The History of Catholic America
The English Colonies

Black slaves were already laboring on Virginia farms; Pilgrims had already colonized the coast of Massachusetts and were moving into Connecticut; New Amsterdam was the name chosen for Peter Minuit's incredible real estate purchase of Manhattan island, when Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, established a Catholic-ruled colony in Maryland.

Founded in 1649 as a Catholic colony, Maryland was the only colony established under an act of Toleration. Leonard Calvert, Maryland's first governor, and the first Mass at St. Mary's, celebrated on the Feast of Annunciation - March 25th - are represented in this window.

In the spring of 1634, the Ark and the Dove set sail and brought Calvert's pioneers to their new home, St. Mary's, between the peaceful waters of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. A church building was erected almost immediately. This was the first time religious tolerance was shown in Colonial America and within five years at least four other parish centers were established, all spiritually cared for by Jesuits and some lay brothers. Many Patuxent and Piscataway Indians were converted and some gave large land grants to the Jesuits.

Father Andrew White, "The Apostle of Maryland," had been a victim of religious persecution in his native England, where proscribed Catholic spiritual ministrations had been discovered and led to his banishment. He helped Lord Baltimore in his efforts to colonize Maryland, where he was pastor of St. Mary's Parish until 1638. Cecilius Calvert insisted on religious tolerance and accepted all, including Jews, into his Christian community. Protestants, who were in the majority, held their own services. No "state religion" was imposed on anyone.

St. Mary's was but ten years old when Richard Ingle, "Champion of the Protestant Cause," invaded the colony, seized Father White and the other Jesuits, and deported them to England in chains for trial as criminals. Leonard Calvert recaptured the settlement, but upon his death in 1648, a Protestant, William Stone, became governor. Maryland's Toleration Act was signed in 1649. Designed to protect Catholics and others from rising Puritan hostilities, it was actually less comprehensive than the unwritten religious policy enjoyed under Lord Baltimore.

Then, a few years later, the Puritans captured Governor Stone, outlawed Roman Catholicism, plundered Jesuit estates, forced all priests into exile, and executed several Catholics. Not until the re-establishment of Calvert rule in 1657 did normalcy return. Tobacco growing and other farming, as well as some building of iron furnaces, then brought a certain level of prosperity.

The year 1674 saw the first documented ordination of a priest in this country. On a visit to St. Augustine, Bishop Gabriel Diaz Vara Calderon of Santiago, Cuba ordained seven young priests.

The English now controlled New Amsterdam, which they renamed New York. For years, religious and political turmoil was rampant both here and in the mother country. The once-popular Catholic governor of New York, Thomas Dongan, and three Jesuit priests he had brought there, had to flee for their lives. The English colonies, including the once repression-free Maryland, were now to recognize none but the Anglican Church.

From the turn of the century until the Revolution, the Catholic Church was forced underground. A proliferation of abusive laws were effected in Maryland. In 1715 and in 1729, laws were enacted that allowed the government to seize an orphaned child (even if one parent was still living) and have him raised a Protestant. A 1718 law not only forbade Catholics to hold public office, but also completely disfranchised them. A 1756 law proclaimed that all priests' properties no longer belonged to them and that all Catholics were to be doubly taxed.

But the priestly servants of Mother Church would not forsake their beloved Mass. In Maryland, for instance, a "Mister" Thomas Mansell, whose true identity as a Jesuit priest was known only to the faithful, began buying up land for a soon-thriving plantation. Black slaves labored on its farmlands. Tenant farmers paid rent to Mr. Mansell. Small shops and mills produced wares that were shipped from its river wharf.

Some noticeable differences in this plantation, however, began to arouse neighbors' suspicions. The proprietor was a bachelor and seemed to do a great deal of traveling. Other men lived there at times and they, too, came and went frequently. There was even a chapel in the house.

This establishment, which was named St. Xavier, came to be known simply as Bohemia because of its location at the head of the Little Bohemia River. The academy for young boys organized there, under a cloak of secrecy, was a great bulwark of Catholic education, serving far more territory than the three colonies that met near its borders.

Old Bohemia, the mother church of what is now the Diocese of Wilmington, has been restored as an historical site by a nondenominational organization, the Old Bohemia Historical Society.

Another illustrious priest, who had to be secretive in his missionary wanderings, was Father Ferdinand "Farmer" (an alias for his real name of Steinmeyer), a man who had given up the study of medicine in his native Germany to enter the Society of Jesus in 1743. Ordained in 1750 and originally assigned to the mission field of China, he was sent to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1752. Traveling constantly, he formed new congregations and ministered to existing ones.

In 1758, Father Farmer's permanent headquarters became old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia from which he continued his surreptitious visits to places as far afield as Delaware, New Jersey, and New York City. Several times he celebrated Mass in the home of a devout Catholic who lived on Wall Street, and after the Revolution, this New York City congregation became an important nucleus for Catholic immigrants flocking to the city.

His priestly concern extended to enemies as well. During the Revolution, he ministered to Hessian soldiers serving with the British army occupying Philadelphia. He gained such popularity among these men of his native tongue that he was offered a chaplaincy by the British forces. His belief in the American cause dictated his refusal.

The brave Father Farmer, who at times actually risked death to serve his people, has been termed "the Father of the Church in New York and New Jersey."