, SJ, Collection 1851-1982 (bulk 1851-1887) BC.1986.020A

http://hdl.handle.net/2345/1157

Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467 617-552-3282 [email protected] http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Related Materials ...... 4 Biographical note...... 5 Scope and Contents note...... 6 Arrangement note...... 6 Collection Inventory...... 7 Series I: Correspondence...... 7 Series II: Personal materials...... 8 Series III: materials...... 8

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 2 - Summary Information

Library Unit Archives and Manuscripts Department

Title John Bapst, SJ, collection

Date [bulk] Bulk, 1851-1887

Date [inclusive] 1851-1982

Extent 1.0 Linear feet (2 boxes)

Language English

Language of Materials note Materials in this collection are primarily in English, with some Latin.

Abstract The collection is composed of correspondence, publications, and other printed material documenting first president of Boston College Father John Bapst's time as a missionary in Maine, and the early history of Boston College. Materials relating to churches and Indian tribes in Maine are also included.

Preferred Citation note Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, John Bapst, SJ, collection, BC.1986.020A, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 3 - Administrative Information

Publication Information Processed by unknown. Revised by AnneMarie Anderson, March 2010, and Alexandra Bisio, May 2013. This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit.

Last Update May 2013

Restrictions on access Collection is open for research.

Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Provenance Because the current accessioning system was not used until January 1986, it is not possible to know exactly the dates of acquisition of materials received before that time. The Bapst deed to the cemetery plot in Penobscot, Maine was donated by J. Donald Monan, SJ in 1975; Frederick John Pratson's article was donated by Joseph Gauthier, SJ in 1979; Anna Hazard Barker Ward's letter of April 7, 1869 was presented to the archives of Boston College High School by her granddaughter, Mrs. William Endicott, in 2000.

Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note The Maryland Province of Archives, 1636-1975; bulk 1800-1875. Georgetown University, Special Collections Research Center. Robert J. Fulton, SJ, President's Office Papers, BC.1986.020, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 4 - Biographical note

John Bapst, Jesuit missionary and first official president of Boston College, was born in La Roche, Switzerland in 1816. After attending the Jesuit College of , he entered the Jesuit order on September 30, 1835. He was ordained in 1846, and, following the exile of Jesuits from Switzerland in 1847, was sent to America as a missionary. Although he spoke neither English nor the native Penobscot dialect, Bapst was assigned to the missions in Maine. There, he and his three assistants ministered to the native population as well as to Canadian and Irish immigrants settling in the area. Father Bapst’s time in Maine coincided with the proliferation of Know-Nothingism. The success of his missionary activities made him the frequent recipient of scorn and, in one event, violence at the hands of anti-Catholic persecutors. The vitriol was particularly strong in the town of Ellsworth, where Bapst was seeking to establish a school free of state-sponsored (Protestant) religious education. Father Bapst was denounced in the local papers and Protestant churches and threatened with violence if he persisted in his ministry to the Catholics of Ellsworth. On October 14, 1854, in accordance with a town order, Bapst was taken from the home of one of his parishioners by a mob of Know-Nothings, ridden on a rail to the outskirts of the town, and tarred and feathered. There were also failed attempts to burn him alive. Though quite wounded, Bapst was undaunted, and the act of violence was almost universally denounced by Catholics and Protestants throughout Maine. The following year, Bapst saw the settling of the cornerstone for Saint John the Evangelist in Bangor. When the Jesuit missionaries withdrew from Maine in 1859, Bapst settled in Boston, becoming the first rector of Boston College. In 1863, Bapst was elected the first official president of Boston College. He worked to establish the structural and practical foundation of Boston College, to gain financial and moral support for the new school, and oversaw the opening of its doors in 1864. Bapst served as president until his retirement in 1869. At that time, he was given charge of the New York and Canada mission and then named pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Rhode Island, where a parish school was funded and built under his care. In 1879, his mind began to fail. He died in November of 1887 and is buried in Woodstock, Maryland. Sources: David R. Dunigan. A History of Boston College. Milwaukee, WI: Bruce Publishing Co., 1947. Historical Records and Studies, Vol. XIV. New York: The United States Catholic Historical Society, 1920.

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 5 - Scope and Contents note

The John Bapst, SJ collection contains original and photocopied correspondence, official records, legal and religious documents, original and photocopied manuscript materials, publications, and newspaper clippings documenting the life and work of John Bapst, SJ, as a missionary and the first president of Boston College. The majority of materials relate to Bapst’s work as a missionary in Maine, and the area’s native population. Of particular note is a record book from the governor’s council for the members of the Penobscot Tribe, and the town council order, an eyewitness account, and correspondence regarding Bapst’s assault by the Know-Nothings of Ellsworth, Maine. The eyewitness account, entitled “Father John Bapst –A Sketch,” was used as the basis for an extended article published in 1885 in Woodstock Letters. Correspondence, and other documents detailing the early years of Boston College are also included. Originals of photocopied materials are held at the archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Maine and the Archives of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus at Georgetown University.

Arrangement note

The John Bapst, SJ Collection is arranged into three series: I. Correspondence; II. Personal materials; and III. Maine materials. All series are arranged chronologically.

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 6 - Collection Inventory

Series I: Correspondence, 1854-1883

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Provincial, photocopy, 1854 Box 1 Folder 1 February 10

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Provincial, photocopy, 1854 Box 1 Folder 2 May 4

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Provincial, photocopy, 1854 Box 1 Folder 3 October 19

Bapst, John, SJ to "My Dear Friend," photocopy, 1859 Box 1 Folder 4 January 14

Bapst, John, SJ to Doctor LeProhon, photocopy, 1859 Box 1 Folder 5 September 25

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Provincial, photocopy, 1859 Box 1 Folder 6 November 7

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Angelo M. Paresce, photocopy, Box 1 Folder 7 1863 January 29

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Angelo M. Paresce, photocopy, Box 1 Folder 8 1863 July 10

Bapst, John, SJ to Father Angelo M. Paresce, photocopy, Box 1 Folder 9 1865 April 5

Bapst, John, SJ to Anna Hazard Barker Ward, 1866 April Box 1 Folder 10 7

Bapst, John, SJ to Colonel Lamson, photocopy, 1875 Box 1 Folder 11 September 1

Bapst, John, SJ to unidentified recipients, 1882 February Box 1 Folder 12 12, 1883 September 17, circa 1880s

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 7 -

Bapst, John, SJ to Anna Hazard Barker Ward, 1883 Box 1 Folder 13 December 27

Series II: Personal materials, 1851-1856

First communion certificate, 1851 December 1 Box 1 Folder 14

Deed to cemetery plot in Penobscot, Maine, 1856 Box 1 Folder 15 November 27

Boston College Award of Merit certificate, 1865 Box 1 Folder 16

Prayer written by Bapst, undated Box 1 Folder 17

Series III: Maine materials, 1854-1982

"Ellsworth Town Records 1850 to 1863: Town Meeting," Box 1 Folder 18 Edmond J. Walsh papers, typescript and related postcard of Ellsworth, 1854 July 8, circa 1940s-1950s

Pratson, Frederick John. "The Ellsworth Outrage" and Box 1 Folder 19 related newspaper clipping, 1855 January 27, 1979

"John Bapst: A Sketch," photocopy, 1889 Box 1 Folder 20

Winsor, Justin. New England Indians: A Bibliographical Box 1 Folder 21 Survey, 1630-1700. Cambridge: John Wilson and Son, 1895

The Governor’s Council for the Members of Penobscot Box 2 Volume 1 Tribe record book, 1900-1914

Connolly, Arthur T. "Father Sebastian Rasle: The Martyr Box 1 Folder 22 Missionary of the Abenaquis Indians," New England Catholic Historical Society Publications, no. 5, 1906

"Rev. John Bapst," newspaper clippings, circa 1906 Box 1 Folder 23

St. John's Church Bangor, Maine 125th anniversary Box 1 Folder 24 materials and related newspaper clipping, 1906, 1981

John Bapst, SJ, Collection BC.1986.020A - Page 8 -

Samuel, Brother, C.F.X. "Speech on Father John Bapst Box 1 Folder 25 delivered in John Bapst High School," typescript, 1941 November 10

"One Hundredth Anniversary: St. John's Church, Bangor, Box 1 Folder 26 Maine," booklet, 1956

"The John Bapst Tradition Lives On...," The Church Box 1 Folder 27 World, photocopy, 1982 November 18

Father Virgil Horace Barber, Father John Bapst, SJ Box 1 Folder 28 and the church on "Indian Island" in Maine historical summary, undated

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