COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY

JOHN GILMARY SHEA.

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TO THE PATRONS

HIS EMINENCE, JOHN CARDINAL MCCLOSKEY; HIS EMINENCE, JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS; THEIR GRACES, THE MOST REV. M. A. CORRIGAN, D.D.; JOHN J. WILLIAMS, D.D.; PATRICK J. RYAN, D.D.; WILLIAM H. ELDER, D.D.; THE RT. REVS. JOHN LOUGHLIN, D.D.; WINAND M. WIGGER, D.D.; B. J. MCQUAID, D.D.; JOHN CONROY, D.D.; JOHN IRELAND, D.D.; JOHN L. SPALDING, D.D.; JAMES AUGUSTINE HEALY, D.D.; P. T. O'REILLY, D.D.; RICHARD GILMOUR, D.D.; STEPHEN V. RYAN, D.D.; HENRY COSGROVE, D.D.; T. F. HENDRICKEN, D.D.; M. J. O'FARRELL, D.D.; JOHN J. KEANE, D.D.; DENIS M. BRADLEY, D.D.; BONIFACE WIMMER, D.D.; RT. REV. MGRS. WM. QUINN; T. S. PRESTON; JOHN M. FARLEY; JAMES A. CORCORAN; VERY REVS. I. T. HECKER; MICHAEL D. LILLY, O.P.; ROBERT FULTON, S.J.; T. STEFANINI, C.P.; REVS. A. J. DONNELLY; E. AND P. MCSWEENY, D.D.; R. L. BURTSELL, D.D.; JOHN EDWARDS; C. MCCREADY; JAMES H. MCGEAN; J. J. DOUGHERTY; W. EVERETT; THOMAS S. LEE; J. B. SALTER; J. F. KEARNEY; J. J. HUGHES; THOMAS TAAFFE; CHARLES P. O'CONNOR, D.D.; P. CORRIGAN; WILLIAM MCDONALD; PATRICK HENNESSEY; LAURENCE MORRIS; JOHN MCKENNA; M. J. BROPHY; ST. JOSEPH'S SEMINARY, TROY; ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, FORDHAM; THE CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER, NEW YORK; ST. LOUIS UNIVERSITY; ST. XAVIER'S COLLEGE, CINCINNATI; MESSRS. PATRICK FARRELLY; BRYAN LAURENCE; DAVID LEDWITH; JOSE F. NAVARRO ; ANTHONY KELLY; HENRY L. HOGUET; EUGENE KELLY; EDWARD C. DONNELLY; JOHN JOHNSON; WILLIAM R. GRACE; CHARLES DONAHOE; W. H. ONAHAN; PUSTET & Co.; BENZIGER BROS.; LAWRENCE KEHOE; BURNS, OATES & Co.; HARDY & MAHONY,

BY WHOSE REQUEST AND AID THIS WORK HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN,

THE PRESENT VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

THE Volume here offered to the patrons of the work embraces the History of the Catholic Church in the United States, in the original diocese of Baltimore and in that of Louisiana and the Floridas, carrying the narrative from 1763 to 1815. In the growth of Catholicity during that period the Most Reverend John Carroll, Prefect-Apostolic of the United States, Bishop of Baltimore, and first Archbishop of that See, stands as a noble and central figure for nearly thirty years of that half century the controlling and guiding mind in the affairs of the Church. Only during the last decade of colonial days was he absent from his native land: then his priestly labors began; he witnessed the struggle for national existence, full of patriotic sympathy and giving his country's cause all the support compatible with his sacred calling.

The efforts of Bishop Challoner at an early date to be relieved of his responsibility for the transatlantic portion of his flock, and to obtain the appointment of a VicarApostolic: the difficulties that arose, and the subsequent project of extending the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Quebec to Pennsylvania and Maryland when the conquest of Canada had brought all Northern America under the British sway, have never yet been made known. Researches in the archives in England, Canada, and Rome, for which I am

especially indebted to His Eminence Cardinal Taschereau, Canon Johnson, Very Rev. H. Van den Sanden, and Very Rev. Charles A. Vissani, O.S.F., have enabled me to give a connected account of this interesting movement. For the history of the Church in this country at that period I have drawn mainly on the archives of the Society of Jesus and on a series of letters by Father Joseph Mosley, which I owe to the kindness of Mr. Alex. T. Knight.

The part taken by Catholics during the Revolution had been so strangely misrepresented, that it was necessary to present the truth distinctly, and to give some notes of the action of the Chaplain of the French embassy, as well as of what little can be ascertained of the clergymen who accompanied the French army and fleets. The part taken by the Catholics northwest of the Ohio could not be overlooked. Documents obtained from the late Father Freitag, C.SS.R., the Quebec Archives, the Registers of Detroit, Vincennes, Fort Chartres, and Kaskaskia have been used carefully.

After the Revolution the organization of the Clergy, the steps taken to obtain an Ecclesiastical superior, the strange intrigue to place this country under a bishop to reside in France, and the final appointment of Dr. Carroll as PrefectApostolic, are presented at length by the aid of the Maryland records, extracts from the archives of France and Spain, for which I am indebted to Mr. Robert de Crêvecœur, and the Hon. J. S. M. Curry, U. S. Minister to the Court of Spain, and to Señor Santa Maria, Custodian of the Archives.

The correspondence and papers of Archbishop Carroll from 1785, for which I am greatly indebted to the late Rev. Charles I. White, D.D., and Bernard U. Campbell, and to the unceasing kindness of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons, have been the guide in tracing his Episcopal career, with the archives of the Maryland province, the writings of