BROOKLYN
799
BROOKLYN
Prelacy and Papacy". In April, 1657, there is record
made of the fining of one "Nicholas the Frenchman"
in the sum of twelve guilders, or S4.80, because, as
the sherilT's report has it, on the "frivolous excuse"
that he was a Catholic, ISficholas refused to pay his
share of the tax le%-ied for the salary of the Dutcli
Reformed minister who preached for the colony
then located within the present limits of the Borough
of Brooklyn. In addition to the Dutch there were
a number of Walloons and Huguenots settled in this
locality. Some of the unfortunate Acadian exiles
were scattered through Long liLmd during 1756;
and on the muster-rolls of the militia from the same
section serving in the army of Sir William Johnson,
in 1775, we find such names as Pieilly. Shea, Burke,
Power, SVelsh, Doolly, Barry, Sullivan, Cassidy, Lynch,
Ryan, Larkin, Mdoney, Fagan. Blake, Donnelly,
Shields, ICinsella, and Downey. There are no records
to show what be-
came of them or
their children. But
an occasional curi-
ously twisted pat-
ronymic among the
old non-Catholic
families of the in-
terior districts of the
island gives a clue
to the reason of
this. We have no
positive evidence
that any consider-
able body of Cath-
olics became a com-
ponent part of
Brookljm's local life
till after the dawn
of the nineteenth
century and espe-
cially after the lo-
cation there of the
Na\-y Yard in 1801.
This government
station at once gave
employment to
many mechanics in
the various trades
connected with the
ship-building indus-
try, and soon a num-
ber of Irish immi-
grants, mostly from
the Catholic .sections
of the Xorth, es-
pecially from Deny
and Donegal, sturdy
confessors of t li e
Faith in' their na-
tive land, .settled in
Brooklyn. Among these were the parents of the first American cardinal, John McCloskey, Arch- bishop of New York, and of his namesake, the first Rector of the American College at Rome, William George McCloskey, afterwards Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky. Until 1822 these Catliolics had to cross
». ..cky.
the East River to New York to liear Ma.ss and attend to their spiritual necessities, as the scarcity of priests and their own poverty brought about this incon- venient situation. Occasionally a priest would go over from New York to say Mass and preach in pri- vate houses, or wherever suitable accommodation could be obtained. The pioneer in this was the Augustinian missionarj- Father Philip Larissy, who said the first Ma,ss in "the house of William Purcell, at the north-cast corner of York and Gold Streets, on a date now unknown. The little colony, con- stantly growing in numbers and influence, desired
a church of its ovi-n, and hence a meeting was held
on the 7th of Januan,-, 1822, at the house of William
Purcell, at which a committee of five was named to
wait on Bishop Connolly of New York and ask his
advice and consent for the organization of a congre-
gation. It is notable that in the circular caUing
this meeting the reasons stated are: "In the first
place we want our children instructed in the principles
of our holy religion; we want more convenience of
hearing the word of God ourselves. In fact, we
want a church, a pastor, and a place for interment."
Those prominent in the pioneer work of the congrega-
tion were Peter Turner, George S. Wise, then a purser
in the United States na\-j-. William Purcell, John
Kenney, Nicholas Stafford, Denis Cosgrove, Jeremiah
Mahoney, James Rose, George McCloskey, James
and Patrick Freel, Dr. Andrew B. Cook, also of the
United States na-\-j', James Furey, Thomas Young,
Hugh and James
McLaughlin, An-
drew Parmentier,
James Harper, Quin-
tin M. Sullivan, and
Daniel Dempsey.
As a result of this meeting eight lots were purchased on Jay Street, and St. James's, the first Catholic church on Long Lsland, was buUt and dedicated to Divine worship by Bishop Connolly, 28 August, 1823. The lots about the church were used as a graveyard until 1849, when Holy Cross Cemetery, Flatbush, was open- ed. The original church building stood until 1903, when its walls wcie enclosed in a new structure built on the same site for a pro-cathedral. The Reverend Dr. John Power of St. Peter's, New York, was the early and stanch friend of the new congregation. He used to cross the river frequently to minister to them. Other priests of the pioneer days were the Reverends Patrick Bulger, James McKenna, and James Doherty; the last two died in the service of the parish, and were buried in front of tlu! church. The first regular pastor was the Reverend John Farnan, who was appointed in .-Vpril, 1825. The second church in Brooklyn, St. Paul's, dedicated 21 January, 1838, was built on land given by Cornelius Heeney. He first offered the site for a seminary, but could not agree with Bishop Dubois as to the manner in which the title should be held, the old and troublesome idea of lay trusteeship proving an obstacle. It is notable that although the organi- zation of the first congregation in Brooklyn was due mainly to lay effort there was never any of the sub- sequent difficulty over trustee authority and rights that made so much scandal elsewhere during this era. The Reverend Nicholas O'Donnell, O.S.A. (1840-47). was the second pastor of St. Paul's, and after him
