Church Record Sunday: The Morning Star & Catholic Messenger (New Orleans)

Though technically not a church record, this Catholic newspaper published in New Orleans from 1868 to 1881 includes a great deal of information of interest to genealogists, especially those researching family members who were priests or nuns. Catering to the English speaking population in New Orleans it covered a broad range of topics including Irish news and history, news items from around the country relating to Catholic religious orders, priests or nuns and local topics of interest.


The first issue included a rather lurid and improving story, a directory of Catholic parishes and staff in the New Orleans, information on several regional Catholic colleges, news relating to Reconstruction, advertisements from New Orleans merchants, obituaries of Catholic religious from around the country as well as prominent New Orleans Catholic laity, a report on a recent yellow fever epidemic and the following news item:

Frozen in the Confessional

The Rev. Father B. Sn_____ock, of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, has lately suffered the amputation of a finger, which had been frozen while the Rev. Father was sitting in the confessional!

The newspaper is part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America Project. Issues are available from 1868-1879. I first searched it looking for information on two family members, a priest and a nun, who were working in New Orleans after the Civil War. I found multiple references to the priest, including considerable information about him from St. Louis, MO where he worked for 10 years. 




Source: The Morning star and Catholic messenger. (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, February 09, 1868, Morning, page 1.

Veterans Day: For the women

In honor of the women who served and continue to serve ...

Read oral histories of two Navy nurses, Lt. Dorothy Danner and Capt. Ann Bernatitus during World War II. 

Wordless Wednesday: School Days

An undated class picture from the papers of Mary Kathryn McKenzie, who taught school in Jefferson City, TN. 

Source:  Jefferson City, TN Class portrait, undated. Digital Image.  Privately held by Nolichucky Roots [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 1997.

A Sunny Day

When I was growing up one of the poems my mother read to us often - especially at this time of year - was Thomas Hood's November - No sun, no moon, no morn, no noon, no proper time of day....

It reflected my feelings for many years, until, one glorious November day our daughter was born.  Funny how one small person can change one's perspective. It's always sunny in November now. In honor of her birthday, here are pictures of her great-grandmothers and namesakes Mary Whitaker and Anna Pereksta.

And one more that I just couldn't resist.  Happy birthday, sweetheart.

The Old North

Bill West has challenged us to find poems or songs that refer to the areas our ancestors lived in his Second Great American Local Poem and Song Genealogy Challenge.  I thought about Rusyn folk songs or hymns, or one of the great folk songs heard in Cocke County that Mildred Haun cataloged in the 1930s.

Then I remembered this poem written by my husband's grandfather. I knew it was the one for this challenge. His aunt gave us a copy when we were visiting for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday earlier this fall. I especially love it at this time of year, as our own leaves fly by.

THE OLD NORTH 

by W. Meredith Smith

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

  Round the memory-haunted tower,

E'en the evergreen is dying.

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

And the last leaves now are flying

  From the treetop and the bower.

Hark! the winter winds are sighing

  Round the memory-haunted tower.

William Meredith Smith (1877-1962) graduated from Georgetown University in 1900. After attending medical school in St. Louis he spent his life practicing medicine in Frederick, Maryland. This poem was published in 1927 in the Georgetown Anthology (Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co.). Old North, one of the oldest buildings on the campus, was built in 1794. George Washington spoke from its steps in 1797 and it marks the north side of the original quadrangle. The clock tower rises over Healy Hall on the east side. It was built shortly before Smith graduated and remains the most identifiable structure at the University.

The tower obviously loomed large in Smith's memory. It was not there when his cousins attended Georgetown College in the 1830s and 40s, nor when his father attended before the Civil War, though Old North was. As one of the few Catholic schools in the area it was a beacon for Smith's family. No school has had more significance in his family's history. At least six members attended Georgetown - including his father, son, and grandson. 

My own father graduated from Georgetown's law school which was a key reason I enrolled there. The photographs were taken September 2, 1979 when William Meredith Smith's grandson and I were married at Dahlgren Chapel in the quadrangle. Old North is the building behind us as we kissed.