Samuel Eccleston

Archbishop's signature

Samuel Eccleston PSS (born June 27, 1801 in Kent County , Maryland , † April 22, 1851 in Georgetown ) was Archbishop of Baltimore .

Life

Samuel Eccleston was born in Kent County, Maryland in 1801 to an Episcopal cleric . Eccleston studied at St. Mary's College in Baltimore. At that time he turned to the Catholic faith and converted on May 29, 1819. After his conversion, he attended St. Mary's Seminary and was ordained a priest on April 24, 1825 by Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal . In the same year he joined the Sulpizians and attended their seminary in Issy near Paris , where he continued his studies. Upon his return to the United States , Eccleston became a faculty member and vice president of St. Mary's College. In 1829 he was named President of St. Mary's College and held that position until 1834.

On March 4, 1834, Eccleston was from Pope Gregory XVI. Appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Baltimore and Titular Archbishop of Thermae Basilicae . He received his episcopal ordination on September 14th from Archbishop James Whitfield in Baltimore Cathedral . Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Bardstown , Benedict Joseph Flaget PSS, and the Coadjutor of Philadelphia , Francis Patrick Kenrick .

After the death of Bishop Whitfield, Eccleston became the new Archbishop of Baltimore and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Richmond . He held the office of administrator until 1840, when Richard Vincent Whelan became Bishop of Richmond. During his tenure as Archbishop he founded the St. Charles Minor Seminary in Catonsville , a seminary that produced many later bishops and archbishops of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Eccleston died on April 22, 1851 at the age of 49 while staying in Georgetown .

Web links

• Entry for Samuel Eccleston on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Biography on the Archdiocese of Baltimore website

predecessor	Office	successor
James Whitfield	Archbishop of Baltimore 1834 - 1851	Francis Patrick Kenrick