Alexander Macdonell-- Part 5: Becomes Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada

A central figure in the religious and political life of the Crown Colony of Canada, Macdonell was appointed vicar general in 1807 and vicar apostolic in 1820 and was  consecrated bishop or Regiopolis in 1826.

During his tenure thousands of Irish immigrants arrived, and by 1840, there were 34 priests and  48 parishes in  Upper Canada (today's province of Ontario) for which Macdonell had secured financial assistance from the local and British governments.

A firm conservative, Macdonell was a legislative counsellor  from 1831, and soon came under fire from the Reform Movement.

He died while in Britain attempting to secure funds for the Regiopolis College and recruiting more Catholic emigrants.  Alexander Macdonell was buried at  St. Margaret's Convent in Edinburgh, Scotland, but his remains were removed to  St. Mary's in Kingston in 1861.

--Brock-Perry

Alexander Macdonell-- Part 4: Bringing Catholicism to Canada

From the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Alexander Macdonell, Roman Catholic   bishop.

Born at Fort Augustus, Glengarry, Scotland 17 July  1762. Died at Dumfries, Scotland, 14 July1840.

Ordained in 1787, he spent the next several years  in the Scottish Highlands.  In 1793, he persuaded  the British government to establish the Catholic corps, the Glengarry Regiment, of which he was the chaplain.

In 1802, the regiment was disbanded and two years later Macdonell got the British government to promise 200 acres to every soldier who emigrated to Canada.  Macdonell and a large group of Catholic settlers did just that.  They settled in what became known as Glengarry, Upper Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Canada's First Catholic Bishop Alexander Macdonell-- Part 3

By 1822, the Catholic population of York had grown to 1,000 and Macdonell moved from Glengarry to York (Toronto) and built a home at the corner of Jarvis and Richmond in 1832. of Upper Canada's Catholic crusade.

That home is barely noticeable today, but at one time it was the center of Upper Canada Catholic crusade.

Macdonell has been described by  William Foster Coffin as "a medieval churchman, half bishop, half baron, [who] fought and prayed with equal zeal, by the side of men he had come  to regard as  his hereditary followers."  

Thomas D'Arcy  McGee referred to him as the "greatest Tory of Canada."

Macdonell was definitely a man of many talents, despite his allegiance to the Crown and chief among him were his power of political persuasion.  As a member of the Legislative Assembly, he would eventually push for government salaries to be paid to Catholic priests and teachers in the colony in return for their loyalty to the Crown.

However, this effort met with resistance from Anglican Church heads of Upper Canada and John Strachan in particular.

It turns out that  the political ties between Strachan and Macdonell were not enough to overcome their religious differences.

--Brock-Perry

About Canada's First Catholic Bishop, Alexander Macdonell-- Part 2

Before he came to Canada, Alexander Macdonell  raised a Catholic regiment to defend British interests during the Irish Rebellion in 1798.  The regiment would be disbanded and its men left destitute, but Macdonell  persuaded the Crown to give them land in Upper Canada in return for their loyalty. 

Macdonell first settled in Glengarry near Kingston.  He went to the Upper Canada capital in York in 1806 and found that Catholics were few and far between.  The town had a population of 200 of whom less than a quarter were Catholic.  In all of Upper Canada, there were only three Catholic churches and three Catholic priests.

Macdonell reported to his superiors on what he had seen at York and was given the task of acquiring more land for churches in the town.  (Of course, York eventually became Toronto.)

A plot on George on present-day Adelaide would be set aside "for the purpose of erecting a chapel for public worship."  But, it was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812.  (Likely burned by American troops when they torched the town.)

--Brock-Perry

About Canada's First Catholic Bishop, Alexander Macdonell-- Part 1

From the November 14, 2021, "NowToronto  "Hidden Toronto:  First Catholic  bishop's residence" by Enzo Dimatteo.

It's barely noticeable today but it was once the home of the man behind Upper Canada's Catholic crusade.  It's at 113 Jarvis in Toronto.

John Strachan was Canada's first  Anglican bishop and known for his Tory politics and ties to the Family Compact.  He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada.  Today there are schools and a street named for him near where his home used to stand at University and Front.

It was there that  loyalist forces gathered on the first night of the rebellion against the Family Compact led by Mackenzie in 1837.

But his equal, and the subject of this article was Alexander Macdonell (sometimes called McDonell).  This man was also a staunch Tory and he became John Strachan's religious counterpart as Upper Canada's first Catholic bishop.

Like Strachan, Macdonell was born in Scotland and his Catholic upbringing preached obedience to the Crown, but he was perhaps an even more strident  crusader of Tory values.  Indeed, he would take up arms in defense of the Crown in a number of wars, including the War of 1812, when he raised a regiment against the American forces.

--Brock-Perry

John Gwinn-- Part 7: The USS Constitution and Death

An ailing John Gwinn placed the USS Constitution back into commission early in October 1848.  The ship sailed for the Mediterranean Sea in December and made directly for Algiers, where she took on board Consul David Smith McCauley and his family for a transfer to Egypt.

As they entered the port of Alexandria, Egypt,  McCauley's wife, Frances Ann, gave birth to a son who they named Constitution Stewart McCauley in Captain Gwinn's cabin.

From there, the ship  returned west  to Italian waters  to join the rest of the squadron protecting American interests in revolution-torn Italy.  despite an injunction any action that might  indicate American bias, on August 1, 1949,  Gwinn hosted a visit by Pope Pius IX and the fugitive King of Two Sicilies, Ferdinand II, while anchored off  Gaeta, Italy.

Because a commissioned warship is considered U.S. territory,  this is considered the first visit by  a Roman Catholic pope to American territory.

Shortly thereafter, Gwinn's health deteriorated  to the point he was bed-ridden and suffered periods of delirium and mania.  He died  of chronic gastritis on September 4, 1849 while the ship was at Palermo, Italy.

Gwinn was buried with full military honors at Palermo, but the proceedings were  disrupted bu disaffected crew members who got roaring drunk along the route to the cemetery.  As a result,  at least 32 men were flogged in the days that followed.   He was reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery in 1931.

--Brock-Perry

Midshipman Richard Dale-- Part 2: A Ceremony Held Every Year Now

After the battle, he was brought to St. George's for treatment and cared for at Stennet's Hotel where the Bank of Butterfield now sits on the Town Square.  However, he succumbed to his injuries on February 22, 1815.

But, he was not forgotten.  Every February 22, when the Us Marine Corps had a station on the U.S. base, a small parade would be held to honor the final the Midshipman who gave his life in the last action on the seas between the U.S. and Britain

This ceremony came to a stop when the base closed in 1995.    However, the friends of St. Peter's Foundation, which works to preserve and increase the  interest in the church in St. George, reintroduced the ceremony in 2006.

Descendants of Bermudian Scarret Adams, who served in the U.S. Navy and found Dale's grave and started the ceremony,  donate funds each year for a wreath of white Passion flowers to put on his grave.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 Medallions Placed in Texas

From the November 5, 2020, Waco (Texas) Tribune-Herald  "War of 1812 medallions placed in Waco cemetery." 

A War of 1812 "Real Daughter" medallion was placed on the grave of Emma Buck Harrison and War of 1812 veteran medallion placed on the grave of William Calmes Buck.

The Jordan Bass  Chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812 recently placed  medallions of the First Street Cemetery at these graves.  Emma was his daughter.

Buck was born August 23, 1790, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, and served in the War of 1812 as a lieutenant  in the 2nd Regiment Virginia Militia.  Before entering the service, he became an ordained Baptist  minister.  After the war, he preached in  Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

He first married Maria Lewright  in Jefferson City, Virginia who died in childbirth with her fourth child.  Later, Buck married  Isabella Miriam Field of Woodford County, Kentucky, with whom he had 11 children.  Isabella died in Nashville, Tennessee in 1852 at the age of 42.

After the Civil War, he moved to Texas where he lived the rest of his life.

--Brock-Perry

Two North Carolina Men-- Part 3: Both Lived Past Age 100 and About That Liquor

Both men remained keen of mind and strong of body until well past the age of 100.

Finally, both men had  interesting, though different perspectives on liquor.  Fed Messer claimed to take a little "nip of spirits" before breakfast each day, but otherwise, limited its use, particularly because it could affect his hunting abilities.

Carl Bryson was a deputy sheriff during Prohibition and helped federal revenue agents bust up moonshine stills, until around 1935.  However, he was known to "slip" some of that moonshine into his barn and inbibe there.

That is, until a battle for his soul was waged one night.

The story goes that his wife told him a church group was coming over for prayer.  he knew he had a half gallon of shine out in the barn and figured he would go out and drink while the meeting was going on.

But:  "I pulled that feed sack off (the liquor), and something  came over me and I couldn't open it, like I got the quivers.  ...I went back and done the same thing; I couldn't open it.  I tried that three times and never did drink the liquor."

About that time, he heard praying coming from his house and at that moment accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.  "Before that I could drink a half gallon of liquor and work all day, but from that day, I haven't drunk  any liquor since."

He Heard the Word.  --Brock-Perry

Toasting the War of 1812 Veterans-- Part 5: Sackett's Harbor, Liberty and Foreign=Born Citizens

14.  "Sackett's Harbor"      One of the turning points of 1812.  --Response by General Joseph W. Brown, of Detroit.

15.  "Civil and Religious Liberty"  --Response by Dr. Curtis, of Cincinnati.

16.  "Our Foreign-Born Citizens"  --Response by  ex-Mayor Kraus, of Toledo.

Hopefully they were just taking a sip instead of a gulp during these.

--Brock-Perry