Charles Ewing (1835-1883): Civil War General, Knight of St. Gregory
Charles Ewing, b. at Lancaster, 6 March, 1835; d. at Washington, 20 June, 1883. Commencing his studies at the college of the Dominican Fathers in Perry County, Ohio, he later attended Gonzaga College,...
View ArticleJames Ryder Randall and the Music of the Civil War
Journalist and poet, b. 1 Jan., 1839, at Baltimore, Maryland; d. 15 Jan., 1908 at Augusta, Georgia. As author of “Maryland, my Maryland”, the famous war song of the Confederacy, he has been frequently...
View ArticleGeneral James Shields: Immigrant, Soldier, Senator from Three States
Military officer, b. in Dungannon County Tyrone, Ireland, 12 Dec., 1810; d. at Ottumwa, Iowa, 1 June, 1879. He emigrated to the United States in 1826 where he at one proceeded to study law and began...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Maurice Costello (1877-1950)
This week McNamara’s Blog features the Catholic presence in American film during the silent and early sound era. A large amount of actors and actresses were Catholics, many of them Irish. Today we...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Nita Naldi (1894-1961)
Nita Naldi was born Mary Nonna Dooley on East 114th Street in Harlem in what was then a largely Irish neighborhood. She was named for her great-aunt, Sister Mary Nonna Dunphy, foundress and Mother...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: King Baggot (1879-1948)
The son of an Irish immigrant from Limerick, William King Baggot was born in St. Louis, where he attended Christian Brothers College High School. After working in Chicago, he played soccer in St. Louis...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: George O’Brien (1899-1985)
The son of San Francisco’s police chief, George O’Brien was the grandson of Irish immigrants who settled in that city during the 1870’s. After graduating high school, he served in the Navy during World...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Ruth Clifford (1900-1998)
Born in Naragansett, Rhode Island, Ruth Clifford attended St. Mary’s Seminary, a Catholic girls school there. After her mother’s death, she went to live with her aunt, an actress in California. She...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Robert Harron (1893-1920)
Bobby Harron was one of the leading stars of the 1910’s, appearing in some of the greatest films of the era under director D.W. Griffith. Born Robert Emmet Harron, he grew up in Greenwich Village,...
View ArticleCatholics in the Movies: Francis Ford (1881-1953)
One of the lead figures of film during the 1910’s was Francis Ford. Born Francis Feeney in Portland, Maine, he served in the Spanish-American War before moving into stage and theater. It was said he...
View Article“The Apostle of Temperance”: Father Theobald Mathew, O.F.M. Cap. (1790-1856)
Apostle of Temperance, born at Thomastown Castle, near Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland, 10 October, 1790; died at Queenstown, Cork, 8 December, 1856. His father was James Mathew, a gentleman of good family;...
View ArticleMontana Missionary: Father Gregory Mengarini, S.J. (1811-1886)
Pioneer missionary of the Flathead tribe and philologist of their language, b. in Rome, 21 July, 1811; d. at Santa Clara, California, 23 September, 1886. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1828, when...
View ArticleDr. Dominic G. Bodkin (1833-1902), Brooklyn, New York
The name of Bodkin is today a familiar and respected one in the medical profession in Brooklyn. So was the name of Dr. Dominic G. Bodkin in the last half of the 19th century. That he was selected by...
View ArticleThe First Black Catholic Congress, 1889
COLORED CATHOLICS MEET A NOTABLE CONVENTION BEGUN—CARDINAL GIBBONS PRESENT New York Times, January 2, 1889 WASHINGTON, Jan. 1— A national convention of colored Catholics, composed of delegates from...
View ArticleNuns in the Spanish-American War
THE NUN IN THE WAR The Rev. A.J. Bader Tells of the Good Work Accomplished by the Catholic Sisters. The Brooklyn Eagle, May 20, 1899, 16. The Queens’ Daughters of St. Mary’s Maternity held their last...
View ArticleThe Brothers of the Sacred Heart (1820)
The Brothers of the Sacred Heart The Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart was established in Lyons, France, in 1820, by Father André Coindre, of the Society of Missionaries, who preached...
View ArticleStudent Reminiscences of 1820′s Georgetown
RECOLLECTIONS, GEORGETOWN COLLEGE IN 1820. Woodstock Letters (1885): 264-267. About the middle of the afternoon of September 15th or 16th, 1820, the stage from Baltimore rumbled into the yard of...
View Article“The Church Would Look Foolish Without Them”: José Navarro, Boise, Idaho
José Navarro, successfully engaged in wool growing at Boise, is a well-known member of the Spanish-Basque colony, who came to this in 1908 from the Jordan valley of Oregon, where he had resided from...
View ArticleVirginia’s First Bishop: Patrick Kelly (1820-1822)
VIRGINIA’S FIRST BISHOP Right Rev. Patrick Kelly. First Bishop of Richmond, A.D. 1820 Bishop Kelly was a native of Ireland. He was for many years Professor, and at the time of his appointment as...
View ArticleFather William Keegan (1824-1890), Brooklyn, New York
Very Rev. William Keegan. The New York Times, May 11, 1890 Vicar General William Keegan of the Catholic diocese of Brooklyn, rector of the Church of the Assumption, York and Jay Streets, in that city,...
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