John P. Brennan (priest)

This article is about the priest. For the Ohio politician, see John P. Brennan.

John P. Brennan (c. 1836 – August 18, 1889^[1]) was the first American Catholic priest to declare bankruptcy.

Personal life

Brennan was born in Indiana but spent most of his childhood in Taunton, Massachusetts.^[1] He was ordained a priest at Grand Séminaire de Montréal in 1856.^[1] He was graduated from the College of the Holy Cross on July 6, 1859.^[2]

While in Foxborough his health declined to the point where he had to give up his priestly duties.^[1] He spent the last four years of his life at his mother's house on Washington Street in Taunton, bedridden with chronic rheumatism, where he died on August 18, 1889.^[1]

Ministry

His first assignment was in Roxbury before becoming the resident pastor of St. Mary's Church in Dedham, Massachusetts.^[1] Brennan took over for his uncle, the founding pastor, Patrick O'Beirne.^[3] He served at St. Mary's from 1866 to 1877.^[4][5]

The rectory Brennan purchased in 1867

In June 1867, a house was purchased on High Street by Brennan and was converted into a rectory.^[6][4][5][7] Plans were then made for a new church to be constructed at this location. The current church was constructed next door to the rectory Father Brennan established on High Street.^[8] While in Dedham he also had care of what is today St. Catherine's Church in Norwood, Massachusetts,^[9] which he improved during his pastorate.^[4]

During his pastorate in Dedham, the Sisters of Charity founded the St. Mary's School and Asylum at what was formerly the Norfolk House.^[5][7] At news of the sale, the Dedham Gazette wrote in an editorial:

Whatever prejudices may naturally exist against the establishment of a Roman Catholic School in so central a location, the community cannot but feel that the transformation of a building recently used only for the indiscriminate sale of liquors into an institution founded for 'promoting virtue, learning and piety in the town of Dedham' is an object worthy only of the most exalted motives, and in this view should be accepted as a public blessing.^[10]

The school held a number of fundraisers,^[11] but with the heavy debt of the parish the school closed on June 27, 1879.^{[11][12][13][14]} The closure was intended to be temporary,^[13] but it never reopened.^[4] The building was sold in 1905.^[15]

It was a "somewhat pleasant surprise" when it was announced on January 14, 1877, that Brennan would be leaving St. Mary's and St. Catherine's and that the parish would be turned over to his curate, Dennis J. O'Donovan.^[16] Many in the congregation had been unhappy with Brennan and the week before he became the first priest to ever file for bankruptcy.^[16] The parish was also bankrupt at the time.^[17]

In the early 1880s he served at St. Mary's Church in Foxborough, Massachusetts.^[18][1][19] In 1883 he was serving in the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts.^{[20][verification needed]}

References

Footnotes

1. "Death of Rev. John P. Brennan". The Boston Globe. August 19, 1889. p. 4. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
2. "Catalog of the Officers and Students of College of Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass. for the Academic Year, 1858-1859" (PDF). 212 Main Street, Worcester: Henry J. Howland. p. 14.
3. "First Mass in Dedham, 1843, Celebrated in Slattery Home". The Boston Globe. September 29, 1923. p. 3. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
4. Leahy 1899, p. 323.
5. Hurd 1884, p. 78.
6. "History: St. Mary's Church". St. Mary's Church, Dedham, MA. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
7. Sullivan 1895, p. 668.
8. Hurd 1884, p. 79.
9. Leahy 1899, p. 329.
10. Austin 1912, p. 161.
11. Austin 1912, p. 164.
12. Smith 1936, p. 138.
13. "St. Mary's School: Some Interesting Records Concerning Its Establishment". The Boston Daily Globe. August 19, 1879. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 9, 2015.
14. Hanson, Robert (March 2005). "The Inn Thing: Taverns of Dedham" (PDF). Dedham Historical Society Newsletter. Deadham, Massachusetts: Dedham Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
15. Austin 1912, p. 165.
16. "Dedham". The Boston Globe. January 15, 1877. p. 8. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
17. Vogler, Paula (April 21, 2016). "Parish Looks to Origins as Members Celebrate Anniversary". The Dedham Transcript. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
18. Leahy 1899, p. 324.
19. Sullivan 1895, p. 754.
20. Sadliers' Catholic Directory, Almanac, and Ordo 1883, p. 98.

Bibliography

• Austin, Walter (1912). Tale of a Dedham Tavern: History of the Norfolk Hotel, Dedham, Massachusetts. Riverside Press.
• Leahy, William Augustine (1899). "Archdiocese of Boston". History of the Catholic Church in the New England States. By Byrne, William; Leahy, William Augustine; McCoy, J. J.; O'Donnell, James H.; Dowling, Austin; Finen, John E.; Young, Edmund J. A.; Michaud, John S. Vol. 1. Boston: Hurd & Everts Co. pp. 1–350. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
• Hurd, D. Hamilton (1884). History of Norfolk County, Massachusetts: With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. OCLC 1046585600. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
• Sadliers' Catholic Directory, Almanac, and Ordo for the Year of Our Lord 1883: With Reports of the Dioceses in the United States, British America, Ireland, England, and Scotland. New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Co. 1883. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
• Smith, Frank (1936). A History of Dedham, Massachusetts. Dedham, Massachusetts: Transcript Press. LCCN 36023569.
• Sullivan, James S., ed. (1895). One Hundred Years of Progress: A Graphic, Historical, and Pictorial Account of the Catholic Church of New England; Archdiocese of Boston. Boston: Illustrated Publishing Company. OL 24364821M.