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Eliza Allen Starr (1824-1901), Convert and Poet

Born to a distinguished New England family, Eliza Allen Starr grew up “in an atmosphere of culture and refinement.” It was said that she inherited her love of literature from her family. After...

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“The Happiness of Being a Catholic”

I thank God that I can say, “It was a true report that I heard in mine own land,” of the glory and blessedness of the Catholic Church. “Mine eyes have seen it, and behold the half was not told me; it...

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St. Elizabeth Seton (1774-1821), By One who Knew Her

It may be truly said that Mother Seton’s manner was the secret of her extraordinary influence a happy blending of ardent zeal with maternal sweetness. A moment’s intercourse with her was sufficient to...

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Father Augustine F. Hewit, C.S.P. (1820-1897)

Father Hewit is Dead. The Head of the Paulists Passes Away at the Monastery in this City. Sketch of His Life Work. Associated with Other Denominations Before He Became a Roman Catholic— The Church that...

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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Daughter Becomes Nun, 1899

SERVANTS OF RELIEF FOR INCURABLE CANCER (1899) “I am trying to serve the poor as a servant. I wish to serve the cancerous poor because they are avoided more than any other class of sufferers; and I...

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Former Episcopal Priest Discusses His Conversion to Catholicism, 1897

MR. ADAMS’ CONVERSION– The ex-Epsicopalian Clergyman Tells How He was Led to Embrace Catholicism (The Brooklyn Eagle, February 22, 1897, 2.) Henry Austin Adams, M.A., told the story of his conversion...

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Major Henry F. Brownson (1835-1913): Holy Cross Alumnus, Civil War Veteran,...

Henry Francis Brownson was born at Canton, Mass., August 7 1835. His father was the celebrated Orestes A Brownson, who was baptized by the founder of Holy Cross College, Bishop Fenwick. Wishing to...

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James Longstreet (1821-1904): Confederate General, Catholic Convert

Soldier and Catholic convert. Born 8 January, 1821, at Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.A.; died at Gainesville, Georgia, 2 January, 1904. In 1831 he moved to Alabama with his parents, and was thence...

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The Convert Brothers: General and Bishop Rosecrans

Born at Kingston, Ohio, 6 Sept., 1819; died near Redondo, California 11 March, 1898. The family came originally from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania, moving thence to Ohio.His mother was a daughter...

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James 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...

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Connecticut’s First Bishop: William Tyler (1806-1849)

William Tyler was born on the 5th of June, 1806, at Derby, Vermont, his father being a substantial farmer, his mother a sister of the famous convert Rev. Daniel Barber. She followed the example of her...

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Father Francis Asbury Baker, C.S.P. (1820-1865)

Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle, born Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. 30 March, 1820; died 4 April, 1865. Father Baker was a son of Dr. Samuel Baker, a physician of note in Baltimore. He...

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Former Episcopal Bishop Speaks at Catholic Forum, Brooklyn, 1860

THE LECTURE SEASON. Catholic Library Association—Lecture by Dr. Silliman Ives—“Catholic Rome the Patroness of Knowledge” (The Brooklyn Eagle, November 2, 1860, p. 2)  A lecture was delivered last...

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Catholic Poetry: “The Pillar of the Cloud,” by Blessed John Henry Henry...

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home– Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet, I do not ask to see The distant scene– one step enough for...

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Paulist Outreach to Non-Catholics Explained, 1896

TO SPREAD THE CATHOLIC FAITH. A Mission to Explain Dogma to Protestants is to be Established by the Paulist Fathers. (The New York Times, January 13, 1896) Within a short time a band of Catholic...

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Forgotten 19th Century Catholic Authors: Henrietta Dana Skinner

“Authentic Sketches of Living Catholic Authors: Mrs. Henry Wimple Skinner,” The Catholic World 65 (May 1897): 283-284. MRS. HENRY WIMPLE SKINNER (Henrietta Channing Dana) is the youngest daughter of...

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Catholics at West Point, a 1908 Survey

Today, the day that the Class of 2014 graduates from the United States Military Academy, offers an opportunity to look at some of the Catholic graduates West Point. During the nineteenth century, the...

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Roads to Rome: U.S. Army Officer Enters the Church, 1909

Georginia Pell Curtis’s 1909 anthology Some Roads to Rome offers a series of first-hand accounts of Catholic converts. The following is the story of an unidentified U.S. Army officer who embraced...

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Former Know-Nothing Converts to Catholicism

The Order of the Star Spangled Banner was founded in New York in 1849 in opposition to the rise of a predominantly Catholic immigration to the United States. Members were pledged to secrecy about the...

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Roads to Rome: Sarah Worthington King Peter (1800-1877)

Born in Ohio, Sarah Worthington was the daughter of a prominent Ohio politician. During her childhood Thomas Worthington would serve as a United States Senator and Governor of Ohio. The family was...

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