Bernard J. McQuaid
| Bernard John McQuaid | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | December 15, 1823 |
| Died | January 18, 1909 (aged 85) |
Bernard John McQuaid (15 December 1823, in New York City – 18 January 1909, in Rochester, New York) was an American Catholic priest, the first Bishop of Rochester, U.S.A. and the first president of Seton Hall University. McQuaid Jesuit High School is named in his honor.
His father, Bernard McQuaid, from Tyrone, Ireland, settled in Powel's Hook (now Jersey City), New Jersey. It was in the McQuaid home that Mass was first said in Powel's Hook, by Father John Conron, on the first Sunday in Advent, November, 1829.
After his college course at Chambly, Quebec, young McQuaid entered St. John's Seminary, Fordham, and was ordained in old St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York on 16 January 1848. Most of the State of New Jersey was at that time included in the Diocese of New York, so Father McQuaid was sent as assistant to the pastor at Madison, New Jersey.
When the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark was created in 1853, Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley made Father McQuaid rector of his cathedral church, and later, in 1866, his vicar-general. With the bishop he founded Seton Hall College, and, without giving up his parochial charge or his diocesan office, was its president for ten years. He helped to establish the Madison, New Jersey, foundation of the Seton Sisters of Charity.
When the American Civil War broke out he was the first clergyman at Newark to espouse publicly the cause of the Union; he also volunteered as a chaplain and accompanied the New Jersey Brigade to the seat of war, during which service he was captured by the Confederates.
...
Wikipedia