Tag Archive for Catholic

Black Catholic History Month: The Knights of Who?

November 30, 2009 Craig Family History, Genealogy

“Claverism” observes 100th Anniversary in USA

Every Catholic and many a non- Catholic recognizes the name of the largest Catholic lay organization in the world, the Knights of Columbus.  This is a group of “practical” Catholic men who do charitable acts.  Indeed, over the last ten years, the “K of C” have donated more than a billion dollars to charitable causes.  The Knights of Columbus were chartered as a fraternal organization in Connecticut  in 1882.

Far fewer Catholics and others have heard of the Knights of Peter Claver.   This organization was founded in 1909 at Most Pure Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Mobile, Alabama.  The organization was founded to give “colored men” a Catholic fraternal organization. (Yes, sadly, there was a time that those other Knights allowed  no “colored men” among them.  Fortunately those days are gone.)  Like the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of Peter Claver are engaged in charitable works.  from their start in Alabama a century ago, they now have over 1000 subordinate units around the country.

CentennialEmblem2KoPC

But who was Peter Claver?

Pedro Claver Corbero (1580-1654) was born in Verdu, Catalonia.  After advanced Jesuit education in Barcelona, Tarragon, and Majorca,  Claver followed the call of God to minister  to slaves in South America.  In 1610, he traveled to Cartagena, Colombia, at the time, the leading slave port in the world.

Claver cared for the poor and the sick slaves.  He created a corps of catechists to teach the slaves the Bible.   It is said that Claver  baptized over 300,000 slaves in his 44-year career.  For his service to the slaves, Claver earned the title of “slave to the slaves.” In 1896, nearly 250 years after his death, Claver was declared patron saint of missions to African slaves.  Today, he is recognized as patron of slaves, Colombia, African Americans, and race relations.

The Knights of Peter Claver strive to carry out their charitable works with the same selflessness as St Peter Claver himself.

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Black Catholic History Month: The Josephite Fathers and Brothers

November 30, 2009 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Earlier in the month, we discussed the life of Father Charles Uncles, the first black priest both trained and ordained in the United States. He was instrumental in the founding of the Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.   This order of priests and religious were founded to evangelize the recently freed blacks in America.

Actually, there had already existed a Catholic organization called the Josephites, the St Joseph Mission Society, founded in London in 1866.  At the request of a council of American bishops, the Mission society sent some of its personnel to the United States to establish missions and schools for freedmen.

In 1893, just two years after his ordination, Father Charles Uncles was asked to help reorganize the Mission Society offices into a permanent American institution.  He and four other priests did just that, forming the  Society of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Baltimore.

Today, Josephites are active throughout the nation, and have parishes in Alabama, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., as well as Maryland.  The Josephites aren’t exclusively African-American.  Historically there have been more white Jospehite priests than black.  But this order of dedicated religious men holds great significance for the African–American community inside and outside the Catholic Church.

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Black Catholic History Month:First Black Priest in the USA? A Third Contender

November 22, 2009 Craig Family History, Genealogy

Last week I wrote about the question of the first black Catholic priest in America.  I said the answer to that question depended upon who you asked.  I now know that the answer to the question depends upon how the you ask the question!  This is because there has emerged yet a third contender for “first black priest”.

First a little personal background: I don’t think I ever saw a black Catholic priest until I was well into my adulthood.  I guess I assumed that there were some somewhere; I just never thought that much about it.  But when I was in my 20s, my dad began the practice of sending me a calendar every year from an order of priests called the Josephites.  This is an order of priests, officially known as the St. Joseph Society of the Sacred Heart, formed in 1893 to minister to African-Americans.  The man given credit for leading the founding of the Josephites was Father Charles Randolph Uncles, a native of Baltimore.  Sunday, November 8, 2009, marked the 150th anniversary of Father Uncles’ birth.

Father Uncles is the third contender for the title of first black priest in America.  You may recall from the previous article, that Bishop James Healy and Father Augustus Tolton are the first two contenders for the title.  We resolve that issue by deciding that Bishop Healy, descendant of an Irishman and a slave woman, under the “rules” of racial identity may deserve the title of first black American priest, although he would not have wanted it.  But Father Tolton, descendant of two slaves, is entitled to be called the first black priest in America born of slave parents. In the minds of some, this may make Father Tolton the more “authentic” first “black priest in America.”

So where does Father Uncles fit in? His parents, Lorenzo Uncles and Annie Marie Buchanan, both had been slaves.  Charles Randolph Uncles was ordained in 1891 –after both Healy and Tolton had been ordained.  But remember, it depends upon how you ask the question.  Uncles was ordained in New York City.  Both Healy and Tolton, though Americans, could not attend seminary in the United States because of racism and therefore were ordained outside the United States.  So Father Uncles rightfully can be called the “first black priest ordained in America.” [It should be noted, speaking of the "rules" of racial identity, that Charles Uncles and his parents were described as being light enough to pass for white.]

Indeed, at the time, it was big news.  Here’s the New York Times headline from December 19, 1891:
CR Uncles-NYT

The Times story noted:

The congregation gathered to witness and participate in ceremonies was more than usually large and included many of the best colored people of the city. A special reason for the presence of the latter was that the first man of their race to be ordained a priest in the United States and that he was to have that high honor bestowed upon him by the Cardinal Archbishop himself–the primate of episcopacy of the country.

Lorenzo and Annie Uncles were Catholics.  They and their family attended Mass at St. Frances Xavier Church in Baltimore which was, as the New York Times put it, “a church for colored people, but from which whites were not excluded.”

As a young man, Charles was an altar boy at St. Frances Xavier.  He graduated number one in his high school class.  After that, he taught in the Baltimore County public schools until he was 25 years old.  During this same period of time, he was being tutored by a priest from St. Joseph’s seminary(for black men only) in Baltimore.  Finally in 1883, Charles Uncles went to St. Hyacinth’s College in Canada, graduating in 1888.  Back in Baltimore he then entered St. Joseph’s seminary.  But he applied to attend classes at St. Mary’s Seminary which was for white men.  The faculty of St. Mary’s put the matter to a vote of the seminarians.  They were unanimously in favor of admitting Charles Uncles.  And so it was that three years later, he was ordained a priest.  He began teaching at the Epiphany Apostolic College, which was then located in Baltimore.  In 1925, the college moved to New Windsor, New York, and Father Uncles moved also.

He died on July 20, 1933 at the college, and is buried there.

Coming up: The Josephite Priests

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Black Catholic History Month: The Catholics in My Families

November 16, 2009 Craig Family History, Genealogy

The number of black Catholics in the United States is small.  I know this both anecdotally and empirically.   I  was probably a teenager before I met another black Catholic family.   My parents, each for their own reasons,  converted to Catholicism as teenagers.   They did not know each other at the times of their conversions.

My mother was raised as the granddaughter and niece of Baptist preachers, and not surprisingly was the cousin of a couple more Baptist preachers.  Later, she was active in Methodist youth activities.   But having concluded for her own reasons that she belonged in the Catholic Church, she’s been a faithful and devout Catholic for, well, let’s just say more than a few decades.    I never knew until recently that there were other Catholics in her family tree.  For example, her cousin Amos Johnson, Jr. (1908-1975) , grandson of

Amos R. Johnson, Jr.

Amos R. Johnson, Jr.

Ezekiel Johnson and Sarah Gilbert, was Catholic.     A longtime federal civil servant, he was a member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Kansas City, and served on the Catholic Interracial Council and the National Council of Catholic Men.  He is buried in Mt Olivet Cemetery in Kansas City.  I don’t know how much more of the Johnson branch of the family was Catholic or how any of them can to be Catholic.

On my father’s side of the family, uncle  Herman Walker (1906-2002) was a Catholic. He was born the son of my dad’s grandmother, Hattie Bryant.  Living his mother’s peripatetic life,  would seem not conducive to regular religious instruction except of the most primitive sort.   I do know that Herman became Catholic about the time he met and married Ida Mouton, a Louisiana woman who was a life-long Catholic.   H became very active in St Paul’s parish in Houston where he attended Mass for nearly seventy years.   He was a member of the Knights of Columbus.

cmm-herman-walker


Herman Arthur Walker (1906-2002), our only known Catholic paternal uncle, with my sister, in Houston, Texas, 1962.

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Common Law Marriage: Scotland & Quebec

October 6, 2009 Craig Family History, Genealogy, Scotland

As I had hoped,  some of our international correspondents checked in on this issue.  Kirsty says:

In Scotland, the situation was a bit different from England, or at least less clear. There seems to have been contradictory legislation and, I think, the more I read on the topic of Scottish Marriage Law the more confused I get!

In practice there were two main forms of marriage: “regular” (i.e. marriage by clergyman following the proclamation of banns) and “irregular”. The most common form of irregular marriage was a declaration of marriage in front of witnesses. I have relatives who were married this way in the 1930s.

Of particular relevance to this discussion though was marriage “by habit and repute” – where a co-habiting couple were regarded as husband and wife. This was abolished in Scotland as recently as 2006 by which time it had become very rare, probably because proving legally that such a marriage existed was a lot more trouble than simply going through a Civil Marriage Ceremony!

My original post mentioned the Marriage Act 1753.  Those who recall their history classes will take notice that the Act did not apply to Scotland, which after the Act of Union 1707, retained its own legislative authority

Thanks, Kirsty! By the way, Kirsty’s excellent blog is also one of the nominees (in the Heritage category) in the Family Tree Magazine Top 40 Best Blogs poll. Check it out at The Professional Descendant. She’s recently had a post on Scottish Catholic Registers and an interesting one about An Irregular Catholic Marriage.

I also received an email from Gilles Cayouette of Quebec, who referred me to  a post on his blog, Le chercheur nomade – The Nomadic Researcher.   The French reads:

La bénédiction d’un mariage déjà contracté à Natashquan

Les registres de la paroisse Notre-Dame de Natashquan font état pour le 28 juillet 1862 de l’acte de mariage suivant :

«M. 3 Antoine Marcoux et Elisabeth Hawkins

Le vingt huit juillet mil huit cent soixante te deux, vû le mariage déjà contracté le quatre juin de cette année, en présence de Edward Sheehyn, Michel Kanty et Guillaume Kanty, entre Antoine Marcoux, veuf de Angèle Célina Kenty de la Tête a la Baleine, d’une part; et Elisabeth Hawkins, fille mineure de Alexandre Hawkins et de défunte Archange Guilmet de la Baie des Moutons d’autre part, ne s’étant déclaré aucun empêchement au dit mariage, nous Prêtre, missionnaire soussigné, avons béni leur union en présence de Guillaume Kenty, Michel Kenty, père et Edward Sheehyn soussignés avec l’époux. L’épouse n’a su signer.
Benjamin Read Antoine Marcoux Edward Sheehyn William Canty Michel Canty F.M. Fournier Ptre».

À l’évidence, cette union faisait l’objet d’un consensus social et en particulier de la part des proches de l’ancienne épouse. Dans les circonstances, le missionnaire en bénissant cette union a fait preuve de gros bon sens et a pris acte du contexte.

Using my flawless altar-boy Latin and legal French, I translated it thusly:

The blessing of a marriage already contracted  at Natashquan

The records of the parish of Notre-Dame de Natashquan report on July 28, 1862 of the following marriage :

3 Antoine Marcoux and Elizabeth Hawkins

The twenty-eight July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty. Concerning the marriage already contracted on June fourth of this year, in the presence of Edward Sheehyn, Michael Kanty and William Kanty, between Antoine Marcoux, widower of Angela Celina Kanty of Whaleshead on the one hand, and Elizabeth Hawkins, minor daughter of Alexander Hawkins and the late Archangel Guilmet of Sheeps Bay on the other hand, no impediment to the said marriage having been reported, we, the missionary Priest undersigned, have blessed their union in the presence of William Kanty, Michael Kanty, father, and Edward Sheehyn undersigned with the husband. The wife has been able to sign.

/s/ Benjamin Read
Antoine Marcoux
Edward Sheehyn
William Kanty
Michel Kanty
FM Fournier, Priest

Clearly, this union was the subject of a social consensus, in particular on the part of the relatives of the deceased wife. In the circumstances, the missionary took note of the context, and showed common sense in blessing this union.

[How's my translation?]

Gilles added in his email:

You must note that, in Québec, the church records were historically (in fact until January 1st, 1994) kept by Catholic priests and they were recognised as legal by the civil authorities; a situation which arouses some some interesting legal questions…

Merci, M. Cayouette!

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Catholic Genealogy: Latin Lesson

March 30, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

I mentiopned the other day that I had found the records of St Joseph’s Church of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, Family Search Labs’ Record Search site. Many of these records are in Latin. I never studied Latin formally; however, I became an altar boy at a very young age in the days when the Catholic Mass was in Latin. I also studied Spanish as a youngster. I’ve always been interested in linguistics and fortunately have been blessed with somewhat of an aptitude for languages.

So I’ve been applying those skills to translating some of the Prairie du Rocher church records that mention the Micheau family. A typical entry is this one:

Die 12a Julii 1900 obit Maria Emma Micheau uxor Georgii Micheau, annos circa 46 nata, ejusque corpus sequenti tumulatum est.

Actually, I think most genealogists could intuit this one. I translated it thusly:

Maria Emma Micheau, wife of George Micheau, died on July 12, 1900. She was about 46 years old. She was buried in the general burial ground.

Here’s a list of Latin terms likely to be found in Catholic records:

  • adnotationes: notations or comments
  • aetas: age or lifetime
  • Anno Domino: Year of Our Lord
  • annos: years
  • Baptismorum: Baptism
  • Confirmatorum: the sacrament of Confirmation
  • corpus: body
  • dies: day, date
  • defunctorum: death, deaths
  • Diocesis: diocese
  • Ecclesia: church
  • Eucharistae sacramentum: The Eucharist (Communion)
  • ex: literally, “out of;” used to denote parental relationship or sometimes hometown; for example, “Joseph Micheau ex G. Micheau,” would mean that Joseph is the son of G. Micheau. “Emilie Micheau ex Prairie du Rocher,” of course would indicate that Emilie is a native of Prairie du Rocher.
  • fil, fili: son
  • liber, libro: book
  • Matrimonium: The sacrament of Holy Matrimony; marriage
  • mensis: month
  • natum, nate, nata: birth, born
  • nigrini coloris: “of the color black;” sometimes abbreviated “n. col.,” designates African-Americans
  • nomen, nomina: name, names
  • obit, obitus: to die
  • patrini: literally, “patrons;” used to designate godparents in Baptism or sponsor in Confirmation
  • nativitatis locus: birth place
  • sacerdos: priest
  • sepultum: to interr or bury
  • sponsi: literally, “the promised one,” designates groom on marriage records
  • sponsae: designates bride on marriage records
  • testes: witnesses
  • tumulatum: to bury in a mound
  • uxor: wife

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Black History Month: Black Catholics in America

February 10, 2008 Craig Uncategorized

I have obliquely alluded, in this space, to the fact that I am of the Roman Catholic faith. This may come as a surprise to a lot of folks, some of whom believe a black Catholic is rarer than a campfire at the North Pole. Frequently, when people learn that I’m a Catholic, they say, “When did you convert?” Well, in my case, I didn’t convert–I’m a so-called “cradle Catholic.” But I will admit that I’m just a second generation Catholic.

I come from a maternal line that has a lot of Baptist preachers. Most prominent of these would be my great-grandfather, James William Long (1866-1945). He was a deacon at Kansas City’s renowned Paseo Baptist Church before becoming pastor of Sunrise Baptist Church. My mother’s uncle, Henry Willie Gines (1903-1980) was a Baptist preacher as was his son, Frank William Gines (1935-1999). My aunt, Delorise Gines, has a ministry that grew out of her participation at Paseo.

So how did I end up Catholic? Well, the earthly answer goes like this: my grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, had a stormy relationship with her father, the aforementioned Rev. James William Long. I don’t know all the details, but I’m sure it was not helped by her desire to be a dancer in Kansas City’s vaudeville revues. When she left her parents’ house in the 1920′s, she became a dancer and never opened a Bible nor set foot in a church (except for weddings and funerals) ever again. Her children, including my mother, grew up “unchurched,” for the most part.

But, as a teenager, my mother had three close friends, who, in today’s vernacular, “hung out” together. They took turns going to each other’s churches. One girl was Baptist, one Methodist, and one Catholic. As a result of these friendships, my mother eventually became very active in the Methodist church. She was a leader in a statewide Methodist teen group. Even while she did this, my mother continued to attend her other friends’ churches and continued to study religion on her own. Ultimately, for reasons personal to her, my mother at age 16 became a Catholic.

Meanwhile, in Texas, my father was having religious experiences of his own. I don’t know of any clergy on my father’s side and I don’t really know of any specific religious preferences in his family (with one exception). But because the Depression-era schools in Aransas County, Texas, refused to educate black children, the first school my father attended was a Catholic grade school. This evidently made an impression on him and he, too, became a Catholic as a teenager.

When my parents met in college, their Catholicism was something they had in common.

As I grew up, the only other black Catholic family I knew of was that of my paternal great-uncle, Herman Walker (1906-2002). And I don’t think he was born a Catholic; rather I think he converted when he met and married his wife Ida, a French Creole Catholic from Louisiana. But he was a devout Catholic. His funeral program noted that he had attended St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Houston for sixty-six years and that he was a member of The Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society.

Despite their apparent invisibility, black Catholics have played important roles in the Church in America due originally and derivatively to the nation’s French and Spanish heritages. In fact, the first blacks in America were Catholics. They helped settle America’s oldest European-established city, St Augustine, Florida, in 1565.

Over the next few posts, we’ll tell the stories of significant African-American Catholics.

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A Little Photographic Treat from The Research Trip

August 1, 2007 Craig Oblate Sisters of Providence


[Posted from Los Angeles, California]

In several posts in the last year, I’ve mentioned the Oblate Sisters of Providence (see The French Negroes of Illinois series, here, here, and here; and the Gunsmoke post). In St Louis, I found this photograph of Sister Mary Philomena (nee Emma Micheau) and Sister Mary Celestine (nee Adelaide “Addie” Francis Micheau). That’s Sister Philomena on the left and Sister Celestine is on the right. The woman in the middle is Mary Angelique Micheau (1873-1959), also known as “Nin.”

Addie and Nin were the daughters of George Micheau (1852-1942). Emma, the daughter of Marshall Emmanuel Micheau (1878-1954), was their niece.

Nin was not a nun.

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