Adam Marshall (priest)

{{Infobox Christian leader

| type = priest

| honorific_prefix = The Reverend

| name = Adam Marshall

| birth_date = {{birth date|1785|11|18}}

| birth_place = Conewago, Pennsylvania

| death_date = {{death date and age|1825|09|20|1785|11|18}}

| death_place = Mediterranean Sea, aboard the USS North Carolina

| nationality = American

| religion = Catholic Church

| module = {{Infobox military person

| embed = yes

| branch = {{flagicon|United States|navy}} United States Navy

| branch_label = Branch

| serviceyears = 1824–1825

| serviceyears_label = Years

}}

Adam Marshall {{Post-nominals|country=||list=SJ}} (November 18, 1785 – September 20, 1825) was an American Catholic priest and Jesuit. He briefly served as president of Washington Seminary, and later became the first Catholic chaplain in the United States Navy, albeit unofficially.

Biography

Adam Marshall was born on November 18, 1785,{{harvnb|Buckley|2013|p=129}} in Conewago, Pennsylvania, to Francis Marshall and Ann Margaret Staub; he had two sisters named Margaret and Catherine.{{Cite web|url=http://thomasgenweb.com/staub.pdf|title=Descendants of John Adam Staub, of Conewago & McSherrystown, Adams County, Pennsylvania|last=Thomas|first=Jeffrey L.|date=February 22, 2008|website=Thomas Family Genealogy Website|page=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827211358/http://thomasgenweb.com/staub.pdf|archive-date=August 27, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2018}} As a Jesuit priest, he first served in 1818 at St. Patrick's Church in York, Pennsylvania,{{Cite web|url=https://stpatrickyork.org/listing-of-priests-who-have-served-saint-patricks|title=Listing of Priests who have Served Saint Patrick's|website=Saint Patrick Catholic Church|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916015259/https://stpatrickyork.org/listing-of-priests-who-have-served-saint-patricks|archive-date=September 16, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=September 15, 2018}} and later worked in New York, the southern counties of Maryland, and at Georgetown College in Washington, D.C.

Marshall became the most significant figure in the Jesuit mission in Maryland, eventually becoming the Procurator of the Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen of Maryland during the suppression of the Society of Jesus.{{harvnb|Curran|2012|p=62}}

In 1822, he was stationed at Washington Seminary (which later became Gonzaga College High School) and was placed in charge of the finances of the Jesuit mission in Maryland. In the beginning of 1824, Marshall was appointed the second president of Washington Seminary, succeeding Anthony Kohlmann. During his presidency, the students of the Seminary partook in the first civic procession in Washington by joining in the commemoration of the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July of 1824. While president, Marshall also gave a speech at Georgetown College during a reception for the Marquis de Lafayette, with his students in attendance.{{harvnb|Hill|1922|pp=29–32}}

Marshall became ill with tuberculosis,{{harvnb|O'Brien|2002|p=10}} which affected his lungs.{{Cite journal|last=Giblin|first=Gerard F.|date=April 1, 1962|title=American Jesuits as Chaplains in the Armed Forces: 1775 to 1917|url=https://jesuitonlinelibrary.bc.edu/?a=d&d=wlet19620401-01.2.3|url-status=live|journal=Woodstock Letters|volume=XCI|issue=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916013133/https://jesuitonlinelibrary.bc.edu/?a=d&d=wlet19620401-01.2.3|archive-date=September 16, 2018|via=Jesuit Online Library}} His physicians advised that he take a reprieve from duties at the school and recommended he undertake a sea voyage. Through the intervention of Commodore John Rogers, whose two sons were students at Gonzaga, Marshall obtained a position in the United States Navy. He was succeeded as president of the school by William Matthews.{{harvnb|Hill|1922|p=33}}

Marshall was commissioned an officer in 1824 and was assigned to the USS North Carolina, a ship of the line.{{Cite news|url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/a-chaplain-s-chaplain.html|title=A Chaplain's Chaplain|last=Duffy|first=Peter|date=2008|work=Catholic Education Resource Center|access-date=September 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916002921/https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/faith-and-character/faith-and-character/a-chaplain-s-chaplain.html|archive-date=September 16, 2018|url-status=live}} His official position was schoolmaster to the midshipmen, but he unofficially doubled as chaplain to the Catholic sailors, making him the first Catholic chaplain in the United States Navy.{{harvnb|First Catholic Chaplains in U.S. Army and Navy|1941|pp=466–467}} The religious services on board were conducted by an Episcopalian minister whose sermons Marshall admired. Marshall was not permitted to say Mass. Rather, his duty was to counsel and hear confession.

The North Carolina left port in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 1, 1824, for a cruise of the Mediterranean. In the final entry of Marshall's diary, the lieutenant of the watch notes that while underway, at 2:30 a.m. on September 20, 1825, during the voyage from Naples to Gibraltar, the priest died of his disease. He was buried at sea at 10 a.m. with all hands on deck. On October 22, Commodore Rogers communicated the news to the Secretary of the Navy.

References

= Citations =

= Sources =

{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRfdAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA129|title=Stephen Larigaudelle Dubuisson, S.J. (1786–1864) and the Reform of the American Jesuits|last=Buckley|first=Cornelius Michael|publisher=University Press of America|year=2013|isbn=9780761862321|location=Lanham, Maryland|access-date=December 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201025818/https://books.google.com/books?id=jRfdAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA129|archive-date=December 1, 2019|url-status=live|via=Google Books}}
{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BWQb_GWZcWcC&pg=PA62|title=Shaping American Catholicism: Maryland and New York, 1805–1915|last=Curran|first=Robert Emmett|publisher=Catholic University of America Press|year=2012|isbn=9780813219677|location=Washington, D.C.|access-date=December 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201031116/https://books.google.com/books?id=BWQb_GWZcWcC&pg=PA62|archive-date=December 1, 2019|url-status=live|via=Google Books}}
{{Cite journal|date=October 1, 1941|title=First Catholic Chaplains in U.S. Army and Navy|url=https://jesuitonlinelibrary.bc.edu/?a=d&d=wlet19411001-01.1.131&e=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-------|url-status=live|journal=Woodstock Letters|volume=LXX|issue=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201031856/https://jesuitonlinelibrary.bc.edu/?a=d&d=wlet19620401-01.2.3&dliv=none&st=1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|archive-date=December 1, 2019|access-date=September 15, 2018|ref={{harvid|First Catholic Chaplains in U.S. Army and Navy|1941}}|via=Jesuit Online Library}}
{{Cite book|title=Gonzaga College, an Historical Sketch: From Its Foundation in 1821, to the Solemn Celebration of Its First Centenary in 1921|last=Hill|first=Owen Aloysius|publisher=Gonzaga College High School|year=1922|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=27–32|chapter=Chapter II: Fr. Adam Marhsall, S.J. (1824–1825)|oclc=1266588|access-date=December 1, 2019|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201030417/https://books.google.com/books?id=mZoaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA27|archive-date=December 1, 2019|url-status=live|via=Google Books}}
{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XkuMqnM-89wC&pg=PA10|title=Blackrobe in Blue: The Naval Chaplaincy of John P. Foley, S.J. 1942|last=O'Brien|first=Steve|publisher=iUniverse|year=2002|isbn=9780595226948|location=San Jose|chapter=Chapter 1: "The Sword of the Spirit"|access-date=December 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201031415/https://books.google.com/books?id=XkuMqnM-89wC&pg=PA10|archive-date=December 1, 2019|url-status=live|via=Google Books}}