priest (now dead) at St. Augustine's [probably the late reverend Doctor Patrick A. Stanton in residence there with a few brief intervals since 1846] who told me that he remembered when he first went there, a very young man at the time, that there was a set of vestments called 'Mrs. Montgomery's vestments'; and I myself have a very small piece of an altar cloth which she made. An old lady, who had known friends of Mrs. Montgomery, gave this to my father, who in turn gave it to me. Mrs. Montgomery had a large family, ten children in all, whereof four died in infancy, one in youth, and the remaining five all married having descendants. One of them, Mary, was married to my grandfather Doctor Charles D. Meigs, whose son John Forsyth Meigs, one of the Doctor's ten children, and his wife Ann Wilcocks Ingersoll, who were married October 17, 1844, being my parents. In all we were eight children, of whom six lived to be men and women. My father, who was born October 3, 1818, died December 16, 1882; while my mother, who was born January 8, 1822, died December 30, 1856. I believe my great-grandmother was a woman of strong intellectual character, as shown among other incidents in that account of yours [that is, the paper on Atlantic City by the writer, quoted above], in her defence of Doctor Hurley at Cape May. Some of her children disliked greatly her becoming a Catholic, her conversion thereto giving rise to considerable unkindly comment on the part of her friends and acquaintances. From members of her own family too she met with much opposition, though throughout she was deeply loved by her children. [Social ostracism, it may be observed, on the abandonment of one's beliefs in order to return to the Church of one's forefathers is, we regret to say, no less unknown in our own times than in Mrs. Montgomery's day]. She was a pewholder at St. Augustine's church, her residence being near by at No. 128 (now 606) Arch Street, where she died, in 1819, as said."

Thus ends Miss Meigs's exceedingly interesting and really valuable contribution to the sources of her most worthy great-grandmother's story. And now follows

briefly an excerpt from another chronicler wherein some additional light is thrown on the life-work and valuable services of Mrs. Montgomery; a woman, as appears, who was so loyal to her Church amidst sacrifices of no little weight, and so benevolent in her works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, during the fourteen years of her Catholic life.

From a brief allusion to her in a work published many years ago, whereof the Preface (to the first edition) bears the date "November 1, 1852", she seems to have been an active propagandist in matters relating to the Catholic Religion. The Life of the famed saintly Mother Seton, foundress of the Sisters of Charity in the United States, when describing the conversion to the Faith of Samuel Sutherland Cooper, a Philadelphia merchant and sea-captain, tells how Mrs. Montgomery, though her name is not given by the author, Doctor White, was instrumental in Mr. Cooper's abandonment of Protestantism by giving him an exposition of Catholic doctrines to read. The Doctor's words are to the effect that "A Catholic lady completed his (that is, Mr. Cooper's) sources of information by giving him a work that treated of the orthodox faith "."

In 1807 Mr. Cooper was baptized in the Catholic Church during a visit of Bishop (afterwards Archbishop)

The Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, etc., by Charles I. White, D.D., 5th ed., Baltimore, Murphy, 1852.

"A foot-note directs the reader to the Doctor's authority thus, “Ami de la Religion, December, 1843. "(P. 234, Bk. V., of the Life). And no further.

The Ami presumably is a reference to the Roman Catholic periodical with that title published in France at that epoch. Doctor White's way however of directing a would-be searcher of historical or other data to attempt the scanning of the pages of a newspaper for one full year is a pretty formidable deterrent towards one's attempt to verify one's

sources.

Carroll to Philadelphia; and eleven years later, on his return from abroad (he had been in Italy), he was ordained in Baltimore, August 15, 1818, to the sacred order of priesthood.' Though the name of this "Catholic lady" who in her apostolic zeal sought to bring others into the true path she herself had entered after so much mature thoughtfulness, (Mrs. Montgomery was forty-two years of age at her conversion), was not recorded by Doctor White, we learn from another source that she was the very Mrs. Montgomery of our tale. At least so it is stated positively by the late Mr. Martin I. J. Griffin in his Researches for January, 1911 (p. 40), though on what authority we are not told.

Be it however as it may, we now end our sketch, though with regret at its brevity, from the materials at hand, of a very graceful, venerable character in Philadelphia's annals; a woman that because of her many sterling gifts by nature and grace as displayed so efficaciously and openly in her life of good deeds may well deserve enrolment among the worthiest (may we not also say saintliest?) of Philadelphia's Christian Catholic matrons. May the soul of Rachel (Harvey) Montgomery then be at peace, in glory, for ever and ever.

VILLANOVA College, Pa., January 31, 1913.

T. C. M.

"Ibid., p. 452.

REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1912

PREPARED FOR THE 28TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 17, 1912, BY THE SECRETARY, JANE CAMPBEll

AT

T this the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Historical Society the Board of Managers can report a year of unremitting endeavor marked with a number of interesting features. The Board meets monthly on the second Tuesday; and though the officers and managers are busy men, engaged in engrossing work, lay or clerical, yet the attendance at these meetings has been good, and much important business has been transacted during the course of the year. The various Committees: Hall, Finance, Library, Historical Research, and Publication, have performed the duties allotted to them with care and fidelity; but it must be confessed they have been hampered in their efforts by the lack of the necessary means to carry out all their projects. This is a lack, however, that lies within the power of the Society itself to remedy; the method of doing so need merely be pointed out, and no doubt the members will hasten to do their part towards enabling these hardworking committees to perform their duties with satisfaction to themselves and the Society.

The Committee on Hall has attended to the absolutely necessary repairs, such as the mending of leaky spouts, and other essential (if prosaic) items.

The Committee on Historical Research furnishes the material for the Records, the Quarterly Magazine of the Society; and the Publication Committee attends to the printing. As all the members of the Society receive the result of the labors of these two committees four times each year, a more detailed account is not necessary; the members being able to judge for themselves of the great value of the work performed.

The Library Committee is always desirous of increasing the store of books, manuscripts, documents of various kinds, curios, pictures, etc., by gift or purchase. A number of valuable additions have been made during the year.

The Finance Committee has, perhaps, the most onerous duty to perform in attending to the financial affairs of the Society and seeing to it that money be furnished for the needs of the Society without excess of expenditure over income.

Among the important matters of business attended to during the year was the purchase of the Magazine owned, conducted and edited by the late Martin I. J. Griffin, who was Librarian of the Society at the time of his death (November, 1911). We refer to the American Catholic Historical Researches and its incorporation with the RECORDS of the American Catholic Historical Society. Mr. Griffin made a generous contribution by will to the Society; and his executors and the committee of the Society for making arrangements towards the continuation of the two magazines, came to a most amicable agreement; the last issue of the Researches being incorporated with the September number of the RECORDS. It was decided by the Board that, in order to meet the wishes of those persons who expected to bind together a complete copy of the Researches, two indexes should be published in the December number; the one being the regular