The Ursuline Convent Riots were riot

Riot

A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...

s that occurred on August 11 and August 12, 1834 in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...

, near Boston in what is now Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...

. During the riot, a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

 of Roman Catholic Ursuline

Ursulines

The Ursulines are a Roman Catholic religious order for women founded at Brescia, Italy, by Saint Angela de Merici in November 1535, primarily for the education of girls and the care of the sick and needy. Their patron saint is Saint Ursula.-History:St Angela de Merici spent 17 years leading a...

 nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

s was burned down by a Protestant mob. The event was triggered by reported abuse of a member of the order

Monasticism

Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...

, and was fueled by the rebirth of extreme anti-Catholic

Anti-Catholicism

Anti-Catholicism is a generic term for discrimination, hostility or prejudice directed against Catholicism, and especially against the Catholic Church, its clergy or its adherents...

 sentiment in antebellum New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

.

Background

In 1820, the Most Reverend Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus

Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus

Jean-Louis Anne Madelain Lefebvre de Cheverus , French ecclesiastic, was the first Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boston, Massachusetts.-Early life:...

, bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the newly created diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 of Boston, granted permission for the establishment of a convent of Ursuline teaching nuns in a building next to the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

. A school for girls was set up in the convent, in which approximately 100 students were enrolled.

By 1827, the school and convent had outgrown the building. In July of that year, the community moved to a larger building on Ploughed Hill (later called Convent Hill or Mount Benedict), in Charlestown. The school began to enroll primarily the daughters of the Protestant upper class

Upper class

In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...

es of Boston; by 1834 there were forty-seven students, only six of whom were Catholic. According to Jenny Franchot, the author of a history of the riots, the presence of a community of Catholic religious in their midst reminded Protestant Bostonians of the increasing influx of Irish Catholics, who were taking over the labor market. The existence of the Ursuline convent thus emphasized both the economic discomfort felt by non-Catholics in general, and the religious discomfort felt by conservative Protestants such as the Reverend Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher was a Presbyterian minister, American Temperance Society co-founder and leader, and the father of 13 children, many of whom were noted leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Catharine Beecher, and Thomas...

. In late July and early August 1834, this unease came to a head and fermented into a riot.

Rebecca Reed

Rebecca Reed was a young Episcopalian woman from Boston who had attended the school in 1831 as a charity scholar: a day student for whom the convent waived tuition fees. In 1832, she declared her intent to enter the Ursuline novitiate

Novitiate

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....

, but left the convent after six months as a postulant

Postulant

A postulant was originally one who makes a request or demand; hence, a candidate. The use of the term is now generally restricted to those asking for admission into a monastery or a convent, both before actual admission and for the length of time preceding their admission into the novitiate...

 (originally one who makes a request or demand, hence a candidate). At some time after her departure, she began writing a manuscript entitled Six Months in a Convent

Six Months in a Convent

-Summary:Reed described the convent as a prison, where young girls were forced into Catholicism, with grotesque punishment for those who refused. This book, along with a growing number of propaganda magazines including the Christian Watchman and Boston Recorder, stoked the fires of anti-Catholicism...

.

July–August, 1834

On the evening of July 28, 1834, Sister Mary John (Elizabeth Harrison), a nun

Nun

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 teaching at the convent, made her way to the home of Edward Cutter, a resident of Charlestown. According to Mr. Cutter's account, she "appeared to be considerably agitated, and expressed her wish to be conveyed to the residence of an acquaintance in West Cambridge." The next day, after he had carried out her request, he returned to the acquaintance's house to ask why she had decided to leave the convent. Mr. Cutter was informed that Sister Mary John had returned to the convent, accompanied by her superior, Mother Mary St. George, and the current bishop of Boston, the Most Reverend Benedict Fenwick

Benedict Joseph Fenwick

Benedict Joseph Fenwick, S.J. was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. A Jesuit, he served as Bishop of Boston from 1825 until his death in 1846.-Early life and education:...

.

Local papers, on hearing rumors of the story, began publishing accounts of a "mysterious woman" (Prioli) kept against her will in the convent. As the accounts spread, concern over the fate of the "mysterious woman" (who may have been conflated with Rebecca Reed) appears to have incited the largely Protestant workmen of Boston to take action:

On Sunday morning, August 10, placards were found posted in several parts of Boston saying: "To the Selectmen of Charlestown!! Gentlemen: It is currently reported that a mysterious affair has lately happened at the Nunnery in Charlestown, now it is your duty gentlemen to have this affair investigated immediately[;] if not the Truckmen of Boston will demolish the Nunnery thursday [sic] night—August 14."

The first riot: August 11, 1834

By the end of the first week of August, both Mr. Cutter and the Charlestown selectmen

Board of selectmen

The board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms.-History:...

 were sufficiently disturbed by the rumors of impending action against the convent that they decided to investigate the situation further. With the permission of the Mother Superior, Mr. Cutter returned to the convent to interview Sister Mary John on August 9. He reported that he

was informed by her that she was at liberty to leave the Institution at any time she chose. The same statement was also made by the Superior, who farther remarked, that, in the present state of public feeling, she should prefer to have her leave.

On Monday, August 11, a group of selectmen was admitted to the convent and given a detailed tour by Sister Mary John. That afternoon, the selectmen prepared a statement for publication in the Boston Gazette

Boston Gazette

The Boston Gazette was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts, in the British North American colonies. It began publication December 21, 1719 and appeared weekly.-Brief history:...

Tuesday morning. The statement was intended to reassure the public that the woman was in good health, that she was not being held against her will, and that the convent was fit to live in.

Although rumors of a planned disturbance had reached the convent by August 11, neither the nuns, the students, nor the parents appeared to believe that anything serious would occur. Franchot even reports one student comparing the day to a holiday.

At about 8:00 on the evening of August 11, a group of angry Protestant citizens gathered outside the door to the convent. They began to call for the release of the "mysterious lady". A witness to the riot reported that a nun came to the window and asked the crowd to disperse. According to this witness, on seeing the nun, the crowd offered their protection to the nun. At this point the mother superior appeared and stated that the nuns did not need any sort of protection, and that the entire household was in bed. She further threatened the crowd with retaliation from the Catholic population of Boston: "The Bishop has twenty thousand of the vilest Irishmen at his command, and you may read your riot act till your throats are sore, but you'll not quell them."

The crowd eventually dispersed, only to return several hours later. At about 11:00, a crowd of between fifty and sixty men (as estimated by the Boston Evening Transcript; the Mercantile Journal estimated the crowd as between 150 and 200) set fire to tar barrels on the convent grounds. Several fire companies were called to the scene, but failed to intervene, instead joining a crowd of spectators, which eventually grew to around 2,000 people.

Soon after the tar barrels had been set alight, the crowd broke down doors and windows to enter the convent, and began to ransack the buildings. The nuns and pupils began to leave from the back, and hid in the garden. At about midnight, the rioters set fire to the buildings, which burned to the ground within an hour or two, leaving them in ruins.

Response: the Faneuil Hall, Charlestown, and Cathedral meetings

At 11:00 the following morning, Theodore Lyman

Theodore Lyman (militiaman)

Theodore Lyman II was an American philanthropist, politician, and author, born in Boston, the son of Theodore Lyman and Lydia Pickering Williams. He graduated at Harvard in 1810, visited Europe , studied law, and with Edward Everett, revisited Europe in 1817-19...

, the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Boston, invited the public to a meeting at Faneuil Hall

Faneuil Hall

Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...

 to discuss "measures relative to the riot at Charlestown". The meeting took place at 1:00 that afternoon, and led to the adoption of a resolution

Resolution (law)

A resolution is a written motion adopted by a deliberative body. The substance of the resolution can be anything that can normally be proposed as a motion. For long or important motions, though, it is often better to have them written out so that discussion is easier or so that it can be...

 which, among other things, nominated a committee to investigate the riot and events leading up to it. The resolution expressed the community's outrage at the events and provided for a reward to anyone providing information on the leaders of future similar events, as well as directing the investigative committee to discuss the possibility of indemnifying the diocese of Boston for the loss of property, which was not covered by insurance

Insurance

In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...

.

The selectmen of Charlestown also called a public meeting on August 12, passing similar resolutions condemning the violence. The resolution also set up a "Committee of Vigilance", with authority to investigate the incident and offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.

On the same day, Bishop Fenwick called a meeting of the Catholic citizenry of the Boston area. He encouraged the audience to forgo revenge as incompatible with "the religion of Jesus Christ". He also thanked the public authorities for their stand against the violence, and expressed confidence that they would prevent further outbreaks from occurring.

The second riot: August 12, 1834

In keeping with the resolutions, Mayor Lyman ordered troops and police to be stationed not only around Faneuil Hall, but at the city arsenal

Arsenal

An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...

, the Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 of the Holy Cross, the Catholic church in Charlestown, and the house of Edward Cutter. Notably, no troops were posted around the remains of the convent.

At about 10:00 on the evening of Wednesday, August 12, a crowd gathered outside the arsenal. Finding it guarded, they moved first to the cathedral, then to the city hall

City hall

In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...

, and finally to the convent itself. At the convent, they destroyed the gardens and orchards, set bonfires, and pulled down fences. The mob left the grounds and dispersed a few hours later.

Investigation, arrests, and trial

The committee established by Mayor Lyman met every day except Sundays from August 13 to August 27. Testimony heard by this committee, and by the Charlestown selectmen's committee, led to thirteen arrests, of which eight were for the capital crimes of arson

Arson

Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...

 or burglary

Burglary

Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...

.

The trials of the defendants began on December 2, 1834 with the trial of John R. Buzzell, the self-confessed ringleader of the mob. State Attorney General

Attorney General

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...

 James T. Austin protested the early date of the trial, since death threats had been issued against any potential witnesses for the prosecution. Buzzell himself later stated, "The testimony against me was point blank and sufficient to have convicted twenty men, but somehow I proved an alibi, and the jury brought in a victory of not guilty, after having been out for twenty-one hours." Eventually, twelve of the thirteen defendants were acquitted. The thirteenth, a sixteen-year-old who had participated in book-burning at the riot, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. He was pardoned by the governor in response to a petition signed by five thousand citizens of Boston, including Bishop Fenwick and Sister Mary St. George.

Restitution

The investigative committee formed by Mayor Lyman had recommended that the city of Charlestown or the county of Middlesex

Middlesex County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...

 indemnify the diocese of Boston for the loss of the convent property; or, if they did not act, that the Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 legislature

Legislature

A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...

 investigate the matter and provide compensation. Following this recommendation, Bishop Fenwick petitioned the legislature in January 1835 for indemnification

Indemnity

An indemnity is a sum paid by A to B by way of compensation for a particular loss suffered by B. The indemnitor may or may not be responsible for the loss suffered by the indemnitee...

 to rebuild the convent and school, arguing that the state had been derelict in its duty of protecting private property.

The committee which heard the argument of the diocese resolved that the legislature authorize the governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 to provide compensation to the trustee

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

s of the convent. The resolution was defeated by an overwhelming majority on the floor of the House.

Similar proposals for restitution were brought before the assembly in 1841, 1842, 1843, and 1844. Each time, the motion to indemnify the diocese failed. In 1846, the assembly voted to provide the diocese with $10,000. The diocese rejected the offer, estimating the actual loss at approximately $100,000. The request was presented again to the assembly in 1853 and 1854, and again was defeated each time.

Historical interest in the events

As noted in the Bibliography section below, Wilfred Bisson (1989) and Nancy Lusignan Schultz (2000, 2002) have both published historical accounts of the period in question. It should be noted that there is seemingly less interest in Rebecca Reed's account and the ensuing events at Charlestown than in Maria Monk

Maria Monk

Maria Monk was a Canadian woman who claimed to have been a nun who had been sexually exploited in her convent...

's later account, which has undergone successive reprintings since 1836. Reed's account has received no such detailed analysis other than Bisson and Schultz (below).

External links

• The Ursuline Convent, Charlestown, Mass., Collection - online images from American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University of America.