TO Acknowledgments The driving force behind this publication has been the Very Reverend Dennis A. Apoldite and the parish’s historian, Sally Lane. Father Dennis’s unflinching curiosity and respect for the past propelled the research and guided both the selection of items for a companion museum exhibit and the structure of this booklet. Sally Lane’s knowledge of church and Trenton history has been invaluable, together with her earlier work preparing the National Register of Historic Places documentation. Sister Catherine Thibault, Archivist at the Diocese of Trenton, kindly made critical research materials available concerning both Sacred Heart and St. John’s. Wendy Nardi, Library Historian, made numerous images and research items avail- able from the Trentoniana Collection at the Trenton Free Public Library. Chris Brenner of Trenton-based Restoration Dynamics provided access to a lift for taking interior photographs of the church’s sanctuary and stained glass during recent restoration work. This booklet was produced by Hunter Research, Inc. of Trenton, New Jersey. The text was authored by Richard W. Hunter and Patrick J. Harshbarger; layout and graphic design were undertaken by Elizabeth Cottrell. Printing services were provided by Nassau Communications, Sacred Heart Church, Postcard, c. 1906. Sacred Heart Church at 343 Inc. of Robbinsville, through the assistance of President Kenneth M. South Broad Street is located in the heart of downtown Trenton. It is the Fisher, who grew up in the parish. third church built by New Jersey’s first Catholic parish. Published by Sacred Heart Church, 2014 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................inside cover Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 2 John Baptist Sartori – Businessman, Diplomat and Founder of New Jersey’s First Catholic Parish ............................................................................................ 4 Early Life in Italy, c.1768-1793 – A Youth in the Court of the Pope .......................................................... 4 First Visit to the United States, 1793-1795 – The Fledgling Businessman and His First Wife ................. 6 Return to Italy, 1795-1801 – A U.S. Consul in Trying Times ....................................................................10 Back in the United States, 1801-1832 – Three Decades in Trenton .......................................................... 16 A New Marriage, Many Children ............................................................................................................ 17 Rosey Hill – The Sartori Family Home .................................................................................................. 20 Merchant Dealings .................................................................................................................................. 25 Pasta Maker and Pasta Merchant ............................................................................................................ 28 A Brief Foray into Calico Printing .......................................................................................................... 32 Papal Consul ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Departure from Trenton and the Final Years in Italy, 1832-1854 ..............................................................34 Sacred Heart Church – 1814-2014 .................................................................................................. 36 Pastors of St. John’s and Sacred Heart ........................................................................................................ 52 EARLY CATHOLIC TRENTON 1 INTRODUCTION his booklet, produced by Trenton’s Church of the Sacred Heart, celebrates the bicentennial of the founding of the first Catholic parish in New Jersey. On June 12, 1814, St. John’s Church of West New Jersey, rich and fascinating history. It honors the pastors and parish- the newly erected house of worship at the corner of Market ioners who have contributed so much to Trenton’s vibrant past and Lamberton Streets in the section of Trenton then known and highlights the decades of stewardship of the third church as Bloomsbury, was consecrated by edifice that has stood now for more Bishop Michael Egan of Philadelphia. than 125 years. Since that time, the congregation The booklet also presents the has multiplied and diversified, grow- results of a program of parish-spon- ing into the thriving community now sored original research that brings served by the Church of the Sacred to the forefront the colorful figure of Heart on South Broad Street. John Baptist Sartori, effectively the Along with the exhibit “Sartori to lay leader of the Catholic commu- Sacred Heart” recently displayed nity in Trenton during its forma- at the Trenton City Museum, this tive years. Sartori knew popes and publication is intended as a tangible cardinals, presidents and royalty, commemoration of Sacred Heart’s and he lived in Trenton for 30 years, 2 SARTORI TO SACRED HEART serving for much of the time as U.S. Consul to Rome and later as Papal Consul to the United States. He made a sometimes precarious living as a merchant trading with Italy and the Caribbean, but he deserves particular recognition for establishing the first successful pasta making business in the United States. Roughly two-thirds of the booklet is devoted to Sartori and his intriguing life. The other third outlines the history of St. John’s/Sacred Heart, focusing on the changing demogra- phy of the congregation, the educational initiatives of the pastorate and the sequence of buildings erected on church property. Much effort has been expended in recent years on maintaining the physical integrity of the principal church building with parishioners playing a vital role in provid- ing funding support. The booklet is dedicated to them and concludes with several images of the recently restored stained glass windows, a fitting testimony to Sacred Heart’s glorious architecture and community spirit. John Baptist Sartori, c. 1768 - 1854, fi rst U.S. Consul to the Papal States in Rome and later Papal Consul to the United States. EARLYEAEARLLY CCATHOLICATHOLIIC TRENTONTRENTN ON 3 JOHN BAPTIST SARTORI BUSINESSMAN, DIPLOMAT AND FOUNDER OF NEW JERSEY’S FIRST CATHOLIC PARISH Early Life in Italy, c. 1768-1793 A Youth in the Court of the Pope John Baptist Sartori, or Giovanni Battista Sartori, as he would By the late 1780s, the Sartori family was well entrenched in have been known in his Italian homeland, was the son of Rome, attached to the court of Pius VI. Elected in 1775, this Carlo Sartori, jeweler to Pope Pius VI. Very little pontiff, in addition to being leader of the Roman Catho- is known for sure about his early years. He lic Church, was known for his patronage of the arts was born, it is thought, in Rome, or possibly and for expanding the museum collections of the Vatican. In that time, popes were also sovereign Milan, sometime around 1768. His mother’s rulers of the Papal States, composed of terri- name is lost to history. He had a brother, tories that included most of the Italian regions probably younger, named Vincent. of Lazio, Marche, Romagna and Umbria. (The Papal States ceased to exist in 1861 following Carlo Sartori, c. 1735 – c. 1810, jeweler to Pope the unification of the Kingdom of Italy.) Pius VI and father of John Baptist Sartori. 4 SARTORI TO SACRED HEART Carlo Sartori worked expertly in gold and silver, setting many of the jewels so prized by the Papacy, including tiaras of Popes Julius II, Paul III, Clement VIII and Urban VIII. His son John Baptist Sartori would have grown up in the papal milieu, exposed to and appreciative of the opulence and rich culture of the Vatican. Engraving of St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica of St. Peter by Giovanni Batt ista Piranesi, c. 1770. Portrait of Pope Pius VI by Pompeo Batoni, 1775. EARLYEAEARLLY CCATHOLICATHOLIIC TRENTONTRENTN ON 5 JOHN BAPTIST SARTORI First Visit to the United States, 1793-1795 The Fledgling Businessman and His First Wife John Baptist Sartori first came to the United States in 1793, arriving in Philadelphia, then capital city of the new republic and a leading center of American trade. Even with a popula- tion of around 50,000, Philadelphia probably seemed small and provincial as compared with Rome, which at the time had a population of about three times that of Philadelphia. In his mid-20s, Sartori came in search of economic opportunity. He was looking to parlay his Papal States contacts into a merchant business importing high-end Italian goods for Philadelphia’s wealthy merchant elite and for upwardly mobile, status-seeking denizens of the new American republic. Detail from A Plan of the City of Philadelphia by John Hills, 1796. Approximate location of Sartori’s store indicated by red shading. 6 SARTORI TO SACRED HEART Beginning in late 1793, advertisements appeared in the Phila- delphia newspapers in which he offered for sale all manner of exotic European goods, mostly shipped in from his native Italy. Marble statuary and furnishings were a particular specialty, but he was also dealing in items such as chandeliers, framed paintings, snuff boxes, fans, visiting cards, Roman violin strings and Italian chocolate. Sartori’s imports were sold from his store at 74 Spruce Street,