyance in 1634 to Thomas Danby. In this way a Catholic settlement was founded near Salem. The tine clay found at Woodbridge attracted some CafliolicH to that place as early as 1672. The ship "Philip", which is said to have brought Carteret to America, also transported several French Catho- lics, who were skiilccl as salt makers, to New Jersey. The records show Hugh Dunn and John and James Kelly in Woodbridge in 1072. In 1741 some fanatics, unable to bear the. toleration which the Catholics were enjoying in the province, endeavoured to arouse ill- feeling against them by accusing them of complicity in the "Xegro Plot". In the persecution thus aroused Father John Ury, a Catholic priest (see Flynn, op. cit. in bibliography, pp. 21-2), who had exercised unostentatiously his sacred ministrj' in New Jersey, and had been engaged for about twelve months in teaching at Burlington, was put to death in Xew York City, the real cause being the violent hostility of the rabble towards the Catholic name and i)riest- hood. Father Robert Ilanlini; arrived in Philadel- phia from England in .\ugust, 1749. when the City of Brotherly Love contained only 2000 homes. He la- boured in New Jersey from 1762 until his death in 1772, at the age of seventy years. Father Ferdinand Farmer, whose family name was Steenmeyer (q. v.), may be considered the true missionary of New Jersey.

In "First Catholics in New Jersey", in 1744, Father Theodore Schneider, a distinguished Jesuit, professor of philosophy and theology in Europe, visited New Jersey and celebrated Mass at the iron furnaces there. Having some skill in medicine, he was accustomed to cure the body as well as the soul; and travelling about under the name of Doctor Schnei- der he obtained access to places whither he could not

otherwise have gone without great personal danger. Sometimes, however, his real character was discov- ered, and several times he was shot al in New Jersey. He used to carry in his missionary excursions a manu- .scri]>l co]iv of the Roman Missal, carefully written in his own liaud. He died on 11 July, 1764. Patrick Colxiii seems to have been the only Catholic resident in Trenton in 1776. He was interested in the cause of the patriots, and helped to furnish llie boats used to transport General Washington's army aero.ss the Dela- ware on 2!) December, 1776. Cajjtain Michael Kear- ney, a Catholic, lived near Whippany in Morris County on his large estate, consisting of about one thousand acres, known .as "The Irish Lott". The in- scription on his tiiiiib bears witness to his genial hos- pitality of disposition, and to his having served as a captain in the British Navy. He died at the age of se\-enty-eight years, six months, and twenty-eight days on 5 April, 1797. Molly Pitcher {n/e McCau- ley), who acquired fame at the Battle of Monmouth, was a Catholic girl. One Pierre Malou, who had been a general in the Belgian Army, was a resident of Princeton from 179.5 to 1799; he purcha.sed five hun- dred acres of land in Cherry Valley; subsequently he sailed for Europe in order to bring his wife and two sons to New Jersey. On the return voyage his wife died. He returned to Europe, became a lay brother of the Society of Jesus; afterwards he studied theol- ogy, and was later raised to the priesthood, came to America again and was stationed in Madison. Father Pierre Malou died at New York on 13 October, 1827, and is biu-ied under St. Peter's Church in Barclay Street.

When Bishop John Carroll returned from England he received Father John Rossiter, an Augustinian, into his diocese in 1790. On 27 May, 1799, the Augus- tinians were given permission to establish convents of their order in the L^nited States. They established missions in New Jersey at Cape May and at Trenton in 1S03 and 180.5, and at Paterson a little later. St. John's parish at Trenton, now the parish of the Sa- cred Heart, was the first parish est;ihlishe<i in New Jersey (1799). St. Joseph's Church in Philarlelphia was the first parish church for the Catholics of Penn- sj'lvania, New Jersey, and New York. The Father Harding above referred to was pastor of this parish, and is said to have been the first priest to have visited New Jersey prior to 1762. St. John's Church in New- ark was built in 1828, and the first pastor was Rev. Gregory Bryan Pardow. Father Pardow was born in England in 1804, and in 1829 was named as first pas- tor of the first Catholic parish founded in Newark. During and after the terrible famine in Ireland about 1848 a great number of Irish Catliolies came to New Jersey. About this time Father Bernard J. McC^uaid (q. v.) began his missionary career in Xew Jersey. He became pastor at Madison in 1S4S, and had missions at Morristown, Dover, Mendliain, Basking Ridge, and Springfield. His parish extended from Madison to the banks of the Delaware, including Morris, Somer- set, Warren, and Sussex Counties, besides Short Hills in ICssex and Springfield in LTnion. He opened the first Catholic school in New Jersey at Madison; built the Cliureh of the Assumption at Morristown; St. Josei)h's at Mendham; and St. Rose's at Springfield, now removed to Short Hills. He became rector of St. Patrick's pro-cathedral at Newark in 18.53, upon the arrival of the Bulls from Rome appointing James Roosevelt Bayley, finst Bishop of Newark; he built Seton Hall College and was its first president, and brought the Sisters of Charity into the Diocese of Newark.

Dioceses and Catholic Population. — The State of New Jersey is divided ecclesiastically into the Dio- ceses of Newark and Trenton, which are treated in separate articles. The total Catholic population of the state is about 500,000.