PHILADELPHIA
795
PHILADELPHIA
beginning of the century had given great edification
liy his zeal and saintly life. Later in the same year
the Rev. John Hughes was elevated to the episcopal
See of Now York. About the same time St. John's
liecame the cathedral. In 1839 the parish of St.
I'"rancis Xavier was founded for the Fairmount dis-
trict, and St. Patrick's church was organized for the
Si-liuylkill suburb. The following year saw the
ioumliiig of St. Philip's in the extreme south. Its
lirst |):istor was the Rev. John P. Dunn. In 1842 the
( 'iiTiiians of Kensington were provided for by the
liiiililiiig of St. Peter's and the installation of the
KiMciiiptorist Fathers. In 1843 the church of St.
I'aiil was opened in Moyamensing by the Rev. Patrick
I '. Sheridan. To the north, the church of St. Stephen
was l>uilt near the spot in Nieetown where the first
M assi's were celebrated by itinerant missionaries. On
1.") Nov., 1846, St. Anne's church at Port Richmond
was dedicated by Father Gartland of St. John's,
Bishop Hughes of New York preaching the sermon.
During the year 1845, St. Joachim's was founded at
I'rankford by the Rev. Dominic Forrestal. On the
Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, 29 June, 1846, the bishop
issued a pastoral letter announcing his determination
to build a cathedral. He chose for the site a plot of
ground adjoining the seminary at Eighteenth and Race
Streets. The architect was Napulcdu T.cbrun. It was
the bishop's intention to avoid running into debt, so
the cathedral was long in building. In 1848hefounded
the churcli of the Assumption, with the convert, Charles
I. H. Carter, for pastor. The ancient suburb of Ger-
mantown contained very few Catholics, but the Laza-
rist Fathers, who conducted the seminary, were willing
to assume the risk of building a church in that section,
and the church of St. Vincent de Paul was opened for
worship on 13 July, 1851, the first pastor being the
Rev. M. Domenec, afterwards Bishop of Pittsburg. In
1849 a church was built at Holmesburg and named
St. Dominic, the Rev. Charles Dominic Berrill,
O.P., being appointed pastor. In 18.50 the parish
of St. James, in West Philadelphia, was founded by
the Rev. J. V. O'Keefe, who took a census and dis-
covered forty Catholic adults in the district. The last
evidence in Philadc-lphia of Bishop Kenrick's activity
was the church of St. Malachy, the cornerstone of
which he blessed 2.5 May, 1851. Before its comple-
tion he was transferred to the metropolitan See of
Baltimore. The western portion of Pennsylvania
was formed into the Diocese of Pittsburg.SAug., 1843,
with the Rt. Rev. M. O'Connor, D.D., for its first
bishop. (For the burning of Catholic churches in the
Philadelphia riots of 1844, see Knownothinmsm.)
The fourth Bishop of Philadelphia, John Nepomu- cene Neumann, was consecrated 28 March, 1852. (See Nbum-^nn, John Nbpomucene, Vener.^ble.) Ten churches sprang up during the first year of his epis- copate. The constant topic of his exhortations was the necessity of parish schools. Failing to bring the contu- macious trustees of Holy Trinity to their senses, he un- dermined theirinfluence by putting up the church of St. Alphonsus. On 19 Oct., 18.54, he left for Rome to as- sist at the proclamation of the dogma of the Immacu- late Conception, and he returned in March, 1855. On 26 April, 1857, the Rt. Rev. James Frederick Wood was consecrated in the cathedral of Cincinnati as co- adjutor fo the Bishop of Philadelphia. Bishop Wood was acknowledged by the financial world as thor- oughly acquainted with every phase of the banking business, which had been the occupation of his earlier years, .-^t a meeting of the clergy, Bishop Neumann announced that the work of completing the cathedral had been committed to his coadjutor. In October, 18.57, he held his last synod: there were 114 priests present, and 32 had been excused from attendance.
James Frederick Wood, 1he fifth bishop of the dio- cese, was born at Philadelphia 27 April, 1813. His father, James Wood, was an English merchant and
had his child baptized by a minister of the Unitarian
sect. In 1827 James Wood and liis family removed to
Cincinnati, where the boy obtained a position as clerk
in a bank. Eleven years later (7 April, 1838), in his
twenty-fifth year, the future bishop was received into
the Catholic Church by Bishop Purcell, and nexi:! year
he was sent to Rome to prosecute his studies at the
College of the Propaganda, where he was ordained to
the priesthood by Cardinal Fransoni, 25 March, 1844.
After a short term as assistant at the cathedral of Cin-
cinnati, he was appointed pastor of St. Patrick's
church. Though the main object of his appointment
to Philadelphia was to relieve Bishop Neumann of the
temporal cares of the diocese, yet he by no means con-
fined his efforts to that sphere. He was zealous in
preaching the Word of God and gave confirmation in
all the churches. On the death of Bishop (Venerable
John Nepomucene) Neumann, which took place
on 5 January, 1860, the Catholic population of the
diocese, which still included Delaware, was esti-
mated at 200,000 souls. There were 157 churches
(besides 9 in course of erection) and 7 chapels,
attended by 147 priests. The preparatory seminary
at Glen Riddle, under the Re\'. J. F. Shanahan, and
the theological seminary adjoining the cathedral,
under the Rev. Wm. O'Hara, D.D., were in a flourish-
ing condition. There were 36 parish schools, attended
by 8710 pupils. The diocese was well supplied with
colleges, acaflemies,:i,sylums, hospitals, and religious
orders of both .sexes. In the first year of his adminis-
tration Hisliop Wood established, at the two extreme
ends of the city, the i)arishes of the Annunciation and
All Saints, Hridesburg.
The bishop had the erection of the cathedral well in hand, when the outbreak of the Civil War came to re- tard its completion. Nothing daunted, however, he continm-d his efforts and on 20 Nov., 1864, had the hap|iiiiess til sing the first Ma.ss in the immense edi- tieiv Srarcely had he finished the cathedral, when he ))uicliaseil a large tract of land just outside the city liiiiils. as t lie site of a new seminary. The pastoral let- ter in which he announced the jiurehase at ( iverbrook is dated S Dee., l.Sli.',; (,n Hi Sept., 1S71, the beautiful building was filled with 12,S students from the two old seminaries. During his visit to Rome, in 1867, he pe- titioned the Holy See for t he creation of the Dioceses of Scranton and Ilarrisburg, anfl his wish was granted 3March,1868. Hewas prominent at I hi' Seioiid Plen- ary Council of Baltimore, and, iiideid, at ever\ assem- bly of the hierarchy his counsels were re\-eiently lis- tened to. He attended the Council of the Vatican, but being in |)oor health left Rome early in March. He took a great interest in the newly established North American College, wi.sely insist <m1 that the funds of the college should be kejit in America, and was unani- mously ajjpoinfed treasurer of the board.
On 15 Oct., 1873, with all possible pomp, Bishop Wood consecrated the diocese to the Sacred Heart of .Jesus. In 1875 he was prostrated by rheumatism; a journey to the Sovith gave him slight relief; and when the instruments arrived creating him archbishop and making Philadelphia a metro])olitan see, it was with evident pain he went through the long ceremony of the conferring of the pallium. He had wonderful recuper- ative powers, however, and in 1S77 went to Rome with 15311, 1)1)0 Peter's pence to assist at the celebrat ion of the golden jubilee of Pius l.X's (>pi.scopate. Recovering from another had attack in R<ime, he returned home. On 23 May, ISSO, he presided over the First Provin- cial Council of Phil.adi'lpliia. .\fter thishe wtisfor the most p.art confined to his room, where, however, he <-ontin\ied to traiisac't business with his usual energy. His end came on 20 June, 1883. The entire City of Philadelphia turned out to show its affection for one whom it regarded as its most distinguishecl citizen. .\rchbishop Wood is buried with the other bishops of the diocese in the crypt beneath the cathedral. He had
