Cemetery origin and land acquisitions

;3.'iG  rUE   CATJIOL/C  CHURCH  IN  NEW  ENGLAND.
boys'  school  is  Mr.  Patrick  Morrissey.     These  accomplished  instructors  were
educated  in  Ireland,  their  native  country."
The  child  who  went  through  the  ordeal  so  successfully,  was  Miss  Nellie
McGuire,  for  many  years  a  teacher  in  the  public  schools  of  New  Haven,  and
leading  .soprano  singer  of  St.  Patrick's  choir.
On  May  12,  1852,  four  Sisters  of  Mercy,  of  whom  Sister  M.  Camillus
was  Superior,  arrived  at  New  Haven  from  Providence,  brought  hither  by  the
Rev.  Edward  J.  O'Brien,  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  parish.  They  a.ssunicd  charge
of  the  girls'  school,  while  Mr.  Morrissey  continued  in  charge  of  the  boys'
until  July  20,  i860.  The  first  home  of  the  Sisters  was  on  George  street,  near
Broad.  They  remained  here  until  the  summer  of  1854,  when  they  took  up
their  residence  in  a  new  convent  adjoining  old  St.  Mary's  church  on  Church
street.  In  the  summer  of  1875  they  took  up  their  abode  in  a  house  near  the
new  St.  Mary's.  In  July,  i860,  the  Sisters  as.sumed  charge  of  both  boys  and
girls.  The  basement  of  the  new  St.  Mary's  church  became  the  school  in  the
fall  of  1875,  and  in  the  following  year  a  dwelling  in  the  neighborhood  was
secured  in  which  the  school  was  continued.
The  first  Catholic  cemetery  of  New  Haven  was  a  part  of  Christ's  church
lot,  near  the  corner  of  York  street  and  Davenport  a\-enue.  Here  the  Catho-
lics of  New  Haven  were  interred  until  1851.  On  Jiine  28lh,  of  this  year,
Mr.  Bernard  O'Reilly  purchased  from  Mr.  Gerard  Hallock,  at  one  time  editor
of  tlie  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce,  a  parcel  of  land  near  the  ''  West
Bridge,"  avowing  it  as  the  intention  to  dispose  of  it  in  small  lots.  The
"small  lots"  proved  to  be  cemetery  lots,  to  the  chagrin  of  Mr.  Hallock,
who  was  noted  for  his  hostility  to  the  Catholic  church.  This  tract  of  land
was  blessed  as  St.  Bernard's  cemetery  on  September  1,  185 1.  In  1858  an
additional  tract  of  eighteen  acres  was  purchased,  which,  with  a  small  piece  of
land  secured  in  August,  1876,  made  a  cemetery  of  about  twentj-five  acres.
On  November  22,  1887,  the  deeds  to  the  Bronson  farm  were  conveyed  to  Rev.
John  Russell,  who  had  purchased  it  for  cemetery  purposes  in  the  name  of  the
corporation.  This  tract  of  land  contains  fifty-two  acres  and  lies  southwest  of
the  city  and  town  bonndar)'  line  in  the  town  of  Orange,  and  the  price  asked
was  $10,000.  On  June  22,  1888,  the  new  cemetery  received  the  name  of  St.
Lawrence's  cemetery;  it  was  solemnly  blessed  on  Sunday,  October  4,  1890,
by  Bishop  McMahon,  Rev.  B.  W.  Bray  preaching  the  discourse.
In  the  summer  of  1851  the  Rev.  Edward  J.  O'Brien'  became  the  pastor
of  St.  Mary's  in  succession  to  the  Rev.  Philip  O'Reilly.  He  had  as  assistants
the  Rev.  Bernard  Tevin,  Rev.  John  Sheridan,  who  had  been  commissioned
to  build  St.  Patrick's  church,  and  Rev.  Matthew  Hart.  On  April  18,  1858,
Bishop  McFarland  visited  St.  Mary's  church  and  administered  the  sacrament
of  Confirmation  to  over  300  persons.
In  1868  negotiations  were  begun  for  a  site  for  a  new  church.  The  old
church  had  become  the  centre  of  commercial  firms,  and  in  consequence  had
become  ill  suited  as  a  place  for  divine  worship.     A  number  of  sites  were  in-
'  Father  O'Brien  wa.s  the  first  priest  of  the  diocese  to  receive  ordination  at  St.  Mary's
Seminary,  Baltimore,  Md.     He  was  ordained  by  Archbishop  Ecclestoii  in  1850.