Trivial Trivia - taking trivia to new levels

[L Verge]

Yes, and I won't stretch it out further, but I was specifically looking for St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue because it has a small tie to Dr. Mudd.

The cornerstone of the cathedral was laid in 1858, but work was disrupted by the Civil War. The driving force behind the planning and construction was Archbishop John Hughes, who saw it as "worthy of our increasing numbers, intelligence, and wealth as a religious community, and worthy as a public architectural monument." Remember that Catholics were looked down on by many during the 1800s. The project was called "Hughes's Folly" because the site chosen was so far south of the city's center at that time that few thought anyone would go all the way uptown to worship. But the architectural designs by James Renwick,m Jr. made the structure too magnificent to ignore.

Now, as to the ties to Dr. Mudd - Archbishop John Hughes (nicknamed Dagger John for the shape of the crucifix he always used as part of his signature) emigrated from Ireland and was employed first as a slave overseer in Maryland. Before his death in 1864, he supported the Union, but did not believe in immediate emancipation and often made fun of abolitionists. He felt each state should be given the right to eliminate slavery at its own pace.

In October of 1861, Mr. Lincoln invited Archbishop Hughes to the White House to get his support. Hughes refused an official appointment, but did agree to visit Europe and seek Union support in Paris, Rome, and Dublin. By the time of his death, the Archbishop was one of the most powerful men in New York and had raised the Catholic church to a position of great respect. He also founded Fordham University, and a statue to him is at the main entrance to the campus in the Bronx.

Now, what are the ties to Dr. Mudd? In a reply to another post on another thread, I mentioned an angry letter that Dr. Sam sent to Orville Brownson with a Catholic journal. Archbishop John Hughes is mentioned as one of the Catholic hierarchy that he blamed for the changing attitudes.

P.S. Wish I could find out where in Maryland John Hughes started out as a slave overseer...