Archbishop John Hughes
Archbishop
John Joseph Hughes (
June 24,
1797 -
January 3,
1864) was the fourth bishop of the
Roman Catholic diocese of
New York. He was born in
Ireland and followed his parents to
America. Initially employed as a gardener at Mount St. Mary's College in
Emmitsburg, Maryland, he was admitted as a student, and was ordained a priest on
October 15,
1826 and ordained a bishop on
January 7,
1838 with the titular see of Basileopolis. He succeeded to the bishopric of the diocese of New York on
December 20,
1842 and became an archbishop on
July 19,
1850, when the diocese was elevated to the status of
archdiocese. He campaigned actively in behalf of Irish immigrants, and attempted to secure state support for religious schools. When he failed to secure state support, he founded an independent Catholic school system: he nearly died in the resuilting anti-Catholic, anti-Irish riots. He founded St. John's College (now
Fordham University) and began construction of
St. Patrick's Cathedral. He served until his death. He was originally buried in old St. Patrick's Cathedral and was exhumed and reinterred in the crypt under the altar of
the new St. Patrick's Cathedral.
see
List of Roman Catholic Bishops and Archbishops of New York